Kevin Bowen
Study Type: Higher Education
Study Location: The Roundhouse
Subject Studied: Teacher Training, Coaching and Mentoring
Train driver and trainer Kevin gains CertEd with Derby College Group
When train driver Kevin Bowen took up a learning and development operations training role on the railways, he decided he needed to further his teaching skills.
So, he enrolled on the two-year Certificate of Education course with Derby College Group and studied while working full-time with his then employer East Midlands Railway. (EMR)
As well as driving trains, Kevin, 45, teaches train drivers, train managers, conductors and dispatchers, formerly in his management position with EMR and more recently with Manchester-based TransPennine Express.
He said: “Traditionally, the railways’ teaching methods tend to focus on the subject matter rather than delivery of knowledge.
“Trainers usually take instructor qualifications such as City and Guilds, but I was keen to learn more about the teaching side.
“My college course was great. We were taught how to build a creative curriculum, design lesson plans and plan assessment techniques. There was so much to it.”
Kevin, who has been a train driver for 24 years, still drives trains to keep his professional competencies up to date.
While on his DCG course he attended the Roundhouse every Monday evening for four hours and was observed by assessors in the workplace.
He added: “It was difficult at times, balancing my work commitments with study. I’m married with a family but fortunately my three children are now teenagers, so they understood if I had to study at weekends.
“I loved the course and am considering taking further qualifications so I can become a fully qualified teacher. I’ve not applied yet but I’m definitely not ruling it out.”
Originally from Guildford in Surrey, Kevin did a three-year engineering apprenticeship with Dennis, the commercial vehicles firm, when he first left school.
He joined the rail industry when Dennis was bought out by a big US company, and although he’d never had ambitions of becoming a train driver, is pleased with the way his career has turned out.
He added: “I was driving trains at 21 – the youngest age at which you can drive a train – and I’m sure the apprenticeship helped me get my rail industry job.”
“My college course was great. We were taught how to build a creative curriculum, design lesson plans and plan assessment techniques. There was so much to it.”