Developing personal skills

Abstract

The paper discusses the learning and teaching strategies developed for Personal Academic Skills (PAS) modules delivered to level one undergraduates at Brighton Business School. The aim has been to develop modules of genuine benefit to the student, preparing them for their future careers and making explicit the link with academic skills development. The paper will also take into account the emerging literature about emotional intelligence. Level one undergraduates study either a single, or in most cases, a double PAS module, which are credit bearing. The modules incorporate the mentoring of year one students by final year students who are taking a ‘Managing People’ module, and also complement level one and two modules in Organisation Behaviour and Human Resource management. This represents a commitment by Brighton Business School to develop an integrated curriculum, which has at its centre facilitated modules as opposed to other modes of delivery such as a virtual learning environment. Implicit in the module content is provision for personal development planning within the context of student progress files, as recommend by the Dearing Report and as a precursor to continued professional development in students’ future careers (National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, 1997).