College Development Network (CDN) supports and develops the skills and training of college staff. During the pandemic, the team has focused on enhancing the quality of teaching and learning for the rapid changes that have been required to deliver online and blended learning.
CDN recently launched two new ‘Teaching in Colleges Today’ (TiCT) which are credit rated on the SCQF at levels 7 and 8. These have been developed to better meet the initial professional development needs of new college lecturers coming into the sector. The programmes take account of the professional competences and practices expected of college lecturers today, as required within the Professional Standards for Lecturers in Scotland’s Colleges. The new TiCT programmes were launched at College Expo21 and staff have been able to use the online learning materials and register for the programmes since Thursday 10 June.
The original SCQF level 7 Teaching in Colleges Today unit was initially developed in 2013 and credit rated by Coatbridge College, now part of New College Lanarkshire. Since then, hundreds of candidates across Scotland have been certificated. CDN is delighted to be continuing to build on this success through continuing and enhancing the provision with Fife College, which has taken on the role of the SCQF Credit Rating Body for the new programmes.
Iain Hawker, Assistant Principal – Quality and Academic Partnerships at Fife College, said:
“Fife College is proud to be the Credit Rating Body for the two new CDN Teaching in Colleges Today qualifications. The credit rating process we followed is aligned to the SCQFP guidelines and involved three robust levels of panel scrutiny and review. The panels included independent expert reviewers to ensure confidence in the content and of the SCQF levels at which the qualifications have been credit rated.
“Teaching in Colleges Today provides a sound platform for new lecturers to gain the knowledge and understanding of professional teaching practice and is an important part of career long professional learning and development for lecturers.
“It has been a pleasure working with CDN on the credit rating project and we are confident that the new qualifications will continue to meet the changing needs of the Scottish College education sector.”
The new programmes provide a flexible way for new entrants to the sector to gain formal recognition of their ability to plan and deliver high quality learning, teaching and assessment. The programmes and the online learning materials have been specifically designed to encourage early career engagement with the Professional Standards required to teach in Scotland, and to support candidates to reflect on and evaluate the impact of their current practice. It is anticipated that this will enable candidates to identify areas of enhancement and development in their practice.
The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) states that
“From August 2021 all lecturers (covered by the national agreement) who hold a TQFE or other GTC Scotland recognised teaching qualification will receive an invitation to register with GTCS. Alternative pathways to registration for lecturers who are currently ineligible to register (lecturers who qualified outside Scotland, lecturers who hold Higher Education or other alternative teaching qualifications and lecturers who do not yet hold a teaching qualification) will be confirmed by GTCS and should be available from April 2022 onwards”.
The ability to choose from an SCQF level 7 or SCQF level 8 gives candidates the scope to enter the programme at a suitable level to their existing level of competence. It then creates a clear progression pathway into further learning and professional qualifications such as the SCQF level 9 Professional Development Award (PDA) Teaching Practice in Scotland’s Colleges or the SCQF level 9 PgCert Tertiary Education (TQFE) or SCQF level 11 PgDip Tertiary Education (TQFE).
Candidates who have previously completed CDN’s original TiCT programme at SCQF level 7 will find that the new SCQF level 8 programme offers a challenging bridging programme while waiting to complete more advanced professional qualifications should they decide to undertake more learning.
A learner who completed the original TiCT Programme, said:
“TiCT is a great foundation course for any new lecturer… it is clear to use with good links to current legislation and relevant topics”.
Read about the new TiCT programmes and find out about enrolment options.
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