At the start of November, all further education and training staff involved in the provision, support or management of FET in ETB’s will be invited to participate in the ‘FET Skills Profile’ Project. This will, for the first time, create a local and national profile of the FET workforce in Ireland. The initiative is the first step in the development of a strategy and supports for the continuing professional development of staff in the sector.
LCETB is very happy to support this project and on the 5th of November, LCETB FET staff will be emailed a link to a short online survey. The survey, which takes less than 10 minutes to complete, will gather information on job roles, qualifications and skills, as well as seeking staff views on future development opportunities.
Participation in the skills profile project is voluntary; however a high participation rate will help to ensure the provision of future training and development opportunities for FET staff that are relevant to staff needs and those of the sector.
In advance of the link being sent out LCETB would encourage you to reflect on 2 questions which will be asked as part of the survey. One asks what professional development you may have undertaken in the last two years and the second, seeks to identify the professional development you would like to see offered to support you in your current role.
It is important when answering these questions that professional development is seen in its broadest terms, to include, as well as the more formal learning that comes from attending courses or further study, the wealth of informal learning that takes place through networking, involvement in innovative projects, participation on committees and groups etc.
It is important to stress that this project has been designed to protect the confidentiality of respondents. Therefore, no information will be gathered that will identify individual staff members. Survey responses will be accessed only by an independent organisation contracted to support the process, ICF Consulting. No survey responses will be accessible by LCETB, SOLAS or any other party. LCETB will just receive a summary of data collected, which will be very useful as we begin to develop our own internal CPD strategy.
This project has been developed as a collaborative initiative between ETBs nationally and SOLAS and will be happening in November. The FET Skills Profile Project enjoys the support of the ETB unions including TUI, SIPTU, AHCPS and IMPACT. You will find briefing notes and other background information here on our Staffconnect portal.
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