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Adult education lecturer: Tim

This Case Study belongs to Adult education lecturer.

Tim works at the Institute for Lifelong Learning (TILL), part of the University of Sheffield that supports part-time mature undergraduate students. His official job title is ‘Director of Learning and Teaching Enhancement and Support’, which suggests a broad range of responsibilities; from running study skills modules, to ensuring students can access support elsewhere in the university, to working with hourly-paid tutors to support their professional development.

I began working as an hourly-paid tutor in TILL while I was doing my PhD, and moved into my full-time post once I’d graduated. The appeal of the work remains the same now as it was six years ago: the students come with a wide range of skills, life experiences, aspirations, and hopes, and to work together to develop them is an enormous privilege. The impact of higher education on a young person – someone straight from sixth-form, say – is clearly significant, for example on their career and the lives of their children. The impact on a mature student, who potentially already has a career and family, is equally significant, and if anything, can be more immediate and powerful, as changes in their life ripple out to children, partners, family, and friends. Adult education genuinely makes a difference in the world, and for anyone seeking to repay the benefits of their education in a positive and forward-looking manner, adult education is a fine choice.

Finding employment as an hourly-paid tutor in adult education is relatively straightforward – there are several national organisations, such as the Open University (OU)  , who are always interested in tutors with good disciplinary knowledge, and, ideally, experience in the classroom. Moving into more stable employment can be a challenge, as permanent posts are less common; this means a large number of tutors develop a portfolio of work across several institutions, which brings its own challenges and rewards, but would suit anyone who enjoys a variety of work and independence. I was fortunate to get my post, and put it down to doing a lot of teaching for TILL and other institutions; showing commitment to and knowledge about adult education as a field; and demonstrating skills in effective organisation, teaching, and classroom management. Subject knowledge was less important, as adult education in general tends to reward those who know a little about a lot of things, rather than lots about a little.

Looking forward, I hope to keep developing my work both in supporting students and in tutors’ professional practice. Moving institutions isn’t inconceivable, although I’d want to move somewhere more specialised in adult education, rather than another post within HE. I’m also planning to increase the amount of work I do in collaboration with further education colleges and community education; adult education is an enormously diverse sector, and I think it would be fascinating to learn more about other areas. Whatever I end up doing and wherever I end up doing it, at the heart of the experience will be the students, and supporting them in developing their skills, ideas, and intelligence.

Case Study sourced by Hilary R Whorrall of University of Sheffield, 21 August 2009.