After four decades working in further education, Willie McCurrach, curriculum head of food at City of Glasgow College, says he has no immediate plans to retire - but you couldn’t blame him if he did. He has been on the frontline of FE teaching and curriculum management since he stepped into the Glasgow College of Food Technology in the 1970s.
He has experienced sector reform - his own institution has merged twice - and instead of working in the single-discipline organisation where his long career started, he is now in one of the largest and shiniest campuses in the sector, with a broad curriculum and thousands of students.
McCurrach has taught thousands of students himself, included countless industry heavyweights, such as MasterChef: The Professionals winner Gary Maclean, who also teaches at the college.
But McCurrach insists he still has “a big job to do”. And the sector should be glad.
The world of education is forever changing. Qualifications, accountability, funding - nothing stays the same for more than a few years. Try to cast your mind back and count how many major policy announcements you can remember from the past 10 years or so. New priorities, reforms, legislation and, occasional U-turns … it’s a long, long list.
Government meddling is not the only driver of change. In FE, in particular, where preparing people for an ever-changing workplace is at the heart of everything the sector does, staying ahead of the curve is crucial. Teaching staff need to be aware of the latest tech, the latest trends in a sector, the latest changes in how professionals work. Support staff need to stay in tune with the latest sources of pressure on students.
Experience is priceless
Renewal is important, as is constantly striving for improvement. But that isn’t the full story. There is another ingredient that is invaluable in the colourful mix that is FE and education more generally - experience.
Years of restructuring and voluntary severance schemes have resulted in FE losing hundreds of experienced, long-serving teachers and support staff with the wisdom of decades in the sector. It has lost principals who had risen through the ranks and been at their institution for longer than most of their students had been alive. It has lost lecturers and curriculum heads who had previously undergone merger and remembered incorporation. All gone, with many cutting ties to FE and only a very few remaining connected through work on boards or charities.
Those with decades of experience don’t just bring that knowledge of what has been before; they also add to the learning experience of students. When I was at university, I had a lecturer who, I was pretty sure, based most of his knowledge of Hobbes and Kant on personal meetings with both. He had been in that department so long that no one among the staff remembered a time when he was not. He wasn’t on Twitter or Facebook. He didn’t enjoy email. But his view carried a weight few others could match. He had (nearly) literally seen it all.
At colleges, it is even more important that the voice of experience is heard. Unlike universities, they can rarely boast ancient buildings or names that carry hundreds of years of history. Their reputations are built on the here and now, on their ability to meet need. But when it comes to providing a rounded student experience, a feeling of belonging is important. And so the reputation of college staff, and the consistency and weight of their voice, becomes even more important.
The sector has lost too many of its wise owls over the past few years. It should treasure the few who remain - and make sure their knowledge is not lost when they do choose to leave.
@JBelgutay
