The Views Of PTLLS Students During A Period Of Change Within The Lifelong Learning Sector

• Main Author: Billcliffe, Steve
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Huddersfield Press 2014-01-01
• Series: Teaching in Lifelong Learning: A Journal to Inform and Improve Practice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.5920/till.2014.524

This paper focuses on Initial Teacher Training (ITT) within a Further Education College in the south-east of England. It is based on a small-scale research project among 106 adults who successfully studied for the City & Guilds qualification Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS) between 2010 and 2013, a time of significant change in ITT policy. It explores the opinions of 29 self-selecting participants who completed an online questionnaire using the SurveyMonkey tool. The results show that trainee teachers seem to be optimistic for their future and a large majority of respondents would support the establishment of an FE Guild. Teacher Educators will note that 82% of the respondents have obtained some teaching experience since completing PTLLS. The survey found that only a small number of respondents had progressed to higher levels of teacher training since completing PTLLS, although a variety of future career plans were being made.