Graduate Attribute 05

 

Develop and promote professional, inclusive relationships with all learners in their care, relevant employers and the wider community.

 

Working as a professional is a core value for me. My professional attitude is reflected in feedback from students, colleagues and employers/community representatives. An example of recent student feedback, taken from comments in a 2015 Student Perception of Teaching evaluation for a Year 2 course:

 

• Geoff is objective and supportive providing feedback or in a supervisory role. He responds promptly to email's and is very accessible. He is organised and assisted my learning hugely this year by keeping our class on track when going off on a tangent. He moderates discussion thoughtfully
• He is organised, highly knowledgeable, extremely approachable and professional

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since commencing my role as a career counsellor at AUT in 2002 and through to my current role at Otago Polytechnic, I have consistently engaged in liaison and relationship-building with employers and representatives of community organisations. Examples of this include:

 

• Leadership Programme - Programme Leader, AUT, 2003-2004

• Co-operative Education Placement Facilitator, AUT, 2004-2005

• Faculty Rep (Business and Health faculties), AUT, 2004 - 2012

• Career Resource Researcher/Writer, AUT, 2014-2015

• PEAC committee contributer, OP, May and Nov 2015

 

 

How do I foster professional, inclusive relationships?

My approach to professional relationship building and maintenance is a hybrid of three key influences:

   a.  my early experience working in retail and customer service

   b.  my subsequent training in interpersonal as a career counsellor

   c.  my natural inclination to listen to and want to understand people

 

As a result, my general approach is:

 

To establish rapport

• understand who they are, what is important to them, and why they do what they do

• communicate at a level of formality or casualness that fits with that person

• find out what I can do to make their life/work better

• be clear about what my own goals/purposes are

• make use of humour where appropriate

• show respect and confidentiality

 

To maintain the relationship

• continue to show interest in them personally as well as professionally

• take the initiative to keep in contact

• make sure I follow up on what I have promised to do

• respond to emails and other communications promptly

 

Some specific strategies

 

With students

• being always on time and well prepared

• being well organised but flexible enough to move with the needs of the students

• with larger classes it can be a real challenge to get to know the students. Doing introduction activities and making notes can help.

• asking for their input and their feedback (e.g. showing that feedback is listened to by posting changes to the courses in Moodle)

 

With colleagues and employers/community

• understanding their needs and pressures, offering to help with these

• keeping to agreed commitments and parameters

• being persistent but polite when reminding others of their commitments

• being a good leader and a good follower as appropriate