CDN are proud to offer two Teaching in Colleges Today (TiCT) SCQF credit-rated units, which have been developed to better meet the initial professional development needs of new college lecturers coming into the sector.
Read this blog post written by new member of CDN Team, Lead: Learning and Teaching and Equalities – Gail Toms, who shares her latest and greatest experience of Teaching in Colleges Today (TicT), and explains why you should get involved!
Hands up if you’ve done TiCT? Now hands up if you’ve done TiCT recently … because I am here to tell you, it has had a complete face and body lift! It’s safe to say that in the last decade (and certainly since I first put by toes into FE waters) the professional learning landscape has changed – drastically. Back in my day, as a ‘newbie’ lecturer (cue all the Monty Python puns) it was somewhat ad hoc and let’s be honest, pretty basic to say the least. Now, thanks to the promotion of Professional Standards, GTCS registration, and with a not so gentle professional nudge from CDN, there are clear and defined professional pathways, and TiCT, that first step on your professional learning journey, is unrecognisable. If, like me, you are someone who started your professional progression pathway over 4 years ago, I’d place bets that you wouldn’t recognise the course now.
Like many of you reading this, I had relegated TiCT to the annals of my PL history but when I took on the role of Learning and Teaching Mentor at Dundee and Angus College, in January 2022, I had the privilege of experiencing TiCT in all its new finery – and I was impressed (so impressed in fact, I applied for a job). TiCT is now modularised, into manageable chunks, with a swanky new online appearance. But this is not just another case of style over substance. Content is fully up-to-date, and assessment has been streamlined using templates, and exemplars. Material is easily digestible through a series of ‘click and expand’ tabs, embedded videos, and clear visual signposting. Everything you need at the click of a mouse. There are also two levels, so it meets the needs of those freshly minted in the FE sector, and those with significant academic or practical experience, but looking for a more challenging course.
Fellow CDN Lead Jo Turbett, recently wrote an article in CDN’s Reach Magazine (p.42), suggesting we dust off our old teacher training assessments, to resuscitate those long-forgotten ideas, and I’d like to add, if you haven’t looked lately, why not log into CDN Learn Online, and have a wee footle about. It’s not just great for new lecturers undergoing professional accreditation, but also as an ongoing referral resource for those of us a tad longer in the tooth. Not refreshed those lesson plans in a while? Then why not dip into the module on ‘Lesson Planning and Preparation for Learning’. Need some classroom inspiration? There’s a module for that too: ‘Learning Activities and Resources’. Already qualified but transferring from another educational context into FE, and unsure where to start? Lucky for you there are modules on ‘College Context’ and ‘Sector Influences and Initiatives’ to give you that much needed introduction to your new working environment. And what’s more … it’s free, and it counts towards your GTCS PL requirements!
If in doubt … this ‘TiCTs’ all the boxes.
View Teaching in Colleges Today (TiCT) here.
