Engaging students with supported education needs
Course Rep Training:
Facilitator’s notes
2017
Engaging students withsupported education needs: Course Rep Training
Overview of the training
The training takes two hours, with a break around mid-way. It consists mainly of facilitated group activities. A trainer will oversee the session and a facilitator will be part of each group, maximum 5 students. There is a full session plan with trainer notes available. These notes are to support you as facilitator of the group work and will cover the sorts of things to draw out in the discussion and how to manage the session.
Your role is to prompt and encourage discussion using the notes below. The groups need to record their ideas on flip chart paper and if they feel comfortable to do this themselves it should be encouraged, otherwise you should write for them.
These notes are broken into the following columns:
Section explains the aim and objectives of each section of the training to give you an understanding of what is trying to be achieved.
Descriptionoutlines what will be happening in each section: what the trainer will ask and what will happen in the groups.
Discussion is a suggestion of points you might want to cover and draw out during the group work.
Timeis a suggested time each section should take, but this will be controlled by the trainer.
Other materials support the development and training of the course reps in supported education, and offer guidance to staff working to engage these students. They are available from
Engaging students withsupported education needs: Course Rep Training
Section / Directions / Discussion / TimeWelcome / The trainer will present to whole group and will move people into groups of a maximum 5 students + facilitator when required. /
Congratulations you are now a course rep!
Aim
To remind everyone why they are here and sets out the learning objectives for the session. / Present to the whole group. / Start by congratulating them all on being selected to be representatives for their class.
Inform them that the training will explain what that means and what kinds of things they will be doing.
Explain it is informal and should be good fun! / 5mins /
Who are sparqs?
Aim
To explain who sparqs are and why we are there to do the training. / Present to the whole group / Explain that you work for sparqs and very briefly run over who we are. / 5mins /
Introductions
Name + Thing
Aim
Everyone will feel more comfortable with their group and to provide an example of communication to refer to later.
Objectives
- To know each other’s names.
- To know one interesting fact about everyone.
In one biggroup each person should take it in turns to tell everyone their name and one thing about them they think is interesting that other people might like. / Start by introducing yourself and saying one interesting thing about yourself.
Keep the conversation going, prompting if necessary until they’ve all shared something. / 10
mins /
What is a course rep and why do colleges have them?
Aim
To begin thinking about CRs and their role.
Objectives
- To understand how important CRs are.
- To know that CRs pass on views of students to the college.
There are two elements to this.
1.They will finish the sentence “a course rep is …” / Some discussion prompts:
A course rep is…
- A communication tool - making it easier for the college and the student to talk to each other.
- A student.
- The “voice” of the class – they say what the class thinks about a course.
- A representative of the class.
- Having a clear way for the college and the students to communicate makes learning better for everyone.
mins /
2. They will answer the question “What does a course rep do?”
(This can also be done in small groups with feedback to the whole group if the trainer thinks this will be more effective.) / Make sure the following points are discussed:
- CRs talk to the class about what is good about their course.
- CRs talk to the class about things that could be improved with their course.
- CRs tell the college what the class thinks about their learning, this is either by telling the tutor or in a meeting.
- CRs attend meetings.
- CRs then report back to their class about what was discussed in the meeting.
- CRs will discuss issues with other students to try and find solutions to problems.
- Highlight good communication – listening, clear talking.
How to be a good course rep
Aim
To think about the personal qualities the reps will need to be an effective course rep / Present to the whole group.
They will answer the question “what kind of person would make a good course rep?” / Make sure the following points are discussed:
- Good at listening
- Good at communicating
- Friendly
- Engaged
- Organised
Draw the ideal course rep
Aim
Fun way to consolidate learning from previous exercise to understand role/function of a course rep.
Objectives
- To draw image of ideal course rep.
- To be able to explain why their CR looks like this.
Flip chart paper and pens / Split them into 2 groups.
The trainer will ask them to draw the ‘perfect’ course rep on flip paper and will use the example that course reps need to listen to the class so this might mean a course rep needs big ears.
They can choose to draw this in any way: some groups draw a person and exaggerate its features; some draw a person with words around it to highlight key ideas; some draw elements that make up a course rep i.e. a watch for time keeping. / Encourage them to think about the previous session and what a rep does. How would they draw something like listening or taking notes?
Things to draw out/discuss for example:
- Listening to all students – big ears.
- Thinking about the issues- light bulb above head.
- Being the voice of their class – megaphone/microphone.
- Time management – watch.
- Planning - diary/calendar.
- Polite – smiley face.
- Organised – notebook and pen.
- Problem solving – utility belt/magic wand.
mins /
What should you talk to your class about
Aim
To begin thinking around what they should be talking to class about.
Objectives
- To identify what they should be talking to their class about and how.
Get them thinking about learning at college. / They need to think about talking to their class about their learning at college. What do they find interesting about their course.
They need to think about asking questions about things like:
•Are there enough computers?
•Do the computers work?
•Do you have the right books?
•Are there enough art materials?
•Is there enough cooking equipment?
•Are the classrooms accessible?
•You can ask about what they are taught and how they learn.
•You can talk to your classmates about their feedback and how they get told if they’re doing well.
•You can ask if the course has helped them.
•You can ask if your class is getting enough help to learn. / 10
mins /
Like/dislike exercise
Aim
To begin thinking around what they should be talking to class about and how they can do that.
Objectives
To identify one thing they like about their course, one thing they dislike. / Keep them in the 2 groups.
The trainer will ask them each to come up with one thing they like about their course and one thing they dislike about it.
These should be noted on paper.
They don’t need to share this information, it stays in the group as it’s only a tool to help them with the next tasks. / They’re more likely to find things they like rather than things they don’t, so gently push to find some dislikes if possible. Try to keep the likes and dislikes related to their learning experience and what happens in the classroom so things like:
- Their subjects.
- How they’re taught.
- Do they have enough time to do everything?
- Do they have all the equipment they need?
- Do they find learning easy/difficult?
- Do they have enough support for learning?
mins /
How do I talk to my class / what do I say
Aim
To begin thinking about how they will talk to their class, what will they say.
Objective
- To practice what they might say to their class
They take it in turns to tell the rest of their group (the “class”) what they think about their course and ask the rest of the course what they think.
Use the like and dislikes from the last session and work with these.
Use the example “I like being able to do my work on the computer” / ”I like being able to do my work on the computer. Do you like being able to do this? What else do you like about our class?”
This bit can be difficult as it’s moving their thinking from what they think to what others might think. They might need encouragement to identify a question they can use to ask the class what it thinks, and ways of doing this. / 10
mins /
Telling the college what the class thinks
Aim
To begin thinking about how they will feedback to the college.
Objective
- To practice what they might say in a meeting
They will each identify one dislike issue from the previous like/dislike task.
They will ask their group if they agree or disagree with the issue by a show of hands.
They will then take it in turns to tell the other group (the “meeting”) what the students thought. / This bit can be challenging as it is reminding them they are feeding back to the college.
Remind them not to talk about people by name, instead they could say, “the student said”.
Remind them not to say anything negative about a person.
Remind them that this is where they would feedback to the college about ideas the students have. / 15
mins /
Preparing for a meeting
What happens in meetings
Before/During/After
This is a practical look at things they will need to do before/during and after aCR meeting.
Aim
To begin thinking about what happens before/during/after meetings.
Objectives
- To identify different ways to prepare for meetings.
- To identify what they need to do to communicate issues at the meeting.
- To identify what they need to do to feedback to the class about the meeting.
This section explains about meetings. What to expect and how to conduct yourself
What to do before, during and after a meeting
In one big group they need to identify at least three things they could do that would help them prepare for the meeting
Three things that would help them tell the meeting what the class think.
Three things that they could do after the meeting to help tell the class what was discussed and any agreed outcomes. / Run over the slide and facilitate a very brief discussion around attending meetings.
Perhaps ask if any of the students attend regular meetings.
Remind them that they are at the meeting to feedback student’s views and opinions.
Before the meeting they might want to:
- Talk to their class to ask if there are any issues to be raised at the meeting.
- If there is an issue they could do a quick “hands up” of the class – “Do you agree…?” to find out how the whole class feels.
- Talk to the students’ association.
- Find out when and where the meeting is and be on time.
- Think about how to word an issue.They might need prompting to use “we” rather than “I” as they are now speaking on behalf of their class.
- Ask questions if they don’t understand something.
- Listen to what is being discussed.
- Be polite and friendly.
- Do not speak about anyone by name, instead say “the student said” or the “the students think”
- Take notes during the meeting to help when feeding back to the rest of the class about what was discussed at the meeting.
- Always talk about “we” rather than “I” when reporting issues, for example an issue where there are not enough computers could be said like this:
After the meeting they might want to:
- Feedback to the class about what was discussed at the meeting.
- Check the minutes from the meeting to make sure everything is correct.
- Follow up on any actions or tasks agreed upon at the meeting.
mins /
Conclusion / Whole group discussion.
Inform them we are at the end of the training session.
Congratulate them once again on becoming a course rep.
Re-cap of the objectives to ensure the learning has been achieved.
Inform them if they require any more information to / 5mins /
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Engaging students withsupported education needs: Course Rep Training