Professional Development of Lecturers
The Enterprise, Transport, and Lifelong Learning Department has overall policy responsibility for the professional development of college lecturers in Scotland. This includes overseeing, and providing the Secretariat for, the FE Professional Development Forum (FE-PDF): a strategic and operational group made up of practitioners from both the Further and Higher Education sectors and a range of associated partners. For more information on the responsibilities, membership, and work of the Forum, visit the FE-PDF web-site at: www.fepdfscotland.co.uk.
The Teaching Qualification (Further Education) - or TQ(FE) - is a non-compulsory and largely post-employment qualification that college lecturers can obtain as part of their professional development. Three Higher Education Institutions - the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, and Stirling - are currently approved to deliver the TQ(FE). Further details are available on the FE-PDF web-site (see above).
In addition to the TQ(FE), college lecturers can undertake a range of Professional Development Units and Awards (PDUs/PDAs) provided by Scotland's colleges themselves. The vast majority of Scotland's colleges are approved to deliver such qualifications. Further details, once again, are provided on the FE-PDF web-site (see above).
Review of Occupational Standards
A consultation exercise looking at the arrangements governing the professional development of FE lecturers was launched by the Department in March of 2003. Called 'A Review of Occupational Standards and National Guidelines on Provision Leading to the Teaching Qualification (Further Education) and Related Professional Development', the exercise was borne out of a commitment that the National Guidelines should be reviewed after five years. The terms of the review also explicitly recognised that the environment in which both Scotland's colleges and the Department operate had altered significantly since the Guidelines were published in 1997.
After the consultation period had ended, work began on producing an Analysis of Responses to the Review. Incorporating the feedback from both the written responses and workshops, a copy of this document was sent to each of our written respondents plus all of those on our original consultation list. A Steering Group was also set up at this time to assist the Department in forming and implementing its recommendations from the Review.
In response to one of the recommendations of the Review Steering Group, a set of five working groups - comprising a mix of practitioners and experts from the college Sector and beyond - was established to take forward the task of revising the existing occupational standards and, where appropriate, creating new standards for the purposes of continuing professional development (CPD). The new Professional Standards for Lecturers in Scotland's Colleges were published in June 2006. New/revised professional development units and awards and TQ(FE) programmes have since been developed.
Taking account of feedback from the initial consultation, the Review Steering Group also recommended that a secondary consultation be held on the question of the need for a professional body for staff in Scotland's colleges. This consultation was held between September and December 2004 and received a total of 242 responses. You may read the Analysis of Responses here.
While Ministers took the decision that the time was not yet right to establish a professional body, they did approve a series of recommendations for enhancing the professional development of staff in Scotland's colleges. The detail of how these recommendations should be implementated was considered by a Professional Development Sub-group established as part of the Review of Scotland's Colleges. See the RoSCO website for further details.