This document outlines the schedule and content for a learning development event in Newcastle and Sunderland. The event will cover facets of the learning developer (LD) role, structuring one-to-one tutorials, workshop approaches, and a workshop toolkit. Presentations will address resourceing an evolving workshop program with limited staff, teaching critical thinking to new students, and stopping the reinvention of materials. The schedule allows for introductions, discussions of the LD role and values, one-to-one work barriers and structures, workshop sharing, and a concluding plenary.

1. How to Be A Learning
Developer
ALDINHE REGIONAL EVENT: NEWCASTLE AND SUNDERLAND

2. Schedule
10:15 Welcome
10:30 What are We?
◦ Facets of the LD role
◦ ‘Doing’ values
11:30 Coffee
11:45 One to One work
◦ Structuring a One to One
◦ Overcoming barriers to learning
13:15 Lunch
14:00 Workshop Approaches
◦ Sue Meyer: ‘how to resource an evolving
workshop programme with limited staff’
◦ Jiani Liu: ‘teaching critical thinking to
new first years’
◦ Caroline Crow: ‘how to stop reinventing
the wheel every time’
15:00 Coffee
15:15 Workshop Toolkit
15:45 Plenary
16:00 Departure

3. Who are we?
•What’s your name?
• Where do you work?
• What’s your role and set-up?
•What are you hoping for from
today?

4. Part One: What Are We?

5. The Roots of Learning Development
Learning
Development
EAP
SpLD
Counselling
Staff
Development
Researcher
Development
IL Librarians
Faculty
teaching
Student
advice work
FE
Learning
Technology Professional:
• Ethics and Values
• Theory
• Expertise and
knowledge
• Practices and skills
• Standards

6. What roles do we play?
On each table are a number of ‘hats’ which we might wear
during our work.
•What is the distinction between each role?
•How (far) might each apply to LD work?
•Can you add any? Would you reject any?

7. A hierarchy?
Which do you identify
most closely with? Which
do you identify least with?
Organise the roles in a
hierarchy

8. A Continuum?
Place each role along a continuum:
What is the ‘axis’ of the continuum – a spectrum between what and what?
? ?

9. The Values of Learning Development
How do you react to these views?
“Study skills support is really helpful for the weaker students, to stop them falling
behind”
“For one reason or another, students lack these skills when they come to uni, and
training is needed to give them the skills they need.”
“I never had any study skills support when I was a student – I was expected to pick this
stuff up by osmosis!”
“Academic writing and study has particular conventions and norms which just need to
be learned”.
“Study skills are important transferable skills. Every student should have a course of
class of study skills as well as their subject.”

10. Professional Values – what can we borrow?
•From teaching – student-centred, constructivist
•From counselling – empathy, unconditional positive regard,
congruence, confidentiality
•From guidance work – neutrality, impartiality
•From EAP/Careers - authenticity
•From Disability/SpLD - inclusivity, social justice
•General professional - physical boundaries and spaces, punctuality
and preparedness

11. Learning Development Values
Brainstorm:
What values would you say we
‘profess’ as learning
developers?
Diamond ranking exercise:
Which are the core values?

12. ‘Doing’ Values
Choose one of the values.
How is this manifested in a practical way in an aspect of your LD
work?
• One to one
• Workshops
• Resource development
•Publicity

13. Coffee

14. Part Two: One to One
work

15. How to do a one to one tutorial
So what happens in a one to one tutorial?
Tell the story of the average one to one appointment, from start to
finish. What are the stages? What are the key elements?
Use the materials on the table to sketch it out as a timeline, cartoon, mindmap etc

16. Librarians: the Reference Interview
1.Welcome - approachability and interest
2.Listen - Gather information from user, gain overview of need
3.Clarify and confirm understanding of need
4.Intervention - search, give information, advice, instructions
5.Finish - follow-up, feedback and summary
(RUSA 2004)

17. Careers: The Career Counselling
Interview
1.Create a friendly, encouraging atmosphere
2.Establish the purpose of the interview
3.Gather information from the client
4.Identify the client’s needs
5.Give information to the client
6.Summarise progress made during interview
7.Clarify next steps to be taken
(Bedford 1982)

18. Careers: The Career Counselling
Interview
1.Building a working alliance
2.Exploring potential
3.Identifying options and strategies
4.Ending and following through
(Bimrose et al, 2004)

19. Counselling
1. ‘What’s going on?’ Encourage exploration - create rapport,
invite communication, identify presenting problem, agree agenda
2. ‘What solutions make sense for me?’ exploring in more depth,
challenging understanding, analysing themes, focussing and
prioritising, considering options and barriers
3. ‘How do I get what I need?’ Facilitating action – identify goals
and actions, support problem solving, summarise and feed back,
ending
(Egan, 2007)

20. The Learning Development One to One
• What needs to be done at the start of a one to one?
• Is there any standard structure to the middle?
• What needs to be done at the end?
Look both at what needs doing, and how it might best be done

21. Overcoming Barriers to Learning in the
One to One
You each have an example of a challenging behaviour which you
might encounter in a one to one: the issue and an example of what it
might sound like.
For each case, consider:
• What might the causes of this behaviour be?
• What might happen if you don’t try to address it?
• What strategies might you use to address it?
• How might you phrase this?

22. Lunch

23. Part Three: Workshops

24. Workshops: Sharing practice
• Sue Meyer (Teeside University) ‘How to resource an
evolving workshop programme with limited staff’
• Jiani Liu (Leeds University) ‘Teaching critical thinking
to new first years’
• Caroline Crow (Newcastle University) ‘How to stop
reinventing the wheel every time’

25. Implementing practice
What could you take away from these
presentations to use in your own practice?

26. Coffee

27. “Tools” and techniques for workshops
Share your top workshop “tool” or technique
Suggest an activity, exercise, resource, prop, app, tool or approach which you’ve
used to good effect in workshops.
• 2 mins: jot down one idea
• 2mins share with the group – what do you do and why?

28. Plenary
•What insights about your practice have you gained today?
•What practical strategies might you try in your own practice?
•What else might be included in a day called ‘How to Be A Learning
Developer’?

29. Evaluation