Reflections on a research conference in Stirling: Coffield and Gallacher

A handful of us from the college attended the Research in FE conference in the SFEU (now Scotland’s Colleges) on Monday.

The purpose of the day was to highlight some of the research activity (and the challenges involved with that activity) in the FE sector.

The day started off with an intriguing conversation, anchored by John McCann, between Frank Coffield and Jim Gallacher.

John McCann is the SFEU’s Deputy Chief Executive. Frank Coffield is an Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Education, University of London. Jim Gallacher is an Emeritus Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University.

These two Emeritus professors provided a rich personal, political and academic context for the day’s discussions. Coffield, although originally from Glasgow, has spent most of his academic career in England – his research, therefore, reflects the situation of FE south of the border. However, most, if not all, of his general points about FE there could be seamlessly transferred to the Scottish context. Gallacher provided a well-informed research and policy-making from the Scottish perspective.

What came across from both men was a passion and commitment to teaching and learning in general and, more specifically, a desire to make research more central to the working lives of FE teaching staff.

We don’t all need to be off working on research projects, but, as teaching professionals, we should all be familiar with important research developments relating to FE.

The Coffield-Gallacher conversation highlighted a number of issues. One theme was the importance of research evidence in the development of education policy. There was some discussion about the differences between Scotland and England, however it was interesting, if not unsurprising, to hear an eminent scholar such as Coffield provide insight into the reality of education policy making at the very highest level.

It seems clear that educational policy nationally and, at the college level, institutional systems are not, as we might expect, always based on sound educational research. The pragmatics of politics and business models are not easy to align with pure educational goals. It was refreshing to see the lid peeled off some off the rhetoric surrounding educational policy initiatives.

There was, from the delegates’ perspective, a real desire to get involved with research. How that would happen wasn’t so clear. What was clear was that colleges need to make a clear and unambiguous commitment of resources if they want the research to happen. One of the points that I kept coming back to was time. This is the resource which FE lecturers cherish most and have least of. Coffield himself acknowledged that the demanding teaching schedules of FE lecturers left little room for them to get involved in new initiatives.

There is little doubt that FE lecturers could never, nor should they, match the level and type of research activity that is conducted in HE. However, there is a place, I think, for a model of research which is customised for the needs, and the realities, of FE.

In saying that, and this came up a couple of times at the conference, research in FE needs to ensure that it maintains academic integrity. At one stage a cautionary voice articulated a concern that research might be used, or influenced, to bolster management agendas.

But this lone voice reflected a more general anxiety which informed a lot of the discussion – that there is a fundamental problem inherent in the corporate model of education which FE institutions are structured upon. Coffield’s important article asks us to “Just suppose teaching and learning became the first priority” (see very first EDDG post in October 2008). It is hard to see how teaching and learning will ever be the first priority in a system that, in reality, puts the economic ahead of the educational.

But let’s not get too dark and brooding. Let’s finish on a positive note. Those of us attending from Stevenson came away with a renewed passion for what we do and, in particular, a desire to move forward in terms of research.

I’ll let Karen fill out the details, but I’d not be surprised if some sort of a cross-college research group was soon born.


Of course, all of this rambling is merely drawn from the chaos of my memories of Monday. As that was a lifetime ago (it's now Friday), I'd welcome some comments from other participants of the conference. Between us we might just be able to produce an accurate reflection of the day's proceedings.