TUTORING FOR STUDENT EMPLOYABILITY: USING A COACHING AND MENTORING APPROACH

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TUTORING FOR STUDENT EMPLOYABILITY: USING A COACHING AND MENTORING APPROACHUH LEARNING AND TEACHING CONFERENCE2nd May 2013 – Dr Janice Cook and Veronica Earlewww.herts.ac.uk

WHAT TO EXPECT

How can using coaching and mentoring skills help develop

student employability? Context: the Industry Practice Module and Work-

Based Learning Coaching and Mentoring Skills and Evidence-

Based Practice Tutorial Model – Original and Current Work in

Progress Initial Findings from an Evaluation Project

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Context: the Industry Practice Module and Work-Based

Learning Brand new Core module for majority of L6

Business School students (937 students) Work based learning compulsory part of

the module Aim: to improve the employability of our

students

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Why look for a new Teaching

& Learning approach? Traditional Lecture/ tutorial model not appropriate to support WBL (Knight P 2004, Ovens 2011, Hager P 2006, Graves S 2008, Symes C 2000, Buswell J 2009 and many others)

Seeking an effective model to support WBL in an HE setting

Work based learning puts an important new focus on learning as distinct from teaching. (Bond and Symes 2000)

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What does the literature suggest?

Successful approaches include a shift away from the delivery of content, to workshops with smaller groups that give students the opportunity to talk (Ujma, D. et al 2009).

Bond, D. and Symes, C (2000) find courses are becoming more like investigations, with staff taking a research supervision role

Tennant (2000) sees the tutor undertaking a number of roles including: arbiter of knowledge, a guide, a monitor of performance, a facilitator and a critical commentator

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COACHING AND MENTORING THEORY/PRACTICE

COACHING Unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their

own performance….helping them to learn rather than teach them (Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game)

MENTORING Odysseus entrusted the education of his son

Telemachus to his friend Mentor saying “tell him all you know”

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TUTORIAL MODEL COMPONENTS

Combined non-directive (coaching) and directive (mentoring)

Directive approach: share work knowledge and experience + guide students towards additional help and resources

Non-directive approach: facilitate learning through reflective and other learning processes

Coaching/mentoring skills:

eg Parsloe (1995), Rogers (2008)

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TUTOR/STUDENT COLLABORATION

Importance of collaborative nature of the tutor/student relationship

Collaborative Action Coaching for Leaders (Cook, 2011) model

Contains both individual and joint responsibilities for the tutors and students

a model for enabling the transfer and sustainability of learning

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Cook, 2011

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Students as

Individuals

Students as

Individuals

Tutors + Students

RELATIONSHIP + REFLECTIVE LEARNING

Tutors + Students

RELATIONSHIP + REFLECTIVE LEARNING

Coaching and Mentoring-Based Tutorial Groups: Final YearIndustry Practice Module 2012/13

TutorsTutors

Cook & Earle, 2012, authors’ own

EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE

COLLABORATIVE ACTION RESEARCH

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HOW HARD CAN SHARING BE?

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DEVELOPING A TUTORIAL MODEL (Based on Cook, 2010)

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Students as

Individuals

Students as

Individuals

Tutors + Students

RELATIONSHIP + REFLECTIVE LEARNING

Tutors + Students

RELATIONSHIP + REFLECTIVE LEARNING

Coaching and Mentoring-Based Tutorial Groups: Final YearIndustry Practice Module 2012/13

TutorsTutors

Cook & Earle, 2012, authors’ own

Cook & Earle (2013)

Potential Tutorial Model for 2013/14

We are currently evaluating the existing model in order to:

Clarify the roles of tutors and students including areas of shared responsibilities

Include the goals and outcomes we are trying to achieve

Initial Findings from an Evaluation Project

Students as Individuals: small groups to build effective individual relationships with students

Combination of directive and non-directive Collaborative relationship: students need to take

more responsibility and tutors need to develop more as coaches/mentors

Innovation: use students more for peer sharing and coaching/mentoring other students

Learning outcomes: very little evidence

of transfer of learning in the first year16

REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS

WHICH PARTS OF THE MODEL RESONATE WITH YOU AS A

PRACTISING TUTOR?

HOW MIGHT YOU USE THIS MODEL IN YOUR TUTORIALS?

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REFERENCES (1) Bond, D. and Symes, C (2000), Work based learning in Universities in

Symes, C. and McIntyre, J. editors (2000), Working Knowledge; The New Vocationalism and Higher Education, The Society for Research into Higher Education p27-28

Buswell, J. and Becket, N. editors (2009), Enhancing Student-Centred learning in Business and Management, Hospitality, Leisure, Sport, Tourism, Threshold Press

Cook, J. (2010), Collaborative action research: the ethical challenges, International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, Special Issue No 4:141-150

Cook, J. (2011), The effect of coaching on the transfer and sustainability of learning: coaching for leaders, a collaborative action research study, DCM Thesis, Oxford Brookes University

Gallwey, T. W. (2000), The Inner Game of Work, New York:Random House

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REFERENCES (2) Graves S and Maher A, editors (2008) Developing Graduate

Employability; Case Studies in Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism, Oxford Brookes University, Threshold Press

Hager, P. and Holland, S. editors (2006) Graduate Attributes, Learning and Employability, Lifelong Learning Book Series 6, Springer

Knight, P. and Yorke, M. (2004) Learning, Curriculum and Employability in Higher Education, Routledge Falmer

Ovens, P with Wells F, Wallis P and Hawkins C (2011) Developing Inquiry for Learning' , Routledge

Parsloe, E. (1995), The Manager as Coach and Mentor, London: Institute of Personnel and Development

Rogers, J. (2008), Coaching Skills, 2nd ed. Maidenhead:Open University Press

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REFERENCES (3) Symes, C. and McIntyre, J. editors (2000), Working

Knowledge; The New Vocationalism and Higher Education, The Society for Research into Higher Education

Tennant, M. (2000), Learning to work, working to learn: theories of situational education in Symes, C. and McIntyre, J. editors (2000), Working Knowledge; The New Vocationalism and Higher Education, The Society for Research into Higher Education

Ujma, D. Atlas, M. & Petrova, P. (2009) To embed or not embed? The embedding of PDP in the curriculum, in Enhancing student centred learning in Business and Management, Hospitality, Leisure, Sport, Tourism (ed) Bushwell J. and Becket N. Threshold Press p144-155

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Thank you

Questions?Dr Janice Cook

e-mail: j.cook9@herts.ac.uk

Veronica Earlee-mail: v.earle@herts.ac.uk