Institute of Education in turmoil

Students from the Warwick Institute of Education (WIoE) have raised concerns this week following rumours regarding the department’s future.

More than 1000 students study at the department which provides teacher training courses including PGCEs.

Following a tweet from the Public University Twitter page on February 5 which read: “closure of Warwick Institute of Education may put jobs of 96 people at risk, negotiations are ongoing”, an email was sent to current students of the department.

The students were informed that the University Senate will consider a recommendation to reorganise the WIoE, but they were assured that third-years will not be affected by these proposals and second-years will still be able to follow and complete their existing courses, albeit with possibly.

Although this email addresses students already studying at the WIoE, the assurances did not extend to students who had offers to begin their studies at the department in the next academic year.

The Boar spoke to a student currently studying at Warwick who has applied and been accepted onto a PGCE in the WIoE.

The student, who wished to remain anonymous, commented: “I…heard rumours that the department was closing, but it would be pretty bad if they had given us a place on the course when they knew the department was in trouble.

“I think if rumours are going around, it’s obvious a lot of people are aware of changes. They should have emailed us to let us know of any potential upcoming alterations to courses and whether they could potentially affect us.”

At the time of talking to the Boar, prospective students had received no such email regarding the future of WIoE.

Tiffany Yeung, a first-year undergraduate studying in the department, did not seem as worried. She said: “Well personally I feel that the department can definitely be improved and I know a lot of my course mates would agree.

“I particularly look forward to the new teaching that is going to take place.”

With regard to the potential redundancies in the department, James Entwistle, education officer at Warwick’s Students’ Union, said that he could not confirm whether the tweet, which was later retracted, had any basis in fact.

He said: “The difficulty is that these rumours are having a really negative impact on the morale of the staff in the department, and clear guidance and information needs to be given.”

In response to concerns such as these, Peter Dunn, head of communications at Warwick, commented: “The University will seek to minimise the impact on staff, support individuals through an uncertain time, and discuss with staff members the impact of the proposals as they develop.”

When asked why he thought the reorganisation of Education Studies is being considered, Mr Entwistle said: “I think a large part of this is the damage from government reforms to teacher training, but there are obviously issues within the department and the lack of substantial investment and effective management from the University in the Institute over recent years.”

The department has said that it will continue to update students on any decisions made through the Student Staff Liason Committee structures, the Students’ Union and further messages.