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Information Literacy Group for Further Education

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Information Literacy Group for Further Education

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Unique...just like everybody else: the sector that prides itself in its diversity

Further Education (sometimes referred to as Post-compulsory Education or the Lifelong Learning Sector) is made up of general, special, and sixth form colleges. They are commonly involved in vocational education, at all levels, and learners range in age from 14 to 80+. Further Education (FE) covers 17 sector subject areas, so education and training for just about any vocational area is likely to be happening in an FE college. A taster of examples might range from Health to Agriculture, Construction to Art, IT, Business, Retail or Leisure. It is therefore easy to forget that the sector also includes traditional academic routes, A level/Level 3 courses, as well as ESOL and basic literacy or numeracy. Recently, there has been a growth in specialist provision in skills for life, for those with special educational needs.

FE has a tradition of supporting those seeking second chances or a career change, and a cultural emphasis which addresses social exclusion through core skills and employability. However, for some time now, the climate has increasingly focused on financial and educational targets. The requirement for survival is to drive up success rates at the lowest possible cost. Pressure on resources should not be underestimated and effective services define their priorities carefully.

How services respond

Such diversity of demand, sometimes all in one college, presents challenges as all courses require students to use and develop information retrieval skills. Library/learning resources services need to have an in depth understanding of the overall college teaching and learning strategy. They need to keep up to date with rapid changes in both curriculum and teaching methods, if they are to be strong advocates of information literacy development. Other college characteristics; size and type of college, service roles, college structures and service funding, will radically affect the type of offer made to curriculum areas. Any service offer will be customised to suit a particular learning community or context. Above all, delivery will reflect staff resources, particularly in colleges with only one or two professionally qualified posts.

Shared experience with other sectors

The diversity of FE provision leads to overlap with the experience in other sectors. As in schools, there is the challenge of teachers' uncertain understanding of the term "information literacy", along with the struggle to get it recognized in a curriculum which is driven by assessment for qualifications. The development of information literacy is all too easily assumed to exist within main course teaching, or is simply tested rather than explicitly taught.

Colleges are assessed via Ofsted, just like schools, and the Ofsted Common Inspection Framework for FE is designed to assess learning as much as teaching. However, the actual process of an inspection seldom leads to a report that acknowledges the contribution of library staff or services to learner success. Reports seem to assume that teachers asking learners to research is sufficient to address the need for information retrieval skills.

The FE sector provides a significant number of Higher Education qualifications, usually in vocational subjects. These are often taken up learners who have progressed through the college environment, or who are returning to education after a long absence. These groups often lack academic confidence and need particular support. The profile of information literacy is much clearer to teachers at these higher levels and they are more likely to liaise with librarian colleagues about information literacy ( bryan). The FE in HE interest groups, and their partners in HE institutions, consequently form a strong community of IL practitioners.

In contrast, ESOL, basic skills and special needs present a different kind of demand where social needs and life skills development are met. For these groups, Information literacy is closely aligned to language support and literacy, particularly through reading development and promotion, as in public libraries.

Current issues

There are a number of Current Issues affecting information literacy promotion in the FE sector. Many of these raise questions which might provoke thought and discussion for practitioners from any sector.

Current issues affecting IL promotion in the FE sector 2014 (PDF)

What should FE library practitioners do next?

Share your information literacy strategy

A rapidly changing environment, combined with scarce resources, necessitates careful planning and decisions over priorities. Below is an anonymous example of an information literacy strategy that was created for an FE service. If you have a strategy that you would be prepared to share please send it to the ILG group.

Example information literacy strategy for FE (PDF)

Contribute to your community of practice

Our key task is to build understanding and support each other as practitioners. There is a need to increase visibility of our existing activity and develop a stronger voice. For such a diverse sector this is going to take many forms:

Contribute your resources to OER repositories such as the JISC Store.

Advocate and share through networking activities provided by ARLG or ColRiC.

Apply for research funding from ILG and explore the impact of our work.

Apply for awards from ILG, ARLG or ColRiC.

Develop partnership work with other sectors, including public or special libraries.

Participate in teachmeets.

Participate in JISCMail lists, particularly IL-OERS.

Send us your views about how ILG might support you

Written by Nicola Scott (CM RBL dept, Hackney Community College), former sector rep for FE on the CILIP Information Literacy Group.

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Further Education (sometimes referred to as Post-compulsory Education or the Lifelong Learning Sector) is made up of general, special, and sixth form colleges. They are commonly involved in vocational education, at all levels, and learners range in age from 14 to 80+.

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Effective practices in post 16 vocational maths

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Effective practices in post 16 vocational maths

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A resource bank for cross cutting themes in education

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A resource bank for cross cutting themes in education

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Important curriculum content which is to be covered across subjects (or disciplines or learning areas), rather than being taught and learned in one particular subject. These themes can connect programme content across disciplinary boundaries; enrich the curriculum without overloading it through the introduction of additional teaching subjects; and facilitate interdisciplinary thinking and collaborative learning. Examples include human rights, gender issues, peace education, and education for sustainable development.

See also ' Curriculum structure '.

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Important curriculum content which is to be covered across subjects (or disciplines or learning areas), rather than being taught and learned in one particular subject. These themes can connect programme content across disciplinary boundaries; enrich the curriculum without overloading it through the introduction of additional teaching subjects; and facilitate interdisciplinary thinking and collaborative learning.

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Straight forward and easy to dip in and out of. 

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Straight forward and easy to dip in and out of. 

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https://freedomtoteach.collins.co.uk/10-top-tips-for-differentiation/

Collette

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Mathswatch.co.uk is really help full. As is bbc.co.uk/bitesize 

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Mathswatch.co.uk is really help full. As is bbc.co.uk/bitesize 

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As well as Tes.com

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TES collection Childcare and Development offers some ideas and interesting visuals and activities.

Nurseryworld-magazine.co.uk is a subscription site but has some good articles featuring ideas for 0-5 year olds.  Back copies in the library are also useful although be cautious if legislation/frameworks have been updated.
twinkl.co.uk offers primary and secondary school resources.  It is a useful starting point, although be aware of its limits - education has moved away from pre-printed worksheets and colourings, child-centred creativity is the focus.
Emma Smallwood

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A range of resources for subjects from health and social care, government and politics, law, psychology, sport, media and more. It provides a good variety of different types of resources from handouts, flash cards and games, which you can use as part of a lesson activity. It is a great start point but always remember to check and edit if needed - especially to review any spelling mistakes or rogue information

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A range of resources for subjects from health and social care, government and politics, law, psychology, sport, media and more. It provides a good variety of different types of resources from handouts, flash cards and games, which you can use as part of a lesson activity. It is a great start point but always remember to check and edit if needed - especially to review any spelling mistakes or rogue information

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www.resourcd.com

Jodie

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Health and Social Care - Health and Safety Resources. These are great official documents so you can get students using industry standard information and terminology that is linked and applicable to the workplace. There is a focus on students having links to industry in lessons so these are a good start point. You may decide to create a question sheet so lots of information isn’t overwhelming and you can focus the students. HSE does some great posters so you can differentiate material from posters with overviews to more wordy summary reports for stretch and challenge 

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Health and Social Care - Health and Safety Resources. These are great official documents so you can get students using industry standard information and terminology that is linked and applicable to the workplace. There is a focus on students having links to industry in lessons so these are a good start point. You may decide to create a question sheet so lots of information isn’t overwhelming and you can focus the students. HSE does some great posters so you can differentiate material from posters with overviews to more wordy summary reports for stretch and challenge 

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www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/resources.htm

Jodie

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For Level 2 and 3 Maths, Science, Geography (BTEC Applied Science, Environmental, Land based, Sport GCSE and A-level). This resource is good for students to access information via a range of medium - through video, quizzes and work sheets. It can be used in class or as extension activities to stretch or review learning, or perhaps as flipped learning where students  watch a video before they come in to engage with the content further in class. Make sure you are using the correct info for your syllabus! It is from a reliable, reputable source, so you can be confident it is accurate. 

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For Level 2 and 3 Maths, Science, Geography (BTEC Applied Science, Environmental, Land based, Sport GCSE and A-level). This resource is good for students to access information via a range of medium - through video, quizzes and work sheets. It can be used in class or as extension activities to stretch or review learning, or perhaps as flipped learning where students  watch a video before they come in to engage with the content further in class. Make sure you are using the correct info for your syllabus! It is from a reliable, reputable source, so you can be confident it is accurate. 

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www.primrosekitten.com

Jodie

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For GCSE or BTEC Applied Science. There are some really good visual and summary resources here that students can use to either rework the information taught to show learning - think relational stage of solo taxonomy, or you can use the resources here to differentiate the material used to teach content 

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For GCSE or BTEC Applied Science. There are some really good visual and summary resources here that students can use to either rework the information taught to show learning - think relational stage of solo taxonomy, or you can use the resources here to differentiate the material used to teach content 

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www.thescienceteacher.co.uk

Jodie

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DIFFERENTIATION                       TES resources - this one is free once you register (very quick)

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DIFFERENTIATION                       TES resources - this one is free once you register (very quick)

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80 strategies, activities and techniques for differentiating - clearly explained and accompanied by an image to aid understanding and recall. Use critically and appropriately with your own learners.

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The Differentiation Deviser presents 80 strategies, activities and techniques for differentiating, all of which can be used across the Key Stages and the curriculum. Every entry is clearly explained and accompanied by an image to aid understanding and rec...