Let me tell you a tale about #BTECs, which I taught in the early 90s. (Names changed.)
Some of the students I taught General Art & Design (GAD) BTEC also did an A-level or two, but many of them didn't. And far too many of them had already been failed by schools that treated...
Some of the students I taught General Art & Design (GAD) BTEC also did an A-level or two, but many of them didn't. And far too many of them had already been failed by schools that treated...
https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1420669179485728770
...'non-academic' kids as inferior, slow or disruptive. Some of my students did have problems; most often no fault of their own. But they showed up. And together, we learned.
I still remember the 'lightbulb moments' - the pieces & projects when young people found their stride...
I still remember the 'lightbulb moments' - the pieces & projects when young people found their stride...
B, who wanted to make a monkey's head with the brains showing (I think he went into film special effects); little S, who channelled Botticelli in her chicken-wire and papier-mâché shell; J, who discovered his photographer's eye with my good friend, Rob; P, and his 'graphical...
...epiphany' which spread even into textiles (GIANT strawberry tapestries!)
And R.
R was a quiet young lady. Hardly ever spoke, but listened. And TRIED. And blossomed - first when she grasped composition; that she could sketch different arrangements until she found one that...
And R.
R was a quiet young lady. Hardly ever spoke, but listened. And TRIED. And blossomed - first when she grasped composition; that she could sketch different arrangements until she found one that...
..."just looks right".
R loved angels - or maybe it was cherubs? - but had never written an essay. So we picked some from paintings and talked about them, on tape. Which she transcribed by hand. Slowly, but not "slow". Then typed into a computer, so she could move the words...
R loved angels - or maybe it was cherubs? - but had never written an essay. So we picked some from paintings and talked about them, on tape. Which she transcribed by hand. Slowly, but not "slow". Then typed into a computer, so she could move the words...
...around. Composing HER thoughts, expressing HER opinions.
I wasn't objective enough to mark it, of course, but I know she passed that module. And the others. And got her #BTEC Diploma. And I think got a job, doing transfers in the Potteries.
There were others. But R stays...
I wasn't objective enough to mark it, of course, but I know she passed that module. And the others. And got her #BTEC Diploma. And I think got a job, doing transfers in the Potteries.
There were others. But R stays...
...with me. Not as a straight-A, 'stellar' performer - but certainly as the best student I ever had, in my short time as a #BTEC lecturer.
Of course this is personal. I'm not making a logical, policy case. But I do think we need things like #BTECs to offer a step up onto the...
Of course this is personal. I'm not making a logical, policy case. But I do think we need things like #BTECs to offer a step up onto the...
My friend Rob, the photography tutor, died about this time last year. We still haven't had a proper funeral for him.
This [Thread] is a remembering; for Rob #RIP, and of my students & for all those in #FurtherEducation helping young people onto the ladder.
Whoever they may be.
This [Thread] is a remembering; for Rob #RIP, and of my students & for all those in #FurtherEducation helping young people onto the ladder.
Whoever they may be.
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