Oliver Hopker - Collaboration VS competition

The final lecture topic I am going to be talking about was by Oliver Hopker who spoke about the collaborations and mergers within education and the south west wales regional learning partnership.

In Wales the Welsh Government have been supporting and encouraging collaboration within the educational settings including Higher Education, Local authorities, Further Education/6^th forms and schools. This means promoting universities to work with each other, schools to work with each other and so on rather than competing with one another.

Here are a few of some current collaborations in Wales:

·         External Examiner and validation panel membership ( Exams/assignments are seen by an external examiner from elsewhere such as Edinburgh.) this is to ensure that students work has been marked equally.

·         Research projects and library access which allows you to use and access different library facilities within Swansea with registration.

·         ICT and academic development

·         Quality and standards assurance.

There are many advantages of collaboration within different settings such as it allows each other to share their learning experience and knowledge.

It has greater efficiency and helps save the financial state within the community as it will cost a lot cheaper.Collaboration also helps enhance greater effectiveness by using additional products and services and by enabling the value of external eye which means if someone is struggling with something they are able to suggest ways to help you.

Alongside collaborations there are a few competitions that are happening within different settings in Wales such as:

-          Student recruitment

-          League tables

-          Research funding (Compete for funding)

-          Staff recruitment (they are looking for good staff but paid with low costs)

-          Student places as this also helps with funding

-          Reputation and publicity (the higher their reputation, the more publicity they will get and this is a great achievement)

Universities compete with other universities to help bring in more money into their university.

There are also benefits of competitiveness such as it allows and encourages each setting to put greater efforts and work harder to gain a good reputation. It also helps provide choice of alternative products and services such as more choices in courses etc. It enables them to fund better facilities such as libraries and books.

During this lecture we were also explained on the pros and cons of small and large higher education institutes. 

Here are the pros and cons of small HEI. Having small HEI allows having better direct management control, simple structures and minimum administrative overheads. It has smaller classes depending on the number of students so it is a lot more spacey for students and a better learning environment. It also has tailored programs and allows flexibility. 

Some cons of small HEI is that the resources base is limited meaning less resources and facilities are provided to students such as library facilities, books, sport facilities. These are vital in any educational setting to help fulfill students needs and lacking them could result in students leaving and looking for an alternative place.

Here are some of the pros and cons of having Large HEI. It has a larger resource base meaning many resources are widely available, significant buying power (enables them to buy big items). Having a larger HEI also means that there will be a more wider range of subject bases and a range of courses which are better suited to reach each individuals interest and finally there are many more opportunities for staff career moves.

Some cons of having a large HEI are is that it could be difficult to see some staff which is a con especially if they are needed for support e.g. in an assignment. You must stick to the course you have chosen through the year or it will be very difficult to change into another course which limits the student’s interest and motivation. It also means that there will be remote management and complex structures. It will have larger classes and rigid procedures and tightly defined courses.

References:

Hopker O, (2012) ‘Collaborations and mergers within education and the south west wales regional learning partnership. What is Education? Policy and practice BA (hons), faculty of Humanities. Unpublished.

Alice Davies - Widening Access in the Welsh context

The third topic I am going to talk about is Widening Access in the Welsh context by the guest lecturer 

(Hefcw) “Widening access is about increasing opportunities for people from a diverse range of backgrounds to benefit from higher education (HE).”

Widening access aims to provide and improve access to higher education for people who have the potential to do. It also aims to provide every individual an equal amount of education regardless of any changes. These people might have some barriers that affect this such:

 

1. People from specific black and ethnic minority communities – their barriers could be lack of language and being new to this society.
2. People with disabilities – this means extra support and one to one support will be needed.
3. People from low income families.
4. People from Communities First wards.
5. Looked after Children and Care leavers – need reassurance at all times to make them feel appreciated and find their potentials in themselves.

Widening Access key features are funding support for Higher education institutions and co-ordination of reaching wider which aims to make higher education a better option for many people in Wales. It also helps encourage opportunities for local study by helping the funds of higher education courses and supporting students who which to take part in a part time course through allocating funds to help with their financial support.

Reaching wider was eestablished in 2002 by HEFCW to help break down barriers and widen access to learning to everyone in wales. It helps support social inclusion and provides something for every body.

There are four regional Reaching Wider Partnerships that have been established to co-ordinate activities throughout Wales to make sure that local skills are used to provide many learning opportunities for local people. Swansea University is the lead partner in Swansea. 

Their aim is to promote progression to higher education, work with severe relative social disadvantaged people, focus on underrepresented communities and finally assist with promoting achievement. 

References:

Davies A, (2012) ‘Widening access in the welsh context’. What is Education? Policy and practice BA (hons), faculty of Humanities. Unpublished.  

 

Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, Retrieved 13th March 2012 from http://www.hefcw.ac.uk/policy_areas/widening_access/widening_access.aspx

Video created using Windows Movie Maker

 

I have decided to make a video using Windows Movie Maker using some pictures of Yemen. This is another way I have been able to use ICT for my assignment. I used different effects and added music to the video to make it more interesting and visual.

This video is simple and was quickly made as I was familiar with the software windows movie maker :) 

Since I am doing my portfolio on Yemen, I have decided to take photos of traditional objects I have around my house; Here are some of these photos.

I have been working on my portfolio for my visual communication and ICT module. I included a lot of photos from different areas of Yemen, some yemeni food, the yemeni traditional clothing/jewellery and many other things. I have also been planning on what I want my final outcome to be. My first idea is to make a canvas using a Henna sketch as I find the henna sketches pretty and are used a lot in fashion nowadays. Here are some of the sketches I looked at online;

This henna sketch was definitely my favourite one so far. I really thought the dragon made the sketch look a lot better and unique.

These sketches are very simple yet pretty which I really liked.

I also liked this sketch as it had a lot of little detailing, however I think that this one will be very difficult to create a canvas with. By researching and looking at different henna sketches, I am able to generate my own sketch. This will be included in my portfolio.

ICT AND VISUAL COMMUNICATION PROJECT

I have been doing a lot of research and have been trying to generate different ideas of what I want my final project to be. My first idea was to look at fashion as I like looking at different fashion styles. I enjoy looking at various fashion and make up trends. My portfolio was going to look at different designers and looking at their work.

Using fashion as my theme was abit difficult as it was more of an interest than a 'sense of place'. I have decided to look at Yemen as my sense of place.

I chose Yemen as it is where I come from. I am able to use my knowledge on Yemen and develop it in my portfolio. It is simple as I know alot about it. I believe that not many people know about Yemen so therefore it will be something different and new to introduce to my class.

I will be looking at the history of Yemen. To start me off I have looked at different images from Google.

I will be making a scrapbook with different images from Yemen and looking at the culture.

Advertisments

This seminar was about how companies sell their products via television advertisments. We looked at many different videos on youtube and how we felt about them. Some of these advertisments were too controversial and therefore become banned as they are sending the wrong messages to people or might be offensive and disturbing to some people.

 

Suzie Pugh, presenting our collages to the class

In todays seminar, each group had to present their sense of place collage to the rest of the class.
I spoke for my group and explained to the class what our collage was about. In my small group, each person had a small section of the paper and had their own sense of place images e.g. one person had sports and I had make up and fashion.

It was interesting to listen to everyone elses ideas and the explanations behind their collages.

For the second part of this seminar we were introduced to Metaphors. We were asked to define the word metaphor. A metaphor is when comparisons are made between two unlike things that actually have something in common. We looked into song lyrics that have metaphors in them such as the lyrics, ' Hit me baby one more time' By Britney Spears and ' I can see your Halo' By beyonce.

Metaphors are highly used in songs, media and advertisments nowadays.

Here are some images of how Metaphors are used in advertisments;

..

I believe that metaphors have a deep meaning in advertisments. It expresses and sends the message in a simple way.

Sense of place seminar - Suzie Pugh

In this seminar we all looked into detail about the ICT AND VISUAL COMMUNICATION assignment which is a project that requires me to plan and manage a visual presentation supported by research material.

The theme of this project is ' A sense of place.' Today each of us discussed what 'Sense of place' means to us and how we define it. The best definition was given by a class peer, ' A sense of place is where a place you feel comfortable in. It's a place where you feel happy,safe and feel a sense of belonging.'

Many people defined Sense of place differently however we all agreed that it is about being in a place where you feel appreciated and comfortable.

After doing this, we were put into small groups and given an A3 piece of paper. We were asked as a group to cut out images from various magazines and make a collage with them using a Sense of place theme.

Visual Communication - Lecturer - Suzie Pugh

For the second Seminar with Suzie. Each student was asked to bring atleast 5 objects that have a meaning to their life. We were divided into small groups and discussed the reasons behind choosing these items. It was interesting to listen to other peoples stories behind each object them have brought with them as it says alot about the person and the experience they had.

After discussing all the items in small groups, we had to choose one item and explain to the class why it means a lot to you and what memories it holds. It was interesting to listen to everyones explanations behind the objects they have chosen. It made me realise that every indiviual cherishes their memories in a different way and that sometimes people around you might not understand the deep meaning behind the objects you have brought, you are the only persons that understands the meaning of the object and the memories it holds.

The Scream & Ich Habe Angst

On our first session of Visual communication, the whole class took a look at two different
art images. We then had a class discussion about what we think the meaning behind each picture was and why do we think the artist has specifically chosen to create these images.

The first image we looked at was The Scream,

The Scream is a famous piece of art created by Edvard Munch on 1893. We spoke about the colours used, the idea behind the picture and we analysed all the details as a group.



We then looked at a piece of art by a german artist called Rosemarie Trockel which was called Ich Habe Angst.

The words ' Ich Habe Angst' means something like ' I have fear '. We also discussed this picture and analysed each word used and why the artist has chosen to use these words and in a church.

I personally prefer The Scream as I think it has a deeper meaning, it looks more artistic and the use of different colours really expressed the artists emotions. However Ich Habe Angst looks plain and not interesting at all. It is very simple yet expresses something. I don't think I am able to relate to the piece of art therefore I didn't like it much.

Steve Gullick - roles of governors and school policy

On the 23^rd of January 2012 we had a guest speaker called Steve Gullick. He spoke to us about the role of governors and school policy.

Who and what is the role of a governing body? 

Welsh assembly Govt (2010)

“ A governor is a volunteer who cares about teaching, learning and children. They represent those people with a key interest in the school, including parents, staff, the local community and the local authority.” 

As the quote stated above, governors are people who decide to volunteer  to be part of the governing team. These people have a huge impact on schools and teachers. 

Governors conduct a legal requirement by conducting the school with a vie to promoting high standards of the educational achievement. They are in charge of the whole setting.

They help set appropriate school targets for pupil achievement for key stage 2,3 and 4. They must ensure that these targets are set and it is the teachers/schools responsibility to do so. 

Governors decide whether to permanently exclude someone or not with reference from the teacher, they look at the pros and cons of the action to be taken. This is how the governors have a big impact in affecting a school if the  inspection didn’t go well. 

Governors take general responsibly for the conduct of the school, they decide basic school rules such as if the school must have uniform or not and the schools start/finish times etc. They also determine the staff complement and pay for all the staff in the school setting including teachers, assistance, one to one support staff etc.

After an inspection has taken place in a school, the governors draw up a plan and they are responsible that this plan has been planned and taken into consideration.

England and Wales have governors body whereas Scotland doesn’t. The governor’s body is made up out of 9-20 different governors.  Governors must meet up at least once a term to discuss general topics and make improvements.

Governors are also responsible for staff disciplinary. They look at the incident and decide on what the punishments will be. A lot of caution and fair judgment must be made to ensure everyone is equally treated. 

Some debates have been going on, on whether school governors should be paid for doing this job or not. If not then why shouldn’t they? A lot of people believe that if this becomes a paid job, governors might not take their jobs as well as they do without getting paid as they will be working for money rather than their interest. I personally agree with this statement however I believe that they should get a reward for their hard work.

A governor can hold their place for up to four years and then they must leave their chair unless they are elected again.

References:

Gullick S, (2012) ‘Roles of the governing body’. What is Education? Policy and practice BA (hons), faculty of Humanities. Unpublished.

Welsh Assembly Government (2010) School governors. Retrieved 28^th January 2010 from http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/schoolshome/schoolfundingandplanning/schoolgov/?lang=en

Graffiti creator

For this type of text, I used graffiti creator. It was a simple website to use and you are able to customize the colours and different effects.

Using text image

Here is another example of using words to create a picture. For this one I downloaded an image from the internet and used the word 'Fashion' to get the outcome.

I decided to use fashion as it is the topic I want to look at in my ICT and visual communication assignment. This is just an idea to get me started.

Using Tagxedo

Here is a sample of me using the website Tagxedo and creating an image from using different words;
The topic is about how technology is used in primary schools

Dr Russel Grigg - Estyn

Due to Andy not feeling well we have been given the opportunity to have various guest speakers give us lectures in many different aspects of education. In todays lecture we had a guest speaker Dr Russel Grigg who is the head of the south Wales centre of teacher education. 

Estyn (2005) “Our mission is to achieve excellence for all learners in Wales… through providing an independent, high quality inspection and advice service.”

What is Estyn?

Here are some key points and a brief introduction on what Estyn does ;

* Estyn inspects quality & standards in education and training providers in Wales. It is responsible for inspecting different educational settings such as nurseries, primary and secondary schools, special needs school, independent schools, further education, pupil referral units, work based learning, adult community learning, career companies and offender learning.

Estyn provides advice to the Welsh Assembly Government on quality and standards in education and training in Wales. It also promotes the spread of good practice in education and training.

They are funded by, the National Assembly for Wales under Section 104 of the Government of Wales Act 1998.

Estyn has 3 fold purposes:

* It provides accountability to the users of services and other stakeholders through our public reporting in providers
* It helps promote improvement in education & training
* Inform the development of national policy by the Welsh Government

There are two different types of inspections. Estyn is responsible for writing reports on schools, prisons and colleges and state of the nation reports. These documents are important for people such as parents, government and the public.
The second type of inspection is called the Thematic reports which are vital to the rest of Wales and the learning settings. 

In order to help with these reports, Estyn can send out questionnaires to parents for example to help make the final judgment of the school. Parents are able to give an honest review about their thoughts and opinions with the school and if they would like to see any improvements. These are taken into consideration when writing the final report. 

Estyn must make an overall judgment of the school including the good working teachers and the not so good working teachers. Inspections must be taken with caution in order to ensure it is a fair judgment overall.

IMPORTANCE OF USING DATA TO RECORD INFORMATION:

*Recording data can help gather huge data of information for the Welsh Government and helps set trends and targets. It also makes research informed practice and enables others to record data easily. Recording data also makes it simple for others to read and work with, this is essential as it could save a lot of time.

Changes can also be adapted easily and are able to be identified in a simple and clear way.

References:

 Estyn (2005), Retrieved 17^th January 2012 from http://www.estyn.gov.uk/