After 34 years in further education, I am about to retire from my role as associate dean for hospitality and tourism at City of Glasgow College. I started my career at Motherwell College in 1987, having cut my teeth in the hotel, restaurant, pub, events and cruise ship industry, which stood me in good stead for a career in the college sector.
My time spent in FE has been brilliant, always challenging and presenting interesting opportunities. There have been highs and lows, mergers and restructures, and many changes - locally, nationally and internationally - but always opportunities there for the taking. I’ve had the pleasure of working with brilliant teams and would not change anything.
Early on, I made it my mission to narrow the gap between FE and industry, and create links wherever possible. And that is more important now than ever - industry needs to collaborate with colleges in these difficult times.
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The further education sector has changed a lot in three decades, in every regard, from buildings to teaching trends and technology. When I started in FE, there were no computers. That makes me feel old. Then one day, a PC arrived in my office and I had no training in how to use it. However, our sector learns quickly and very soon, email took over from the manually typed and posted memorandum.
Over the years, I’ve seen multiple college mergers and new builds; when I started out, there were 48 colleges in Scotland, now there are 24. Students have also evolved. They’ve always been motivated and hungry for success, but now they have a clearer voice and we listen to them more. We teach them differently. It’s not all PowerPoints or lecturer presentations - research and independent learning is the place they want to be. I think they are more competitive, too, striving for the best grades and keen to enter vocational competitions. Students of old did not have the same confidence as those of today.
Further education has always enjoyed a positive reputation in the school sector and across industry. And at City of Glasgow, we place great importance on strong relationships with employers to ensure our curriculum meets the needs of industry. With schools, some may look to university for their pupils but the majority value the senior phase partnerships that colleges offer. This helps develop applications for full-time courses, while foundation apprenticeships help bring industry and the school sector closer together.
Challenges may change but they are always there. The biggest has been these past 18 months. We’ve never known a period like it. Lecturers had to develop digital skills at speed in order to deliver classes remotely. Our college responded immediately, rolling out new platforms and training staff quickly and efficiently. Technology is probably the biggest change, and challenge, in FE. Without it, keeping learning and teaching going as the pandemic’s continued would have been almost impossible.
But working from home has seen great creativity within teams and shows how adaptable our sector can be. There will always be challenges but FE has a bright future thanks to the people who work it in.
