November 2009

Mentorship and SMART Presentation 2010

SMART update

Over the past week the project has taken on a new speed and we are fast approaching the finishing line.

I think Project involvement is an important issue for the university; I had a lengthy chat with Phillip Wood (Head of Work Based Learning and Short Course Development). This discussion was most enlightening and provided further institutional understanding for workbased learning and the future SMART project developments.

Still the issue of employer engagement creates a diversion and now the question is

Who is this employer?

What does he/she look like?

Do they exist for all work based learning students?

Responsibility for the student’s work based improvement or acknowledgement of employment skills and their development, to whom does this belong?

Project research, teaching and new information continues to provide extensive knowledge in terms of project direction. It would appear that SMART has a vital role to play in the future execution of Foundation Degrees and for some the future of education as we know it.

Michael.

Reflection 31.03.10

Hi everyone this is a reflective account of research so far;

Through my interviews it has become apparent that the phenomena 'mentorship' is very ' very' diverse . The mentors who have agreed to see me so far, all have the qualities that would enhance learning for any student they mentored. In fact it has been a privilege to meet these people, their descriptions of service delivery and student learning is fantastic.

What is fundamental is that they are all graduates of Masters level and above (so far).
It seems that educational ability has a real connection with mentorship, or at the very least the mentor demonstrates a commitment to individual development.

The mentors seem to use their own educational understanding to both engage and assist the student. They have provided clear direction for the project and also have illustrated that it may enable both themselves and the students.

However it is becoming apparent that not all groups (FD) are actively involved with mentorship and if they are, this is not an experience they want to share.

Following contact with one mentor, she said
"I only did it once, for one of my staff, I won't be able to help. I won't be doing it again"
It transpires that this lady works in a team of 8 and only one person has done a Foundation Degree. It is also difficult to ascertain and maybe I am speaking out of turn, why some areas of study (FD) find it more useful to have structured mentor whilst others, do not recognise the need, or their own ability to enhance learning.

I have a variety of views on this , but it's early days and I have few more people to meet.

Michael.

BucksSmart

Hi BucksSmart is here a chance for the project team to provide support for the project via blogging and to enable a tracking system that enhances the progress of SMART.Blogging will be useful to monitor individual thoughts, ideas and contributions to the progress. It will also provide a more diverse view of the process and help identify any areas of concern. This is the project teams opportunity to play a more active role in the development of 'SMART' and thus empower the future of mentorship support throughout the University.