Gatsby-published research describes the nature of technical teaching roles

Gatsby has today released a report by York Consulting LLP describing the nature of teaching roles for technical education in England.

The purpose of this research was to gain a better understanding of the nature of technical education teaching roles in order to inform the development of initial teacher education and career pathways for FE. The report provides a categorisation of teaching roles in a range of Further Education (FE) institution types to build a shared understanding of the teaching job roles that support 16-19 and adult education.

An initial literature review was conducted capturing the diversity of FE teaching – with delivery across a variety of settings, and teaching roles showing varied job titles and differing levels of responsibility and autonomy. In-depth interviews were then carried out with staff at 23 providers in England, using a mapping framework to consider the types of teaching roles, specific teaching activities and functions, and the proportion of time individuals spent on differing teaching functions.

The research identified eight main roles involved in technical education teaching, and highlighted the differences between them as well as the differences between roles commonly found in college and work-based learning environments. For instance:
‘Most of our sample were [also] required to have subject-related qualifications to fulfil their teaching role (62%). Of these, 38% were required to be Level 5 equivalent or above qualifications…. 32% of our sample also explicitly identified that they were required to have some industry experience to fulfil their role. Routes where this was important include Health and Science, Engineering and Manufacturing, Education and Childcare, Digital, and Catering.’

The report is available here: Research into technical teaching roles

For questions about this research and its findings, please contact Jenifer Burden: jenifer.burden@gatsby.org.uk