5A: How to achieve success in leadership and management

The whole-organisation approach

To achieve success in embedded provision, organisations should strive to develop a whole-organisation approach to Skills for Life. It is crucial that learners develop their literacy, numeracy and language skills to enable them to be successful in acquiring other skills, gaining qualifications and progressing to employment or other activities suited to their ambitions. The whole-organisation approach provides learners with the opportunity to improve their literacy, numeracy and language skills combined with the learning of vocational and other skills across all areas of provision. This skill development can only be achieved through a planned programme of learning that teaches specific vocational or other skills, and also combines explicit teaching of literacy, numeracy and language skills that are relevant to the task. The diagram below illustrates the whole-organisation approach used by one provider. It indicates how the curriculum area teachers and Skills for Life specialists work together to develop a curriculum that combines vocational training with literacy, numeracy and language teaching. Senior managers set the direction of Skills for Life through the strategic plan. The quality assurance systems monitor and report on the success of Skills for Life.

SAMPLE OF WHOLE-ORGANISATION APPROACH

Leaders and managers

In every type of organisation, leaders and managers make a strong impact on performance. One of the key contributions of effective leadership is to see the wider issues that face any organisation in taking forward the embedded learning strategy. Supervisory boards, governors, senior managers and leaders will play a crucial role in driving Skills for Life. Their commitment to embedding literacy, numeracy and language provision is vital. They need to appreciate the implications of the Skills for Life strategy and understand how Skills for Life can be embedded within the ethos of the learning and skills sector. In addition, leaders and managers need to be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and in-depth understanding to create a vision that will inspire others to develop an infrastructure that supports embedded learning. In one college, for example, senior managers elected to complete a basic skills training programme. This raised the profile of literacy, numeracy and language teaching.

Strategy

The development strategy for Skills for Life within organisations must be based on a deep understanding of it, plus a vision of how embedded learning can be achieved within that organisation’s own context. This vision should be translated in the strategic plan, through operational objectives, business plans and quality systems.

A senior member of staff should have overall management responsibility and be accountable for Skills for Life. Senior managers from across the organisation should work together to create a coherent approach to the embedded learning model by developing and sharing operational plans, which address the aims and objectives within the strategic plan.

Coordination and management

The delivery of Skills for Life should embrace the philosophy that literacy, numeracy and language teaching will be embedded within all learning programmes. This will mean that all relevant teachers and practitioners will be part of delivering Skills for Life. To ensure that embedded learning is delivered effectively and efficiently, good coordination and planning across all programmes of learning are essential. All staff involved in teaching literacy, numeracy and language must be provided with explicit information on the basic skills needs of learners. They must also be fully informed with the detail of other skills that must be taught to satisfy the demands of vocational or other programmes that the learner has chosen to follow.

When this information is available, an individual learning plan (ILP) can be agreed with the learner and shared with all relevant teachers and practitioners. The ILP will lead to a programme of learning that teaches literacy, numeracy and language in combination with the other skills that are required as part of vocational training. Effective practice means that Skills for Life tutors and subject specialists work together to develop a coherent programme of learning.

Policy development and quality assurance

Most of the key aspects of the management of learning are affected directly by quality assurance. The key to quality assurance is the development and maintenance of effective quality systems. All provider organisations need to document systems and procedures relating to learning generally and Skills for Life learning in particular.

Good managers should be well informed about the standards that are expected from embedded learning. They should have high expectations and monitor embedded literacy, numeracy and language with the same rigour as they do other areas of work. A clear understanding of the most appropriate approach to the teaching of literacy, numeracy and language combined with vocational and other skills is crucial. This understanding will allow managers to make decisions on the most effective model for delivering embedded learning within their own organisation.

Quality assurance policies and procedures must state clearly the standards that will be measured. The impact that embedded learning is having on learners’ progress needs to be measured to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum, the mode of delivery and the general standard of teaching and learning.

Audit

An audit of key documents is a good starting point in the process of developing embedded learning programmes. The audit can be used to monitor quality and standardise practice, and the information gained from it can be used supportively to guide teachers and other practitioners on how they can ensure effective practice. The audit should be followed by a schedule of observations and monitoring duties that will look at the effect of embedded learning on the quality of learning and the achievements made by learners.

Staff appraisal and training

Ensuring capacity is a crucial factor in meeting the Skills for Life agenda at both local and national levels. There should be clear plans to enable the organisation to respond to the needs of the learners already within the organisation. Plans should also recognise and respond to the needs of learners with literacy, numeracy and language needs who could be attracted into learning through creative embedded learning programmes.

The organisational staff appraisal and staff development programme should plan to provide a sufficient number of experienced and qualified Skills for Life teachers to meet the literacy, numeracy and language demands of the learner population through embedded provision. This programme should clearly identify training needs within the existing workforce. It should also identify where additional staffing expertise may be necessary, and set priorities for training. For example, one provider’s action plan for staff to work towards qualifications at Levels 2, 3 and 4 in sequence is practical and straightforward. The action plan is supported by a cross-college audit of existing qualifications to balance future training needs. This has led to an agreed order of priority for staff training.

Each member of staff should have an appraisal that identifies their training needs in relation to embedded provision. In the case of vocational tutors, for example, this may mean a specialist programme in teaching literacy, numeracy or language. Another example would be a literacy tutor who needs to gain some skills and knowledge that are relevant to a vocational programme.

Staff will need to be encouraged and given time to participate in professional development. A great deal of expertise may already exist within the organisation. This should be identified from the staff appraisal process. Such expertise can often be used very effectively to support planned programmes of continuing professional development within the organisation. Effective practice in embedded literacy, numeracy and language teaching is often developed when Skills for Life teachers and tutors from vocational and other programme areas have the opportunity to team-teach. Team-teaching leads to a shared understanding of the range of skills and knowledge that need to be taught for embedded learning to be effective.

Collecting and analysing data

It is vital that organisations have systems in place that accurately measure learner retention, achievement and progression. This information needs to be readily available and understood by all relevant staff.

Success in embedded provision is often translated into learner motivation. The motivation to learn improves attendance, retention and achievement rates. An achievement can be as simple as a gain in confidence, which in turn enables a learner to pursue new learning opportunities. Some learners will achieve a qualification in a subject specialism and a Skills for Life qualification, or may gain several awards. If this information is not recorded effectively, the organisation cannot assess the impact that embedded learning is having on learner achievement. This information can then be used to identify programme areas where good practice is taking place and also areas where further training or support may be required.

Planning and recording learning

In one organisation, the policy for teaching and learning requires all staff to produce a scheme of work and lesson plans that clearly state the learning aims for vocational skills and also the learning aims of the embedded literacy, numeracy and language skills that will be taught. All staff are supplied with standardised documents and guidance to support them in achieving the required standards. An audit team was established within the organisation, with a remit to audit the documents to the standards set out in the overarching policy document.

Individual learning plans (ILPs) were also audited to ensure that they had been developed for the needs of the learner. These ILPs were linked directly with the planned teaching programme. Furthermore, learners’ achievements were appropriately recorded.

The information from the audit was used to highlight good practice and also to discover areas that required additional work. A staff development programme was then devised to support staff in areas where weaknesses had been identified.

Use of observations to support improvement

The policy for monitoring the quality of teaching of embedded provision became part of one organisation’s lesson observation programme. All staff are observed to the standards set out in the policy. From the observations, key strengths and weaknesses in embedded learning are identified. In cases where the standards are poor, additional observations are used to help teachers achieve the required standards. The key issues that are identified from the observation process also inform the organisation’s continuing professional development programme.

Internal verification

One provider has introduced measures to ensure that the standard of learners’ work meets the requirements of the various awarding bodies. The provider had recognised that a coordinated approach to internal verification across the whole organisation was needed.

A team of verifiers, with at least one from each area of provision, was established. A coordinator was responsible for ensuring that the team met to an agreed schedule. Each team member verified completed and marked work from another team. This resulted in a standardised approach to marking, which consequently raised the level of achievement in qualifications across the whole range of provision.

Self-assessment

The principal responsibility for quality improvement remains with providers themselves. The Government looks to all providers to adopt strategies for securing continuous improvement as many already do. These strategies should be based on self-assessment and action-planning (including target-setting; and responding and acting upon learner feedback and complaints).

Learning to Succeed (DfEE, June 1999)

A major contribution to raising standards in the quality of embedded provision will be achieved through enhancing the capacity of providers to implement effective quality improvement plans based upon evaluative self-assessment reports. The success of learners and, where appropriate, meeting the needs of employers and the active promotion of equal opportunities, lie at the heart of self-assessment. This in turn derives from an effective quality improvement plan. The improvement of quality will ensure progress towards an overall goal of consistently high quality, responsive and improving providers. The self-assessment report will allow providers to identify and meet their own priorities and targets for improvement, drawing effectively on the findings of annual self-assessment, inspection and planning review.

Key action points for success at strategic level

The following action points may be used to plan for success at the strategic level.

• Ensure a high priority for addressing the literacy, numeracy and language needs of learners in strategic, operational and business planning.
• Draw up an action plan for staff to achieve the new qualifications.
• Ensure that relevant expertise exists in the teaching and observation teams and report explicitly on the teaching and learning of literacy, numeracy and language.
• Have robust quality systems that ensure that everyone is working to the same standards.

Key action points for success at operational level

At the operational level, consider integrating the following action points within your organisation.

• Use staff development opportunities to raise awareness of the literacy, numeracy and language needs of learners.
• Map the literacy, numeracy and language levels needed for success on vocational courses and build them into schemes of work and lesson plans.
• Be sensitive when matching vocational staff and literacy, numeracy and language staff.