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Chapter 6: Conclusion
Staffing
For Scotland's colleges to continue to deliver an effective learning experience, all of their staff need to be highly motivated and skilled. We are therefore committed to the promotion of training and development for all college staff, irrespective of their working hours or type of contract.
We have a vision whereby those who teach and support learning in colleges are recognised as first-class practitioners; where there is parity of esteem for those who teach, regardless of their learning context; and where the values, skills and attributes of a professional in the college sector are as highly regarded as those of any other profession. That is why we have recommended that all full-time staff in colleges should fulfil, as a minimum expectation, six days of CPD a year, and that colleges should determine appropriate proportionate expectations for part-time staff.
Scotland's colleges employ over 21,000 (12,600 FTE) staff, around half of whom are lecturers. They are, in general, well trained and supported, so that they themselves can provide, directly or indirectly, high quality learning experiences for the more than 350,000 people who enrol on college courses in Scotland each year.
Maintaining - and enhancing - the professionalism of the staff resource will require all colleges to reach or exceed the levels achieved at present by the best of them. These organisations are characterised by their comparatively high proportions of appropriately qualified staff, and by the strong commitment to CPD shown by their boards, senior management teams, trade unions and staff. Gaining qualifications, and undertaking effective, high quality CPD activity - formal and informal - is neither cheap nor easy. It requires planning, resourcing and careful monitoring. However, there can be no doubt that well-managed professional development activity releases potential and further enhances the learning experience. It also supports high levels of job satisfaction among staff.
In an increasingly competitive and globalised context, standing still is not enough. Our colleges must continue to raise their game if they are to maintain their strong contribution to the growth of Scotland's economy.
This report makes a series of recommendations relating to initial teacher training, vocational professional updating for lecturers, CPD for all staff and other professional development issues. Essentially, the report calls for more of the best current development activity to take place. In financial terms, we estimate that implementing our recommendations would cost around £50m over three years - an investment of around £400,000 each year, on average, at each college (or 3% of the current level of Scottish Executive funding for the sector as a whole). However, we would emphasise that much of the good practice highlighted in our report will not depend on additional investment but will instead require some colleges to refine their current approaches to the development of their staff. We would also urge that colleges should not await spending review decisions before continuing their work in this area.
Learners
There were around 400,000 college enrolments in 2004/05. Most enrolments (86%) were on vocational further education courses, and most (84%) involved part-time study (although analysed by activity, full time courses account for 65% of the total). Slightly more of the learners were female than male and the average age of learners was 32. Around 9% of learners declared that they had a disability of some kind.
For the most part, learners have a satisfying and rewarding time at college, paving the way for employment, progression in the workplace, or simply an increased level of personal and social fulfilment. Scotland's colleges pride themselves on catering to a highly diverse range of learner needs and expectations.
We know that learner numbers, having increased substantially over the last decade, have levelled off recently. It may be that this situation changes again in future, whether due to changes in society or policy or both. One thing we can be sure of is that colleges will need to be alert to any such change, and changes to the diversity of the learner population, if they are to continue to meet the needs and expectations of their learners.
Colleges put substantial effort into engaging with their learners, and at most colleges student representation works well. However, our work has identified a number of aspects of good practice in learner engagement and student representation, which we would encourage colleges and their students' associations to consider. At the same time, we would encourage colleges to work collectively with their students, staff members and boards of management to increase awareness of the benefits of effective representation.
Learning Environments
Students at Scotland's colleges have a right to expect learning environments which help, rather than hinder, their efforts at self-improvement. College staff, too, have a right to expect working conditions which reward, and indeed renew, their commitment to improving the life chances of their students. The testimonials we have included at Annex H give a flavour of the tremendous difference that a well planned and equipped estate can make to all of the regular users of a college. Our discussion on the qualitative impact of estates improvements also shows how improved facilities can have a considerable effect on attracting people into college in the first place.
Of course, the impact of Scotland's colleges doesn't just end with their staff and students. The case study we have included from John Wheatley College shows how well-designed estates can have far-reaching benefits, not just for those engaged in learning and teaching but for whole communities too, through the shared use of amenities such as libraries and leisure centres. It also demonstrates how sensitive building design can make a meaningful contribution to the protection of our natural environment.
We believe that there is a need for sustained levels of capital investment to overcome the current backlog of improvement work and bring all of Scotland's college estate to a position of relative parity. We have also observed the need to reframe the whole of our current approach to the funding of college estates to ensure that the sector remains fit for purpose long after this review has ended. Though extra capital investment in the short-term would doubtless be warmly welcomed by Scotland's colleges, it is clearly the longer-term sustaining of this progress that will be most critical for their success.
The members of SLALE
June 2007
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