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Recruitment begins for Further Forces mentorship programme
The University of Brighton is recruiting to build a national network of high-quality subject specialist mentors to support armed services leavers training to enter Further Education (FE) teaching.
The Further Forces programme is designed to support service leavers with technical expertise to enter FE to teach technical areas where there are teacher shortages. Research by the University of Brighton has indicated the value of subject-specialist mentoring for trainee teachers in these fields[1]. The programme therefore aims to provide strong and relevant mentoring to help the Further Forces FE trainees to translate their technical knowledge, skills and experience into effective practice.
Programme mentors will be responsible for elements including:
– supporting the trainee’s professional, pedagogical and subject/vocational knowledge development
– supporting the trainee’s career transition from service leaver to trainee teacher
– identifying the trainee’s development priorities and devising an individual mentor support plan to meet these needs in collaboration with the trainee
– being supportive of the trainee’s well-being.
Subject specialist mentoring is an integral and very necessary component of the Further Forces programme, supporting service leavers to make the transition from their role in the armed services to their chosen second career. Recruitment and retention of technical experts to FE teaching is vital and mentors provide the necessary support to ensure that this aim is realised.
The Further Forces programme is supported by the Education and Training Foundation, the Ministry of Defence and Gatsby.
– For information on mentoring Further Forces trainees, please visit the University of Brighton website
– For information for service leavers interested in training to become an FE teacher, visit the University of Portsmouth website
[1] A.J. Hobson, B. Maxwell, A. Stevens, K.Doyle, A. Malderez, Mentoring and coaching for teachers in the Further Education and Skills Sector in England (2015);
http://www.gatsby.org.uk/uploads/education/reports/pdf/mentoring-full-report.pdf