The Wider Benefits of Further Education: Practitioner Views. Wider Benefits of Learning Research Report.

The wider benefits of further education (FE) were examined in a survey circulated to more than 10,000 FE practitioners in a representative sample of FE colleges throughout England. A total of 2,729 questionnaires (approximately 27%) were returned. The following were among the benefits of FE cited: esteem; efficacy; independence of thought; problem solving; and improved information technology skills. FE was also considered effective in developing social networks and bridging differences between ethnic groups and individuals of different ages. FE colleges were perceived as resources encouraging social and cultural development and "community esteem." FE was deemed most beneficial to students in access and basic skills courses. Practitioners who had been working in the sector longer were less likely to report wider benefits of FE. It was recommended that curricula seen as particularly effective in generating wider benefits be promoted. It was further recommended that, because FE colleges are critical hubs of activity, they should be preserved as physical locales and not transformed into a "brand" for provision of distance learning or locally franchised courses. The following items are appended: a structural equation model of the perceived benefits; coefficients and model fit for the ordinary least squares regressions; and the questionnaire. (Contains 10 references.) (MN)