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ETF’s talent attraction, management and retention for FE course, ‘Beyond the Blind Spots’, announced at AoC conference

On Wednesday 21 November during the Association for Colleges (AoC) 2018 conference, the Education and Training Foundation’s Beyond the Blind Spots – Talent Attraction, Management & Retention for Further Education course was announced.

AoC, one of the delivery partners, announced the one-day course that will give training on unconscious bias and further strategies to support wider diversity within FE governance. The workshops are designed to provide a safe space for reflection and give attendees an opportunity to plan fresh approaches to embed at colleges.

Jo Matthews, Leadership Associate at ETF, said, “Diversity is about every single person being unique. With this uniqueness and different life experiences comes unconscious bias. We would all like to think we are open minded, however, our personal history heavily influences how we evaluate others.

“Unconscious bias can impact our decisions, that is a fact of life. We tend to like people who are like us, act like us and come from similar backgrounds. Fortunately, we can do something about it. This course will help you explore influences and decisions and look at actions your organisation can take to reduce unconscious bias.”

The outcome of the day will give attendees the knowledge and confidence to:

  • gain a first-hand experiential understanding of unconscious bias
  • gain awareness of the inner workings of the brain, which leads to everyday biased decision-making
  • gain an understanding of the practical steps to take toward better and bias-free decision-making processes
  • recognise potential blind spot hot spots in key FE executive functionalities
  • recognise and manage unconscious bias in the workplace
  • empower participants knowledge of managing their own and others blind spots

The ‘Beyond the Blind Spots’ course is offered free to colleges who can commit a senior manager, a HR specialist and a governor to the workshops in order to gain an understanding of the united, practical steps to take within their college.

Three nationwide courses have been announced in January and February 2019: 

  • Manchester, 27 January 2019
  • Birmingham, 30 January 2019
  • London, 12 February 2019

Organisation can also apply for the course to be run in-house. 

Visit the ETF Booking website to find out more about the course and booking information.


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