Introduction

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The Institute for Learning (IfL) is the professional body for teachers, trainers and assessors1 across further education (FE), including adult and community learning, emergency and public services, FE colleges, the armed services, the voluntary sector and work-based learning (referred to as the FE and skills sector in this document).

The rapid growth in membership – already over 180,000 by January 2009 – builds on our strengths as a member-created and member-led professional body. This five-year strategy sets out how we will develop IfL’s distinctive role in order to benefit our members and the five million or so young and adult learners they teach and train each year.

Listening and responding to the diverse needs of our members will continue to be fundamental to our work. Members’ views have significantly informed the development of our strategy, through:

  • Many events for members across the country
  • Nearly 6,500 responses from members to our membership survey during summer 2008
  • A series of café discussions in autumn 2008 with groups of members from adult and community learning, work-based learning, further education colleges and other public services
  • More than 800 members commenting in an online survey about the aims and values set out in this strategy.

Over the five-year period, we are determined to ensure that FE and skills teachers and trainers will:

  • benefit from the distinctive services offered by their professional body, so that teaching and training is excellent across the sector
  • take pride in a strong professional status
  • have a louder voice and more influence on policy.

Our strategy covers what we believe the public and learners across the very diverse FE and skills sector expect of a professional body for their teachers and trainers. It focuses on IfL’s unique position, as a professional body, in contributing to and sustaining the lifelong learning workforce.

The strategy sets out our vision, our values, our guiding principles and the strategic aims on which we will focus during the next five years. We will review and update the plan every year.

All our work will be driven by our commitment to promote, value and develop the professionalism of members – all FE and skills teachers and trainers.

1 A variety of terms is used for the teaching, training and assessing role, including lecturers, teachers, trainers, assessors, instructors, tutors and trainee teachers. We use the term teachers and trainers to cover the full range.

Next page: Policy context