Should Electrical Tutors at FE colleges in the UK be mandated to complete a minimum of 1 week per year working in industry?

Sergio Fernandez said:

Should Electrical Tutors at FE colleges in the UK

Why limit it to only some industry education provider models?

Sergio Fernandez said:

The work placement could be in Domestic/Commercial/Industrial and could also include specialisms like ATEX (ATmosphères EXplosibles)

The placement could be seen as a type of Enhanced CPD (Continuing Professional Development) so to speak

I think this is a good idea, but should not be mandated in place of other types of CPD ... for example, there are part-time tutors that have regular interface with industry and what's going on "on the ground" in their "usual" or "day" job.

I also think that, whilst a breadth of experience is good ... ensuring regular "refresh" of core experience is also worth considering, as standards and practices change over time, for example:

• 25 years ago, something as simple as terminals ... screwless terminals were an upcoming practice in the UK, now pretty much mainstream;
  
  
• somehow, termination of SWA armour has becoming an issue and some have the view you can't rely on the armour (could training be improved earlier in the career .... but for those who worry about its termination, ignoring the armour by use of an additional copper core as cpc, or separate cpc, won't change the fact that the armour is often an exposed-conductive-part, and therefore most often requires proper termination to prevent shock, etc., so getting it right is most important).
  
  
• The range of great (and relatively inexpensive) tools compared with even 10-15 years ago is huge ... but there's also a number of inventive products that some might think promote poor practice in the industry: not least impact driver ≠ torque screwdriver/wrench.

It's good to get out there and have a look, and take the feedback into the education and training environment.

Sergio Fernandez said:

Should Electrical Tutors at FE colleges in the UK

Why limit it to only some industry education provider models?

Sergio Fernandez said:

The work placement could be in Domestic/Commercial/Industrial and could also include specialisms like ATEX (ATmosphères EXplosibles)

The placement could be seen as a type of Enhanced CPD (Continuing Professional Development) so to speak

I think this is a good idea, but should not be mandated in place of other types of CPD ... for example, there are part-time tutors that have regular interface with industry and what's going on "on the ground" in their "usual" or "day" job.

I also think that, whilst a breadth of experience is good ... ensuring regular "refresh" of core experience is also worth considering, as standards and practices change over time, for example:

• 25 years ago, something as simple as terminals ... screwless terminals were an upcoming practice in the UK, now pretty much mainstream;
  
  
• somehow, termination of SWA armour has becoming an issue and some have the view you can't rely on the armour (could training be improved earlier in the career .... but for those who worry about its termination, ignoring the armour by use of an additional copper core as cpc, or separate cpc, won't change the fact that the armour is often an exposed-conductive-part, and therefore most often requires proper termination to prevent shock, etc., so getting it right is most important).
  
  
• The range of great (and relatively inexpensive) tools compared with even 10-15 years ago is huge ... but there's also a number of inventive products that some might think promote poor practice in the industry: not least impact driver ≠ torque screwdriver/wrench.

It's good to get out there and have a look, and take the feedback into the education and training environment.

gkenyon said:

25 years ago, something as simple as terminals ... screwless terminals were an upcoming practice in the UK, now pretty much mainstream

Great example