What does working in a set involve?
The learning set is a vital component of the programme. You will be working in a set of up to 6 people plus a Set Adviser – a member of Roffey Park’s tutorial staff. Normally, you stay in the same set over the whole of the programme. The set meets monthly at a venue agreed by the set. The set’s role is to provide a forum for support or challenge where set members
- agree standards
- discuss and agree their learning objectives
- assess each others work
- explore issues around their learning, both in terms of content, and the experience of working together.
What happens at residentials?
In the initial residential you will spend some time building a learning community, learning about the study and thinking skills needed for the programme and starting to map the filed of personal and organisational development. Subsequent residentials are jointly planned with participants on the programme. They provide a mix of expert speakers, both practitioners and academics. We encourage creativity in designing the residential. There is also opportunity for discussion and learning from the process of being in a learning community.
What work will I have to produce?
Over the 2 years you will produce a comprehensive and varied portfolio of work covering both the theory and practice of personal and organisational development.
In the first year of the programme you will be required produce to 3 pieces of work
- a position paper which describes what has shaped you as a developer
- a critical review of the field of personal and organisational development
- a further paper, normally a seminar paper on a topic of your choice
In the second year you will be required to produce the following
- a skills development piece; again of your choosing. The emphasis here will be on practical application. Some of the skills that people have focused on include feedback, facilitation listening, not knowing, coaching, project management
- a piece of primary research
- a dissertation
- a linking document which summarise your learning journey over the 2 years of the programme
How will my work be assessed?
There are no written exams. However all your work will be peer reviewed in your set to make sure it is of masters standards. The set acts as the internal ‘examiners’ for the programme. This is no soft option. It is a challenging process that means that by the end of the programme you will have developed excellent feedback and assessment skills.
What does masters standards mean?
This will be something you will discuss and clarify in your set. It means that your work will demonstrate an ability to critically reflect
- on different theories and concept
- on your own practice and the assumptions that underpin it
- different methodologies and ways of data collection
- the wider organisational and societal context within which personal and organisational development is carried out.
What is the time commitment?
Over the two years there are 5 residentials at Roffey Park, totalling 18 days, in blocks of 3 and 4 days. You will also attend 10 x 1 day set meetings each year of the programme at a venue agreed by the set. In addition you will need to commit study time to complete your assignments and review those of your set members. It is a significant commitment overall, especially as most participants continue to work full –time.
What does self-managed learning involve?
There are several components to self-managed learning. In the context of the MSc this involves stages where you -
- initially review where you are now: what your current role and skills are, how they relate to the organisation and what has shaped you to this time (the position paper)
- mapping the field: reviewing the overall field of personal and organisational development both in terms of theory and your practice (the critical review)
- the production and delivery of your individual syllabus for the remainder of the programme (the development agreement which includes a skills development, research assignment and dissertation)
- a review of your overall learning journey including the process of learning (the linking document).
The other key components of self-managed learning and MSc are the processes and learning sets and community of which you are part. So you will be actively involved in designing your own residentials for MSc cohort of which you are a member. In your set, you will be involved in agreeing standards, planning, assessing and critiquing your own and others’ work.
External examiners provide the external view on your work. They read your Critical Review and Development Agreement towards the end of Year 1 to ensure that you are working at master’s standards. They also assure your final portfolio of work and the quality and rigour of the assessment process.