Further Education and Training Forum
WIT hosted the inaugural Further Education and Training Colloquium; “Policy, Practice and Theory – New Developments for initial and continued professional development for Further Education and Training” on February 18, 2015. The colloquium was organised by the Further Education and Training (FET) Forum, a national network of eight higher education institutions formed in 2012 to share practice, knowledge and research relating to initial and continued professional development in further education and training in Ireland.
Over 140 delegates came to WIT to discuss and debate the new national strategy for further education and training, continued professional development in further education, qualifications/standards and competency frameworks for practitioners, the quality of teaching and learning in the sector and new developments in research relevant to stakeholders.
The delegates represented policy makers (Department of Education and Skills), education stakeholders (Teaching Council, Qualifications and Quality Ireland), and national organisations with a remit for further education and training (SOLAS, the Education & Training Boards), and practitioners working in FET as well as academics from the Forum’s national network representing the higher education sector. Keynote speakers on the day included Paul O’Toole, Chief Executive of SOLAS and Tomás ?’Ruairc, Director of the Teaching Council of Ireland. The Colloquium was chaired by Stan McHugh, former CEO of FETAC (QQI).
The emergent themes from the day included the identity of the FET sector, how it defines itself and how stakeholders view it. 
Paul O’Toole from SOLAS talked about the needs of the 300,000 learners accessing education and training support, he outlined the critical role the sector has to play in the development of civil society and our economy. He recognised the challenges facing the sector and those who work in it but encouraged delegates to be open to dialogue and collaboration, he stressed the importance of linkages between all actors in the system and underlined the fact that more integration was needed, not only in FET but across our education system at all levels. Finally he added that the ethos and principles of SOLAS were those of partnership and invited all stakeholders in the Colloquium to continue to share ideas, debate the issues at hand and engage with others across FET.
Tomás ?’Ruairc from the Teaching Council invited delegates to consider the role of the teacher in the further education sector; he outlined his own thoughts on teachers as leaders of learning, the broader role of the teacher that includes the development of the future well being of others and the role of the teacher in nurturing entrepreneurship. Delegates challenged the role of the Council in a newly configured FET sector and questioned issues such as parity of esteem between teachers in post-primary and teachers in further education settings. In line with comments previously made, Tomás responded saying further dialogue and cooperation between all stakeholders would be needed to ensure that the leaders and facilitators of learning in FET were appropriately prepared for the challenges presenting to them.
A number of parallel workshops were held throughout the day that invited delegates to debate and explore issues such as pedagogies in FET, the identity of the FET practitioner, emerging research in FET, the role of technology enhanced learning, professional knowledge and European credit based systems. The workshops were facilitated by FET Forum members and were highly interactive, encouraging a good level of debate and points to be brought back and shared at the final plenary session.
Dr Justin Rami from DCUs Further Education and Training Research Centre (FETRC) and member of the FET Forum conducted a seminar entitled Roaring Silence - The overall aim of the session was to seek a consensus on a way forward with national research on F/VET bringing together FET practitioners, HEIs, SOLAS and the ETBs. Dr Rami posed the questions, ‘Is there a place for academic discourse in the sector? Is there an over reliance on quantitative research data? How can the F/VET sector increase its voice? ‘. The seminar was co-facilitated by Dr Ann Cagney & Dr Carol O’Byrne – WIT, and also in attendance was Jane O’Kelly from FETRC at DCU.
A new architecture is emerging in FE & T (SOLAS, ETBs) there is an opportunity to influence the overall development of the sector within that architecture and position the FET Forum as a powerful voice within that emerging scenario to be the key knowledge base for the sector (linking the worlds of learning, enterprise and employment). The FET sector has grown organically and foresight, planning and coordination is required. The seminar asked where does research fit into the development of the sector. There seemed to be a lack of high quality research publications related to the Irish context. Dr Rami suggested that the time is right for a V/FET Irish Research Journal. The FET Forum is comprised of 8 HEIs that deliver TEQs for the FE Sector, the audience was made up of a range of FET stakeholder’s and as the seminar developed it was clear that there are many layers to the ‘research question’ related to FET in Ireland. DR Rami suggested that there may be a danger that the drivers for progress may lean too heavily towards the economic and move too far from the educational. It is important that all stakeholders in the sector develop a research agenda. A new voice to fill this vacuum must emerge from the previous organic model. The seminar aimed to outlines the context in which a new research engaged can be facilitated.
The plenary session closed with a summary of the key themes of the day. The FET Forum comprises eight higher education institutions (NUI Galway, Mary Immaculate College, Waterford Institute of Technology, National College of Ireland, Marino Institute of Education, Maynooth University, National College of Art and Design, Dublin City University).
The Forum meets twice per year and is hosted by one of the member institutions each year. This year Waterford Institute of Technology hosts the Forum’s meetings and its inaugural Colloquium.