Learning Resources Development Group (LRDG).1995. Transcript of talk given in September 1994. by Dr Richard Evans, Principal, Stockport College of Further & Higher Education The immediate answer to this question is an emphatic yes! College libraries and learning support services and their staff must now be at the hub of any learning institution. Their capability and importance cannot be questioned. The reasons for their importance include the continuing move to: Learner centredness for the more diverse student population of the future. Curriculum frameworks. New technologies. Resource management for the benefit of learners financial physical human All these elements must be
Browsing 47 Articles Filed under: “Colleges, Education & Training Providers”
Mission Possible
The positive attitudes and emotions of staff are vital to the success of FE organisational statements, writes Richard Evans Organizational statements, often grandiosely called missions and visions, abound these days. Colleges are no exception to this trend. Each wants to broadcast its purpose to potential students and employers by way of a snappy, eye-catching statement or ‘artefact’. By an artefact I mean something expressed in words and made public, or indeed accountable. However, we need to reflect on what these artefacts really mean to the staff, students and all the other users of the organization. The trouble with such statements is
The Darwinian Paradox
One of the more acceptable and helpful tenets of good management theory is that managers should adopt a reflective stance. Continuous, systematic and careful reviews of the processes and outcomes of the business are, indeed, an invaluable and essential aid to the effective manager. The Further Education (FE) sector, as all the educational sectors, has much to reflect on at present. The parenthesis model of management has never been more valid. As you will remember, the parenthesis model challenges the whole of the existing thinking on organizational theory. It identifies a new type of person, namely, the parenthetical person, one who
Libraries and Learning
Richard Evans looks at the college library of the future What should the library of the future look like in the further education sector? An important question that needs to be asked and answered by staff in the institutions within the new sector. The sector has at long last been recognised by the Government and has been required to expand its student numbers by 25 per cent over the next three years with 16 per cent additional resources over that period. It will play a significant role in achieving the National Education and Training Targets (NETTS) which set out the
Further Vision
About this time last year 1 wrote an article for this journal entitled ‘Thoughts on the new Further Education (FE) sector’. A year after incorporation, has the Cinderella educational sector arrived at the ball? Its first year has been full of both challenges and opportunities, but it has been exposed to a political, financial and economic climate which has, to say the least, been contradictory and paradoxical. Many colleges had excellent relationships with their LEAs, while others did not. These variations inevitably caused problems with transitional funding arrangements. However, many colleges now realize how cost-effective and economical some LEA services
GUIDANCE IN FURTHER EDUCATION
by Dick Evans, Principal, Stockport College of Further and Higher Education. Guidance must now be one of the most important processes in post-16 education and training. Following incorporation, colleges in the new FE sector must develop comprehensive and effective guidance systems in order to open up access, increase participation, improve retention and play a part in realising the National Education and Training Targets. For too long guidance has been treated as as a marginal bolt-on activity and must now be truly integrated into the whole range of provision of post-16 education and training. It must become central at entry, on-programme
A Potent Mixture
Carefully managed ‘mixed economy’ institutions offer both potential and challenge, says Richard Evans. First of all, what do I mean by a mixed economy college? It is an institution that is committed to an open access philosophy offering a very wide range and comprehensive provision spanning adult basic, adult education, further and higher education. Programmes of adult education set alongside A Levels, NVQ and GNVQ awards, HNCs, HNDs, degrees, postgraduate and professional awards. This provision attracts and serves local, regional and national participation. The mixed economy college is one constituent of the FE sector. The sector is very diverse and