Education lecturer job application

[Sukistjames]

Posting for a friend who is really struggling with an application for an 'associate lecturer in education' job.

Friend has 15 years experience working in primary schools. Outstanding teacher, slt and previously acting head.

Spec requires evidence in a supporting statement of
'Ability to relate theory to practice'.

Can anyone advise how to answer this?

Bumping

What's the problem with the question? Surely they just need to identify some areas of education theory and how they apply it in the classroom (e.g. Cognitive load theory)?

As noble says, your friend will have to identify relevant theory and show how it is used to inform her practice. Education journals would be the best source of theory if your friend doesn't actually do this already.

Agreed. She must be able to point to changes she's made in her own teaching or school as SLT/Acting Head which were a response to something she'd read/heard. If necessary, she can reverse-engineer it - think of a change she made then go and find the theory that led her to do it.

Obviously I have no idea why your friends wants to go into lecturing, but it's worth bearing in mind the experience of a friend of mine. She secured her dream job, teaching the subject she's passionate about to education students at her local university. After a year she returned to a school as an SLT member & class teacher as it was so much less stressful. Which is saying something as she joined an RI school under masses of pressure to improve quickly. She found she was working way more hours at the university - under graduate assignments take far longer to mark than a set of primary books. When the students went out on placement she didn't get the breathing space she expected by not having to deliver lectures to them as she was then driving all over the south west visiting them in their placement schools. Just saying...

Keeping up with theory is an ongoing part of being an AL. It takes a lot of time and it may take your friend even more time if they are not used to it.

I was going to reply to this when I first saw it, but honestly thought it was a troll, it's such a ridiculous question.

But since other people have bitten, I'll add my twopenneth:

'Ability to relate theory to practice'. This is the whole crux of the job! If your 'friend' has no idea how to answer this, then (s)he really shouldn't be applying for the job! An ideal candidate for this type of job would already spend their leisure time reading up on current education theory and trying to adapt their class teaching to it - without any pressure to do it from their SLT.

(S)he should be revelling in answering this question, really keen to spout everything she knows, gushing about all the theoretical educational areas she's interested in, and what (s)he's been doing in her classroom and on SLT to implement it across the whole school!

It makes no sense that (s)he needs to ask a friend to ask the internet...

Thank you for the helpful replies. It seems so obvious now but we're both so tired from the huge end of term workload that we couldn't think straight