S ELF A WARENESS AND C AREER M ANAGEMENT Week 1

J UST IMAGINE.... It’s early September 2016, its sunny and warm, you are surrounded by family and friends. You’ve got a funny dark gown on with a pale blue trim. You’ve just been up on stage and shaken hands with the Vice Chancellor at Oxford Brookes University and you’ve been given an A4 envelope with your name on it, the title of this degree (BA Honours in Business, Management and Communications) and a classification What is that classification in bold on the front? What would you be happy/proud for it to be?

S ELF AWARENESS AND CAREER MANAGEMENT EXPLAINED Brookes graduate attribute: critical self-awareness and personal literacy Rise of career changes/transitions amongst knowledge workers/getting into your desired field in the first place Need to manage your own learning Need to manage your own career In the workplace often don’t get much feedback (therefore you need to be able to reflect)

L EARNING OUTCOMES – K NOWLEDGE & U NDERSTANDING Analyse the links between the changing external and internal environments, skills requirements and career development implications/opportunities Critically evaluate the importance of high self- awareness and the techniques used to build an effective approach to one’s own development

K EY M ODULE ELEMENTS Preparing students for level 6 learning Academic self reflection, engaging with feedback and action planning Challenges of the modern job market Boundaryless/protean career theory Assessments of values, personality, skills and preferences The importance of transferable skills Preparation for future employment Personal development and career planning

ASSIGNMENTS 4 & MUST keep (and hand in) a reflective diary throughout See handout and ask any questions Hand in dates:  Assignment 1: 8/10/15 Assignment 2: 2 parts: interview on 23/11/15, 30/11/15 or 7/12/15  Reflection due 2 weeks after the date of your interview (ie different hand in dates)  Assignment 3: 10/3/16  Assignment 4: 12/5/16 inc a walk through/demo of your e-portfolio

L EARNING OUTCOMES FOR TODAY ’ S SESSION Describe why the module is important and what the 4 assignments are Differentiate between Level 5 and Level 6 study and identify gaps Conduct an academic audit

O N YOUR TABLES DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS How would you define self awareness? Why do you think Brookes focus a proportion of degrees on self awareness? What are the benefits of having self awareness? How can you/we go about developing more self awareness?

S ELF A WARENESS D EFINITION & B ENEFITS Self awareness can be seen as awareness of your individuality Benefits:  Know what you like/don’t like, strengths/weaknesses to make suitable chooses  Aware of your likely behaviour response in certain situations  Know how you learn best Development/Improvement:  Reflection  Psychometric tests  Feedback  Critical Friend  Critical Incident Analysis etc

L EVEL 5 V L EVEL 6 D ESCRIPTORS FROM QAA knowledge and critical understanding of the well- established principles of their area(s) of study, and of the way in which those principles have developed ability to apply underlying concepts and principles outside the context in which they were first studied, including, where appropriate, the application of those principles in an employment context a systematic understanding of key aspects of their field of study, including acquisition of coherent and detailed knowledge, at least some of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of defined aspects of a discipline an ability to deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within a discipline Level 5Level 6

L EVEL 5 V L EVEL 6 D ESCRIPTORS FROM QAA knowledge and critical understanding of the well- established principles of their area(s) of study, and of the way in which those principles have developed ability to apply underlying concepts and principles outside the context in which they were first studied, including, where appropriate, the application of those principles in an employment context a systematic understanding of key aspects of their field of study, including acquisition of coherent and detailed knowledge, at least some of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of defined aspects of a discipline an ability to deploy accurately established techniques of analysis and enquiry within a discipline Level 5Level 6

QAA D ESCRIPTORS C ONTINUED knowledge of the main methods of enquiry in the subject(s) relevant to the named award, and ability to evaluate critically the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems in the field of study an understanding of the limits of their knowledge, and how this influences analyses and interpretations based on that knowledge. conceptual understanding that enables the student: - to devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of a discipline. - to describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in the discipline - an appreciation of the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge -the ability to manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to the discipline). Level 5Level 6

QAA D ESCRIPTORS C ONTINUED knowledge of the main methods of enquiry in the subject(s) relevant to the named award, and ability to evaluate critically the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems in the field of study an understanding of the limits of their knowledge, and how this influences analyses and interpretations based on that knowledge. conceptual understanding that enables the student: - to devise and sustain arguments, and/or to solve problems, using ideas and techniques, some of which are at the forefront of a discipline. - to describe and comment upon particular aspects of current research, or equivalent advanced scholarship, in the discipline - an appreciation of the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge -the ability to manage their own learning, and to make use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to the discipline). Level 5Level 6

P ERSONAL ACADEMIC AUDIT WITH A CRITICAL FRIEND What is a critical friend? “engaging with another person in a way that encourages talking with, questioning, or confronting, helped the reflective process by placing the learner in a safe environment in which self-revelation can take place” (Hatton & Smith 1995*) Review and assess yourself on the various elements using questions from your critical friend and them as a sounding board Be honest. You could try ranking your ability in each area or giving yourself a mark out of 4 (good = 1, good enough = 2, not good enough = 3, poor = 4)

A CADEMIC AUDIT Review and assessment of all the areas of your academic life:  Reading skills  Note taking skills  Writing skills  Group work skills  Presentations skills  Exam technique  Research skills  Reflection skills  Numeracy skills  Criticality  Time Management Some questions your critical friend can ask:  Why do you rate yourself as that?  What evidence do you have?  What feedback have you received?  Is there any contra- evidence?

S TART YOUR LEARNING LOG Start and keep a learning log – you can begin with your first reflection now if there is time. If you need some questions to get you started try these:  What did I do/what happened?  What did I learn about myself?  What will I do as a result of what I learnt about myself?

W HAT YOU NEED TO DO AFTER TODAY Read the module on Moodle Review Level 5/6 descriptors, review gaps and consider what can be done to close them Start reading and preparation of assignment 1

S UGGESTED READING QAA website for Level descriptors Hatton, N and Smith, D (1995) Reflection in Teacher Education: towards definition and implementation. Teaching and Higher Education 11 (1) Identified weaknesses in critical thinking: ‘Critical Thinking Skills’ Stella Cotterell

N EXT WEEK Describe some theories of self Be aware of different levels of reflective writing Conduct a personal SWOT analysis Summarise strengths using a psychometric test Review your learning style