New, Next or Never Normal? Figuring Out The Changing World of Further and Higher Education – One year on, What’s new & Where next? New Report Published.

Sector leaders from across the further and higher education landscape have shared their insights and experiences from meeting the challenges of the covid-19 pandemic in a new report ‘New, Next or Never Normal? Figuring Out The Changing World of Further and Higher Education – One year on, What’s new & Where next?’ published today (23rd June). 

Report author David Jones OBE said

“from the series of facilitated conversations on which the report is built it became clear that that many of the themes in our previous 2020 report were the ‘right ones’ and have remained a priority in 2021, but a year on we see the impact of the lockdowns and ongoing pandemic as much greater than initial predictions. There is now an emerging clarity on what this means for the post-compulsory education and training sector and the report published today reveals these findings in the context of the challenges and opportunities ahead.”

One participant in the discussions said

“Already recruiting into (some) roles that are totally different to anything we’ve done before …..we are appointing (some) people irrespective of location”.  Another participant commented ““We need to listen more …… shining stars” are emerging”

Whilst another said

“People have stepped up when needed and displayed leadership of self and others. We could harness this more in the future. Many a reluctant leader has thrived this year and found voice”. 

Jamie Smith, Executive Chairman of education technology specialist C-Learning said:

“I’d like to thank David and all of the leaders for participating in the discussions resulting in the report we have published today. The findings reveal a set of clear priorities for policy and decision makers to address. It’s clear that for many, new ways of living, learning and working have emerged in a way where there is no going back. Our collective responsibility now is to apply the lessons learned in a way that helps to create a smarter and more sustainable planet, and as anyone who reads the report will note, there is cause for some optimism how we might do that moving forward”.