PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes and impressions of pre-service Furth... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes and impressions of pre-service Further Education teachers towards enterprise education. It also looks at the potential impact on their future teaching practices and aspirations. This study builds on the literature in this area by bringing a teacher education focus and by providing views from the underserved further education sector.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research approach was used to evaluate pre-service further education teachers' understanding of and attitudes towards, enterprise education. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 students in their final year of an initial teacher education degree.FindingsFindings emerged through constant comparative analysis of interview transcripts. These findings indicate that exposure to enterprise education greatly increased understanding of its importance and relevance, while also encouraging pre-service further education teachers to reco...
COVID 19 represented a major challenge for many educators, with teachers needing to pivot rapidly... more COVID 19 represented a major challenge for many educators, with teachers needing to pivot rapidly to using online learning tools in order to stay connected with their students. This was particularly relevant for teachers in the process of completing their Initial Teacher Education (ITE), whose programmes of study did not include online teaching components. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a module for teaching in online and blended learning environments for 244 post-primary teachers in ITE. This study begins by examining the impact of COVID-19 and the resulting pivot to online learning, this includes an overview of the challenges associated with online teaching. Next, the authors explain the module in detail, outlining the tools, strategies and activities provided for student teachers. This included peer-evaluated online micro-teaching components - which formed a major part of the learning. Data collection involved a questionnaire which gathered student teache...
The theory of Communities of Practice (COP) has evolved from an expression of the situated learni... more The theory of Communities of Practice (COP) has evolved from an expression of the situated learning taking place in the relationship between apprentice and master (Lave and Wenger, 1991), to organisational knowledge capture and knowledge management (Rivera, 2011; Iverson and McPhee, 2002) to social learning containers in EU funded projects (Wenger, 2009) to sustainable development enterprises (Bradbury and Middlemiss, 2014). Increasingly, the concept of communities of practice within education is suggested as a valuable and useful tool for sharing of practice, resources and ideas. This study focuses on the introduction of an online community of practice into the final year of an undergraduate degree in education and training. The research was undertaken through a collective case study using a mixed methods approach to examine two separate year groups of students’ reactions to, and use of a COP. Data was collected through interview, survey, focus group and examination of Facebook and...
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a workplace learning prog... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a workplace learning programme on the low-skilled and long term unemployed. The paper evaluates improvements in skills and attitudes from the workers perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The paper builds on current literature in the area to design and evaluate a workplace learning programme. Quantitative and qualitative data are used to evaluate staff perceptions. Findings – Findings indicate that providing a mix of workplace learning, and focused academic content can have an extremely positive impact on the skill-set and mind-set of low-skilled and long term unemployed workers. The effect of this is that workers are more likely to apply for further educational and employment opportunities. Practical implications – Findings reinforce the view that an integrated approach to tackling long-term unemployment and the up-skilling of workers may be more effective than providing employment initiatives alone. Origi...
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes and impressions of pre-service Furth... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes and impressions of pre-service Further Education teachers towards enterprise education. It also looks at the potential impact on their future teaching practices and aspirations. This study builds on the literature in this area by bringing a teacher education focus and by providing views from the underserved further education sector.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research approach was used to evaluate pre-service further education teachers' understanding of and attitudes towards, enterprise education. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 students in their final year of an initial teacher education degree.FindingsFindings emerged through constant comparative analysis of interview transcripts. These findings indicate that exposure to enterprise education greatly increased understanding of its importance and relevance, while also encouraging pre-service further education teachers to reco...
COVID 19 represented a major challenge for many educators, with teachers needing to pivot rapidly... more COVID 19 represented a major challenge for many educators, with teachers needing to pivot rapidly to using online learning tools in order to stay connected with their students. This was particularly relevant for teachers in the process of completing their Initial Teacher Education (ITE), whose programmes of study did not include online teaching components. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a module for teaching in online and blended learning environments for 244 post-primary teachers in ITE. This study begins by examining the impact of COVID-19 and the resulting pivot to online learning, this includes an overview of the challenges associated with online teaching. Next, the authors explain the module in detail, outlining the tools, strategies and activities provided for student teachers. This included peer-evaluated online micro-teaching components - which formed a major part of the learning. Data collection involved a questionnaire which gathered student teache...
The theory of Communities of Practice (COP) has evolved from an expression of the situated learni... more The theory of Communities of Practice (COP) has evolved from an expression of the situated learning taking place in the relationship between apprentice and master (Lave and Wenger, 1991), to organisational knowledge capture and knowledge management (Rivera, 2011; Iverson and McPhee, 2002) to social learning containers in EU funded projects (Wenger, 2009) to sustainable development enterprises (Bradbury and Middlemiss, 2014). Increasingly, the concept of communities of practice within education is suggested as a valuable and useful tool for sharing of practice, resources and ideas. This study focuses on the introduction of an online community of practice into the final year of an undergraduate degree in education and training. The research was undertaken through a collective case study using a mixed methods approach to examine two separate year groups of students’ reactions to, and use of a COP. Data was collected through interview, survey, focus group and examination of Facebook and...
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a workplace learning prog... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a workplace learning programme on the low-skilled and long term unemployed. The paper evaluates improvements in skills and attitudes from the workers perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The paper builds on current literature in the area to design and evaluate a workplace learning programme. Quantitative and qualitative data are used to evaluate staff perceptions. Findings – Findings indicate that providing a mix of workplace learning, and focused academic content can have an extremely positive impact on the skill-set and mind-set of low-skilled and long term unemployed workers. The effect of this is that workers are more likely to apply for further educational and employment opportunities. Practical implications – Findings reinforce the view that an integrated approach to tackling long-term unemployment and the up-skilling of workers may be more effective than providing employment initiatives alone. Origi...
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