Unit name | Mentoring in Higher Education |
---|---|
Unit code | EDUCM5706 |
Credit points | 10 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Mr. Richard Brawn |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Education |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Becoming established in academic life involves development in a number of areas that often compete for an academic's time. Institutional expectations, development and support frameworks and performance evaluation criteria may not be transparent to newcomers. The support of a mentor can be crucial to managing expectations and achieving full effectiveness quickly, yet an effective mentor - mentee relationship requires key skills from both parties. This unit is intended for staff who are (or are likely to be) acting as mentors for colleagues or research students, and for participants on the Teaching and Learning Programme who wish to extend their own skills in this area. The aim is to address important issues concerned with effective mentoring, including roles, responsibilities, skills, strategies and organisational demands. The unit targets new and experienced staff.
Successful course participants will be able to:
Teaching will be via a mixture of formal tutor input, workshop, tutorial, and supported independent study approaches.
The unit will employ a range of small group interactive teaching methods and will seek to demonstrate active learning techniques.
It will employ participant presentations, department-based tasks that stem from participants’ normal practice, mentor tutoring and support, and personal tutoring support from programme tutors, both face to face and via a VLE.
Assessment will be via an extended (2000 words) reflective account incorporating: reflections on participant experiences as a mentor/mentee; analyses of differing mentor approaches and their relative merits using the conceptual frameworks developed in the unit; and mentor, mentee and subject perspectives on the process.
The assignment will be expected to show a good knowledge and understanding of important models of mentor support and a good knowledge of the key determinants of effective working relationships.