The Scottish Workforce Empowerment for Lifelong Learners (SWELL) project is one of the seven thematic priorities under the Equal Programme in Scotland.
Equal is a European Social Fund initiative that aims to promote new ways of combating all forms of discrimination and inequalities in relation to the labour market, through trans-national co-operation. Equal includes action to help the social and vocational integration of asylum seekers.
Led by the Scottish Further Education Unit (SFEU) with the support of a range of partners, SWELL aims to eliminate barriers to progression in both work and learning for disadvantaged individuals and groups.
As part of the SWELL programme, learndirect scotland is working with FE and HE staff on the development of competence frameworks for staff working with students through learning centres.
The competence frameworks will enable individual staff and managers to identify areas where staff development could enhance job performance, and will also identify existing courseware, training materials and procedures that can be used to meet specialist needs.
The framework will be accessed through a learner management system and is being developed with ease of use in mind to provide a quick and clear structure for identifying training needs, producing personal development plans and identifying resources to meet these training needs.
New materials are being identified and developed to complement the framework and underpin specialist functions, for example for staff providing tutor support to students online or combining traditional and online methods of instruction.