Facing up to serious difficulties

The challenges of working with adult learners are perhaps most acute when it becomes clear that a trainee will not meet the Standards for QTS. Failure is always painful, especially for those who have invested heavily in the decision to teach.

News of ‘failure’ should never come as a surprise to a trainee. A clear agenda for learning, with an agreed focus and specific targets for improvement, along with appropriate levels of support, should prevent this. Yet it can still be difficult to accept that there is no longer a realistic hope of meeting the Standards. Encouraging a trainee to withdraw from the course, rather than waiting to be ‘failed’, can make the experience less stressful and humiliating. But we must be sure that trainees are aware of all their options and understand exactly how the examining procedures operate before they make any decisions. This requires clarity too, across the partnership, about how decisions are reached and who exactly is involved in the assessment process. It is also vital, since trainees might later challenge a ‘fail’ decision, that detailed evidence is kept of the ways in which they are alerted to particular difficulties. A record is also needed of the specific targets set and of the support offered to help meet them.