Ringing Foundation award grant to support ITTS

The Association of Ringing Teachers (ART) has just been awarded a grant from the Ringing Foundation

This will enable a part-time administrative assistant to be employed to support and help develop the Integrated Teacher Training Scheme (ITTS). Those who have successfully completed the accreditation process through the ITTS are eligible for membership of ART.

When the ITTS was first piloted at the end of 2009 no one had any idea how it would be received. The demand for the courses was greater than had been anticipated. The ITTS asked for feedback from course participants and from course tutors and, as a result of this feedback, the accreditation system for those learning to teach became more complex.

It was felt that to maintain a professional standard a more rigorous standard of assessment was necessary. On-line multiple choice theory tests were developed and a structure for assessment of teaching skills was introduced. The results of these assessments are collected on-line via the Moodle site, (a type of closed website known as a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)) used by schools and colleges.

Within the ITTS a progressive learning scheme for new ringers was developed. This 5 level scheme called Learning the Ropes (LTR) takes a new ringer from their first lesson through to ringing a quarter peal of Plain Bob Minor inside. The submission of achievement at the various levels and the issuing of certificates to new ringers takes place on-line.

Each new ringer is given a login to the Moodle site which gives them access to a wealth of educational resources including interactive quizzes on such topics as Plain Hunt or Plain Bob Doubles. To date over 250 new ringers, who have all been taught by teachers who have attended ITTS courses, have been logged on to the Moodle site. Many of these are using the Learning the Ropes scheme.

The use of on-line data collection means that the ITTS is able to record the numbers of participants, how far both new teachers progress towards accreditation and how far new ringers progress down the path towards change ringing. This data is a first in the world of ringing but it does require time to collate. It was felt that to make the ITTS and LTR as effective as possible professional administrative support was required.

With the number of courses being demanded there is a significant amount of work to establish each course and also many enquiries to be answered.

The Ringing Foundation is also keen to make the scheme function to a professional level and requested that, as a condition of the grant, regular performance monitoring be reported to them and that the educational materials should be reviewed by an independent committee at regular intervals.

The ART hopes to have the new employee in post before the end of the year and in the meanwhile would like to extend a big thank you to all the volunteers have been holding the system together in the interim.