The Bell 500 gives us the opportunity to share thoughts on a wide range of educational topics from global contributors and gives you the opportunity to read 500 words to motivate your mind. It's quick, it’s focused and it’s always topical.
And, if you’re interested, here’s some further information on how the Bell 500 started…
The Bell 500 is an idea and inspiration borne out of our passion for education, determination to succeed and in homage to our founder’s late grandmother. Indeed, the Bell 500 takes its name directly from Jeanie Fairlie Hammond Bell who was a leading force in shaping his life. Born in 1919, Jean (as she liked to be known) was born into a working-class family in the mill town of Paisley in the West of Scotland. Married to Archie Bell, she soon welcomed a daughter to her family and it was not long after that when she (unusually for a married woman at that time) entered the workforce. As a strongly independent woman and a believer in learning with a passion for picking up new skills, she held various diverse positions during her long working career culminating in the job she loved most, training and working as a Chemistry Technician supporting academic staff and students at Paisley College of Technology (now the University of the West of Scotland). She remained in that role for many years until she retired from full-time employment at the age of 65. Even though she passed in 2015, at the grand age of 96 years, her determination, drive and passion for life and learning remain an inspiration to this day.
NQFs – transparency tools or enablers of change?
Many countries are using NQFs as a vehicle for educational reform often linked to economic and political drivers. Do they provide the answer to many of our issues around mobility, transfer of credit and mutual recognition or are they simply a construct which provides a vehicle for some better analysis of education and training issues? The answer to these questions is dependent on the purposes identified initially. You need to be clear about what problem or problems you are trying to solve before identifying the type of NQF that will provide the necessary solutions.
Academic vs Vocational education
I grew up, as many of you, in an environment that appreciates academic achievements, where the majority of school kids think of only one choice which is the higher education route. At least from my own experience I can say that it has never crossed my mind to consider vocational and technical education. I always believed that getting an academic degree is a must to be successful in life, however experience proves me wrong. Education is not only about higher education, but it can also take other pathways and an under-appreciated one is vocational education and training.
Reflections on 30 years in education…
As we welcome a new year, thoughts often turn to new opportunities. On a personal level, I’m choosing to reflect on almost 30 years of working in the field of education, thinking about what has changed, and what has stayed the same. In conversation, when asked about what I do for a living, it is often commented that it must be rather mundane. For those of us who work in the dynamic world of education, dull and mundane are not words that we recognise.