At 09:46 25/05/2004 +0100, Martin Oliver said:
> >Whilst there is no magic wand for raising standards I agree that the
> >next best thing to a magic wand would be this cultural shift to
> >mandatory training.
>
>So what we need is more sticks? Sorry, not convinced. I've seen too many
>people driven into to training sessions who don't want to be there, and
>frankly that's a waste of everyone's time. Surely it would be better to
>try and arouse interest and curiousity, and reward this with status,
>promotion - something like that?
I think Martin is right, in that you can't force people to do training - or
rather, you can, but it might not be much use. But you can create a climate
where it is expected that lecturers must have certain skills to be able to
do their job properly, and where there is a strong presumption that they
will take up the training opportunities the college makes available. Part
of that is arousing interest and curiosity.
However, sooner or later all lecturers (and others) are going to need ILT
skills, to a greater or lesser degree. They can't all be rewarded with
greater status/promotion. Acquiring and using such skills will simply be a
part of their normal job. Sure, ILT champions, many of them, have got more
money, more status, promotion (though not all of them by any means). But,
by definition, they have a much wider staff development role, and it is
quite right that they are rewarded in some way. But I don't think that
applies to the "ordinary" lecturer who is learning the new skills in order
to continue doing their job competently (though I think offering them a
qualification which recognises their new skills is always worth doing).
BUT, I would strongly suggest that it is entirely wrong for colleges to
expect them to learn new skills, but not give them realistic and sufficient
resources to learn those skills. Cultural change should not come about at
the expense of the individual lecturers.
Geoff.
Geoff Minshull
Direct Learn Training
Main web site: http://www.directlearn.co.uk/
Online conference site: http://www.online-conference.net
Tel: 01629 540386
Mob: 0771 264 7600
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