Collaborative Approaches to 14-19 Provision - Communities and ...

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEARGovernance Forum which oversees the Knowsley Collegiate, which is the main vehicle forthe strategic planning of the pathfinder. However, company involvement goes far deeperthan that. A senior company manager also sits on the Executive Group which is a keydecision-making and implementation body. Further depth is added by company involvementin the development and teaching of a GCSE Engineering course. The course is jointly taughtby company and college staff and involves sessions both at college and at the companytraining centre.87. Teachers, lecturers and training provider staff were also involved in different ways.They might be drawn in mainly as ‘deliverers’ of courses which were introduced as a resultof decisions taken at strategic levels e.g. in response to skills gaps analyses. This approachmight involve staff development activities to support teachers in taking on new courses orgroups of students. Alternatively, they might be involved in shaping the pathfinder throughcurriculum development activities, piloting new pedagogical approaches and developing newapproaches to assessment.88. The South Gloucestershire pathfinder was particularly strong in its involvement ofteachers through its seven Teacher Learner Groups which have met for half a day fortnightlyfor each year of the pathfinder. Each group has been lead by a Development Manager whohave become leaders in their respective fields of enquiry, e.g. e-learning, unified guidance.89. Coordinators were asked to assess progress in staff development. The results areshown below:More than expected As expected Less than expected Not applicable11 16 1 3These survey findings reinforce those from the case studies and show that pathfinders havebeen investing increasing efforts in staff development as they move from initial planning andsetting up into detailed planning and implementation. Coordinators gave examples of a verywide range of collaborative staff development which evidenced the growing depth and30