Teach Too
Employers as partners in learning
At the LTE Group, employers are, and always have been, our partners in learning. They shape what we do from the qualifications we offer to the placements and jobs opportunities (including apprenticeships) that our students’ progress into.
Understanding the needs of employers
Recently, I visited on one of our employer-led community engagement programmes. I watched in awe as, through a range of carefully planned activities, the teacher made the lesson relevant to each and every individual. She set the bar high and expected them to talk about their experiences on their recent work placements. Seamlessly she intertwined theory into the stories the students shared. They talked about their roles, the skills they had gained and what they needed to improve. One learner, a man in his mid-40s who had sat quiet for too long, was gently prompted to join the discussion. He spoke with confidence and everyone listened. What he said seemed to sum up what everyone was thinking. He sat taller, smiled broadly and the lesson continued.
The programme, co-designed with the Strategic Health Authority, aims to help fill current job vacancies in local hospitals. The authority wants employees who are more representative of the communities it serves. It is a true partnership built on mutual understanding and developed through working together over a sustained period of time. This teacher fully understands the needs of the employer and the skills our learners need for success in the work place.
Teachers are not just experts in learning
Our teachers are not just experts in learning they are chefs, dancers, artists, community workers, health care professionals and engineers. Some are experts in engaging those furthest from the workplace others in developing the English language skills of adults, so they can secure jobs and sustain their families.
However, the pace of change is rapid and patterns of employment are changing too. Having up-to-date professional skills requires us to build even closer partnerships with professionals in industry. Professional practitioners shape the day-to-day experience of our students as we continue to blur the boundaries between learning and work, college and the workplace.
In the fast-changing world of creative digital and media, our young people are both customer and designer. Our students actually design the games they want to play.
Real results
The same is true of the hospitality industry and brings real results. As one employer said to me:
“Working in a partnership is beneficial to the college and the business by forging great working relationships with lecturers and also the students, giving the students the opportunity to gain industry knowledge and experience… if there is ever an entry level commis chef position the first place I look is the college to recruit.” (Executive Head Chef, large international hotel chain.)
We are building on such approaches to embed Teach Too approaches across the LTE Group.
With technical education reform gathering momentum, there has never been a greater need for providers to look at methods of improving dissemination of exemplary employer collaborative practice across the whole organisation.
Author
Gill Scott is Quality Manager, LTE Group.
Gill works across The Manchester College and the wider LTE Group. Working with colleagues at all levels, Gill spends as much time as possible in classrooms and workshops to review the quality of provision and to develop improvement activity. Gill leads on a number of external projects, including the Teach Too project, which looks to build on existing good practice to shape a college- and group-wide approach to working with employers.