Lynne Western-Lait

Membership Grade: Full Member
Length of IfL Membership: 1 Year 6 Months
Current Position: Higher Learning Tutor
Reserved Seats: Offender Learning/North West England

I qualified as an FE teacher at Huddersfield Polytechnic in 1981, nine years after graduation. Previously, I worked in the Civil Service in London and Leeds. My early years in FE were spent teaching History, Politics and General Studies in colleges in Leeds, but in 1987 I was deployed, by Park Lane College, to work at HMP Armley, a local prison. It was the start of a new teaching career in which I have taught in ten prisons including an HMP in the Cayman Islands, West Indies. I have taught in all categories of prisons from Maximum Security to open conditions, young offenders and female establishments. They have all been rewarding and I have enjoyed them for all the opportunities and challenges they have offered.

Offender Learning has changed in many ways over the past twenty years, but it is still the Cinderella of FE. OLASS 3, with its new regional provision, is an opportunity to start ensuring that the professional training matches the requirements of the teachers in this field. The improved management frameworks in each area and nationally are providing teachers with a structure for career development and opportunities which were previously unknown. Teachers can now enter this field and plan a full career in Offender Learning. However, teacher training is not tailored to their specific needs, it is generally aimed at mainstream FE.

My aim is to help identify the training needs of teachers in Offender Learning and address those needs through the OLASS3 providers, under the guidance of IfL. It is an area in which teachers, some in quite small units, can be working from Entry Level to Level 5, as well as vocational skills, with students who may have a wide variety of issues. The effort to meet the educational needs of many of the learners may frequently be compromised by the regime operated by the prison or indeed hampered by the restrictions of set policies, but teachers learn to operate within these restrictions and achieve remarkable successes. The cost in terms of teacher turnover can be considerable, much of it down to inexperience and poor training.

As a regional candidate in the North West I would like to see expansion of the cluster network already initiated in some areas by the local provider, to ensure a more uniform approach to many of the issues confronting teachers in this field which would provide a more cohesive experience of education for learners and a more satisfying profession for those working in a difficult environment.

My interests are walking and enjoying the countryside around Cheshire, enjoying the company of friends and family, baking,sewing and shopping in Liverpool! In addition to my hobbies I am currently the UCU representative for two prison education departments and applaud UCU for their recognition of a need to have a separate conference to discuss our particular issues.