“The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it”.

John Ruskin

The Leicester Award for Employability Skills

• What we are doing at Leicester

• Experiential learning and reflection

• Q and A

• (If we get time) the wider picture AGCAS survey

What do you already know?

• Leicester Award for Employability

• Birmingham PSA

• Nottingham Advantage • York Award

What do you think of the term employability skills?

Reference: Kolb D.A. (1984) 'Experiential Learning experience as a source of learning and development', New Jersey: Prentice Hall

Concrete Experience

Reflective Observation

Abstract Conceptualisation

Active Experimentation

Core Unit

Capabilities auditDevelopment plan

Reflective blogCareer management

task

Experiential Context

Extracurricular activitySupportive training

Final oral presentation

Why do this?

Team working

IT SkillsCommunication

Team working

Work Placement

Team working

IT Skills

Team workingTeam working

Communication

Team working

Networking

IT Skills

Networking

What experience do you have of working

in teams?

“The strong link between narrative and meaning making has the potential to extend the impact of reflective practice beyond the development of practical skills and knowledge into a deeper examination of professional purpose and identity”.

Winter, D (2012). Narrative techniques in reflective practice. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 28, 21-29

Reflective blogging focus groups

• Motivation through personalisation, and frequency of use.• The use of a structured approach to the posts.• Reinforcement of skills learnt, by reflection.• Continued specific use after the award.• Behaviour change

“I think it made me realise that I had, had experiences, I think like without it,…if I hadn’t reflected on what I had done as a captain, I think I would have just thought ‘I lead a walk’, where as actually, I lead a walk, I had to plan everything before it, and to plan it I had to organise my time efficiently and then…so when we were on the walk we got lost, so I had to solve that problem, and someone was taken ill and I had to decide what to do with them, and then, this car park was closed, so I had to flexible and go somewhere else….so I think if I hadn’t been writing about what I had done, it wouldn’t have clicked with me that I had had a vast experience from it”

Leicester Award Student

“Reflection enables individuals to make sense of their lived experiences through examining such experiences in context”

Eby, M. (2000) Understanding professional development. In Brechin, A., Brown, H. and Eby, M. (eds) Critical Practice in Health and Social Care pp. 48–72.London: Sage.

Reflection

• What themes have emerged from todays conference that are relevant to your work?

• How would you describe your relationship with employability, and why?

a) A questb) A confrontation/challengec) An exploration d) Other

• Any questions?

www.UoLLeicesteraward.wordpress.com

Zara HooleyLeicester Award CoordinatorCareer ServiceUniversity of Leicester

ZH34@le.ac.ukTwitter @ZaraHooley

Keep in Touch

AGCAS Task group

2010/11 survey headlines

67 institutions responded67% Awards run by Careers Service61% had less than 250 students participating50% of the awards were endorsed by employers

Skills Audit