Gillian Waugh

The meaning and concept of ‘professionalism’ for Literacy tutors in the Further Education or Learning and Skills Sector became a government focus in 1990’s following the publication of the Moser report and has been the subject of ongoing change since this point. The New Labour Government proposed a qualification reform including professional standards and subject specialist awards in 2002 and this was brought in under the new inspection framework of Ofsted in 2002. This new structure identified the need for those teaching Literacy and ESOL to have subject specialist qualifications that would be delivered alongside their generic teacher training. This was necessary to meet the needs of the learners.
The focus of this study is to examine Trainee and Novice teachers of Literacy perceptions of how well prepared they feel to teach in the sector following their course of study on a Post Graduate Certificate or Certificate of Education qualification Initial Teacher Training course.
The work also examines the background of the development of the Literacy subject specialist qualifications and why they need to be in existence; the definitions of Literacy standards and the reasons for the definitions; why learners have not acquired skills in Literacy by the time they reach adulthood; and what Literacy actually means for learners in the post compulsory sector. The study follows two cohorts of NTs through from their perceptions as they begin their studies through to their perceptions on completion of their studies and six months into their roles as Novice teachers. The methodology involved focus groups, observation of classes to collect quantitative data, questionnaires and interviews.
The findings revealed the trainee teachers placed significant value on the knowledge of a literacy teacher and there is evidence that they considered individual personality traits and characteristics to be important in their role as a professional tutor. There is significant evidence that the trainees did not feel that they are fully prepared for the diverse sector that they will work in and there is particular emphasis on the lack of coverage of the GCSE curriculum and the concept of being a specialist in what is evolving into three distinct areas, those of Literacy, ESOL and GCSE English.
The implications of the study are that the standards for Initial Teacher Training for Literacy specialists, and thus the teaching qualifications that these are built on, have not developed in line with the needs of the sector. One clear aspect that emerges from the study is this mismatch between the needs of the sector and the preparation of trainee teachers. The researcher approached the study from a stance of being firmly committed to the need for prescribed national standards for teachers of Literacy.