‘Nothing will prevent me from doing a good job’. The professionalisation of part‐time teaching staff in further and adult education

Abstract

Approximately 85,000 part‐time teaching staff working in further education (FE) and adult and community learning (ACL) are often seen as ‘a problem’. The intrinsic ‘part‐timeness’ of these staff tends to marginalise them: they remain under‐recognised and largely unsupported. Yet this picture is over‐simplified. This article examines how part‐time staff make creative use of professional autonomy and agency to mitigate problematic ‘casual employment’ conditions, reporting on results from Learning and Skills Development Agency‐sponsored research (2002–2006) with 700 part‐time staff in the learning and skills sector. The question of agency was reported as a key factor in part‐time employment. Change is necessary for the professional agency of part‐timers to be harnessed as the sector responds to ambitious sectoral ‘improvement’ agendas following the Foster Report and FE White Paper. Enhanced professionalisation for part‐time staff needs greater recognition and inclusion in change agendas.

Keywords:

• professionalism
• part‐time staff employment
• professional autonomy and agency
• FE and adult community learning
• learning and skills sector
• part‐timeness

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge and thank the former LSDA and LSRN LSE for funding to support this research project investigating part‐time staff in further and adult education. We thank the LSRN LSE research team for their collegiate participation in the project, all the part‐time staff respondents to our questionnaires and follow‐up interviews and the expert seminar group participants for their help and support. In particular, we thank Mike Cooper, Trixi Blair, Graham Knight, Lindsey Baker and the project team.