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Quality Support Centre, Brenda; Gillham, Bruce and Butters, Steve (1995). Signposts for staff development (1): link tutors. Developing students' subject area knowledge and skills in the workplace; Quality Support Centre, London.
Abstract
Signposts for Staff Development (I): Link Tutors is intended to provide experienced curriculum and staff developers in higher education with a resource pack so that they can support academic staff concerned with managing placements and work-based learning to fulfil their role more effectively. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to provide staff developers with factual information and guidance, whilst, at the same time, posing questions and providing suggestions for activities which will generate a constructive response from link tutors and enhance their performance in this role. Consequently this booklet contains a set of photocopiable resources (The Link Tutor Task Checklist, Appendix I; Activity Resource Sheets, Appendix 2) and a substantial bibliography (Appendix 3) which might help to address some of the issues involved.
It is important not to lose sight of the fact that the principal aim must be to enhance the quality of student experience of work-based learning. Students on placements, working primarily outside their universities and colleges, do so because they need to add to their store of subject knowledge and specialist skills, as well as practise and enhance what they know and can already do. In addition, they must gain a whole range of transferable personal skills which are themselves highly valued by employers. There is no doubt that all the participants in placement activity recognise its exceptional value in enhancing interpersonal, technical and applicatory skills (Davies, 1990). The link tutor has a key role to play in all this, ensuring that the outcomes of work-based learning are of maximal benefit to the student and, where appropriate, to the profession for which they are being prepared.
Link tutors need to be:
- clear about the nature of the role in practical terms
- demonstrably competent in this role
- well motivated and convinced of the value of their work
- self critical and forward thinking, in the vein of Schon's reflective practitioner, always
- anticipating new developments and productive change (Schon, 1986) and
- open to new insights from a variety of sources.
It is hoped that this guide and its associated materials will make a contribution to the clarification and refinement of this critically important role.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
