A French revolution

In this week’s TES Further, Joseph Lee writes about the French Vooc (a vocational Mooc, in case you didn’t know) on its way over the Channel. OpenClassrooms is already the biggest massive open online course outside the US, and founder Mathieu Nebra has set his sights on the UK market (article free for subscribers), with courses ranging from web development to entrepreneurship.

If it ain’t broke...

While much has been made of the government’s wish to hand greater control over skills training to employers, report Julia Belgutay reveals that new figures raise questions about whether employers themselves want to see any major changes.

Top-up teaching

Meanwhile, Andy Forbes, principal of the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London, reveals that he’s a big fan of the Oyster card on London transport. Writing on behalf of the 157 Group, he calls for a similarly flexible approach to education and skills (article free for subscribers) to best serve the young people of the capital.

Sir Michael Wilshaw

FErret has done his usual digging and unearthed another juicy morsel (article free for subscribers): it seems that Ofsted’s chief inspector has agreed to hold his tongue as far as FE is concerned, after ruffling more than a few feathers with his outspoken comments in recent weeks. But those in the know reckon Sir Michael (who incidentally had an unexpected meeting with a group of angry sixth-form college lecturers in a London pub) is going to go down the same route as his pre-pre-predecessor, Chris Woodhead, by coming out with more explosive comments in advance of his retirement late this year. The mind boggles.

On the topic of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sally Dicketts, chief executive of Activate Learning, explores why the issues he has raised are more complex than they might initially appear - and why a new approach to literacy and numeracy could help colleges and learners to cope with the rising number of GCSE resits.

Teaching myths

Dan Williams, an FE practitioner from the Midlands, wants to crack some myths about teaching methods. In an article that is sure to upset the apple cart, he writes that while some ineffective learning styles have been discredited, there are other influential ideas in widespread use despite the lack of any supporting evidence. 

Good FE deeds

Graham Razey, principal of East Kent College, writes about how FE providers can be a force of good in their local community (article free for subscribers). This includes encouraging students - and staff - to think about how they can run projects to help their local area. And finally, columnist Sarah Simons is “off on one again”, this time in a tirade against the “fat cats” of FE (article free for subscribers). Brace yourselves.

All this and more in this week’s TES Further.

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