Hi all,
Since posting the original message I have had a couple of responses. Some of the information I have been given has been very helpful, although it appears that my role as a Graduate Leaning Developer is almost, if not entirely unique in its function.
I also received a request asking to describe my role, so here goes! I am a Learning Developer employed in a graduate role at Keele University. After graduating from Keele in 2011 I took up studying a postgraduate course part-time in History. This job came along as part of a small and newly formed unit within the university and I successfully applied.
The role itself in essence is a Learning Developer position which includes training on the job. Thus I began the role with no training nor any educational qualifications and was "thrown in at the deep end". I have since passed a Teaching and Learning in Higher Education module (and thus gained a PGCert, on top of studying part-time and holding down the full-time position), and subsequently applied for and received Associate Fellowship of the HEA. My role includes delivery of a number of workshops to students both embedded in their courses and as part of a stand-alone offer - I delivered over 100 workshops in my first year of teaching. I have engaged with and had close professional relationships with academic colleagues in order to devise and discuss the skills-based workshops they wanted the unit to deliver. I have also co-led the creation of content and resources on our VLE.
The role itself is a two-year fixed term contract and I have not even reached a year. This experience has been intense and at times challenging but I have loved every minute. Initially it was difficult to move from "poacher to gamekeeper" as my TLHEP supervisor so aptly described it, but my development has been rapid and the opportunities the role has provided, and has yet to provide, are invaluable. And of course I am still developing in the role (as I'm sure we all are :-) )!
I plan on writing an article on my experience in the near future, and perhaps presenting at a conference as well. These are my next steps. I was wondering if anyone knew of similar roles as I was hoping to do this collaboratively with someone I could share experiences with. If this description of my role does sound familiar to anyone, I would be very grateful if you could let me know. And of course, if you have any questions you wish to ask, please feel free!
Best wishes,
Matt
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