Let me introduce myself…

‘I was Lightening, before the Thunder’

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Well, what do you say? My name is Adam Chapman and I currently work as a Course Manager for Early Years study programs as well as Foundation degrees in Early Years and Education Studies in FE. I’ve worked in FE for four years coming from HE as a widening participation practitioner. I’m a first generation HE applicant, having come from a family of care workers.

Where have I come from?

• Having left School with 4 GCSE’s to my name after a late Dyslexia diagnosis, I always knew that working with children and young people was a vocation I wanted to be apart of. After working in Early Years and Primary Education I applied to University in 2011 after studying a vocational CACHE Level 3 course.
• Fast forward 3 years and I achieved a first class degree in Childhood and Youth Studies, I was eligable for a scholarship that enabled me to study towards an MA, of which I graduated from in 2015. I went for a job interview within an FE college on the day my 20,000 word dissertation was due as part of the pastoral team and was successful. The overjoyed feeling of ‘I’m employable!!’ was observed in the Pub later that day.

I am passionate about power FE has in transforming lives, as well as the role of HE based in FE in being an arbiter for social mobility. I’m also interested in widening participation, technology and it’s role in shaping young people’s lives and politics surrounding the education sector as a whole (groan..).

So, why this blog?

• As an early career researcher and working class academic, I feel it is important to empower and continue to provide a voice for FE as someone who has benefited from FE. Therefore, I was this to be a reflective tool for FE and HE practitioners, I never claim to be absolutely right, but I do want to promote the community that FE perpetuates.
• I will blog about experiences that are relevant to FE and HE, I will talk about what is going well in the sector (I feel that this is not written about enough) and I also want to discuss issues that are relevant to teaching practice.

But, most of all, I want this to be about collaboration, reflection and discussion. I envision this to be about the sector we all love, the students we continue to invest in and teaching practice that we want to evolve. I’m keen to hear from you.

Collaborate. Reflect. Discuss.

Thank you – Adam Chapman