A new Education and Training Foundation (ETF) anthology of project reports highlighting the value of action research in the post-16 Education and Training sector is now available.
The publication – Outstanding Teaching, Learning and Assessment (OTLA) Anthology of Practitioner Action Research Reports (2020–2021) – features 53 reports across English, maths and Essential Digital Skills, illustrating how practitioners have worked together to improve the quality of teaching and learning around a particular theme. Many of the reports include a focus on approaches to supporting learners remotely and in isolation, reflecting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and illustrating the ability of action research to respond to changing circumstances.
Projects featured include:
- Work led by Kendal College and South Lakes Community Learning that used a learner-led strategy incorporating the universal language of emojis to ignite learner motivation and engagement, boosting progress in GCSE, Functional Skills, and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses.
- ‘Word Up’ – a project at Reaseheath College designed to increase GCSE English resit learners’ vocabulary, which has boosted their overall confidence and demonstrated a clear correlation between learners using the vocabulary they have learnt in written responses and their rate of progress.
- Work focusing on learner resilience and self-efficacy in GCSE English Language and Functional Skills English at Sheffield College that has developed learners’ confidence to engage in stretch and challenge activities and helped their ability to learn from mistakes.
The ETF has been funded by the Department for Education to run the OTLA programme for the past seven years. This year’s programme was run on behalf of the ETF by Claire Collins Consultancy with partners That Reading Thing and Skills Digital. Project teams received grants to support remission and take part in training alongside the action research they carried out. They were supported and mentored by a group of post-16 education and action research specialists.
You can find out more about the Anthology and OTLA here
