Developing Fieldwork Partners for Student Learning

Developing Fieldwork Partners for Student Learning

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Learning Outcomes 2

Module Topics 2

Introduction to the Developer Role 2

Understanding What Makes Industry Partners Enthusiastic 3

Identifying Performance Problems 3

Planning a Performance Conversation 6

Conducting a Performance Conversation 7

Practical Activity 10

Additional Resources 10

Websites 10

Introduction

Hello and welcome to Developing Fieldwork Partners for Student Learning

In this module you will explore developing and caring for the team responsible for delivering your fieldwork program as part of your leadership capabilities in fieldwork education. This is an important aspect of being a fieldwork coordinator as in this role you are supporting your team to deliver the best teaching and learning experience. Also, when performing this role you will be assisting and supporting students to achieve their best, and to maximise the benefits from their participation in work integrated learning (WIL).

Figure 1: Innovator role from the Integrated Competing Values Framework

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module participants will:

· Identify strategies to address fieldwork development needs for students, academic staff and industry partners

· Identify strategies for capacity building in fieldwork partner development programs

· Develop strategies to build fieldwork performance

· Identify strategies to motivate others to implement a fieldwork program.

Module Topics

This module looks at the Developer role, adding to the other leadership roles that are explored in the Fieldwork Coordinator as Academic Leaders Program.

The topics to be covered are:

· What makes industry partners enthusiastic and willing to support student learning.

· How to identify when something isn’t working well and there is a performance problem (from either a student or industry partner perspective) and how to plan a ‘performance conversation’.

· Student and industry partner development needs for successful fieldwork programs.

Introduction to the Developer Role

According to Ladyshewsky and Vilkinas (2009) when using the Developer role an academic leader is able to see what others need to do to become more effective as teachers or learners. In this role you will provide appropriate opportunities and resources for individual students, staff members and industry partners as well as student groups and teaching teams to develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in fieldwork.

When you are using your Developer role you will be:

· Displaying concern and providing support for others at the university and in industry.

· Assisting others to develop their capabilities.

· Understanding others.

· Building teams both within the university and industry.

· Using participative decision-making, especially with industry partners.

· Managing conflict.

· Negotiating roles.

· Running effective meetings.

· Communicating effectively.

· Delegating effectively and proficiently.

When you overuse or use inappropriately your Developer role you will be:

· Soft hearted.

· Permissive.

· Overly democratic.

· Too participative.

Understanding What Makes Industry Partners Enthusiastic

Sirota et al. (2005) have conducted research on millions of workers around the world, as well as conducting focus groups, interviews and informal observations. They describe a theory of human motivation in the workplace based on three fundamental principles:

· The organisation's goals are consistent with the workers' goals.

· An organisation should try to meet a worker’s basic needs.

· Staff enthusiasm is a source of competitive advantage.

They argue that most people start a new job with high levels of motivation and enthusiasm, and that over time this is often eroded by poor practices or working conditions. These principles can be equally applied to the fieldwork context where the workers are industry partners or students.

According to Sirota et al. (2005) there are three factors which build employee enthusiasm:

1. Equity/Fairness - people want to be treated fairly at work and to have physical safety, economic security, fair compensation for what they do, and psychological good health created by an environment of respect. These must be provided ahead of the remaining factors.

2. Achievement - people want to do important, useful work, and be recognised for this as well as feel proud of their organisation. Four elements are critical to this theme:

i. provide an enabling work environment by giving people what they need to do the job well

ii. provide interesting and challenging work

iii. provide lots of feedback, recognition and reward

iv. be trustworthy.

3. Camaraderie - people want to enjoy good relationships with their co-workers so a culture which supports and encourages a sense of community, cooperation, acceptance and teamwork is essential. This is particularly important in an academic setting where such a high emphasis is placed on collegiality. Creating a culture of partnerships where there is respect and consideration for every employee is essential to facilitate good teamwork.

Fieldwork coordinators are in an ideal position to foster partnerships with industry where the environment and supporting practices, establish high levels of equity, achievement, and camaraderie. When students and industry partners are treated fairly, are proud of the work they do, and do it with people they like, then enthusiasm grows—along with morale and productivity. However, the fieldwork coordinator’s role is complex in that the formal responsibility for staff workplace performance and review belongs with the industry partner, and their informal responsibility is to work with the partner to manage difficult situations to ensure a safe and effective learning environment for students. The same principle can be applied to students in the fieldwork setting.

Identifying Performance Problems

Given the conditions outlined by Sirota et al. (2005) above, it stands to reason that there are working conditions which contribute to poor motivation and performance in fieldwork. As a fieldwork coordinator it is important to identify when a student or industry partnership is performing poorly so that the issues can be dealt with as quickly as possible ensuring that the student or partner returns to ‘enthusiastic employee’ status. A performance problem is considered to be a difference between the results that are required and those that are being achieved. Some of the symptoms of poor performance include:

· Low productivity e.g. required work such as assessments not completed/returned on time / · Poor quality of student experiences or assessment
· Lack of communication / · Lack of confidence
· Too many errors/failure to follow policy correctly / · Unwillingness to increase student placements/provide placements for specific groups of students
· Wasted time / · Harassment
· Accidents and stress / · Poor attitudes
· Frustration / · Student/ Industry staff complaints
· Absenteeism / · Students not prepared for placement
· Learning in the workplace results in poor outcomes for students/industry partner / · Standards of care for clients not maintained
· Conflict with others / · Equipment problems
· Lack of teamwork / · High failure rates
· Industry partners don’t provide timely feedback on student performance / · Students perceive there is inadequate support from supervisors
· Bullying / · Discrimination

If there are performance problems, it is important to determine whether or not the problem is significant enough to warrant taking action or whether action is actually required. The following algorithm is a useful tool.

Step 1: Are there symptoms of a performance problem (using the indicators above)? If Yes, go to Step 2: If No, you do not have a performance problem.

Step 2: Is there a difference between results wanted and those achieved? If Yes, go to Step 3; If No, you do not have a performance problem.

Step 3: Is it worth the effort to rectify the discrepancy (i.e. is the industry supervisor leaving in a short time in which case it isn’t worth rectifying, or is there a consistent problem with students going to an important industry partner in which case it is essential that the issues are resolved)? Be sure that there really is a problem and that your expectations are not unrealistic or you simply want to make a point. It may be worth stepping back to make sure the performance problem is real and significant. If Yes, go to Step 4; If No, you do not have a performance problem.

Step 4: Use the Performance Conditions Checklist (below) to identify the cause of the performance problem.

Performance Conditions Checklist

The Performance Conditions Checklist (adapted from the Australian Institute for Management) provides a range of areas to consider in identifying the cause of a performance problem. There are six main areas in descending order of likelihood:

1. Expectations

This is the most likely explanation for a performance problem since 80% of performance problems arise as a consequence of unclear expectations. The types of questions which need to be considered include: does the student/industry partner know exactly what is expected? That is, do they know:

· The range of tasks expected of them (often an issue for students and new industry partners if orientation is not provided or guidelines manuals/resource information is incomplete or not provided; are there clear objectives/outcomes for students to achieve in their fieldwork)?

· The quality and quantity of work required (for example, what is the standard to be achieved and how will students/supervisors recognise this)?

· The priority of tasks and expected results (for example, provision of clear marking criteria and timelines for providing feedback on performance; process to be followed in the event of a student performing poorly)?

· Deadlines/timeframes (for example timeline for provision of assessment results to the University)?

· How performance is monitored (eg. through student evaluations of their placement, pass rates etc)?

While many of these things seem obvious to a more experienced fieldwork coordinator, they are not obvious to new students or industry partners or staff who are changing roles. Therefore, clarification of the expectations will usually resolve the performance issue and may require a professional development strategy.

2. Aids and Equipment

This is the second most likely cause of poor performance. Questions which the fieldwork coordinator should consider in relation to this are:

1. Do partners/students have the best available equipment (if not, how does this impact on their capacity to do their job?

2. Is the equipment accessible?

3. Do partners/students know where to find the equipment?

4. Do partners/students know how to use the equipment? This is often an issue in relation to using new technologies e.g. Blackboard, student allocation systems such as SONIA, simulations etc. If this is the case, appropriate professional development and support is required.

3. Motivation

People who appear unmotivated may appear difficult; however, is it always the person who is the problem? Often the true cause of the conflict has nothing to do with the 'personality' of the person (Pettapiece, 2003). Looking for these possible causes, before labelling a person as 'difficult' or performing poorly, is an important first step in your role as fieldwork coordinator. Sources of motivation problems include:

Lack of motivators provided when excellent results are achieved - i.e. is there recognition, or perhaps support for industry partners, for example, professional development, or other support which the person needs?

Motivators are provided for poor performance - this issue needs careful scrutiny as often the best performers end up being given more work to do because they are capable and deliver exceptional quality every time. However they eventually realise that the reward for excellent performance is, in fact, more work! This leads to resentment when they realise that the industry partners who are not performing are receiving fewer students rather than their performance problem being dealt with, or conversely, an industry partner is very good so they are ‘rewarded’ with managing students with additional needs.

Work Overload - too many or too varied tasks: work restructuring is needed.

Work Underload - if students/staff don't have enough to do they feel unimportant and can cause problems by looking for work in other areas. They may also be seen as lazy by other staff (Equity Theory) which creates bad morale and escalates conflict.

Conflicting Demands - frustration emerges when there are conflicting demands. For example, having to produce at a high level at the same time the system needs maintenance or a review e.g., updates to the Fieldwork website just prior to commencement of placements.

Responsibility without Control – for example, a facility educator being given a group of students to coordinate but not having any control or accountability for the team involved in supervising the students can lead to conflict. Incorporating accountability structures can help reduce this conflict.

Win-lose situations - Many schemes reward top performers, but leave out individuals who have performed at exceedingly high levels, but just not as high as the winner(s). Resentment and frustration emerge as a result which leads to conflict.

Line and Staff Conflict – fieldwork coordinators do not have line management responsibility over academic staff or industry partners and this can make managing performance challenging. Clarifying with agencies, who and when a person may have authority over operations (in consultation with the Head of School or Department) and the process to be used may help to reduce this conflict.

Dead End Jobs – student supervisor positions without potential for promotion, increases in pay or change of routine may cause conflict because of the frustration and boredom they create. Individuals become forgetful or careless out of boredom which may cause conflict. As a result, they may seek opportunities for recognition and become difficult in their work with others.

4. Knowledge and Skill

Do the industry partners/students have all the necessary knowledge and skills required to perform their role effectively? Most industry partners are discipline experts in the field, however, they do not necessarily have any knowledge of teaching in higher education or in the fieldwork setting. It is important that both industry partners have appropriate professional development opportunities to increase their knowledge and skills so that they can perform to the best of their ability and provide a high quality learning environment for students. Many Schools/Departments run professional development programs for industry partners as well as Graduate Certificates in Higher Education, which are valuable staff development. Students also need appropriate preparation for the fieldwork environment and may include activities such as an online preparation program covering aspects such as: preparing to go; professional conduct in the workplace; health and safety in the workplace; insurance; and learning in the workplace.