IfL Advisory Council elects president

Wednesday 1 September 2010

John Chorley, the newly appointed president of IfLThe Institute for Learning (IfL), the independent professional body for teachers and trainers throughout the further education and skills sector, has announced the election of John Chorley as the first ever president of its Advisory Council. He will take up his post immediately.

The closing date for nominations was 21 July 2010, and the four candidates were John Chorley, Bea Groves, Paula Jones and Rania Hafez. The single transferable voting system was used to elect the successful candidate.

John Chorley joined the Royal Air Force in 1968, at the age of 17, where he trained as a photographer and gained his private pilot's licence. He left the RAF in the mid 1970s, and after graduating, taught in community schools in Walsall, ran adult education photography classes and worked as a voluntary youth leader. He gained a master's degree in social education and moved into teacher training, and has been part of the post-compulsory education teacher training team at what is now the University of Wolverhampton since 1989. He has been an active trade unionist throughout his teaching career, and branch secretary of the University and College Union (UCU) (formerly Natfhe) since 1988.

Mr Chorley said, "I consider it a great honour to be elected as president of the IfL Advisory Council. For over 20 years, I have been actively committed to the training of teachers in the post-compulsory sector, taking great satisfaction in the way that individuals have developed as reflective practitioners, contributing to the professionalisation of what is the most misunderstood and misrepresented sector of the English education system.

"I see the central role of IfL to continue to raise the profile of teachers who want to make a difference, giving them an apolitical voice, enabling their contribution to society to be more widely valued and appreciated. We must be seen by our members as providing a voice for all members as well as being sensitive to providing benefits, combining this with the notion of professional integrity and the core values of public life. My chosen theme for the year is supporting new teachers and their identity in the post-compulsory sector."

Sue Crowley, IfL's chair, said, "On behalf of IfL, I would like to thank John for standing for this role, and for the valuable contribution he has already made over the past year and a half as a Council member and for his active engagement in a range of committees. I look forward to working with him in the future as we continue building a truly autonomous professional organisation that is well-placed to represent our diverse membership."