This is a case study exploring the use of extended learning communities to create curriculum resources to support outstanding teaching and learning.
The project aimed to: enable teachers to engage with design professionals such as web developers to produce high quality learning materials; review the use of these materials through peer observation; evaluate the design process; and analyse the learner experience
Resource development meetings - involving both vocational teaching practitioners and commercial design professionals - were highly productive in creating suitable resources and helped teachers regain a sense of creativity and agency. Peer observations played an important role in deepening professional learning. All staff highlighted the benefit of allocated ‘thinking time’ in order to create high quality learning materials. Whilst this collaborative approach to design was helpful in, for example, increasing student learner engagement or embedding maths and English within vocational contexts, in the latter case, without CPD to help tutors develop their knowledge and skills in this area, tutors were not able to deal with the student questions generated through engagement with the materials.
EMFEC