New Guardian University Award

Guardian University Awards launch to celebrate UK higher education sector

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School Relations Manager Vacancy

We are pleased to announce that as part of our development of services in the UK, we have retained the Reed employment agency to handle the promotion of the following position.We we are now receiving applications from interested candidates. 

 school relations manager

We are seeking an effective and energetic school relations manager to engage with

secondary schools in the south east of England. You will manage and coordinate

delivery of our student skills course.

You are achievement focused, flexible, self directed, decisive and very personable.

You are comfortable in a range of meeting environments, especially interfacing with

school management. You will be commercially aware with a good business acumen

to continuously deliver to client school expectations.

You will be educated to at least university honours degree level, most likely from an

education, training, or operations back ground. This is a challenging role with

ambitious objectives that will positively direct your career path and professional

development.

Affinity is an emerging presence in student skills training in the UK. Our course offers

students the opportunity to achieve their objective potential in school and beyond

into their professional lives.

Join our journey!

We are offering competitive earnings with attractive benefits for the right candidate.

Please forward to us your application with supporting material.

vacancy@affinitystudentskills.co.uk

We have a preference for electronic applications. Closing 07/09/2012.

Please visit us at www.affinitystudentskills.co.uk

Postal application may be sent to

Terry Walsh, Director of Education, Affinity Student Skills, Narbeth Villa, 26 Silverdale Road,

Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN4 9JA

Predicting the future of higher education

This is an interesting article from the Guardian discussing possible
changes to the education system.The underlying impression
is that the future is unpredictable, as future economic platforms
that drive the future economies are not yet known or emerging
with robust sustainability. There seems to be several strands emerging,
change everything or nothing!. There is a missing element from this debate,
and that is the calibre of the stakeholder student. It is the undergraduate body
that may become the instrument of real change through inverted leadership.
Is that possible?
The Future of University

Do you think critically?

Do you want to speak your mind and be taken seriously? Analysing and debating issues is a great way to challenge your preconceptions and form opinions

How to have your say and make it count

'This sucks' 'This rules'

Repeat, until you and everyone else is thoroughly bored. It's all very well to say you love or loathe a particular movie, book, or piece of art, but it's much better to be able to analyse why you feel that way. Plus, it will win you higher marks in essays and exams.

Here are some helpful hints:
Review
Just seen a movie? Write down five things you liked and five things you disliked about it. Now, put the piece of paper away. You'd be surprised how often your opinions change. You'd be even more surprised how often they stay the same.

It's good to share your opinions

Discuss
It's good to share your opinions on your favourite movies and music. Your friends may have an interesting opinion on something and might be able to point you towards something you have missed.

Research
Read the reviews in specialist magazines, books and websites. Journalists generally know their stuff and might suggest other material you will enjoy.

Take a chance
Try something new. Does classical music really suck? How do you know unless you actually hear some? Talk to someone who already knows about the subject (a teacher, friend or family) and get them to recommend a 'way in'. Don't be afraid to admit if you don't like something, but always remember that you made the effort.

Does it do what it says on the tin?
Always try and determine what the writer or performer wants to achieve. If a book is billed as a thriller, is it thrilling? How does the author create or maintain suspense? Is it by manipulating points-of-view so the reader knows the enemy agent is lying in wait for the hero? Or is it by using first-person narrative, like detective novelist Raymond Chandler, so we only know what the hero knows?

Does it grab you emotionally or impress you with its cleverness?
'The Fast and the Furious' has a banging soundtrack, fast cars, tough guys and doesn't pretend to answer profound questions on the mysteries of the universe. Stanley Kubrick's 'Paths of Glory', in its way, equally as action-packed, is a powerful drama on the futility of war.

Be yourself
Don't be ashamed to like the things you like, whatever people might say. It's a journey of discovery. With the strength to build on your knowledge and critical skills, it could take you anywhere, even creating your own material for others to enjoy.

Credit BBC

Pearson PLC enter Higher Education

Publishing Company Enters the For-Profit Higher-Education Sector in England

Starting in September, Pearson PLC, the British-based international publishing and education company, will join the small but growing for-profit higher-education sector in England. Pearson College will offer a flexible “business and enterprise” course leading to a bachelor’s degree, the company announced on Tuesday. Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, a merged institution that is part of the University of London, will validate Pearson’s degrees. Tuition will be £6,500 (about $10,200)—less than the £9,000 maximum universities in England are now allowed to charge.

The entry of a new player in the private higher-education sector drew criticism from the leader of the University and College Union, Britain’s main faculty union, the BBC News reported. “Opening the door to for-profit companies in higher education is very risky, especially given this government’s failure to regulate provision and monitor courses run by private providers,” said Sally Hunt, the union’s general secretary.

Effect of tuition increase

England’s Tuition Increase Has Led to a Drop in Applications
August 9, 2012, 10:28 am

The pending increase in tuition rates at universities in England has resulted in a sharp drop in the number of applicants, although there has not been a noticeable decline in the number of students from low-income backgrounds, according to a new report. The report is from the Independent Commission on Fees, which was established this year to assess the impact of the increase, which will result in a near tripling of tuition at most universities in England to £9,000, or more than $14,000.

According to the report, applicant numbers in England have declined by nearly 9 percent for the coming academic year compared with 2010, before the plans to raise tuition were announced. The decline is not reflected in other parts of Britain where university tuition is not rising. After taking account of demographic explanations, the report says there are  “approximately 15,000 ‘missing’ young applicants” who have apparently been deterred from applying to university because of the increased cost.

The government’s Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills released a statement emphasizing that students do not have to pay the new rates up front but are instead given student loans that they will not need to begin repaying until their annual income exceeds £21,000, or nearly $33,000, a year

Why " Student Skills"?

This is a very interesting summary from a paper "Doing away with ‘study skills’" by Ursula Wingate,  King’s College London, UK  and demonstrates for us, one reason as to why as to why we term ourselves"student skills" rather than "study skills" and develop our approach to reflection on motivation, mind set, and methods for a sustainable life long learning approach that is built on developing good habits.

Conclusion
In this paper, two extremes of skills development were examined: firstly, the bolt-on
approach that is remedial, not inclusive, and divorced from subject knowledge. It has
been argued that this approach is not capable of developing more than study
techniques. Secondly, the ‘long-term’ embedded approach was discussed that
develops the learning of all students in a progressive and holistic manner throughout
the degree course. Although this approach is regarded as highly effective in
developing student learning for university and beyond, its implementation is difficult.
An realistic and effective approach for universities would be to promote the
embedding of skills on a smaller scale, by encouraging academic staff to integrate
the development of learning into their teaching. Undoubtedly, the teaching quality in
higher education has improved through the learning and teaching enhancement
initiatives of the past decade. However, the fact that bolt-on study skills courses are
the predominant method of supporting students’ learning suggests that tutors’
understanding of the nature and complexity of learning at university needs to be
improved.
According to Lea and Street (1998), many tutors may not be aware that students’
difficulties with academic tasks often stem from epistemological assumptions rather
than from a lack of techniques. Raising this awareness would help tutors to recognize
their essential role in developing students’ deeper understanding of knowledge.
Further aspects of this role are providing student with opportunities for reflection,
and with feedback on their performance.

Therefore, the understanding of what learning at university involves is a key factor
in engaging academic staff in the development of their students’ learning.
For this understanding, it would be beneficial to do away with the term ‘study
skills’, which implies that quick fixes are possible, and focus resources on educational
development initiatives, which enable staff to effectively enhance student learning.