Dear Christine I have been teaching a basic lace class for the Adult Education department of a local college for seven years and this year had an ALI inspection which ran in conjunction with an OFSTED inspection for the college as a whole. Although it is advertised as a beginners class, in fact I have quite a cross section of beginners and experienced people, who just want to come once a week and make lace in company. This was the first time I had ever had anyone inspect my teaching. I also have a very limited teaching qualification - a three month English as a Foreign Language one. I don't know whether the one they offer is any better than that.
Like yours, the college made a lot of the preparation for inspection. I supplied a sample work scheme (ie what a beginner might be expected to achieve in a term) and made a point of recording work in progress and completed by photographs. I also had out all the work sheets that I have prepared for use in class and I keep a running record week by week which assists in 'lesson planning' for the next week. I had produced a very simple lesson plan for the day - most of which said 'individual work'. We were advised to put out a display of completed work on the day. The inspection itself was not as bad an experience as it had threatened to be; the lady inspector who was an expert in a Craft field but not Bobbin lace, sat at the side of the class and observed the class and made a point of talking to most of the students to get their feedback on the course - how it fulfilled their requirements I think - but more on what they thought of the college itself. She then reported to me verbally - in fact telling me she was perfectly happy with what I was doing because the ladies in the class were enjoying it and appreciated my committment to them. She seemed to me to judge the class with knowledge of the type of student and nature of a hand craft. I hope that this was typical of any future inspections for me. I too have been expected to give the students more and more forms to fill in - but they really don't like being treated like this and generally don't fill the forms in very seriously. They'd sooner tell me their aims than put them down on paper. I am just pleased that here at least the colleges are still prepared to fund the lace classes, unlike other places. I hope these comments help you. Best wishes Rosemary in Sussex - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
