1. Mark Gardner
Personal Statement
Over the last 13 years I have been employed by Darlington Mind, a Mental Health Charity. My
main duties involve teaching ICT to learners with mental health difficulties. This involves
instructing to a class of up to 10 learners per session, with ages ranging from 18 to 80.
Depending on the needs and abilities of the individual I also provided one to one support where
necessary.
As well as training individuals with mental health issues I have also trained NHS staff members
from the Tees Esk and Wear Valley Trust. Darlington Mind was approached by the trust to
enable their staff to get through the ECDL Level 1qualifications. This meant constructing a
scheme of work and lesson plans to enable 16 NHS staff of varying backgrounds and abilities to
achieve 3 module examination passes on the ECDL training course within 13 weeks.
Whilst I have been at Darlington Mind, I have mainly been teaching the ECDL/ECDL Advanced
syllabus and within the project we have seen over 1000 examination passes achieved, I also
teach therapeutic short courses in a number of different subject areas. I have been lucky
enough to have the chance of designing these myself, and even running a therapeutic Music
Project. The course entails teaching learners the basics of playing keyboard/guitar/bass/drums,
also instructing them on basic musical recording and mixing techniques. We play live concerts
and have carried out some recording.
Using my vast knowledge of computer hardware/software I have also provided a computer
maintenance course. which showed a group of 8 learners how to build/repair/upgrade computer
systems, the majority of the course sessions were very practical in structure, at the end of the
course the students were able to take home the computer which they had been working on.
Because my passion is ICT both at home and at work I am building repairing/upgrading
computers/laptops and networks I am very enthusiastic about my subject area ICT, and this
enthusiasm has meant I never tire of explaining a concept to my learners.
I currently spend 70% of my 37 hour week teaching either ECDL/ECDL Advanced or one of our
therapeutic short courses, this means I am used to the pressures and consent deadlines that
are in place in a teaching environment, and the different teaching styles the need to be adopted
to help learners to achieve.
In addition to my teaching roles, I have had the responsibility of running the Computer Project
and Music by myself. I have to carry out client risk assessments, Personal Development plans,
and produce monthly statistics and consultation meeting reports.
I am extremely proud to have played the lead role in acquiring our test centre to achieve and
maintain an “A” grade test centre status over 14 consecutive years. This “A” grade, which is the
highest grade attainable is allocated annually by BCS (British Computer Society) and is
awarded for the administration and testing of ECDL/ECDL Advanced qualifications.
During my time at Mind I have learned, and developed many of the different approaches and
techniques that can be undertaken to give individuals the confidence, knowledge and motivation
that they need to achieve. This is a diverse task due to the wide range of learners that we teach
and their prior knowledge, ranging from service users, volunteers, or NHS staff.
With the aid of the Cert-Ed/7302 Teaching Certificates I have greatly developed the structuring,
planning and delivery of the lessons that I instruct. The completion of the courses has made me
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2. Mark Gardner
think a lot more about different individual learning styles and the importance of using these to
meet the needs of our learners.
Additionally I am jointly responsible for the maintenance and repair of the entire computer
network of 45 computers. This consists of fault finding, network administration and
development, purchase of ICT equipment and the installation of new hardware and software.
Recently I have configured a wireless bridge to link the whole of our organisation together
allowing access to our intranet, printer, file and internet connection sharing.
Throughout my time at Mind I have developed and improved upon the following skills. I am a
patient, supportive, enthusiastic, able to work under-pressure/multitask with a passion for my
subject and our learners, which is important when teaching and training vulnerable individuals. I
have a sociable and approachable character, as I spend most of my time around people. Due
to the wide range of tasks I perform, I have become highly adaptable to any new challenges that
I meet. I have improved my knowledge of current metal health problems including the
difficulties they can create, and the importance of protecting people’s dignity.
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