IfL pays tribute to FE teachers and trainers

Wednesday 5 October 2011

To mark World Teachers’ Day, the Institute for Learning (IfL) has paid tribute to the thousands of teachers and trainers across the further education and skills sector who make an enormous contribution to society and the economy.

IfL’s chief executive, Toni Fazaeli, said, “Last year, we marked World Teachers’ Day by renewing our call for an alignment of FE teachers’ professional status with that of teachers in schools, so that teachers and trainers with Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status, conferred by IfL, would have the same official recognition as teachers holding Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in school settings. That wish is well on its way to being granted: the education secretary accepted the recommendation in the Wolf review, and the requisite changes to legislation are likely to be in place by April 2012.

“This year’s theme, ‘teachers for gender equality’, chimes closely with one of the two themes chosen by IfL’s incoming president, Bea Groves, for her year of office, which begins on 13 October 2011. As well as ‘continuing professional development (CPD) that enhances good practice’, she has chosen ‘positive action in diversity’. As the first transgender person to become national president of a professional body in the UK, she is keen to celebrate how IfL embraces diversity in all its forms, and to show that difference should not present barriers to success in the post-compulsory sector.

“It is also fitting that World Teachers’ Day should coincide with the start of WorldSkills London 2011. As well as offering our very best wishes to the 43 young people representing the UK at the world’s largest skills competition this week, IfL would like to pay huge tribute to all the teachers and trainers who have worked so hard to help them attain world-beating standards in their chosen skill area. The dedication, time and effort they have devoted to the competition raises standards for all their learners, as well as the individual competitors.

“Many of these teachers have highlighted the importance of their subject-related CPD. Teachers and trainers in further education and skills typically work in industry first, so they are experts in their chosen area, as well as in teaching. As dual professionals, they have to stay up-to-date in both. That is why IfL responds to members saying they want their professional body, IfL, to support their practice, by offering CPD resources, including subject online communities, newsletters and our professional journal, InTuition; by conferring the professional status of QTLS and Associate Teacher Learning and Skills (ATLS); by sharing evidence-based research on vocational pedagogy; and by working with members, employers and partners to promote the professional status of members in the FE and skills sector.”


World Teachers’ Day 2011

Since 1994, World Teachers’ Day is celebrated on 5 October every year. It is an opportunity for Unesco and Education International to celebrate the profession and to promote international standards for the teaching profession. The theme for this year is ‘teachers for gender equality’. See www.5oct.org/2011