Hi All (and hi, Carol)
I am having a go at clearing email backlog and came across John
(Bradbeer)'s message about Carol's visit and her questions about LD and
integration.
As someone whose 'learning centre' has now been disaggregated (?
separated from) our Educational Development service (against the wishes
of our team), and placed in an 'Office of the Dean of Students' along
with a Careers Service and Disability Assist Service, I could give a
perspective on 'reversing' back into a Student Services type of
organisation. It's not all bad and I don't want to be cynical, but we
have definitely lost some of the synergy with our ED colleagues around
academic practice issues and, in particular, our direct links to
teaching staff via faculty links and the Learning and Teaching in Higher
Education programme for staff. A 'service' mentality gives me worries
about fostering a 'remedial/bolt-on' mentality that could veer towards
encouraging the deficit model in terms of a 'students with problems -
refer them to the xxxx service ...' approach .... I wrote a little about
this last year in an article for Educational Developments (2004
"Learning Development in Higher Education Network: An Emerging Community
of Practice?" Educational Developments 5.3, Birmingham: SEDA)
I'd be happy to talk to you, Carol (if you're still in the UK) - on the
phone would be easiest for me - 07973 425931. You're welcome to visit
Plymouth too.
John
John Hilsdon
Co-ordinator, Learning Development
University of Plymouth
Drake Circus
Plymouth
PL4 8AA
01752 232276
[log in to unmask]
http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/learn
-----Original Message-----
From: learning development in higher education network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Bradbeer
Sent: 22 April 2005 09:56
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: A visitor from New Zealand
List members may not know that I was in New Zealand for five weeks
recently and visited several academic development and student
learning deevlopment centres. Arising from this, Dr Carol Bond of the
Student Learning Centre at the University of Otago in Dunedin, has
contacted me on my return and asked about the possibility of visiting
UK student learning centres that are integrated into wider academic
development units, just as the SLC is in Otago. Carol, I think, hopes
to be in the UK during June this year. So if any members would like
to invite Carol, then please do contact her
[log in to unmask]
She does have some specific questions:
- how do people integrate or bring into the mainstream of curricula
learning and study skills?
- what institutional policies and structures seem to work to do this?
- what new approaches do people have to help students acquire and
develop learning and study skills?
- what are the staff development issues around all this and how are
they being handled (and, I guess, by whom)?
I can confirm that they have a wonderful system of student support at
Otago and some facilitities and premises that made my mouth water.
And of course, Dunedin is a really super city.
Many thanks
John
John Bradbeer
Principal Lecturer in Higher Education
School of Education and Continuing Studies
University of Portsmouth
141 High Street
Old Portsmouth
Portsmouth
PO1 2HY
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