Telford College hosts learning day with some of the best teaching minds in the country

Telford College has given its entire teaching workforce a day of learning with six of the country’s most respected education specialists.

The Teaching and Learning Conference brought together recognised experts for a day of seminars, workshops and practical sessions covering a range of themes including artificial intelligence, inclusive classrooms, mental health, active participation and classroom behavior.

The end of year event at the Telford Hotel Spa & Golf Resort was held as part of the college’s long-term commitment to providing quality teacher training.

Lawrence Wood, Principal and Chief Executive, said: “We ask our students to be ambitious learners. It’s only right that we hold ourselves to the same standard. This day was about bringing together some of the best thinking in the country and giving our tutors the space and opportunity to challenge and develop their own teaching skills.”

Addressing more than 200 staff, he said: “We are living through one of the most fascinating and consequential periods in the history of education. The world our students are entering is being reshaped, rapidly and profoundly, and the young people we are serving are a generation that is distinct in a very real way.

“We have to be deliberate in supporting our students and we need to continuously adapt and develop our practices to meet the challenges.”

Introducing the event line-up, Mr Lawrence cited post-Covid knowledge gaps and the subsequent disruption in students’ ability to learn, the rise of artificial intelligence, the current economic climate and structural barriers to learning as being real challenges for educators nationally.

Keynote speaker Ben Whitaker, former RE teacher and one of the UK's leading voices on AI in education, made the case for AI as a tool for deeper thinking and highlighted the role staff must play in ensuring young people thrive in the growing world of AI.

He said: “The role of educators is shifting and the critical response for us is how do we help humans to thrive. Information is everywhere and we have a responsibility to help young people decipher it.”

He argued that educators had a critical role to play in helping students to protect and cultivate skills that AI cannot replicate such as critical thinking, ethical reasoning, empathy and creativity and that helping them to thrive included promoting autonomy, resilience and curiosity.

Staff also heard from Danielle McKernan, teaching and learning specialist with Everway and a fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching.

With more than two decades of experience in education, the former computer science teacher shared her insights on the benefits of removing barriers to learning for every student and not just those identified as having additional needs.

She said: “A classroom environment designed from the outset with the barriers removed might be necessary for some but it’s useful to all.

“Every person brings difference to the classroom and our aim is not to remove that difference, but to embrace it. Our role is to remove the barriers – the things that keep people from learning – and make people feel like they belong.”

In addition to the expert-led talks, staff were also given the chance to attend interactive breakout workshop sessions with other notable educators including Isabella Wallace, award-winning educator and author of ‘Talk-Less Teaching and Pimp Your Lesson’, who led a session on active participation and adaptive strategies.

They also heard from Dr Claire Badger from InnerDrive, who holds a PhD in atmospheric chemistry from Cambridge and a master's in teaching and learning from UCL, who led a workshop on the craft of great explanation.

Luke Zwalf, teaching and learning consultant with HOW2, spoke about feedback techniques that led to learners actually doing something different; and Dr Anna James from March Training and Development, a criminologist and behaviour specialist with more than 25 years' experience spoke to staff about managing behaviour and supporting students whose mental health is affecting their learning.

Mr Wood added: "Our students deserve teachers who are still learning and I’m grateful to our fantastic line-up of guests for challenging us and bringing fresh perspective to the ongoing challenges we face. The quality of our teaching is the single biggest determining factor in what our students go onto achieve in life and because of that we'll keep on investing in our staff.”

Telford College recruits nearly half of all 16 and 17 year old school leavers in Telford and Wrekin.

It is currently in a period of significant growth, with Telford 6th – a new purpose-built sixth form in the town's Station Quarter – due to open to its first students in September.

Ends

Editors notes

Telford & Wrekin’s only further education college.