Day 38 - Review of the Year
I've been putting off writing my Programme Leader's Report for this year.
What, in effect, it requires me to do is to read every single module report on my programme, diagnose themes that emerge from this, address them and a lot of other things that they want me to address, and then come up with an action plan.
The real question is then, what happens to this report?
I understand that it is read by my Subject Group Leader, and forms part of his annual report, and that it will be read by at least the head of quality for the School, but given the amount of work that it requires, it's a big investment of time for a return that is, at best, unclear.
I suppose that the only way to engage with this, is the way that we deal with everything else - how can I look at this meaningless bureaucratic task so that it works for me? In terms of the programme report, it gives me an opportunity to weigh up a number of different perspectives on how things are going and have gone. It forces me to engage with difficult questions about what we can do as a team to improve the student experience and address areas of academic rigour that might not otherwise get addressed.
It feels like a lot of work, and also feels like it makes a lot more work, because once you've observed all of these things, they then have to be actioned, but, for me at least, this is the only way to deal with things like this. You can pay lip service to them, and burrow your head in the sand and pretend that everything is lovely (because, after all, it will be fine whether these things are addressed or not - they always are ok, but I think we should be doing better than ok) but that is really not my style.
What, in effect, it requires me to do is to read every single module report on my programme, diagnose themes that emerge from this, address them and a lot of other things that they want me to address, and then come up with an action plan.
The real question is then, what happens to this report?
I understand that it is read by my Subject Group Leader, and forms part of his annual report, and that it will be read by at least the head of quality for the School, but given the amount of work that it requires, it's a big investment of time for a return that is, at best, unclear.
I suppose that the only way to engage with this, is the way that we deal with everything else - how can I look at this meaningless bureaucratic task so that it works for me? In terms of the programme report, it gives me an opportunity to weigh up a number of different perspectives on how things are going and have gone. It forces me to engage with difficult questions about what we can do as a team to improve the student experience and address areas of academic rigour that might not otherwise get addressed.
It feels like a lot of work, and also feels like it makes a lot more work, because once you've observed all of these things, they then have to be actioned, but, for me at least, this is the only way to deal with things like this. You can pay lip service to them, and burrow your head in the sand and pretend that everything is lovely (because, after all, it will be fine whether these things are addressed or not - they always are ok, but I think we should be doing better than ok) but that is really not my style.
Labels: academia, education, higher education, priorities, reflection, time management
posted by harmonyharmony at 2:39 PM
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