It never stops: fostering professional practice on the Birmingham Personal Skills Award
Sarah Jeffries
Programme Manager, Birmingham Personal Skills Award, University of Birmingham
The Birmingham Personal Skills Award (PSA) is a dual pathway Employability Award designed to develop student’s understanding of both their immediate, and their sustainable employability.
Students can choose either the PSA (Modular) pathway, where they participate in a variety of 10 credit skills modules; or they can choose the PSA (Activity) pathway and gain recognition for participation in extra-curricular activities conducive to personal development. This paper outlines how the PSA utilises reflective practice on both pathways, enabling students to engage in a reflective process that recognises and articulates skills gained through activities on both pathways. The paper goes on to explore how the PSA goes further than focusing on immediate employability. The PSA enables students to make connections between reflection, skills development and professional practice. The result is that PSA students will develop sustainable employability through this process; it is the start of a life long journey of personal and professional development.
Key words: employability; Award; sustainable; professional practice; skills.
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