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Building on the Best: Describing Good Practice in the Teaching and Learning of Key Skills 1 ___________________________________________________________________________________

Building on the Best: Describing Good Practice in the Teaching and Learning of Key Skills

A report to the Learning and Skills Development Agency

John Hamer Roger Murphy

July 2003 ___________________________________________________________________________________ CDELL, University of Nottingham School of Education

July 2003


Contents Page

Acknowledgements

3

1

Introduction

4

2

Organisation and conduct of the project

6

3

Criteria for identifying effective teaching and learning practice

9

4

Introducing key skills

17

5

Planning for key skills

27

6

Key skills in the classroom/workplace

32

7

Monitoring and developing teaching and learning

43

Case Studies:

46

(i)

Level 1 key skills as a basis for progression and the development of independence in learning

(ii)

The development and use of plans to support individual learning

(iii)

Adding value to teaching and learning

(iv)

Innovative practice in the teaching and learning of Application of Number

(v)

Developing ICT skills through AS coursework

(vi)

Promoting Problem Solving

References

62

Appendices

64

I

Mapping Good Practice: the original grid developed for the study

II

The fieldwork schedules

III

Centres contributing to the study

IV

Membership of the expert focus groups

V

Literature survey on key skills teaching and learning

___________________________________________________________________________________ CDELL, University of Nottingham School of Education

July 2003


Acknowledgements This is the report of a study undertaken for the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) by the Centre for Developing and Evaluating Lifelong Learning (CDELL) in the School of Education, University of Nottingham. The project director was Professor Roger Murphy and the project was managed by John Hamer. The other members of the CDELL team who undertook the fieldwork and participated in the interviews and discussions with the expert focus groups were: Peter Burke John Gillespie Henry Macintosh Carole Mallia Anne Matthews Bob Rainbow Cath Tolley Harry Tolley Paul Warmington John Wilmut Administrative support was provided by Joanne Deeley and Tracy Sisson in the CDELL office. The project benefited considerably from the help and guidance of a small steering group convened by LSDA. The group consisted of Kath Galloway (DfES), David Horsburgh (LSDA) and Simon Shaw (Learning for Work). We appreciate the support they gave and are especially grateful to David Horsburgh who was the LSDA Project Manager. CDELL would also particularly like to thank the teachers and learners in those centres we visited and the members of the focus groups who shared their experience with us and gave so willingly of their time and expertise.


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1

INTRODUCTION

1.1

The overall aim of the project was: To identify and describe good practice in the teaching and learning of key skills in relevant provision in schools, colleges and training providers.

1.2

1.3

Its specific objectives were: (i)

To review the literature describing current practice in key skills teaching and learning in schools, colleges and training providers, including inspection reports and wider literature such as academic sources.

(ii)

To develop a set of criteria to underpin the identification of effective teaching and learning.

(iii)

To validate these criteria with reference to practitioners and key skills experts.

(iv)

To develop research tools based on these criteria.

(v)

To describe good practice through review and observational processes.

(vi)

To produce case studies and a final report describing good practice in user-friendly language.

Inevitably, the institutional context within which teaching and learning takes place is significant in enabling, or inhibiting, good practice. Practice is affected by such features as - the curricular and management strategies used to deliver key skills; how these are determined; the degree of commitment shown by senior management; the extent of whole staff involvement; the availability of relevant expertise and experience; and the adequacy of resources and accommodation. One indicator of the support given by an institution to key skills, for example, is the status ascribed to key skills coordination. In centres where this is not managed from a senior level there tends to be less effective implementation of key skills, sometimes accompanied by inadequate allocation of resources. (Glover, 2002) At the end of the year an electronic record of student achievement and progress, which has to be subject to regular review, becomes part of the annual College review and report to governors. Key skills thus remain firmly and permanently on the senior management agenda. (Sixth Form College)


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1.4

A number of previous studies have considered the institutional arrangements that are in place for delivering key skills (see, for example: Kelly 2001; Kelly, West and Dee, 2001; Gillespie and Wilmut, 2002). Whilst this project drew upon their findings, its main focus was on the quality of key skills teaching and how this promotes effective learning rather than on organisational, managerial and resourcing issues. It looked at good practice in four crucial areas of teaching and learning: (i)

How learners are introduced to key skills and how their learning needs and future programmes are determined.

(ii)

How teachers and trainers plan for the delivery of key skills both initially and on an on-going basis.

(iii)

The activities that take place in the classroom, workplace or elsewhere to promote learning.

(iv)

The monitoring, evaluation and development of key skills delivery.

1.5

By their very nature, key skills – and hence the teaching and learning of key skills - cover a broad spectrum of disparate areas. They are multi-dimensional in that they include, for example, the acquisition and application of knowledge taken from different disciplines; the enhancement of both specific and general skills; the mastery of learning strategies; personal and inter-personal development; and preparation for adult and working life. They are offered in a diverse range of contexts. The learners involved differ widely in terms of levels of prior attainment, experience and aspirations.

1.6

The study looked at key skills provision in a variety of circumstances; but inevitably its scope was limited. It did not explore in depth any one of the key skills or any one level. The underlying approach, therefore, was: q

to establish the principles that enable and promote good practice generally in each of the teaching and learning areas identified in paragraph 1.4 above;

q

to identify where these principles were being applied successfully to meet key skills objectives;

q

to provide examples of successful application drawn from across a range of institutions, key skills areas and levels.


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2

ORGANISATION AND CONDUCT OF THE PROJECT

2.1

The project was designed to have four overlapping stages. The main components of each stage were: Stage 1: q q

q

A literature review leading to the development of criteria for identifying good practice in the teaching and learning of key skills. The identification of centres - schools, colleges and training providers where the teaching and learning was considered to provide evidence of good practice. The development of research instruments to be used on visits to centres by members of the research team.

Stage 2: q q q q

Conducting interviews with relevant members of staff, discussion with learners and observation of key skills activities at the selected centres. Collecting of paper-based and other information provided by the centres. Identifying centres as possible case studies to provide more detailed exemplar material. The on-going refinement of the evaluation criteria.

Stage 3: q q

The review, analysis and refinement of criteria and findings from stage 2, including the development of case studies. The discussion of criteria and findings with two expert focus groups.

Stage 4: q q

2.2

The completion of the project outcomes. The production of the final report.

The literature review (see Appendix V) considered both those publications directly concerned with practice related to key skills and, to a lesser extent, some of the more recent research findings on effective teaching and learning generally. The review contributed to the development of a good practice mapping grid (see Appendix I) which established the initial set of evaluation criteria used in the study. The grid was also informed by discussions with DfES, LSDA and Learning for Work. It was refined during the course of the project in the light of findings from the fieldwork and the views of practitioners and members of the expert focus groups.


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2.3

2.4

The good practice mapping grid was designed to have two main functions: (i)

To provide a framework for identifying and describing good practice during the fieldwork stages of the project and for discussion with practitioners and the expert groups.

(ii)

In its final refined form, to offer a means whereby institutions can carry out processes of self-assessment in relation to their key skills provision.

In its original version the grid was structured as follows: q

Column (i) identified what were seen as the four constituent aspects of teaching and learning – introducing, planning, delivering and monitoring key skills provision.

q

Column (ii) offered a tentative description of the key characteristics of good practice within each of these elements. These were expressed in terms of learning and other outcomes.

q

Column (iii) indicated the kind of strategies that might be expected to be in place in place with the aim of achieving these outcomes.

q

Column (iv) provided examples that might serve as indicators for the successful implementation of these strategies.

(A rationale for the development of the grid is given in Chapter 3 of this report.) 2.5

The centres to be visited were selected on the basis of inspection report findings, CDELL’s earlier research work on key skills curriculum models and information provided by DfES, LSDA and Learning for Work. Altogether 31 centres contributed to the study (see Appendix III). Visits included observation of key skills sessions and discussions with practitioners and learners1 using a set of research instruments designed for the purpose.

The fieldwork schedules 2.6

Three schedules (see Appendix II) were devised for use by the research team during their visits to schools, colleges and training providers and in their discussions with practitioners and learners. They consisted of: (i)

A Centre Interview Schedule: A semi-structured schedule for use in discussions with providers (managers and subject and key skills teachers/tutors) to elicit responses to key research issues to do with

1

This report follows common practice in that, unless otherwise specified, ‘learner’ refers collectively to pupils and students in schools and colleges and to apprentices on both Advanced Modern Apprenticeship (AMA) and Foundation Modern Apprenticeship (FMA) programmes. ___________________________________________________________________________________ CDELL, University of Nottingham School of Education

July 2003


internal monitoring of key skills teaching and learning, and the identification and dissemination of good practice. (ii)

A Learner Interview Schedule: Designed for use in discussions with groups of learners. Its purpose was to identify learners’ reactions to key skills provision and their perceptions of its value. The schedule included a self-completion pro-forma designed both to gather information about the learners and their preferred learning styles, and to act as an ‘ice-breaker’ prior to the group discussion.

(iii)

An Observation Schedule: To be used when observing key skills related teaching or activities. It was designed to record the context (eg key skill, level, stage, mode of delivery); to note the activities undertaken by teacher/tutor and learners and learners’ responses; and to identify and describe examples of effective practice with particular reference to the third aspect of the mapping grid.

Expert focus groups 2.7

Following the main fieldwork stage, two expert focus group meetings were held. The first of these considered the development of evaluation criteria and the use of the good practice mapping grid. The second examined some of the exemplar material and descriptions of good practice emerging from the project. Rather than detailing them separately, issues arising from the discussions of these two groups have been incorporated in the relevant sections of the report. (The membership of the two groups is given in Appendix IV)


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3

CRITERIA FOR INDENTIFYING EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING PRACTICE There is a college policy on key skills that applies to all programmes and all students. The strategy for implementing the policy ensures a co-ordinated approach across the college that is actively supported by senior managers. There are systematic procedures for initial assessment and learning support. Key skills teaching is closely linked to students’ main programmes. There is an appropriate range of teaching methods and modes of delivery. There is regular monitoring and review of students’ progress. There are effective arrangements for internal verification and moderation. Managers receive regular reports on key skills development across the college. There are opportunities for staff development and sharing good practice. Students are learning the skills necessary to cope with the courses they are following. Work is carefully marked, with correction of spelling, grammatical errors or inaccuracies in work with numbers. IT is used by students as an integral part of their courses. Work is as professionally presented as it is reasonable to expect at the relevant stage of their course. Students work collaboratively with their peers and others. Handbook for Inspecting Colleges, Ofsted (2002)

3.1

In offering additional guidance on the inspection focus, the Handbook for Inspecting Colleges (Ofsted 2002) stresses that in arriving at judgments on the teaching and learning processes ‘inspectors … will not be prescriptive’. ‘Colleges should not assume, for example, that lesson plans must be in a particular format, that exposition is undesirable, or that lessons must include a variety of activities at all costs. It is recognised that in different hands, and with different students, different approaches can be equally effective’.

3.2

Similarly, the Adult Learning Inspectorate’s Handbook for Inspectors (ALI 2002) does not offer a rigid set of rules: ‘Inspectors … make objective


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judgements based on evidence and take into account the particular circumstances surrounding each provider and each inspection’. 3.3

Teaching and learning – particularly where they involve interaction in the classroom – are complex processes. Good teaching has certain qualities. It enables students to learn and inspires them to wish to learn more. It requires subject expertise, management skills and enthusiasm on the part of the teacher. But, as both the ALI and Ofsted guidelines stress, demonstrating these qualities allows for a range of different approaches.

3.4

In the guidance it offers, QCA identifies a set of general principles that underpin effective practice in using key skills units (QCA 2000). The guidance also suggests ways in which teachers and trainers might provide structured learning opportunities that explicitly address the application of skills.

WAYS TO PROMOTE THE EFFECTIVE LEARNING OF KEY SKILLS §

Careful sequencing of theory and practice components to help candidates learn the techniques and knowledge underpinning key skills and see the relevance of what they are learning through practical experience.

§

Explicit tuition and practice in using learning strategies within a wide range of contexts.

§

Careful structuring of tasks that promote the ability to think by creating problems of sufficient challenge to stretch, but not deter, the candidates.

§

Systematic variation of tasks in order that learners can see how, and to what extent, existing skills can be applied to good effect in less familiar tasks and identify when new learning is required.

§

Opportunities to work with others (eg through collaborative use of IT, coaching, reciprocal teaching, pair problem solving) so that candidates are encouraged to express their reasons for adopting particular approaches and thus learn from each other what works and what doesn’t work.

§

Providing candidates with precise feedback, not only on how they are doing but also on what to do to improve.

§

Encouraging self-assessment and reflection by candidates (to think about their own thinking).

Guidance on the key skills units, QCA (2000)

3.5

Both the ALI/Ofsted inspection framework and the QCA guidance offer a range of different sorts of tests for determining the quality of teaching and learning. These tests may be broadly categorised as outcome, process and indicative criteria. The categories distinguish between:


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3.6

3.7

(i)

Outcome criteria which take the form of qualitative statements about the nature of the end result; for example the knowledge and competencies that learners display.

(ii)

Process criteria that describe good practice in terms of the general strategies and approaches employed by teachers and learners.

(iii)

Indicative criteria which pick out specific features and activities that an observer might expect to see where good teaching and learning is taking place.

The mapping grid was developed on the basis – (i) that evaluation involves the making of informed judgements using all three sorts of criteria; and (ii) that, to be helpful, criteria should be made as explicit as possible. There are, however, two important caveats. q

It is the extent to which practice meets the outcome criteria that carries the greatest weight in arriving at a judgement. That particular procedures – institutional arrangements or teaching strategies – are adopted does not of itself guarantee a successful outcome. Nor can effective practice be reduced to a prescriptive checklist – however exhaustive. The role of both process and indicative criteria is, perhaps, best characterised as being to focus attention on ensuring the adequacy and quality of the evidence on which a judgement is based.

q

An inevitable tendency of moving towards greater explicitness is that the number of criteria – particularly of indicative criteria – increases. There is a danger that all those associated with some particular aspect of teaching and learning come to be viewed as being of equal significance. But clearly this is not always the case.

The majority of those with whom the grid was discussed reported on it favourably. In some cases they had piloted its use for reviewing practice and for staff development within their own institutions. This basic approach to developing a method for evaluating the effectiveness of key skills provision has, therefore, been retained. However, following feedback from the centres, the views expressed by the expert focus groups and the experience of the research team, a number of modifications have been introduced. In particular these are designed: q

To clarify the distinctions between outcome, process and indicative criteria.

q

To indicate their respective roles in the process of evaluation.

q

To develop a more comprehensive assessment instrument.

q

To make it more key skills specific.


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Building on the Best: Describing Good Practice in the Teaching and Learning of Key Skills 12 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The revised version of the grid is given below in Figure 1 (a-e) Figure 1(a-e): Identifying effective practice in the teaching and learning of key skills

(a)

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

ASPECT

OUTCOMES

PROCESS

INDICATORS

In judging effectiveness, assessors will need to determine how far key skills provision accords with the following descriptions:

Approaches and strategies that are characteristic of effective practice:

Features and activities likely to be evident in the successful implementation of the processes identified in column (iii):

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CDELL, University of Nottingham School of Education

July 2003


(b)

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

ASPECT

OUTCOMES

PROCESS

INDICATORS

Introducing learners to key skills

Learners understand why key skills are important and where they will fit into their overall programme; they are able to identify those they need to develop further; and know how they will be supported and what they are working towards.

Key skills information/activities are included as part of an induction programme at both whole institution and individual course levels in ways which: o ensure that learners are not overloaded with too much information too soon o emphasise both immediate and longerterm benefits o link to personal development and career progression o stress that key skills are integral rather than bolt-on o reflect the requirements of employers and higher education

Ø

There is an initial assessment of current skill levels and prior learning experience which is used to further learners’ progress

Ø

Ø Ø Ø Ø

Ø Ø

Assessment and interview data are used to develop individual learning plans

Ø Ø

There are activities and opportunities for discussion Some presentations are given by current learners Induction information is regularly reinforced and added to at later stages Learners’ individual needs and aspirations are discussed at an early stage There is employer involvement

There is diagnostic assessment using published or centre-devised tests Centres use self-assessment packages, learners’ initial pieces of work and prior achievement data to determine levels Initial assessment is part of an on going process ILPs include both short and long term goals ILPs are reviewed and updated on a regular basis


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(c)

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

ASPECT

OUTCOMES

PROCESS

INDICATORS

Planning for key skills

There are appropriate courses of study and activities based on an understanding of learners’ needs, main programmes and learning styles; and a knowledge of key skills course and delivery requirements.

There is a co-ordinated approach, led by senior management, to whole centre planning which: o identifies individual responsibilities o promotes a sense of ownership o establishes the status of key skills o provides for regular review

Ø

Planning is designed to ensure that key skills provision: o is relevant and contributes to learners’ achievements in their main programme of study or work o addresses learners’ personal skills needs o is adequately resourced

Ø

Strategies are realistic in that they: o take account of time and opportunity constraints o recognise, where appropriate, the demands of the workplace

Ø

There is a balance between ‘embedded’ and ‘stand alone’ approaches to key skills delivery

Ø Ø Ø

Ø Ø

Ø

Key skills issues are regularly discussed at SMT meetings Staff and, where appropriate, employers and learners are involved in planning processes Minutes of key skills planning meetings are published Key skills provision is reviewed and reported on annually References to key skills are mapped onto course plans, schemes of work and lesson plans Lesson/session planning shows awareness of the need for differentiation to support individual learning plans Budgets and staffing levels are agreed

Off the job trainers are familiar with the ethos and requirements of the workplace Additional time requirements are minimised

Ø

Lessons/sessions are designed to develop key skills, including the wider skills, in contexts relevant to learners Ø Provision includes workshop sessions and drop-in centres


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(d) (i)

ASPECT Key skills in the classroom/workplace

(ii)

(iii)

OUTCOMES

PROCESS

Learners progress relative to their prior attainment and are successful in meeting challenging targets. They develop personal and learning skills, and reach levels in key skills consistent with their main programme of study or work. Their work in key skills furthers achievements in their main programme.

Teaching: o shows a clear understanding of key skills rationale and requirements o promotes progression o develops ‘learning with understanding’

(iv)

INDICATORS Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø

Strategies are matched to and build upon learners’ current stage of development and styles of learning

Ø

Approaches use a variety of means to: o make key skills learning relevant o promote the transferability of key skills o prepare learners for key skills tests at an appropriate level o support portfolio development

Ø

Ø

Ø Ø Ø

There are explicit references to the key skills Objectives are shared with learners Formative assessment forms part of the teaching and learning activities There are opportunities for feedback and teacher/learner, learner/learner interaction There are opportunities for learners to practise and refine aspects of skills development Learners can evaluate and reflect upon their own learning Learners are able to provide explanations Activities differ in terms of task demands, outcome or learning styles There is regular target setting and recording There are explicit references which link key skills work to the learners’ overall programme, essential job skills and the wider key skills Learners are familiar with test requirements Learners apply knowledge and skills in a variety of contexts Learners receive guidance on the collection and management of appropriate portfolio evidence


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(e)

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

ASPECT

OUTCOMES

PROCESS

INDICATORS

Monitoring and Developing the teaching and learning of key skills

Both at whole centre and individual teacher/tutor level a range of data (including comparative data) is used to monitor how effectively individual needs and aspirations, and community and employer needs for key skills are being met. Appropriate action to remedy weaknesses is identified and undertaken.

The centre has a strategy and documented procedures which are designed to: o assure the quality of the key skills curriculum o monitor key skills teaching and learning

Learners and, where appropriate, employers have an input into the monitoring process The outcomes from monitoring are used to inform staff development and support

Ø Ø Ø

There is a system of internal moderation Observation of key skills sessions is part of the centre’s quality assurance mechanisms The centre undertakes data analysis to evaluate learners’ overall attainment in key skills

Ø

Means are in place (eg the use of questionnaires, focus groups) to collect a range of views

Ø

There is a key skills staff development programme which is clearly focused on meeting centre and individual needs There is a good take up of development opportunities

Ø


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4

INTRODUCING KEY SKILLS

4.1

If learners are to get off to a good start and to maintain progress in developing their key skills, they need: q q q q q

to appreciate why key skills are important; to understand how key skills will fit into their overall programme; to be helped to identify those that they need to develop further; to be aware of what they are working towards; to know how they will be supported.

The study looked, therefore, at the nature of induction and – more especially – at processes of initial assessment and the use centres make of the results.

Induction Programmes 4.2

Learners – and, in some cases, their parents and employers – have to be convinced of the worth of key skills. Both Ofsted and the ALI stress the value of explaining the importance and benefits of key skills in a positive manner at the outset.2 Induction programmes should be interesting and involve learners in practical activities. Learners should be given full information on key skills. It should include details of which key skills are to be undertaken, the level, content and assessment methods. Learners should also be given copies of the key skills standards. Such guidance does, however, raise issues about timing and overload. At what point in their course should learners be given such information? Is there a danger of too much too soon?

4.3

The importance of involving, where appropriate, parents and employers was recognised in the two following examples. The Key Skills Co-ordinator did a presentation to each sixth form group – and also to parents – with the accent on employment. He didn’t want the presentation to be part of the official induction week as he felt that students have a lot to take in during that time. His presentation lasted for 30-40 minutes and was based on slides and comments from employers as to what they are looking for and what they will ask at interviews. He emphasised that, for example, a student with a degree in engineering was unlikely to be asked many questions about engineering. Employers will assume subject knowledge and will focus on questions about the individual. He then went on to talk about what the skills are and to give general information about, for instance, external and internal evidence. At this stage he was anxious to avoid overloading students with information, but rather to introduce them gradually to what was involved and the potential benefits to be gained. (11-18 School)

2

Guidance on the criteria used in the inspection of key skills is given in: Handbook for Inspecting Colleges (HMI 464), Ofsted, 2002; Key Skills Policy and Practice – Your Questions Answered, DfES(2002); and Key Skills and Inspection in Colleges, 2002, Glover L, LSDA. ___________________________________________________________________________________ CDELL, University of Nottingham School of Education

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All recruits (or potential recruits) to programmes attend an induction during which they receive various presentations (including equal opportunities, health and safety, structure of NVQs, key skills and Modern Apprenticeship Frameworks). Within 10 days of that induction, their training co-ordinator visits them and their mentor or supervisor within their workplace when their Learning Plan is discussed in greater detail. This second stage of the induction includes all parts of the plan as well as key skills. The induction with the employer present is seen as important because it emphasises the importance of key skills to employability and career progression (Training Provider)

4.4

A number of KSSP publications3 have made the point that time spent in properly introducing key skills will not only benefit learners but will save huge amounts of time and effort later. Whilst recognising that there are no hard and fast rules about the content and structuring of induction programmes, these publications do offer a number of guiding principles. For example: q q q q q q q

Making key skills explicit from the start and showing learners how they link to their overall programme. Stressing the value, purpose and relevance of key skills both in the immediate term and throughout adult and working life. Emphasising the importance of key skills for personal development and career progression. Encouraging learners to recognise the key skills that they already use. Building into the induction programme activities that enable learners to practise and think further about key skills. Enabling learners to identify key skills areas where they may need further help. Explaining issues to do with assessment, and the gathering and recording of key skills evidence.

In one form or another all of these features were reflected in the best of the induction programmes offered by the centres visited. 4.5

3

One 11-18 school, in particular, sought in various ways to reinforce the message that key skills are embedded in the National Curriculum and to encourage students of all ages to see them as useful.

See, for example, Introducing Key Skills to Apprentices: Guide to Good Practice, KSSP, 2000


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The headteacher is an enthusiast to the extent that when he went to the school some five or six years ago he decided to frame the whole curriculum around key skills. His enthusiasm remains undiminished. When the school decided that the integrated delivery of key skills at Key Stage 3 was becoming ‘too cloudy’, they decided to introduce specific key skills lessons, with two sessions on the three main skills and three sessions on the wider key skills. At Key Stage 4, key skills are placed in the ‘Options’ column of the timetable. For one term students can carry out an integrated project, of about 12-14 hours, covering all six skills. As a result, when students enter Year 12 there is no need for a specific key skills induction – they are already familiar with them. Every classroom has a Key Skills Information Point and a notice asking students “How Have You Used These Skills Today?” so that key skills are always at the forefront of their work. (11-18 High School)

4.6

One college similarly used classroom posters to inform learners about key skills. And another sought to enthuse would-be entrants prior to their enrolment by detailing in its prospectus what were likely to be some of the more appealing aspects of key skills provision. Each year in July the College holds an ‘Activities Week’ in which all students in their first year of a two-year course take part. The week, part of the key skills and enrichment programme, is designed to broaden horizons, give opportunities for developing leadership qualities, encourage teamwork and promote personal development. In recent years the activities have included students taking part in outward-bound activity in Snowdonia, countryside conservation, engineering challenges and work placements in Europe. Each activity is recognised by a College Certificate of skill and competence. (Extract from a Sixth Form College Prospectus)

4.7

The involvement of learners who have already had experience of the key skills programme was a strategy that might be more widely adopted. In one 11-18 school, for example: New Year 12 students were introduced to the idea of key skills when they joined the sixth form. Year 13 students spoke to them. C was one of those who did the presentation. She said it was a bit scary, but worthwhile. They understood the importance of other students giving their views and the fact that members of staff value their opinions. (11-18 School)

Such an approach is helpful both in lending greater credibility to key skills and in encouraging a sense of ownership.


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4.8

In one college, a group of Performing Arts students – all of whom had expressed very positive attitudes and saw everything they did in Communication and Application of Number as supporting their course work were asked what they might say to a new entrant sceptical about the value of key skills. Their responses were direct and to the point: Ø Don’t see it as a doss about lesson. Ø Make the most of it – it will improve your grades. Ø Use the time wisely – it’s an opportunity to look at the academic side, for example spelling, which will let you down otherwise. One of the students, who lived some distance from the college, admitted that she had initially thought that it might not be worth coming in for a two hour Communications session. Having experienced the first two sessions, however, she realised the benefits to her course work and her career prospects.

‘Introduction’ rather than ‘induction’ 4.9

Although it was important to make key skills explicit from the outset, a point made by many of those interviewed was that induction should be seen as an on-going process and not as a one off. This echoed a similar concern amongst some centres about the potential danger of over-loading learners with too much information too soon. Increasingly, therefore, they were putting in place strategies for introducing learners to key skills on a gradual and staged basis. Most of the information about key skills was provided in tutorial or teaching sessions as learners embarked on the early stages of the programme itself. It was argued that this was preferable to an intensive induction at enrolment which might serve only to bore students – and much of which they would forget. As Gillespie and Wilmut (2002) reported, many induction packs are now being slimmed down or being provided on line. This latter has the advantage of allowing learners to have a greater sense of control over their key skills learning as they download the information as required, including the key skills units.

4.10

In commenting on one tutorial session, the observer noted the impressive way in which the tutor approached the student and the perceptiveness with which she asked questions and offered comments. Questions were linked to the student’s current attainment and aspirations, and the tutor suggested specific activities she might undertake in order to boost her performance. Even though the student involved was very shy, the tutor tried to let her have as much control as possible over her key skills development.


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Building on the Best: Describing Good Practice in the Teaching and Learning of Key Skills 21 ___________________________________________________________________________________ As this was the first session, the tutor explained what key skills were and asked what the student knew about them. The student was very shy and the tutor suggested she might like to work on presentations and discussions. She replied that she didn’t like talking in front of people. The tutor suggested that developing her presentation skills might help her in her university interview, especially as she wanted to study languages. They then had a discussion about whether the student was doing any presentations in her AS classes. There were only two people in the class, so it would not be like doing it in front of a large group; but the tutor suggested that it might be used as practice. She then talked about how key skills are intended to complement other studies and talked the student briefly through what would be involved. She gave her a profile document and explained about the tests. The tutor asked if she could look at one of student’s geography assignments in order to get a feel for her level of working. She usually asks students to do a short written piece, but under these circumstances she could use something the student had already done. They then discussed what to do for the next session. The tutor asked the student to think about what would be most useful for her: eg report writing, practical discussions or a mock interview. ‘These are your classes. We don’t want to give you extra work’. The tutor showed her the specifications, but didn’t give her copies. Towards the end of the session they talked a little about using images and their relevance to the student’s work in geography, and about the non-verbal nature of much of communication.

Initial assessment 4.11

The Ofsted report on the key skills pilot (Ofsted 2000) pointed to concerns over institutional arrangements for initial assessment and needs diagnosis: ‘In most centres there was insufficient initial assessment of students’ and trainees’ prior attainment in key skills, to ensure that teaching and training were matched to individual needs’. There is considerable evidence, however, both from this project and from other studies, that the weaknesses in initial assessment identified by Ofsted and by the ALI are being addressed. Reporting recently on changes made to key skills practice the Centre for Education and Industry, for example, noted that ‘training providers were focusing on improving initial/diagnostic assessment, either in response to last year's experience and/or feedback from the Adult learning Inspectorate’. (CEI 2002) Many centres are now using specific key skills diagnostic tests or self-administered questionnaires to assess the level of attainment prior to beginning a key skills programme. Others are providing individual learning plans based on previous qualifications, current programmes and future aspirations.

4.12

As with induction generally, a great deal of time and energy has to be put into the development of tools and processes for initial assessment. Again, there is unlikely to be a ‘one size fits all solution’. Initial assessment for key skills can


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vary across the areas of learning, and may involve a range of techniques including discussion, observation, self-assessment and tests. In offering guidance to institutions, Ofsted and the ALI emphasise that they are looking not for uniformity but for a system which is fit for purpose; that is one which is effective in informing the learner’s individual learning programme. 4.13

Evidence from the literature review and from the visits to centres indicated that effective strategies for initial assessment have a number of key features. (i)

They draw upon a wide evidence base In some instances, in 11-18 schools for example where learners are already well known or where the development of key skills has been part of the pre-16 curriculum, the need for comprehensive initial assessment procedures may be less urgent. Generally, however, individual key skills programmes are initially determined on the basis of evidence from a range of assessments, often including previous key skills test papers. Despite some reservations about the validity of GCSE grades as a guide to the level at which learners should enter key skills, centres commonly take full account of prior learning- not only qualifications but also, where they are available, Records of Achievement or Progress File.

At the start of their vocational education course all of the entrants undergo an individual assessment. This is done by means of their school leaving reports, previous qualifications, army selection test scores and the results of an initial key skills diagnostic test. The trainers, using items taken from past QCA multiple choice question papers for the Application of Number and Communication Skills, have devised the tests used for this purpose. The outcomes of these assessments lead to the development of individual learning plans, in which learning targets are agreed at an initial tutorial session with a trainer. Progress is then reviewed by the students and their personal tutors at three meetings (one per term) and then summarised at a final review session. The principle underpinning target setting at the college, therefore, is to use evidence derived from diagnostic assessment to set each individual learning goals, which are challenging but achievable. Thus, if an individual is shown to be capable of achieving key skill Level 3 in the Application of Number that becomes the target towards which he/she is expected to work. The evidence is also used in the process of allocating individuals to learning sets (groups of 16) on the basis of their current levels of attainment and their learning potential. The assessment process also enables those students (approximately 200 out of 1200 in the current cohort) who have special educational needs to be identified. For example, the diagnostic tests may reveal that they have deficiencies in their basic skills, which need to be addressed or they may have particular learning difficulties such as dyslexia. Once identified these individuals receive regular in-class support from one of the college’s designated support staff. In addition they are given one-toone tutorials on Wednesday afternoons and in the evening on other weekdays. (Training Provider)


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(ii)

There is clarity about the nature and purposes of initial assessment Centres use robust test materials to help them make judgements which are valid and reliable. They distinguish, for example, between those offer measures of attainment and those that are predictors of potential. (Lindley 2000)

(iii)

Consideration is given to the proper timing of assessment Most centres assess full-time learners’ learning support needs when they start their course, but there are those that see advantages in carrying out some testing at an earlier stage.

The diagnostic tests form part of the enrolment process. The students send in an application form and on the basis of this are invited to a pre-enrolment briefing in June/July – this is combined with a key skills diagnostic test, the information from which is combined with GCSE results when available. The students are then enrolled and provided with an individual student learning agreement to which parents also sign up as an acknowledgement of commitment. (Sixth Form College)

(iv)

The results are made available to teachers, personal tutors and learners and the outcomes discussed Such discussions include not only an examination of strengths and weaknesses and support needs, but also an exploration of learners’ future academic and vocational aspirations. Some students acknowledged that they were shocked when they saw the results of their initial screening assessment and realised there were a number of things they thought they knew that they needed to work on. At this point they accepted that they needed to do key skills. (FE College)

Responses of this kind highlight the need for key skills and the importance of initial assessment - for diagnostic purposes and not solely as a means of allocating learners to groups. But they also raise a number of other significant issues: in particular, the nature of the relationship between key skills requirements and learners’ previous experience. The reactions of these students lend weight to the reservations some institutions have about placing too much reliance on qualifications such as GCSE grades as indicators of key skills starting levels (see (i) above). More generally, their reactions pose questions about the development of transferable skills and the application of ___________________________________________________________________________________ CDELL, University of Nottingham School of Education

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knowledge, and how these are to be addressed at the various stages of learning. (v)

Initial assessment is seen as part of a comprehensive and on-going process that continues throughout the course

There are college devised Initial Screening Assessments (ISA) based on the Basic Skills curriculum. They cover levels 1 and 2, measure attainment and identify skills gaps/weaknesses. All students entering the college take an ISA. This may be followed up by the Key Skills Check, also college devised, which measures potential for level 3. All students also complete a learning styles questionnaire. The ISA results are collated onto a group profile form by the course tutor who then passes copies to Learning Services. Where skills needs have been identified, these form the basis of an Individual Learning Plan for the first few weeks of the year agreed between the student and the additional support staff member. The information also enables Learning Services to group key skills students in classes at appropriate levels. At the end of each session students complete a Work Record noting what they have done and achieved. This is stored in their folders together with any other evidence produced. The tutor reviews the folder and makes comments on the Work Record about progress and what they need to do next. The progress of students identified in the ISA as needing support in specific skills areas is regularly reviewed on an individual basis during key skills sessions by additional support staff. New objectives and review dates are agreed. Additional support staff also work with other students noting issues for discussion with the key skills tutor on the Work Record. As a result noone in the group knows who is receiving additional support. Staff constantly monitor progress and give the Key Skills Check to those they feel should be working at a higher level. If successful, students move up to level 3. (FE College)

4.14

Organisations where there are large numbers of learners face particular logistical and administrative problems. The college from which the example below is taken has some 2500 students of whom 500 are on apprenticeship schemes. ___________________________________________________________________________ Initial Assessment ·

There are two electronic assessments available to assess learners. An Ability Screen Test (AST) assesses literacy and numeracy skills; and a Technology Aptitude Test (TAT), currently being piloted, assesses IT skills. AST is a computer based screening test, which assesses the fundamental skills in literacy and numeracy. It is relatively rapid to administer and score, and it is fit for purpose. AST is designed to screen a large number of learners and provide an overall impression of their ability to succeed on a programme at a given level. AST can also


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Building on the Best: Describing Good Practice in the Teaching and Learning of Key Skills 25 ___________________________________________________________________________________ identify those learners who may require additional support to enable them to achieve their learning goals thereby identifying a need for diagnostic assessment. AST is more cost effective than a paper based initial assessment. It is less time consuming and allows for the elimination of learners who do not require additional support. ·

Initial Assessments can be booked through the screening centre (a suite of 24 computers).

·

The AST takes about 20 minutes to complete.

·

The TAT takes about 45 minutes.

·

Assessment times are 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, in one hour slots, Monday to Friday week commencing 1 July 2002 to week commencing 23 September 2002. After this period assessments can be booked by negotiation with key skills staff depending on timetabled classes. Assessments for evening learners can be arranged subject to staff availability.

·

The assessment can accommodate up to twenty learners per session (current internal server capacity issue).

·

It is expected that the course tutor will accompany the learner(s) to the Centre for their assessment.

·

Feedback will be provided within three working days of the assessment being completed. It can be presented for individuals or for a group thus potentially identifying whole group support/learning needs.

·

A paper-based assessment is available for any learner not confident in the use of IT, although this has not been necessary in most instances. This is also available for offsite provision where IT facilities are limited.

Key Skills Centre Support Referral Procedure ·

After the initial assessment has been undertaken, the course tutor (or tutor who accompanied the learners to the Key Skills Centre) will be given a copy of the results. This will include a recommendation for support in literacy and/or numeracy if a need is highlighted.

·

The course tutor will then be expected to support the learners in registering with the Key Skills Centre for additional support (to be called Study Support as of September 2002).

·

It is expected that the course tutor will accompany the learner(s) to the Centre to register for support.

Other Support Referral Procedures ·

Course tutors can refer their learners to support based on information other than the results of an initial assessment, for example completed coursework, classroom activities etc.

·

The learner can choose to register for support if she/he feels they have a need in literacy and/or numeracy.


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Building on the Best: Describing Good Practice in the Teaching and Learning of Key Skills 26 ___________________________________________________________________________________ ·

Parents can also contact the Centre to arrange support for a learner.

·

In all events, the learner needs to attend the Key Skills Centre where they can, if they wish, speak directly to a support team member regarding his/her needs prior to support arrangements being made.

·

We also offer the option of in-class support, where a small group of learners from a larger group have been assessed as possessing similar needs.

We have found that the use of a screening instrument provides valid and reliable results that match prior evidence of achievement and more traditional initial assessment instruments. It is certainly time friendly and enables a large number of screen tests to be undertaken without the need for a small number of staff to ‘mark/score’ paper based assessments.

______________________________________________________________


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5

PLANNING FOR KEY SKILLS

The development of key skills is most effective when teachers take responsibility for developing them as part of their teaching and when students see the relevance of these skills to the course they are studying. In the best practice, the teaching of and support for key skills are provided in a variety of settings, including lessons, key skills workshops and resource centres which students can visit as they wish and study individually or in groups. (Handbook for Inspecting Colleges, Ofsted 2002)

Addressing the wider planning issues 5.1

The main focus throughout the study was on ways in which individual departments, teachers and trainers plan for their teaching of key skills sessions and related activities. Such planning, however, necessarily takes place within – and is enhanced or constrained by - the parameters established at whole school, college or training provider level.

5.2

Clearly the issues to be addressed are not the same for all centres or for all learners. For learners on Foundation and Modern Apprenticeship schemes, for example, planning for key skills has to take account of the ethos of the workplace, commercial imperatives, working practices and opportunities for on the job development – all of which are likely to vary considerably. Planning in this context, therefore, commonly has to build in a degree of flexibility that takes into account time and opportunity constraints, employers’ requirements and perceptions about the relevance of key skills – particularly in the case of IT and Application of Number.4 Different considerations apply when learners are primarily involved in GCE AS/A2 level courses.

5.3

As this and other studies have found, when asked about their experience of key skills, learners respond overwhelmingly that key skills activities are worthwhile when they: q

are relevant to and integrated with their main programme of study or work;

q

contribute to their achievement in their main programme of study or work;

q

address and are adapted to their personal skills needs,

q

minimise additional time requirements.

4

See, for example, Options for reducing the assessment burden of key skills in Modern Apprenticeships, Learning for Work, 2002 ___________________________________________________________________________________ CDELL, University of Nottingham School of Education

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5.4

Meeting these requirements successfully raises a number of planning problems related to the diversity of learners’ needs. Two such were identified in a recent report on key skills assessment in Modern Apprenticeships (Learning for Work 2002). (i)

The report confirmed that for a significant proportion of apprentices, particularly those on Foundation Modern Apprenticeship programmes, there was often a learning gap that had to be bridged before they could reach the key skills level of performance. On entry many apprentices lacked the requisite skills and knowledge. In terms of Communication and Application of Number they needed to acquire the basic skills before they could apply these to practical situations.

(ii)

Conversely, some industries had little difficulty in recruiting highly qualified apprentices – often graduates - well able to cope with the demands of key skills at the higher levels.

The college had successfully tried out a model where all three key skills are addressed in a one and a half hour session per week targeting learners that take less interest than might be ideal, and where underlying literacy and numeracy needs may be contributing to the difficulties. This involves three key skills tutors and, if necessary, additional support staff. It requires a significant amount of team planning, a special range of resources and assignments that integrate the three skills – a bank of which are being built up. The session normally takes place in the Learning Centre with access to computers, videos and the library. The students spend about half an hour on vocationally related tasks in each key area, thus keeping their attention and helping them to see the relevance of key skills to their programme. (FE College)

5.5

It is important to have staff, and possibly also learners, who actively participate in all the processes of planning and implementation, wherever practicable. Kelly, West and Dee (2001) reported on a centre which involved its staff when it felt that the structures they planned were not working. To avoid too narrow a focus, members were organised into ‘issue teams’ such as resources, delivery models or accreditation, rather than in subject or faculty teams. They came up with a new mode of delivery based on the integration of key skills across the curriculum. Amongst the conclusions of the report was that: ‘Those staff involved in issue teams (approximately three quarters) felt that their sense of ownership of the new curriculum was important to its success and that their involvement at the design stage was a source of much encouragement’.


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5.6

Amongst other indicators of effective whole centre planning of teaching and learning identified by the study were: q q q q

Management co-ordination was an essential feature. Responsibilities need to be clearly identified and the planning process should seek to promote a sense of ownership. Off the job trainers have to know the workplace. The desirability of involving employers in the planning process.

Planning teaching and learning 5.7

A report on key skills and inspection in colleges (Glover 2002) notes that course plans, schemes of work and lesson plans that include references to key skills may offer hard evidence for evaluating teaching, training and learning. These are probably best seen, however, as possible indicators of effective planning. Similarly with the other forms of evidence suggested in the document - ‘a self-assessment report with a profile of internal teaching observations, and observation records with explicit reference to key skills teaching [were] seen as providing the most compelling evidence for the effectiveness of key skills teaching, training and learning’.

5.8

Various instances of centres using these kinds of planning tools were evident during this present study. They did, however, raise two particular issues. (i)

Embedding key skills learning Whilst there was little if any disagreement about the need for effective planning to adopt the principle of integrating key skills within learners’ main programmes of study or work, there were concerns about what this ought to mean in practice. Did it, for example, mean that key skills should become in effect invisible – or, more graphically, should be designed to be soluble in that they enhanced the curriculum in ways that were not seen to be additionally burdensome? P is a key skills tutor. She feels that it is not helpful for key skills to become so deeply embedded that students are barely aware that they are doing them. She argued that students doing it her way (as discrete sessions) at least know that they are developing their skills.

Clearly this is an issue. For the purposes of this study, however, we have seen good practice in planning in terms of a requirement to bring key skills explicitly to the learners’ notice – not least on pragmatic grounds. Such a requirement is both more fitted to supporting learners in portfolio building and appears more likely to meet the criteria employed in Ofsted and ALI inspections. (See also paragraph 6.15)


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Figure 2 below offers an example of planning where key skills are embedded (in this case in an A level history course), but at the same time they are made explicit to learners. Figure 2

Key Skills Evidence IT Level 3

Subject

HISTORY

Title

RUSSIA, 1918-1929

You should put the following documents, copies or originals, in your IT Portfolio

IT3.1

Initial Research

Plan

The written plan for both electronic and book-based research The plan for the essay

Search

Printouts of source data Resource list

Select

Annotated printouts re: provenance, style, authorship, usefulness Bibliography

IT3.2

Applications of research

Explore

Develop

Drafted essay showing where electronic routines have been used eg spell check, word count, date & authorship stamp, page numbers, cut and paste, insertion of electronically generated image Add a range of different types of footnote to your essay

Exchange E-mail your essay to the subject hotmail IT3.3 Present

Finished products Edited document in the light of e-mail Final submission of coursework Student feedback on attainment of Unit 2 objectives (See subject handbook)


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(ii)

Stand-alone sessions The principle of integration should not be seen to preclude the provision of stand-alone or workshop sessions. Many centres run such sessions, particularly in IT and Application of Number, and they serve a useful purpose in providing individual support to learners who might otherwise struggle.


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6

KEY SKILLS IN THE CLASSROOM/WORKPLACE

6.1

In seeking to describe good teaching and learning practice – in whatever context and at whatever level - certain features are axiomatic. The teaching needs to be knowledgeable, enthusiastic and purposeful. Teachers need to be effective managers both of learners and of the learning environment. They need to be clear about what they want to achieve, to plan work accordingly and to provide appropriate activities and resources. They need to ensure that learners are equipped to meet the requirements of any immediate goals such as public examinations or career aspirations, without losing sight of wider and longer term learning, social and personal development objectives.

6.2

Such generic qualities apart, the study focused on: (i)

Putting forward a model for promoting effective learning which might underpin the descriptions of good key skills practice in the classroom or workplace.

(ii)

Considering the implications of this model for four issues which are central to the key skills teaching and learning agenda – relevance in terms of responding to learners’ current and future needs and aspirations; the transfer of learning; differentiated teaching and learning; and portfolio building.

Promoting effective learning 6.3

The development of key skills is a significant aspect of current emphases on ‘lifelong learning’, the creation of a ‘learning society’ and the need for institutions to become ‘learning organisations’. In industry, for instance, it has increasingly become clear that employers need to address the skills requirements of their employees due to factors such as the increase in global competition and technological advancements. Amongst others, the engineering industry has recognised this and commissioned research into the needs of the industry in the future. The research report (Engineering Employers Federation 2002) noted that industry was changing from traditional manufacturing practices to more technology-based work in media and telecommunications and therefore required people with new and flexible skills. It saw a shift from education as a pre-employment activity to learning as a post-educational process and that this learning would become a source of advantage to employers in the future. Organisations are increasingly investing large sums of money into training and learning, not just in specific skills but also to foster and change the learning culture. The development of key skills through training is seen as an important aspect of this.

6.4

Coupled with rapid changes in the nature of employment, has been an exponential increase in the volume of information and its growing accessibility, in particular via the use of information technology. Trends such


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as these indicate the need to focus learning not on facts and procedures applicable only in situations closely similar to those in which they were learned, but on learning that can be transformed and applied to new circumstances. Such a concept of learning, variously referred to as ‘interpretative’, ‘deep’ or ‘real’ learning, or ‘learning with understanding’, clearly resonates strongly with the rationale underpinning key skills. 6.5

6.6

6.7

The characteristics of ‘learning with understanding’ are that it: q

is constructed on the basis of learners’ current knowledge, ideas and skills;

q

is perceived by learners as relevant to their particular interests and experience;

q

enables learners to apply knowledge and skills in contexts other than those in which they were learned;

q

is progressively developed in terms of big ideas, skills for living and learning, attitudes and values;

q

is owned by the learner in the sense that it becomes a fundamental part of the way he or she understands the world; it is not simply ephemeral knowledge that may be memorised for recall in examinations but subsequently forgotten.

What is needed to bring about this learning is: q

the provision of learning experiences that are well matched to and build appropriately upon individual learners’ existing point of development and interests;

q

teaching that identifies and can clear away obstacles resulting from earlier difficulties;

q

a clear idea of progression in the knowledge, understanding and skills which are the goals of learning and the problems and misunderstandings learners are likely to encounter;

q

high levels of interaction and feedback between learner and teacher;

q

teaching that enables learners to function independently.

Much recent discussion on ‘learning with understanding’ has centred on the use teachers make of formative assessment - or assessment for learning. That is how effectively they undertake activities and interact with learners in ways that will generate information to be used to provide feedback and to modify their teaching. Harlen and James (1997) and Black and Wiliam (1998a and 1998b) in particular have pointed to the crucial role that formative assessment


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should play, and have been critical of undue reliance on a transmission model of teaching. ‘If the assumption is that knowledge is to be transmitted and learnt, that understanding will develop later, and that clarity of exposition accompanied by rewards for patient reception are the essentials of good teaching, then formative assessment is hardly necessary. If, however, teachers accept the wealth of evidence that this transmission model does not work, even by its own criteria, then the commitment must be to teaching through interaction to develop each pupil’s power to incorporate new facts and ideas into his or her understanding.’ They conclude that the consistent feature across the variety of examples looked at in their research is that ‘they all show that attention to formative assessment can lead to significant learning gains’. 6.8

‘Learning with understanding’ might, therefore, be represented diagrammatically as a cyclical process involving: Figure 3

Input/Activity Consistent with learners’ individual needs, interests, course requirements and the development of key skills

Modification Re-defining content and strategies

Learners develop and practise key skills

Formative Assessment Questioning Discussion Observation Testing Self/peer assessment

Feedback Against specific and shared criteria

Evaluation Review Analysis Reflection


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6.9

In attempting to identify criteria that might be used to determine whether or not teaching had been successful in enabling learners to understand something, a study by Reynolds, Martin and Groulx (1995) suggested seven ‘indicators of understanding’. These they regarded ‘not as a static check-list, but rather as a series of potential clues to the level of the learner’s understanding’. q

Changes in demeanour.

q

Extension of a concept: those who understood something often take the idea further on their own initiative.

q

Making modifications to a pattern: learners who understand spontaneously start making their own modifications; those who don’t understand imitate or follow rules.

q

Using processes in a different context: learners who have understood a particular idea often start seeing the same patterns elsewhere.

q

Using shortcuts: only learners who are sure of the ‘big picture’ can shortcut a procedure so that thinking up or using a short cut is taken as evidence of understanding.

q

Ability to explain: learners who have understood something are usually able to explain it.

q

Ability to focus attention: persistence on a task as a sign of understanding.

The key skills teaching and learning agenda 6.10

In a survey on teaching key skills (LSDA 2000), teachers in schools, sixth form and FE colleges were asked what advice they would give to new teachers of key skills. The most common response was to make the teaching relevant to what the students were interested in – their main programme or real life. Other frequent responses were: use a variety of methods and materials; know the specifications inside out; use practical, active methods – ‘all students prefer doing to listening’; know your students’ individual starting points and gaps. Other suggestions included: do key skills yourself, including the tests; avoid note-taking; keep it simple, short, sharp, punchy; show enthusiasm for key skills yourself; learn about the philosophy of key skills; be clear about outcomes; make it different from GCSE; check learning frequently.

6.11

The issue of relevance is a particular concern - both as an essential element of learning with understanding and as a motivational factor. (a)

Identifying where key skills form part of learners’ main programmes


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Some centres deliver key skills as much as possible in a natural learning environment, such as field trips, as in geography, or in life skills, such as planning and preparing a meal. Flinders (2000), for instance, gives examples of ways in which geography activities might be planned in order to identify opportunities for the development and assessment of key skills. Home (2000) concentrates particularly on how many of the IT Level 3 specifications can be met through using the Internet, which can also raise standards in the A-level subject. The observation of teaching and learning was part of an Application of Number session for NVQ level 2/3 Painting and Decorating students. The students displayed a high level of motivation to learn – they were all on task for the whole time despite it being late in the morning. The work was centred on a problem the students perceived to be relevant to the NVQ (pricing the tools and materials needed for the completion of a job) which involved planning, working with others, IT (searching the internet, downloading relevant data, etc.) as well as application of number skills. The group had access to a learning support tutor as well as to several computers which were being intensively used. (FE College)

(b)

Customising activities in order to build key skills into main programmes Thomas et al (2001), for example, reported on a biotechnology summer school for A level students. This was an interactive residential course where students worked with representatives from industry in investigating an ethical issue related to biotechnology. They were assessed for the key skills of communication, working with others and problem solving using a confidence test administered pre- and postcourse, using a five-point Likert scale. This resulted in a positive trend in students’ reported self-confidence. Another interesting approach to customising activities is described below.


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‘Operation Bunter’s Cave’ is an integrated key skills project, which has been developed by the trainers responsible for the delivery of the vocational education programme at the college. It has been designed to provide learners with a coherent approach to achieving the key skills of Application of Number and Communication, which is relevant to the career for which they are being prepared. In addition, materials produced by the learners (eg, data bases, a power point presentations and/or items which have been word processed) can be used to achieve some elements of the NVQ in Information Technology. The basis of the project is a scenario – an incident to which a response has to be planned and organised. This is presented to the learners in the form of a booklet, which in addition to the text contains a series of maps at different scales, and a set of photographs. Taken together this information provides the context within which the learners have to complete a set of vocationally relevant tasks, which will provide the evidence necessary to achieve key skills in Communication and Application of Number at Levels 1, 2 or 3 depending upon the targets they have been set as part of their individual learning plans. The structuring, organisation and wording of the learning tasks are clearly linked to the relevant parts of the key skills specifications, thus leaving the learners in no doubt as to what they are expected to do in order to produce suitable evidence at the appropriate level. Whilst the explicit focus of the ‘Operation Bunter’s Cave’ project is on the acquisition of the key skills of Application of Number and Communication (plus to a lesser degree Information Technology) there is evidence of a strong underpinning of the wider key skills of Problem Solving, Working with Others and Improving Own Learning and Performance. For example, whilst the trainers and Learning Resource Centre staff are there to provide support and guidance, individuals are expected to take personal responsibility for gathering and creating the necessary portfolio evidence. Additionally, there are times when they find themselves working collaboratively in groups to tackle common problems (eg, planning a reconnaissance mission), which have been thrown up as an integral part of the simulation. (Training provider)

(c)

Linking key skills to learners’ future aspirations

All Year 12 students do a work investigation where they check out a job they are thinking of doing, or a university course they are considering. They have to research it and present their findings to the rest of the class. A lot of key skills evidence comes from this. (11-18 School)

Students are encouraged to reflect on their learning and development through work on personal statements for UCAS and the preparation of CVs. (Sixth Form College) ___________________________________________________________________________________ CDELL, University of Nottingham School of Education

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(d)

Preparation for adult life Year 11 students do an integrated portfolio of the wider key skills mostly based around a residential visit. This involves lots of problem solving and working with others (eg they have to work out how to get there, do a route plan and get timetables). They have to get there on their own from school (shadowed by staff). Some of the students have never been on a train before. They do lots of activities when they are there and have to plan them all themselves. The work also includes other key skills such as Application of Number (comparing prices and times, planning a meal on a budget) and IT (reporting on the visit). (11-19 Special School)

6.12

Closely linked to issues of relevance is the notion of transferability – that knowledge, understanding and skills acquired in one context can be transferred by the learner to another. That learning should be transferable is a fundamental aim of key skills provision.

6.13

Given its importance in the field of education and training, transferability has long attracted the attention of researchers and practitioners.5 Commonly, a distinction is made between transferable skills (ie skills which can be identified as occurring in a large number of contexts);6 and transfer skills (ie those skills which enhance the learner’s ability to apply what has been learned in new situations). Key skills encompass both transferable and transfer skills.

6.14

The significance of the transfer/transferable skills distinction is that it draws attention to seeing the application of knowledge not as a one-off event that will happen automatically, but as a continuation of the learning process. Both transferable and transfer skills have to be learned; and there is ample evidence to suggest that the ability to apply them is intimately related to how they are learned. This has a number of implications for successful practice.

6.15

One widely accepted pre-requisite of the transferability of a set of skills is the individual’s awareness of them (CDELL 2001). Embedding the skill in an activity without explicitly recognising it can minimise its transfer. The critical feature appears to be the degree to which learners and teachers are conscious of the skill, can reflect on it and refer to it explicitly. One teacher in a Performing Arts session took great pains to stress the utility of developing transferable skills, and the likelihood that the careers of most of those on the course would involve some form of ‘portfolio working’. She explained – albeit tactfully - the difficulties and instability of working in the performing arts sector, and that it frequently involved prolonged periods of unemployment and underemployment. The fact that the teacher was a former actress who

5

For a review of the literature on transferability see Tolley H and Murphy RJ, The Validity and Transferability of NVQs in the Workplace, Stage 1 report to DfEE, CDELL 1998 6 The Core Skills Project, for example, identified 103 transferable skills (see Levy M, The Core Skills Project and Work Based Learning, Manpower Services Commission, 1987) ___________________________________________________________________________________ CDELL, University of Nottingham School of Education

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subsequently took a degree and was now teaching gave her considerable credibility. 6.16

From their interviews with NVQ level 2 and level 3 engineering apprentices, Tolley et al (2001) noted that ‘the importance of developing [the] ability to transfer what they have learned to solve problems (both familiar and unfamiliar) in the workplace was a recurrent theme in what the respondents had to say’. The apprentices’ responses gave various insights into the ways in which this was developed by the qualified engineers with whom they worked. They make you go through it [the machine] carefully, numbering all the parts so you know where they fit. They took the initiative at giving me jobs. It’s all about confidence, so they give you small jobs at first. They don’t give you jobs you can’t do – they are making judgements. It took me two months to feel confident that I could do the jobs successfully all the time. They are all good at making you work things out for yourself – even when it takes you ages they won’t tell you. They may give a couple of hints. They do it to build up your self-confidence and develop your problem solving skills. If you suggest a solution they always develop the discussion – they don’t just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Some just tell you what to do – that’s not so good. You can only learn a certain amount from watching and with the engineers instructing you to do this now do that in order to fix the problem. You need to ask why is the problem occurring in the first place and to answer that you need to understand how the machine works. They make you diagnose faults. Why is this wheel not turning? They make you file down to the highest level of accuracy to develop your skills. They are always looking to the future – to new problems. How you respond to all this pushing is important. This sort of stuff really does make you learn. Moving from one work placement to another was a shock to my system … you have much re-learning to do because when you are constantly moving it gives you new challenges. But each time you move it gets easier to cope – you get used to moving to new teams and being more experienced means that when something comes up you can refer to something similar to what you have done before.

6.17

Stephenson and Yorke (1998) distinguish between dependent, transitional and independent capability. That is between the ability: q q q

to deal effectively with familiar problems in familiar contexts; to move beyond this in order to cope with unfamiliar problems in a familiar setting; and to transfer learning and manage competently when faced with unfamiliar problems in an unfamiliar context.


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6.18

The responses given by the engineering apprentices illustrate the sort of teaching and learning strategies that are needed to move towards independent capability. For example: q q q q q q q q q q q q q q

6.19

providing information in bite-size chunks; limiting the amount of direct instruction; sustaining learners’ confidence; building in opportunities for practice; judging when learners are ready to move forward; posing problems; understanding the underlying principles of an activity; ensuring that learners possess relevant specific skills and competencies; maintaining a dialogue; giving feedback; having time for reflection and analysis; varying the context; offering challenges; picking out similarities and differences.

Key skills provision lays particular emphasis on meeting individual learning needs – that is on differentiation. Clearly, for differentiation to be effective it has to be part of a process that involves regular assessment, review and twoway feedback. It also requires careful planning and a recognition of the opportunities for different approaches in terms of: q

Task: ie where learners work alongside each other on different activities at different levels, or on different tasks (in the form of extension activities) at the same level.

q

Outcome: ie where learners undertake the same activity, but the activity is designed in a way that enables them to work at different levels. In one college, for example, students on a Sports Studies course undertook an assignment on the same topic that offered varying degrees of challenge. The outcomes could be variously assessed at levels 1-3.

q

Learning style: ie where activities are designed to accommodate different styles of learning. The example of a lesson plan given below is an embryonic attempt to build differentiation of this kind into the session.


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Course

Public and Emergency Services

Topic

Portfolio building – 2.1 Search for and select information for two purposes

Comments

This lesson is one of many carried out on the development of the portfolio. It is vital to build the portfolio slowly over the year rather than just once at the end. This enables internal verification to be carried out. Each student is on a different part of the assignment. Some are still creating queries, others have completed the graphs. Students are given one-to-one advice on what is the next step in their assignment.

Teacher Activity

6.20

Learner Activity

Learning Style

Ongoing assessment/evidence

Logging on, settling down and register taking

Logging on

Practical

Ensure that everyone is logged on

Using the projector to list ‘things to do’ and the order they should come in the portfolio

Noting and responding to information and instructions

Auditory Visual

Check understanding

Helping students to build their portfolios

Portfolio building

Practical Visual

Sign off work as necessary

Closing, gathering in portfolios and logging off

Handing in portfolios Logging off

Practical

Ensuring everyone is logged off

Key skills learners commonly experience a good deal of difficulty in developing and managing their portfolios. They often need a good deal of help from tutors; although, as this and other studies have indicated, tutors themselves are not always clear about the evidence requirements and the best ways of meeting them. As a result there is a danger of portfolios being neglected until the latter part of the key skills programme. This seriously limits their potential role in teaching and learning. In the best practice the value of portfolios in relation to both self-management and skill development is maximised. They are not seen merely as an additional assessment barrier for learners to negotiate. Central to this is the notion of improving one’s own learning and performance (AlphaPlus 2002).

Tutors are expected to monitor portfolio development as the programmes progress, and there is a system for checking that each student is meeting the evidence requirements at each stage. Evidence commonly comes from the main AS programmes and PB welcomed students now putting their personal statements in portfolios in relation to reviewing and reflecting on what they had done. 11-18 School ___________________________________________________________________________________ CDELL, University of Nottingham School of Education

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6.21

6.22

But for this to happen, a number of principles need to be observed: q

The emphasis has to be on the quality, rather than the quantity, of evidence.

q

The portfolio should contain work that has been selected because it is significant in demonstrating that a target has been met or, alternatively, that the learner still has particular needs.

q

The evidence must be updated as necessary – perhaps when better quality or more recent evidence becomes available. Taking evidence out is as important as putting it in in order to keep the portfolio to manageable proportions.

q

The evidence should be properly assessed and annotated to indicate how it meets (or fails to meet) a target.

q

The portfolio should be clearly indexed and the evidence clearly referenced to the learning target or specifications.

In these ways the portfolio can be kept to a size that is manageable and can be used by the learner for personal reflection on progress towards the learning targets. It will also serve as the basis for formal review or appraisal conversations between learner and tutor. The fact that these conversations are evidence based means that they can be more focused and objective. As a consequence, the outcomes are more likely to be helpful to the learner’s future progress and achievement.


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7

MONITORING AND DEVELOPING TEACHING AND LEARNING

Internal verification 7.1

In one college the Learning Services department had developed a system of internal verification of the integrated assessments used to provide key skills evidence. This was part of the college’s own quality assurance procedures. This was seen both as a way of monitoring the key skills assessment practice of tutors and members of the Learning Services team, and as a staff development tool. The process was accompanied by a comprehensive set of documentation.

Learner questionnaires/focus groups

The college recently introduced an end of year key skills specific questionnaire. Of the 110 respondents over 90% provided positive feedback: § Interesting and relevant assignments § Regular feedback provided § Clear understanding of the purpose and importance of accreditation and work § Helpful and supportive mentors § Entitlement to support required to finish off during second year of study (FE College)

Staff development 7.2

Monitoring is used to inform staff development. The current year’s training events are intended to target the specific and diverse needs of staff as identified in the key skills audit. In one of the most developed, a staff development handbook is circulated at the beginning of the year and each event is advertised in the staff bulletin and on notice boards.

7.3

Amongst the training events advertised in the current programme were: q

Using the Progress File to Evidence the Wider Key Skills Extracts from the Progress File have been used to help provide the framework for this document. We are currently developing the Progress Files at levels 2 and 4 to help candidates generate evidence for ‘Improving Own Learning’ and ‘Working With Others’. These documents will be piloted this year with targeted groups. Come and share our ideas and progress so far.


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7.4

q

Providing Constructive Feedback This is a chance to share good practice, which is currently notable in some programmes in the college. See how positive formative feedback allows candidates to re-visit and improve their work and think for themselves. This type of feedback evidences the process of learning and ultimately becomes part of the candidates’ portfolios.

q

Developing Your Own Portfolio There is no doubt that the best way to learn how to teach candidates to develop key skills portfolios is to do one yourself. At present there is no compulsory qualification for key skills assessors. However, the qualifications that are currently available all have one thing in common: they include achieving at least one key skill unit at level 3 or 4. If you would like to make a start on yours then we hope to see you at this session to plan individual assignments which are of most relevance to you.

To guard against merely preaching to the converted, the college was also continually looking for alternative ways of reaching those who may be less committed. So, for example, in addition to the training events: q

Since the Learning Services department were aware that the training events might not meet individual needs, staff were actively encouraged to make specific requests. Training tailored to meet these needs was then offered on an individual or group basis. In 2001, for example, the department had run some 150 separate sessions on issues to do with Application of Number.

q

In all key skills classes additional support staff from the Learning Services department worked with students who had specific learning needs. Although they focused on a number of identified students, in effect they were team teaching with the key skills tutor.

q

The Learning Services department targeted individual staff who were having difficulties with some students. For example, they worked with a GCSE maths teacher helping him to see how, in this case, the basic skills curriculum could help him provide more effective support for his students and put them on the road to tackling key skills Application of Number successfully.


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Individual and Group Training Last year we ran a large number of individual and group sessions. The demand for this type of training is high and most successful and we anticipate that the demand may become even higher this year. Suggestions for session content already targeted by you include: · Update on the Key Skills Framework · Mapping key skills into subject areas as a framework for teaching and learning · A collaborative approach to writing integrated assignments · Co-marking assessed work · Writing one assignment for different levels · Making effective use of additional support tutors · Tracking and logging candidates’ work · Writing schemes of work and lesson plans which reflect the Key Skills Framework and provide evidence for LSC inspection · Writing multi-skilled assignments (for more experienced assessors) · Become an Internal Verifier/Standards Moderator Please make your specific requests at any time during the year and we will do our best to make arrangements for you. (FE College: Key Skills Staff Development Programme)


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Case Study 1 Level 1 key skills as a basis for progression and the development of independence in learning The Learners The learners were 16-17 year olds on a Foundation Modern Apprenticeship programme. In addition to key skills they were working towards an NVQ level 2 in IT. The setting An area of open space by a river with hedges, trees, ditches and a few buildings. Although these features were used to good effect in some of the tasks, many of the activities could equally well have been set up in the grounds of a school or college, or indoors. The activity q

The tasks, to which the learners had been introduced in a previous session earlier in the week, centred on a set of practical problems each of which had to be solved within a strict time limit (10 minutes) and according to a prescribed set of rules which varied according to the task.

q

Learners worked in groups of 11. Each was accompanied by an assessor, and an internal verifier moved between the groups. All the tasks demanded a high level of co-operation between the members of the group.

q

All the tasks involved effective communication. But some had been specifically designed and structured to focus on particular aspects of the key skill.

q

One such task involved putting together a large jigsaw. A member of the group was designated as the leader. She was required to stand in a small square several metres away from another square where the pieces of the jigsaw and the rest of the group, half of whom were blindfolded, were placed. The problem was to assemble the puzzle correctly in the time allowed. Only the blindfolded members could move the pieces, and those without blindfolds could only act on instructions from the leader. They, therefore, had to relay information to the leader and instructions back to their colleagues.

The learning q

Prior to starting the activity, the designated group leader explained to the assessor how they intended to tackle the problem, the allocation of roles and responsibilities and the rules to be followed. As the task had been introduced


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some days earlier, she had had time to analyse it and form an action plan and had written these down. q

Once the plan had been explained to the assessor, the leader used her notes to brief the rest of the group. They then attempted to put the plan into effect. The assessor observed the proceedings, paying particular attention to the behaviour of the group leader.

q

Carrying out the task itself placed great emphasis on careful listening and on conveying messages with clarity and accuracy. These particular skills had been emphasised during an earlier communication key skills teaching session.

q

When the task was completed – or time ran out – the assessor led a debriefing. The leader was required to give an evaluation of the group’s performance, the quality of the action plan and the effectiveness of her initial briefing. The team was invited to comment on her evaluation, before the assessor gave feedback to the group as a whole. In addition, the leader was given one-to-one feedback and the assessor recorded the assessment decision and a comment in her portfolio. The leader also added an evaluative comment.

Commentary The focus of the activity was on the development of the learners’ communication skills. But a significant aspect of the interactions between the assessor and the group leader in particular was the emphasis placed on self-evaluation as a means of improving own learning and performance. The underlying purpose of these interactions (or ‘learning conversations’ as Harri-Augstein, 2000 describes them) was to challenge the learner’s understanding of the problem and to emphasise the wider vocational relevance of the skills which had been acquired. In giving his feedback, the assessor linked the learner’s immediate experiences to other situations by discussing the significance of what had been learned and how it might be applied to other problems and in different contexts. An underlying aim of the exercise was the development of what Stephenson and Yorke (1998) refer to as ‘independent capability’. (See paragraph 6.17)


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Case Study 2: The development and use of plans to support individual learning (i)

The institutions

Institution A:

A college providing further education for disabled young people (16-22). The college places considerable emphasis on promoting personal growth and independent learning. The core curriculum and associated individual learning plans aim to develop all the key skills, although not all the learners will achieve key skills qualifications. Institution B:

A training provider offering NVQ related training. Its main purpose is to enable young people to gain relevant qualifications and enhance employability within an individual’s chosen area. Most of the trainees are on Modern Apprenticeship programmes.

(ii)

Developing learning plans

The different procedures adopted by the two institutions are considered here in relation to a developmental model consisting of ten suggested steps. This model is designed to offer a framework against which to set the general features of a learning plan. But, it is important to note that there is an inevitable overlap between the steps and that there is no absolute right order in which the activities should take place.

Activity

Interview learner

Both institutions place a great deal of emphasis upon this, although the emphasis differs. For A the initial interview is essentially about admission in a situation where funding and facilities may well result in an inability to admit a particular individual. For B candidates have normally already been selected, or at least put forward, for a specific qualification. Hence the interview has the more restricted focus of gathering information. This difference in emphasis has implications for steps 2 and 3.

Identify learner’s perceived goals

For B the goals are defined almost exclusively by the selected programme, whereas for A they consist of: (i) a long term multipurpose goal identified by the individual which remains with them throughout their time at the college; and (ii) a range of ‘skills for living’ goals designed to bring an individual nearer to their long term goal.


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Initial assessment

There is a more substantial diagnostic element to initial assessment in A which would not distinguish between this and step 5. The test used in initial assessment in B is primarily, although not exclusively, designed to place trainees in relation to the requirements of key skills level 2. A also engages in and makes more reference to feedback than is the case with B.

Relate to standards

The work of B is guided by national qualifications standards to a far greater extent than is the case with A.

Diagnostic assessment

For A there is no distinction between initial and diagnostic assessment. The emphasis is always on the diagnostic. Throughout a learner’s course, B uses a commercially available test to identify skills gaps.

Draw up learner’s profile

Both institutions establish these. Those at A tend to be more ‘spiky’.

Set SMART targets

Both institutions set targets, although A identifies them in terms of goals and B as outcomes. For B a major target is programme completion within a specified timeframe. For A the time taken to achieve goals is less important than their realisation.

Relate to core curriculum

In a sense, for A learners’ targets (or goals) form the core curriculum which is highly individualised. For B the curriculum is far more determined nationally and by employers’ requirements.

Identify learner’s needs

Both institutions seek to determine learners’ immediate and longer term aspirations, and their needs in relation to course requirements. For B, however, course requirements are far more externally determined. To a large extent A is able to adapt the course to learners’ needs rather than the other way round. Both institutions also attempt to identify learning styles.

Devise appropriate teaching and learning strategies

In both cases the institutions endeavour to match strategies to learners’ needs, skills gaps and learning styles. A is, however, able to do this more flexibly.


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(iii)

Using the learning plans

B

A

The learning plan has two main elements: (i) A statement in three columns of goals (long and short term), progress made and realisation. This is the heart of the plan. (ii) A section providing details of, for example, learning support needs, identified learning styles and equipment needed by the learner,

The learning plan for each individual consists of some six documents which have various functions and focus on different parts of the learner’s programme. In part the plan serves as a contract between the learner, their employer and the training provider.

Review sessions are held every three months with ‘between review’ meetings as necessary. The personal tutor and possibly other members of staff attend meetings. They discuss with the learner progress in relation to the short term goals and agree new goals. In effect each learning plan is seen as having a shelf life of three months.

Reviews are held quarterly. These assess progress against stated timescales and outcomes. The review process also has specific paperwork designed to capture other aspects of a learner’s progress and development.

Learners are encouraged to discuss goals and goal setting with others and to share their experiences.

Learners are encouraged to use the information generated by the plan to keep track of their own learning and to discuss this with their training coordinator.

Sample of comments from learners:

Sample of comments from learners:

I don’t have a goal in every area. I don’t have to. Goals vary from very simple to very complicated – goals are helping everyone.

I don’t use the learning plan very often. It is helpful for details of targets and units. I probably don’t look at it between E’s (the training coordinator) visits.

Goals are not buried but can be pinned on the notice board.

(iv)

It is a bit like a diary, dates of reviews, etc. There is not a lot of work involved in keeping the plan up-to-date.

Commentary

Both institutions have spent a lot of time and care in making the respective learning plans fit for purpose. In both cases the plans are well designed and administered. The main issues raised by this comparison are: q

q q q

The kind of procedures an institution should have in place in order to ensure that the learning plan as it develops can continue to be responsive to learners’ needs as identified during the initial assessment process. The extent to which a learning plan can effectively serve a variety of purposes – notably those of both guiding and auditing individual progress. Ensuring that learners have a sense of ownership. Manageability of what can easily become unwieldy documents and processes.


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Case Study 3: Adding value to teaching and learning

The key skills units aim to develop and recognise candidates’ ability to apply these skills in ways that are appropriate to different contexts in order to improve the quality of learning and performance… From September 2000, all qualifications accredited by QCA and the other regulatory authorities … including GCSE AS and A levels, will signpost opportunities for generating evidence and, where appropriate, for assessing key skills. (Guidance on the key skills units, QCA, 2000)

The management of the school accepted the following rationale for introducing key skills: · Key skills demands on methodology were seen as important for effective AS/A2 delivery · Key skills competence would improve access to higher grades in AS/A2 … (11-18 School)

1

One of the issues that the study attempted to explore was the extent to which there was evidence of key skills having a positive impact on teaching and learning in the context of learners’ main programme of work or study. In the event, evidence – other than anecdotal evidence - was hard to come by, and this is clearly an area that would warrant further investigation. There were, however, some valuable pointers.

2

Some centres that had carried out an evaluation of the impact of key skills on learners’ programmes, one college had done so with particular reference to Communication. They concluded that work on Communication had made students think more about the breadth of their research and how they structured their findings. Areas such as courses in Leisure and Tourism in particular had benefited noticeably from meeting the requirements of the Communication unit. Although their evaluation had been less systematic, other centres too had identified gains in developing learners’ research and time management skills. Key skills requirements were seen as helpful, for example, in enabling learners to cope more effectively with the coursework requirements of public examinations. Students on a level 2 Food Preparation and Service course were considered to have broadened their capabilities beyond the requirements of the course. They demonstrated skills in speaking and listening and in personal presentation that would not have been identified without key skills opportunities. In particular, their experience of key skills was felt to have better prepared them for progression to higher level courses.


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3

In some instances the quality of teaching was also felt to have benefited, either because teachers and tutors had themselves undertaken key skills courses or because teaching key skills had made them re-think their approach generally. It had, for example, helped them to be more creative or to use a wider range of techniques. Instructors are linked to the NVQ side of things but we do make them do key skills and compile a portfolio. We are also doing this with our Roving Assessors. Although one person objected ... there is evidence that the quality of learning and teaching is improving ... all Instructors now use computers and Power Point presentations, even in the yard ... it’s good for students to see this. (Training provider)

4

One college tutor was in no doubt that her experience of teaching Application of Number had revolutionised her A level teaching. Whilst working on integrating Application of Number into the mathematics A level she developed an assignment which covered a range of skills and processes and realised there was no reason why this approach should not inform the whole of the teaching and learning of maths - ‘Pure maths is boring, it’s dry, it has no context’. She now brings in ideas and examples that set things in context and show the students the reasons for and applications of the area of the syllabus they are studying.

5

The added value offered by key skills may, however, be hidden – even to the participants. In their study on the validity and transferability of NVQs in the workplace, Tolley et al (2001) suggested that ‘implicit in the design of the NVQ [in Child Care and Education] … is the tenet that in order to be successful, the candidate must be self-organised’. For example, the lack of set deadlines for completion of work, few specific assignments and a reduced emphasis on the taught aspect of the programme demand of the successful learner ‘a set of skills … which are over and above those required explicitly by the Standards’. All the learners interviewed mentioned the added value which they considered the NVQ to have given them. They emphasised gains in: selfconfidence; improved time management and organisational/planning skills; social skills; increased underpinning knowledge and the ability to transfer that knowledge to other situations. The fact that these are all part of key skills seemed to go largely unrecognised by candidates, college staff and employers.

6

The principles underlying good teaching practice and effective learning in key skills are not sui generis. They do not differ from teaching and learning generally, and this explains in part why their impact is difficult to tease out. What the key skills requirements do, however, as is suggested elsewhere in this report (see Chapter 6) is to draw particular attention to certain aspects of good practice. They focus upon: identifying and meeting individual learning


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needs; the ability to apply knowledge and understanding; enabling people to become autonomous learners; and the development of personal and interpersonal skills. Increasingly these, and not merely the transmission and retention of knowledge, are becoming a necessary – and stated - part of achieving success across a wide range of academic and work related qualifications. In that sense, the relationship between key skills and other courses is becoming more of a two way relationship.


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Case Study 4: Innovative practice in the teaching and learning of Application of Number This example is taken from an assignment undertaken by learners studying for the National Diploma in Performing Arts. The assignment was designed to meet the requirements for Application of Number at level 2.

THREE BLIND MICE In 1947 the BBC broadcast a radio play which was to become the longest running classic murder mystery in the history of London West End theatre. It was originally called ‘Three Blind Mice’ and was written by Agatha Christie. The play was renamed ‘The Mousetrap’ shortly afterwards and toured the country before first opening in London on 25 November 1952. This play is to be your Touring Theatre Company’s next production. As a member of the set design team you are about to agree the ground plans of the stage set for the play with the production team. In order to do this you will need to supply a suitable scaled diagram of the set which will then be used to mark up the rehearsal room. It has already been agreed that the attached pencil sketch (Margaret Williams Theatre, New Jersey) will provide a suitable layout. The measurements in this sketch are to scale. The only change the director wishes to make is that the table will be semi-circular, not rectangular, and the top of this table has an area of 0.25 square metres. There are four entrances. You have been instructed to keep the set in the same proportions as this one, although the dimensions will be bigger. Your venue for this production is a proscenium theatre and the maximum depth of the acting area is 5.1 metres. The set is to occupy the full width below the proscenium arch (ie 8 metres).


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GUIDANCE AND INFORMATION ON THREE BLIND MICE By completing this assignment you could provide half of the evidence required for your Application of Number portfolio at level 2. However, producing the diagram alone is insufficient to show how you can obtain and select information, calculate and check your work, and present your findings. Use the following guidelines to help you write down how you completed the whole process. Task 1: Preparation

(i)

Write a brief summary in your own words of what you understand the assignment is asking you to do.

(ii)

Research and discuss what information you think you will need to know before you can produce this diagram appropriately (eg will you need to know any technical language to describe what you are going to do?) Record what you have found out that is relevant.

(iii)

Write down in a suitable way what measurements you will need to know and make a note of how you are going to collect these. State any assumptions you will make (eg about measuring drawings in perspective or about variations in sizes for different items of furniture). Include how you will find the actual length of the upstage flats across the back and how you will break this down into its component lengths (eg walls, window, archway). Choose how you will record this information (eg table, list, chart). If you have actually measured items yourself you will need a witness testimony in your portfolio to confirm you have done this accurately.

(iv)

Using the dimensions of the pencil sketch, write down how you will compare the measurements of this stage to the proportions of your theatre venue. What calculations will you need to do to make this comparison?

(v)

Write down how you will use the area of the table top (0.25 square metres) to inform your diagram. Plan what you have to do to get the dimensions you need. Ø Carry out your calculations showing your methods clearly (at least two samples of each type of calculation). This will include your scaling and algebraic calculations. Ø Show how you checked each type of calculation. Ø Choose a suitable way of rounding up your answers, always stating the units you have used. Ø If, by checking your work, you find any errors, then correct these and explain how you discovered them.


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Building on the Best: Describing Good Practice in the Teaching and Learning of Key Skills 56 ___________________________________________________________________________________ Task 2: The diagram

(i)

Note down what type of diagram you have chosen. After drawing a scaled rectangular outline of the space available identify the setting line, all entrances, the positions of the sides of the proscenium arch and the nine stage areas. Use your judgement to position the props as accurately as possible.

(ii)

Explain how you know the dimensions you have displayed look sensible on your diagram. What did you do to deduce this?

(iii)

Make sure you have given your diagram an appropriate title, labelled it correctly and shown the scale and any units used.

(iv)

Describe what you have drawn and explain how your calculations support this. Suggest any alternatives you might have considered when positioning the props. Explain any difficulties you experienced when interpreting the pencil sketch and how you overcame these. What assumptions did you make?


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Case Study 5: Developing ICT skills through AS coursework Unit 2723 – Home Economics Study 1 AS Coursework Submission Time allocated: 12 weeks Mark allocation: 40% of final grade 3000 word report Choose a topic of your choice from either: Module 1 – Demography, Family and Society, Contemporary Issues, Social Welfare Community Health Issues Or Module 2 – Food Provision, The Selection and Purchase of Food, Food Consumption Patterns, Housing, Income and Expenditure An effective submission will include evidence of all the following: Evidence required: Brainstorm Secondary research (6-8 pieces) Comparing the advantages and limitations of the different sources Choosing appropriate techniques for finding information Mind Map To show how you have made selections based on relevance to your purpose and judgements on quality using your own and others’ views on accuracy and reliability of content Detailed planning for the 12 week period Research Methodology Explore and develop and exchange information Create and use appropriate structures and procedures to support this

Evidence required: Compile report using exemplar material Present your findings to the group Develop and structure the content using the views of others to guide refinements Present information effectively using a format and style that suits your audience Ensure your work is accurate and makes sense!

Means of production: Charts Now! Software The Internet Databases Material to be scanned Files in disk CD-ROMs Charts Now! or Word Art

Word table Word table/Excel to: Record information Set up fields in databases to collate relevant research outcomes Compile spreadsheets to model and test the coursework hypothesis Develop information Generate charts Means of production: Word Powerpoint Coursework appendix OHP presentation Powerpoint Audience feedback


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Case Study 6: Promoting Problem Solving Problem solving is not just an individual activity – teams need to be able to solve problems together. (Supporting Problem Solving, Guide to good practice, KSSP, 2002)

1

Many of the examples provided in this report indicate ways in which the wider key skills can be promoted through the teaching and learning strategies adopted in the classroom and workplace. Although the two exemplar activities described in this case study focus upon one of the skills in particular – problem solving – invariably this will also involve working with others and be part of the process whereby the individual improves their own learning and performance.

2

Example 1: Developing problem solving skills through work-based assignments The learners are on an Advanced Modern Apprenticeship scheme which includes a college based key skills support programme. As part of this, they undertake assignments, typically lasting for three months, based in the workplace. Assignments are negotiated jointly by the learner, tutor and manager, and are supported by the tutor and the learner’s workplace supervisor. The work is treated as a company project and presented as a business case. It has a ‘real world’ feel about it. The approach is one that both learners and the company value and wish to maintain. _______________________________________________________________

Title: A specification for revised maintenance transportation both on and off site

Business Case No: N.T. 003ES

Issue No: 1

Date: 01.08.02

Prepared by: A.N. Other

Authorised by: J. Smith

Introduction: Owing to the large scale of the site and the diversity of work undertaken by Asset Management Maintenance, some means of transportation is essential. There is currently a mixture of vehicles in use, ranging from a bicycle to a tail lift truck. These vehicles are sourced by various means, some being rented from an outside supplier, some being company owned. In either case the cost to the department is excessive and this project covers the benefits to be gained from standardising whilst providing a more efficient service to the department personnel.


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Reason for requirement: This project has shown that a cost saving can be gained along with improved efficiency and a more environmentally friendly solution. The main problems are the diversity and age of the vehicles currently in use. This increases the cost of maintenance to keep the vehicles in a roadworthy condition. There is no means of recording the mileage per user, which therefore incurs high mileage and thus high fuel bills.

The extract given above is only a small part of the final report. Amongst other matters, the project required the learner to consider health, safety and environmental issues; to carry out a cash flow analysis; and to present specific recommendations to the company. 3

Example 2: Developing problem solving skills through curriculum enrichment schemes The school is an 11-18 comprehensive school, which participates in a programme offered by a national education charity founded in 1963 to further links between schools and industry. The charity runs a number of programmes for young people based on the principle of ‘learning by doing’. The school’s involvement is with the Company Programme in which students aged 15-19 set up and run a company over the course of one academic year. Currently, 36 students from the lower sixth at the school have volunteered to take part in the scheme. They have formed three separate companies, each of which has an elected board of directors, and is in the process of developing a business plan, raising share capital and deciding on a product or service to market. The three companies meet once a week during a period designated for the purpose on the timetable and at other times by arrangement (eg, at lunchtime and after school). The students all take 4 subjects at AS level (school policy) with the intention of taking 3 at A2 level in their second year in the sixth form. The enterprise scheme is seen by the school as part of a whole range of activities (eg, Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme), the intention of which is to enrich the academic curriculum by providing opportunities for the acquisition of key skills. _______________________________________________________________ One of the companies was observed in action during a timetabled lesson. The twelve students had already elected its officers (Chief Executive, Company Secretary, Accountant, Marketing Director etc) and the group was self-directed for the full 40 minutes of the lesson, though it did have access to a visiting ‘adviser’ who observed the proceedings and responded to the group’s queries. The interactions were orderly – one of the students acting as a chairperson – and purposeful as befitted a ‘meeting of the board’. Participation was high – everyone present listening and contributing as appropriate at some point in the discussion. The interactions were focused on the decisions, which had to be made in order to formulate their business plan. Decisions were made and noted concerning the ordering of priorities and the assignment of tasks. Although the exchanges were friendly and good-humoured, no time was wasted on


July 2003

Building on the Best: Describing Good Practice in the Teaching and Learning of Key Skills 60 ___________________________________________________________________________________ small talk or frivolity. Clearly, this was an opportunity for the students to develop their communication and problem solving skills through participation in discussion. A small group of students who had participated in the Company Programme in the previous year were still enthusiastic about it and had many positive things to say about their experiences of the scheme. For example, they said that through it they had become much more aware of the key skills in the Application of Number, Communication and IT they had acquired. They all said that it had enhanced their self-confidence, and that it had given them an opportunity to learn about problem solving and working with others, free from direction by teachers or other adults. They also had come to realise that in order to solve problems it is sometimes necessary to make use of previously acquired knowledge and skills (‘In writing our report we not only had to learn IT skills but had to make use of the design skills we learned lower down the school’). ___________________________________________________________________________

4

Mapping problem solving onto the enterprise scheme (The table below is a modified version of one given in Key Skills with Enrichment Schemes, OCR, 2000)

Problem Solving Level 3

Marketing Director

Sales Director

Operations Director

Finance Director

Explore a complex problem, come up with three options for solving it and justify the option selected for taking forward

Identifies good market and product niches

Develops indepth understanding of customers and competition

Product development activity

Monitors financial progress and recommends action to ensure results

Agrees on marketing campaign Agrees product costing and pricing strategy Participates in the production of company report

Agrees on marketing campaign Agrees product costing and pricing strategy Participates in the production of company report

Devises production system

Balances production and demand

Prepares financial plan, profit and loss account, balance sheet and liquidation report

Agrees product costing and pricing strategy

Participates in the production of company report

Manages and monitors production team

Managing Director

Personnel Director

Company Secretary

Identifies problem areas and solutions

Assists managing director in selecting the right people for the right jobs

Ensures that all departments are kept fully informed about the company’s activities

Agrees tasks and goals with team members Ensures different departments work together

Decides how to motivate and reward team members

Responsible for the production of company report




July 2003


5

Supporting Problem Solving (KSSP, 2002) provides a useful summary of a range of techniques that might be employed in developing learners’ problem solving skills.

Brainstorming

SWOT Analysis

Risk assessment Flow charts/process charts

What if …?

Force-field analysis

Cost-benefit analysis Taking different viewpoints Mind maps Time lines

Decision trees

A means of generating new and original ideas. Most often a group activity, but learners can usefully brainstorm on their own as well. Brainstorming rules: § Postpone and withhold judgement of ideas. § Encourage wild and exaggerated ideas. § Quantity counts at this stage, not quality. § Build on the ideas put forward by others. § Every person and every idea has equal worth. Learners can use SWOT analysis to help them evaluate their approach to problem solving and improve the way they do it. Teams and organisations can also use SWOT analysis as part of the planning phase of the problem-solving cycle. Comparing, evaluating and selecting options for solving a problem by considering the likely risks attached to each option. A visual way of highlighting the key steps in a process. Drawing up a flow chart can help to: § build up a better understanding of what is involved in the process; § identify areas where the process could be improved; § save time and improve the quality of the product; § plan where a project is going; focus attention on the final goal. An approach to problem solving by encouraging learners to think outside existing constraints or to imagine how someone else might tackle it. A way of getting different angles on a problem that may be employed individually or as part of a brainstorming session. Identifying and weighing up by means of visual representation the forces that are likely to help or hinder a given course of action. The different forces (assessed as being strong or weak, long or short term) can be represented by, for example, drawing arrows of varying thickness and length. Comparing and evaluating possible options by determining whether the costs attached to any one option outweigh the likely benefits. Approaching problem solving empathetically by encouraging learners to recognise that for a variety of reasons people may perceive a problem, and its possible solution, very differently. Building on the notion that problems can be effectively explored by linking key concepts together – but not necessarily in a linear or symmetrical way. Such links can be represented diagrammatically. Recognising that time is an important dimension in arriving at solutions to problems. Creating time lines is a useful way of showing: § the sequence of activities; § how long each activity lasts; how activities relate to one another on a timescale. As with other techniques, decision trees offer a visual approach to identifying alternative courses of action, and the likely results and potential benefits of each option.


July 2003


References ALI/Ofsted (2001) The Common Inspection Framework for Inspecting Post-16 Education and Training ALI (2002) Handbook for Inspectors, September 2002 AlphaPlus (2002) Improving Own Learning and Performance: Realising the Potential, A discussion paper for ABSSU Black P & Wiliam D (1998a) Assessment and Classroom Learning, Assessment in Education Vol 5 No 1 Black P & Wiliam D (1998b) Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment, King’s College, University of London CDELL (2001) Introducing and Supporting Key Skills in Higher Education Centre for Education and Industry, CEI (2002) Evaluation of the Key Skills Support Programme, Interim Report, University of Warwick Engineering Employers Federation (2002) Skills in Engineering: the landscape for change over the next twenty years, Report by Henley Management College Flinders E (2000) Assessing Key Skills through Geography: a practical approach, Teaching Geography, April 2000 Gillespie J & Wilmut J (2002) Curriculum Models for Teaching Key Skills, Report to DfES, CDELL Glover L (2002) Key Skills and Inspection in Colleges, LSDA Harlen W & James M, (1997) Assessment and Learning: differences and relationships between formative and summative assessment, Assessment in Education, Vol 4 No 3 Harri-Augstein, S (2000) The University of Learning in Transformation: New Systems, Structures and Models, New Capability, 4 (3), 47-50, Higher Education for Capability, Leeds Home P (2000) Geography and the Internet: adding a Key Skills dimension, Teaching Geography, October 2000 KSSP (2002) Supporting Problem Solving: Guide to good practice OCR (2000) Key Skills with Enrichment Schemes Ofsted (2000) Pilot of the New Key Skills Qualification 1997-99 Ofsted (2002) Handbook for Inspecting Colleges, HMI 464, May 2002 ___________________________________________________________________________________ CDELL, University of Nottingham School of Education

July 2003


Kelly A (2001) Selecting a Key Skills Delivery Mode: thinking about efficiency and effectiveness, Oxford Review of Education, Vol 27 No 2 Kelly A, West M & Dee L (2001) Staff involvement in the design of a key skills curriculum: a case-study, The Curriculum Journal, Vol 12 No 2 Learning for Work (2002), Options for reducing the assessment burden of key skills in Modern Apprenticeships Levy M (1987) The Core Skills Project and Work Based Learning, Manpower Services Commission Lindley P (2000) Briefing paper: Findings from an Evaluation of Initial Assessment Materials, KSSP LSDA (2000) Results of a Survey on Teaching Key Skills QCA (2000) Guidance on the key skills units: Communication, Application of Number and Information Technology, levels 1-3 Reynolds S, Martin K & Groulx J (1995) Patterns of understanding, Educational Assessment, 3. Stephenson J and Yorke, M (1998) (eds) Capability and Quality in Higher Education, Kogan Page, London Tolley H and Murphy RJ (1998) The Validity and Transferability of NVQs in the Workplace, Stage 1 Report to the DfEE, CDELL Tolley H and Murphy RJ (1999) The Validity and Transferability of NVQs in the Workplace, Stage 2 Report to the DfEE, CDELL Tolley H, Greatbatch D, Bolton J and Warmington P (2001) The Validity and Transferability of NVQs in the Workplace, Stage 3 Report to the DfES, CDELL Thomas M, Hughes SG, Hart PM, Schollar J & Griffiths GW (2001) Group work in biotechnology and its impact on key skills, Journal of Biological Education, Vol 35 No 3


July 2003

Building on the Best: Describing Good Practice in the Teaching and Learning of Key Skills 64 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Appendix I Mapping Good Practice: the original grid developed for the study (i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

ASPECT

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD PRACTICE Learners understand why key skills are important and where they will fit into their overall programme; identify those they need to develop further; and know how they will be supported and what they are working towards

STRATEGIES

EXEMPLAR FEATURES

Introducing learners to key skills

Include key skills information/activities as part of an induction programme at both whole institution and individual course levels

Make an initial assessment of learners’ current skill levels and experience

- Ensures learners are not overloaded with too much information too soon - Emphasis on both immediate and longer-term benefits - Links to personal development and career progression - Stresses that key skills are integral rather than bolt-on - Diagnostic assessment using published or centre-devised tests, self-assessment packages and/or learners’ initial pieces of work - Use of prior achievements data - Individual guidance interviews


July 2003


(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

ASPECT

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD PRACTICE

STRATEGIES

EXEMPLAR FEATURES

Develop individual learning plans - Plans firmly and realistically based on the results of the initial assessment process - Include both short and long term aims - Reviewed and updated on a regular basis Planning for key skills

Appropriate courses of study and activities based on an understanding of learners’ needs, main programmes and learning styles; and a knowledge of key skills course requirements

Specify appropriate learning objectives for the programme overall and for individual components, including key skills in the objectives

- Objectives are shared with learners

Identify how progress will be monitored

- Involves learners in the monitoring and recording process

Map references to key skills onto course plans, schemes of work and lesson plans


July 2003


(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

ASPECT


STRATEGIES

EXEMPLAR FEATURES

Ensure that learners have access to resources that will encourage and support independent learning

Delivering key skills in the classroom/workplace

Learners progress relative to their prior attainment and are successful in meeting challenging targets; develop personal and learning skills; reach levels in key skills consistent with their main programme of study. Their work in key skills furthers achievements in their main programme.

Classroom/workplace activities provide specific opportunities for linking key skills work to the learners’ overall programme, essential job skills and the wider key skills Provide opportunities for independent learning, peer and self assessment

Identify skills gaps

Provide opportunities for feedback from learners


July 2003


(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

ASPECT


STRATEGIES

EXEMPLAR FEATURES

Both at whole centre and individual teacher/tutor level a range of data (including comparative data) are used to monitor how effectively individual needs and aspirations, and community and employer needs for key skills are being met. Appropriate action to remedy weaknesses is identified and undertaken.

Develop whole institution action plans to develop the teaching and learning of key skills

- Identifies areas for and provision of on-going staff development - Disseminates examples of good practice

Observation of key skills sessions as part of the centre’s quality assurance mechanisms.

- Those making the observation judgments have appropriate knowledge and skills

Monitoring the teaching and learning of key skills


July 2003


Appendix II The fieldwork schedules (i)

Centre Interview Schedule

Centre Name, type of organisation, location

Interviewee Name (optional) and role

Interviewer

Date

1

What arrangements does the centre have for monitoring and evaluating the teaching and learning of key skills and the dissemination of good practice?

2

Ask the interviewee to describe and judge the effectiveness with which the centre: (Ask the interviewee to describe in as much detail as possible any examples of what they consider to be particularly effective practice) ·

identifies individual key skill needs;

·

uses the information gathered by initial assessments;

·

monitors and informs learners of their progress in key skills;

·

enables learners to reach a level of achievement in key skills consistent with their prior attainment and potential;

·

presents key skills as an integral part of learners’ courses and programmes;

___________________________________________________________________________________ CDELL, University of Nottingham School of Education July 2003


·

uses the key skills programme to develop learners’ personal and learning skills

3

What has been the impact of the introduction of key skills on teaching and learning practice? (Ask for any specific examples)

4

Ask about teaching and learning practice (Prompts: what methods are used for teaching key skills? What opportunities do learners have for acquiring, practising, combining, demonstrating key skills? Where are key skills taught? When? What resources do learners use when learning key skills?)

5

Has the centre used its experience of key skills to develop teaching and learning practice in other areas?

6

Reactions to the Mapping Grid as a means of capturing good practice (to be discussed with key skills co-ordinators/curriculum managers).



(ii)

Learner Interview Schedule Name of Centre: Please complete the following sections as fully as possible. If there is anything that you are uncertain about feel free to ask for clarification. (i)

Which key skills are you doing as part of your course and at what level(s)?

Key Skill

(ii)

Level

What else are you doing as part of your course?

In the list below put a tick against (a) those activities which you do regularly as part of your key skills learning; (b) those which you prefer doing and feel help you the most; and (c) those which you find least helpful.

Activity

(a) Do regularly

(b) Most helpful

(c) Least helpful

Listening to the teacher/tutor Observing demonstrations by the teacher/tutor Watching videos Completing worksheets and assignments Doing practical work Making notes Working/practising on your own Working/practising with others Doing practice tests Giving presentations to the rest of the group Discussion with the teacher/tutor and/or with others Other things (please list)



Centre: Interviewer: Date: No of learners involved:

1

Responses to the approaches to learning listed on LIS (i)

2

Introduction to key skills

3

Perceived benefits of key skills

4

How far approaches to teaching and learning in key skills differ



(iii) OBSERVATION SCHEDULE Completed by: Date: 1 Context Centre

Subject/activity

Level (eg GCSE, AS, FMA, AMA) Key skill(s) addressed Level(s)

Length of session: Situation (eg timetabled classroom session, assessment/review/coaching in workplace, drop-in centre)

No of learners involved Are the learners on a full-time or part-time course?

2 Activities undertaken by the teacher/tutor/supervisor



3 Activities undertaken by the learners and their response to them

4 Any evidence (with specific examples of particularly effective practice) of: (i) The sharing of clear learning objectives with learners (ii) The use of assessment information, formally or informally acquired, to monitor progress and provide feedback (iii) The effective use of resources (iv) Differentiated activities (v) Whole group work (vi) One-to-one coaching



5

Comment on the extent to which the work undertaken during the session:

(i) was integrated with the learners’ main programme(s) and supported the development of learning and personal skills; (ii) was based upon a firm understanding of learners’ needs and aspirations; (iii) was consistent with the learners’ level(s) of ability and prior attainment; (iv) was pitched at an appropriate level to meet the key skills requirement(s)

6 Record: (i) The results of any discussions held with the teacher/tutor and/or learners (ii) Any other significant issues arising from the session



Appendix III Centres contributing to the study Army Foundation College Bridgewater College British Racing School Brunel Training Castle Green School Colchester Institute College of Richard Collyer Croydon College Esher College Farnborough Sixth Form College Greenwich Community College HM Prison Leicester Josiah Mason College Kingsbury School Minster School Montagu School

North Tyneside College Nottingham Engineering Training Assoc. Park Lane College Runshaw College Sir George Monoux Sixth Form College Somerset College of Arts and Technology South Kent College Tamworth and Lichfield College Lord Mayor Treloar School Walsall College of Arts and Technology Warrington Collegiate Institute West Berkshire Training Consortium West Nottinghamshire College Westwood High School Wigan and Leigh College



Appendix IV Membership of the expert focus groups Group 1: Marney Dick David Horsburgh Piers Goodman Tina Laughton Norma Norris Matthew Scarff Paul Sowerbutts Jayne Walker

Learning and Skills Council LSDA Greenwich Community College Warrington Collegiate Institute Learning for Work Learning and Skills Council QCA South Kent College, Folkestone

John Hamer Henry Macintosh

CDELL CDELL

Group 2: Robert Beaumont Marney Dick Kath Galloway Elaine Hare David Horsburgh Deirdre Kimbell Tina Laughton Norma Norris Jill Stokoe

Walsall College of Arts and Technology Learning and Skills Council DfES Sir George Monoux Sixth Form College, Walthamstow LSDA LSDA Warrington Collegiate Institute Learning for Work QCA

John Hamer Harry Tolley Henry Macintosh

CDELL CDELL CDELL



Appendix V Literature survey on key skills teaching and learning (This excludes those publications cited in the References) Reports Centre for Education and Industry (2001) Independent research to evaluate the introduction of the key skills qualification Final Report (restricted circulation) Engineering Employers’ Federation (2002) Skills in Engineering: the landscape for change over the next twenty years. A report by Henley Management College on behalf of EEF London, EEF Hodgkinson, L & Reubel, Catherine (2002) Investigating student, employer and higher education’s need for certificated key skills achievement Research report, Centre for Outcomes-Based education, The Open University, Milton Keynes. Lindley P (2000) Briefing paper: Findings from an Evaluation of Initial Assessment Materials, KSSP Rainbow, R (2000) Evaluation of the Key Skills Phased Implementation, CDELL/LMG Associates, Nottingham. Learning for Work, Options for reducing the assessment burden of key skills in Modern Apprenticeships

Articles/Books Duckett, Ian (1998) Key Skills in the Curriculum: skills development, enrichment and general education, Forum, Volume 40, No 2, 56-57 Hammond, Michael (2001) Key Skills: a metamorphosis of failure? Paper presented at the Learning and Skills Development Agency Conference at Robinson College, Cambridge, 5-7 December http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00001922.htm Hodgson, Ann & Spours, Ken (2000) Earning and Learning: A local study of parttime paid work among 14-19 year old Lifelong Learning Group, Institute of Education, London Hodgson, Ann & Spours, Ken (2002) Key Skills for all? The key skills qualification and Curriculum 2000 Journal of Educational Policy Volume 17, No 1 29-47 Hodgson, Ann & Spours, Ken , eds (1997) Dearing and Beyond: 14-19 Qualifications, Frameworks and Systems, Kogan Page, London



James, David & Brewer, Janet (1998) Key Skills across the pathways? Case studies of successful development and some implications for policy. Paper given at BERA Conference, Belfast McAlpine, Mhairi and Greatorex, Jackie (2000) Application of Number: an investigation into a theoretical framework for understanding the production and reproduction of pedagogical practices paper presented at BERA Conference, Cardiff, September 7-10 http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00001538.htm Melling, Althea and Jones, Peter J (2001) Broadening and widening horizons: DfEE Key Skills Workbooks as a tool of qualitative research in mentoring and tracking widening participation initiatives paper presented at the Higher Education Close Up Conference, UCLan, 16-18 July http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00001808.htm Murphy, Roger & Wilmut, John (2001) Evaluating the development and introduction of the Key Skills Qualification, Paper to DfES researchers’ forum Oates, Tim (1996) The development and implementation of Key Skills in England, NCVQ, London Savory, Chris, Hodgson, Ann & Spours, Ken Planning and Implementing Curriculum 2000: Different Institutional Approaches, Institute of Education/Nuffield Foundation Project, Research Report No 3

Publications by KSSP/LSDA and QCA (2002) Guides to Good Practice, (9 in total) (2001) Implementing Key Skills; what effective centres are doing. (2001) Key Issues in Key Skills – Top Tips (2002) Planning and delivering induction: good practice guide (2002) Teaching and Learning: Information Technology Teaching and Learning: Communication (2001) Writing assignments: good practice guide (2001) Developing and managing portfolios: good practice guide (2001) Preparing for external assessment: good practice guide (2001) Talking of number: A-level and vocational contexts: delivering Application of Number in schools and colleges



(2001) Speaking and Listening: Finding the Level – examples of student work with commentaries and assessment (2000/2001) Key Skills in A Levels: Chemistry Psychology Sport and Physical Education Biology and Human Biology Economics General Studies History Art and Design Physics Geography French Mathematics Media Studies English Literature Business Studies (2000) How are you managing? Key skills in colleges How are you managing? Key skills in schools (2000) Initial assessment of key skills: considerations for schools Initial assessment of key skills: considerations for colleges (2000) Key Skills 2000 finding the levels: examples of student work with commentaries (undated) Curriculum 2000+1: Preparing for year 2 of the new advanced level general and vocational qualifications QCA (2001) The Review of Key Skills

Inspecting Key Skills Key Skills and Inspection in Colleges (2002) LSDA Findings from Inspection, May 1998-February 1999, LSDA Inspection findings: update, October 1999-February 2000, LSDA Adult Learning Inspectorate (2002) Annual report of the Chief Inspector 2001-2, ALI, Coventry Selected reports from Ofsted & Ali on institutions with good key skills provision (see websites).



General Websites www.qca.org.uk/keyskills www.keyskillssupport.net www.Lsagency.org.uk www.lsda.org.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk www.ali.gov.uk
