How does the FE and Skills Sector become Self-Improving?

What if the Further Education and Skills Sector Became a Genuinely Self-improving System with the Trust and Capacity to Determine its Own Future?

Philippa Cordingley and Paul Crisp's essay with this title has been published as part of a collection, funded by the Further Education Trust for Leadership (FETL), edited by RSA. The full publication is available here. The essay poses three questions and offers some suggested responses. There no recommendations in the essay itself but three are put forward elsewhere in the publication

The Further Education and Skills sector needs a plan of action to improve sectoral self-concept from the current position they characterise as an counterproductive combination of victimhood and sales-driven public engagement by providers.

Three areas need change:

• Providers’ ‘marketing glossiness’ should be replaced with public engagement that communicates both strengths, shortcomings and a deep commitment to understanding and implementing what works.
• Senior leaders must engage with and commit to enhancing vocational teaching and learning and recognise the dual professionalism of tutors in integrated continuous professional development and learning (CPDL) opportunities.
• Collaboration with, and learning from, other providers are essential for establishing a culture of continuous improvement