Title: Reaching the parts: encouraging support staff development in HE Jude Carroll 8 June 2004
1Reaching the partsencouraging support staff
development in HEJude Carroll8 June 2004
2Supporting the supporters so, what is
support? and who are support staff? and
who are you supporting?
3and development some aspects
- Proactive and/or reactive
- Personal and/or professional
- Skills and knowledge
- Feeling different, acting different, being
different - Recognition by self / others
- Cashing in for benefit
4Brief personal audit
- Where on the sliding scale do you fit?
- Do as few or as many as make sense for your job.
- Paired discussion what did that brief exercise
confirm in your own mind about your development?
5Why develop?
- Change Even if you are on the right track, if
you dont move the train will flatten you. - Shark thinking If I stay still, I die.
- the Hair colour case Because Im worth it
- High hopes
- Better intros What do you do? Im a ..
6Whats encouraging staff development in HE
nationally?
- HEFCE Human Resources funding
- Institutional audit
- Requirements for appraisal schemes that work
- Job evaluation
- Blurring of job boundaries, changing teaching
contracts, hybrid roles - The Academy Associate membership
- more from Sally
7Local effects of national activities
- HR funding more money around for Staff
Development - plans, strategic targets
- checking up, need for explicit evidence,
outcomes - LOTS more staff development units in HE
- Audit asking questions, seeking evidence for
statements paper trails - appraisal that works
- Job evaluation interviews up-to-date job
descriptions - documenting and ranking
- explicit duties, real responsibilities
- Blurring job boundaries gaining new tasks or
higher value tasks - Associate membership of the Academy
8Other encouraging factors
- Tried and tested methods
- in-house training
- piggybacking on students provision
- conferences and networking
- sometimes recognised qualifications
- New structures being added
- modern apprenticeships
- SEDA professional accreditation
- IiP Investors in People
- LTSNs!!
- New methods
- Learning sets, mentoring, on-line learning,
9Whats special about HE for development?
- No careers but lots of chances
- Relatively loose structures and systems
- Relatively short hierarchies
- Relatively secure funding
- Many ways of demonstrating competence, authority
and leadership. - Widely varied job roles within one organisation
-
10Whats getting in the way? Time
- Pressure more tasks
- job intensification
- no slack time . 12 months revenue from
facilities etc - long-hours culture in some jobs
- own time tasks flexible learning in private
time - IT access at home
- Carving out private time at work
-
11Getting in the way? the entrepreneurial model
- .your progress is your responsibility
- Wait to be discovered and you will wait forever
- may be changing IiP, appraisal, audit,etc.
12Getting in the way? Mindsets
- Opportunistic job seeking in HE
- Wanting quick returns for effort Whats in it
for me? - Lack of insight into ones own gaps, weaknesses
- Anger from previous experiences being ignored,
discouraged, overlooked
13Continuing professional development
- Individually Think back five years
- What do you know now that you didnt know then?
- What can you do now that you couldnt do then?
- In 3s tell each other HOW you leaned these
things. Now what but HOW. - Be ready to tell others about those methods in 5
minutes.
14Widening your thinking about methods
- Mentoring
- Placements
- Shadowing
- Project work
- Having a go
- Joining a group to do something
- And?
15Getting your learning validated
- NVQs
- Work based learning
- APEL
- On-line courses
- Portfolio-based assessments
- Action learning sets
- Courses (especially postgrad) that use and build
on practice
16Getting in the way? Getting started
- Having a goal. Writing it down..
- Having a plan. Writing it down, talking about it
- Getting it into your diary..doing it. Not
allowing the urgent to crowd out the important - Bite sized chunks
17Cashing in
- Grow your current job
- Seek a new one in your university or college
- Seek outside
18Tailoring this thinking
- Move to the part of the room suggested.
- Form small groups of 4 with others.
- Spend five minutes talking through how this
presentation fits with your own job. - Be prepared to continue the discussions over
lunch and afterwards.