RAPPORT
WWW.RECORDINGACHIEVEMENT.AC.UK
Issue 1 (2017)
Employability is more than a good CV. If all we
are going to ask students to do is prepare this or
something similar, they (and we) are likely to
miss the point that employability is more complex
and is about the development and special
qualities of the individual. Employability is about
being more insightful, more experienced,
evidencing the development of new and
transferable skills, being aware of new
knowledge and sensitive to others.
We know that the knowledge which we impart to
students will date. We know that the job market
will keep changing. Ideally, our students have
engaged with a process that will allow them to
keep learning, matching demands for new skills
and impressing employers with other qualities
that make them stand out as uniquely good. The
benefits of education should not finish with the
qualification. Learning and teaching can be
supportive of students becoming independent
learners over the longer term and across a wider
range of experiences, both ‘lifelong’ and ‘lifewide’
learning:
“The important characteristic of lifewide
learning is that it embraces a compre-
hensive understanding and practice of
learning, development, knowledge and
knowing and achievement. Lifewide learning
includes all types of learning – learning that
is developed
in
formal
educational
environments which is directed or self-
managed, learning that is intentional or
unintended, learning that is driven by our
interests and its intrinsic value, as well as
our needs, and learning which just emerges
during the course of our daily activity. To be
a competent lifewide learner requires not
only the ability to recognise and take
advantage of opportunities and the will and
capability to get involved, it also requires
self-awareness derived from consciously
thinking about and extracting meaning and
significance from the experiences that
populate our lives” (Jackson, 2016, p. 3).
This is consistent with the application of classical
reflective models such as Schön (1983) and
these (along with Kolb (1984) and Gibbs &
Simpson (2004)) are used to underpin the
guidance to students when asked to be reflective
within the context of assessment across a
programme of study, an idea supported by Yorke
and Knight (2004) – “Some aspects of
employability take time to develop, suggesting
that the focus needs to be on employability
across a whole programme rather than on
individual programme components (modules).”
(Yorke and Knight, 2004, p. 2).
The importance of assessment
Assessment means different things to different
people - a confirmation of learning, repetition of
knowledge, a critical appraisal, a motivator, a
form of evidence or a commitment to work hard.
Assessment is a measure of performance and
can be some kind of challenge (how many
students will brag about doing an ‘all-nighter’?).
It can also provide a measure of self-fulfilment.
Assessment may be what others judge you by –
seeing you as successful and potentially
employable as a graduate. It certainly can do
more than just provide marks at the end of a
module.
According to Race (2001, p. 3) assessment is
“the most important thing that happens to you in
higher education”. Assessment can be fair,
consistent and objective but add little to
employability. If courses all offer very similar
curricular structure and content (and outcome),
how can we expect students to evidence their
unique qualities? If assessment becomes a
series of standardised tasks like multi-choice
tests, examinations that require the application of
existing knowledge or a coursework assignment
that critically reviews the same case-study, how
can a student stand out?
A recent end-of-module review within a Business
School asked students what they would like to
say about themselves, the outcomes of which
would be of interest to employers. The small
sample of statements below (Table 1) were
typical and shows the awareness of employability
and the challenge of assessment is to provide
opportunities to evidence this.
Table 1: Students’ responses to end-of-module
review
I have spoken to a number of managers
in the kind of retail outlet of interest to me
and they consistently said that ….
To have more business value, these
Excel models would need to include …
I know that I could organise this kind of
event because …
The video now on YouTube shows my
presentation to a group of ….
My blog shows an interest in interior
design …
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