Key Themes

Whilst the case studies cover a wide variety of contexts, subjects and ability levels, five key themes can be identified –

Collaborative Learning

Planning lessons that involve learners in collaborative tasks can help to hold learners’ attention, encourage peer support and promote deep learning. For this reason almost all of the case studies demonstrate this approach to session planning and classroom management.

warmup8aIn the Broadland Council Training Services case study, David Rye and Michaela Evans talk about the way they encourage peer support on Foundation Learning programmes.

In the Peterborough Regional College case study Sharon Bartlett reviews the way she involves learners in a resource development project using a format based on the TV series, ‘The Apprentice’ .

In the SEEVIC case study Laurie Burton, an A Level maths tutors uses groups tasks and games to engage his learners in exam preparation whilst Leah Doyle, a B Tec Sport and Exercise teacher, asks her learners to collaborate on homework tasks as a key element in her ‘flipped classroom’ approach to course delivery.

Both of the Cambridgeshire County Council case studies feature teachers adopting a collaborative approach to session planning in community-based courses for parents and on employability courses for students with learning difficulties.

Peer Assessment

Involving learners in assessing one another’s work can have benefits for both the tutor and the students but it needs to be introduced with care and planning as learners are often resistant to becoming involved in ‘marking’ which they see as the responsibility of the teacher.

In the SEEVIC case study peer assessment approaches are explored in some depth in all of the five sections, but especially in those featuring Adrian Wright who teaches A Level English and Sue Broughton who teaches A Level history.

team ready for assessmentIn the Gt Yarmouth College case study David Patterson, a catering tutor, discusses the way he has introduced peer assessment into his practical sessions in the kitchen.

Innovative use of technologies

The expansion of digital technology is rapidly changing the way we communicate at work and in our personal lives. It is also changing the way we learn and the way we teach.

Shuttleworth logoCarl Groombridge at Shuttleworth College has developed teaching and learning strategies using QR codes and augmented reality tools such as Layar technology. Initially introduced as a way of providing learners with further information on the animals within his centre the use of QR codes is now extending into other areas such as tutor feedback, learners’ work and peer-made instructional film for future learners.

The Cambridge Regional College case study focuses on an online learning programme for apprentices in the wood trades.

In the SEEVIC case study Leah Doyle talks about the way she uses screencasts as part of a ‘flipped classroom’ approach to her B Tec Sport and Exercise Science course.

Embedded Delivery of English and Maths

The development of English and maths skills is now a key criteria for Ofsted in evaluating the quality of teaching and learning in all subject areas.

In the Gt Yarmouth College case study David Patterson talks about the way in which he embeds English and maths skills in both his theory and practical sessions.

In the Broadland Council Training Services case study, David Rye and Michaela EvansDavidRye IssacCranston3a discuss in detail the way they aim to develop the literacy and numeracy skills of their Foundation Learning students in ways that learners will find engaging and relevant.

In the  Cambridgeshire County Council case study Ruth Mitchell reviews a wide variety of family learning programmes that embed numeracy skills in authentic and motivating ways. Eilish Storey discusses her approaches to embedded numeracy support for students with learning difficulties.

Learner Autonomy

Developing the confidence and skills to review your learning targets, to research a topic on your own, to read critically on the web, to work well in a group task, to revise effectively for an exam – these are all key aspects of learner autonomy explored by several of the teachers featured in the case studies.

law and moralityThe SEEVIC case study is detailed analysis of practical strategies to encourage learner autonomy in five subject areas: A-Level English, Maths, History, Law and B Tec Sport and Exercise Science.

In the Gt Yarmouth College case study David Patterson discusses the strategies he uses to encourage his learners to take a mature and self-directed approach to learning as they prepare for the realities of catering work.

In the Peterborough Regional College case study Sharon Bartlett models an active learning approach to the course delivery that she hopes will shape the way her trainee teachers in turn will work with their own learners.

In the Cambridge Regional College case study Crispin Jolley talks about the way the online learning programme encourages apprentices to work independently, setting their own targets, working to a plan and researching topics

At Shuttleworth College Catherine Lloyd talks about ways in which the learners are ‘flipping the classroom’ and using technology to ‘take charge’ of their own learning.