Teachers, AI & Merch: FE Soundbite 690

Welcome to Soundbite Edition 690! Gavin is out of office, so the apprentice's are back!

This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal brought to you by FE News: ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here is a snapshot of the latest announcements and epic thought leadership articles from sector influencers and cool thinkers across FE and Skills this week on FE News.

This week has been filled with solution-led articles looking to help guide you all on issues you may be facing within the FE sector. We hope this weekly overview can help you keep up to date with all the latest news, and make it seem less daunting in busy times!

Highlights Of This Week's FE News

With it being a short week due to Easter, it has been a bit quiet! We hope you have all enjoyed the break and have had time to get Radical Rest.

First up, NASUWT have also called on the Education Secretary to “get back around the table and negotiate a proper deal on pay” for teachers in England “or deal with the consequences.”

The NASUWT’s Big Question Survey 2023 has also revealed that nearly three-quarters of teachers aged over 50 have seriously considered leaving the profession during the last year. This is a shocking figure, especially in light of the Government's announcement of Returnerships. The aim of Returnerships is to combat economic inactivity and encourage older workers to stay or re-enter the workforce, so how can FE use this to help retention in teachers, specifically those aged over 50?

Recent research on the labour market information system for careers in England found significant gaps in adult career guidance services, such as little detailed information on skills and sectoral information. A new paper from ReWAGE argues that adult career guidance services should be the foundation of a skills system supporting those in work to remain employable and those out of work to gain employment.

We have also had Mat Pullen writing about the Online Safety Bill, what does it mean for student safety and what else needs to be done?

Overview Of This Week's Thought Leadership

We have had a variety of our sector influencers and thought leaders write for FE News this week. Starting off the week, we had Colin Salmon responding to the recent DfE statement on generative AI and its implications for FE. Colin previously placed in our top three exclusive articles for March, his articles are certainly proving popular!

Next, we had Jenny Arrowsmith discussing how colleges can deal with special payments following last year's announcement that ONS had reclassified further education and sixth form college corporations, and their subsidiaries, into the public sector.

Following on from this, we had Jonathon Moore who discussed the importance of Edtech and the benefits it brings to both pupils and teachers. He explains what active learning is and how edtech can support these active learners but also how teachers can prevent burnout with the right edtech tools.

Penultimately, we had Farida Danmeri discuss practical approaches to Enterprise and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education.

Finally, to round up the week, we had Marni Baker Stein write for FE News, who recently made the transition from academia to edtech herself! In this article, she shares her reasons for making the move, tips to improve student access, as well as insights on how to build a more equitable world for the digital economy.