Editorial
Hot off the press
David Pierce - [email protected]
The Centre for Recording Achievement
In the world of publishing ‘hot off the press’ means that something is newly printed and maybe it
still is literally hot as a result of the printing process. For this issue of On Reflection however, it
enables your editor to select a headline that reflects in a way his astonishment that in the midst of
a rare heatwave so much can still be produced by so many of our colleagues to interest and
challenge us. Many would prefer not to be working at all in the weather we have been having but
in the world of recording achievement the ideas and reflections continue to be generated by our
colleagues in their differing locations. The editor is delighted and readers will no doubt read with
pleasure the results of their work as they depart to take well-earned vacations far and wide.
So what will you find in this summer edition of On Reflection? The contributions are perhaps more
varied than usual except of course that they are all concerned with recording achievement and
other closely related topics. We include personal reflections on their work from Neil Raven as he
explores how the case for widening access can be judged in terms of its cost effectiveness. An
echo of the much bigger questions about the ‘value of learning’ or the ‘impact of training on the
bottom line’ perhaps. Andrew Gibbons makes some controversial comments about learning in the
professional bodies whilst Sandra Parry reflects upon her work with those who seek to become
professionals and whether the Bristol Futures award will inspire them to learn continuously
throughout their lives.
Accounts of their current practice are offered by Tom Goodacre and Tim Farthing. Tom describes
a new initiative designed to accustom students to the growing trend for employers to use video
interviews and Tim (assisted by Rob Ward) provide us with an enthusiastic account of current
recruitment and development practice at Barclays.
Finally, some recent research is reported by Graeme Boxwell, Grace Macdonald and Joshua
Clarke. Graeme reviews a survey about how universities are using Open Badges in their curricula.
Grace offers her own perspective about video interviewing to complement that of Tom Goodacre’s
and Joshua Clarke gives us some insight into what students at UWE really think about their
Academic Tutoring Scheme.
Enjoy the summer.
David Pierce
Editor
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