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Promoting Quality in Teacher Education

Note of the meeting of the UCET Research & International Forum held on-line at 1.00pm on Tuesday 6 October 2020

Welcome, introductions and minutes of the previous meeting

Colleagues were welcomed to the first meeting of the 2020/21 academic year. The note of the meeting held on 12 May 2020 was agreed. On matters arising, Hazel Bryan had been elected Chair and Heather Smith vice Chair of the forum for up to three years from 2020/21.

Discussion

A range of issues was discussed, including:

An update from JNR on non R&I related issues, including: relaxations made to ITE criteria in the light of Covid 19; surveys and advice carried out by UCET for member institutions in relation to Covid 19; UCET statements about the CCF, the new OfSTED inspection framework and SSP; sector advice on placements and CCF related resources; and developments in Wales and Northern Ireland.

The REF, including details of the guidance issued on 31 July 2020. The following points were raised in discussion: whether the removal of the minimum of one submitted output requirement provided scope for outputs to be amended because, for example, Covid 19 had delayed publication; the availability of evidence to support impact statements had been adversely affected by Covid (although those sourced pre-Covid might benefit); the 100 words contextualization statements allowed to explain the impact of Covid was still useful, although it would not directly affect grading or be graded itself; and the difficulty of accessing of hard copies of publications required for some submissions.

The work of the R&I Covid 19 sub-group and the resulting UKRI bid to identify and mitigate the inequalities in ITE that had been exacerbated by Covid 19, and which had, for a number of reasons, been unsuccessful. Those leading on the bid were thanked by forum members. It was agreed that a new sub-group to consider structural inequalities in ITE and schools should be established. Members of the existing Covid sub-group would in the first instance be invited to discuss the terms of reference for the group, with invitations to the broader UCET membership to participate then issued.

The impact of Covid 19 on teaching & research and the loss of gains made in recent years. Specific examples included: time allowed for research even for staff with ‘significant responsibilities’ curtailed, despite research related KPIs often being retained; the prioritisation of teaching over research; QR research funding cut in some instances by 50-80% (although protected in some other cases at the expense of admin functions); funding for conference travel and attendance withdrawn; the suspension of capacity building projects; reductions in staff hours across the board; and research activities being increasingly being carried out on a goodwill basis. It was agreed that UCET would bring the matter to the attention of UUK in the context of UCET’s new strategy, and drawing on the recent UCET ‘Building Research Informed Teacher Education Communities’ paper. It was also agreed to carry out a confidential survey of R&I members to gather examples of the issues they faced.

International recruitment to ITE and CPD programmes, where the implications of new visa and student finance regulations were noted. Recruitment to master’s level CPD courses had held up reasonably well despite Covid, and some international PGCE students would not arrive for placement until 2021. The start dates of some programmes had been changed in the light of the pandemic.

The impact of Covid 19 on doctoral students, with reports given of: doctoral and research students not being allowed on campus, adding to pre-existing feelings of isolation; limited access to library facilities; the relaxation of completion and progression requirements to reflect the new circumstances; the importance of institutions taking a flexible approach so as not to lose students; and the particular impact on 2nd year students about to embark on field work.

Items for information

The following items were noted:

The summer UCET newsletter

The new UCET strategy

The 3-4 November UCET conference programme

Any other business

None.

Date of next meeting

19 January 2021, via Zoom.