Skills for Work:
Rural Skills
Intermediate 1
Land-based Industries:
An Introduction
Support Material
July 2006
Scottish Further Education Unit
Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Acknowledgements
SFEU is grateful to the subject specialists in Scotland’s Colleges and other
agencies and industry bodies who have been involved in the writing of this and
other support materials in the Skills for Work series.
SFEU is also grateful for the contribution of the Scottish Qualifications Authority in
the compilation of these materials, specifically for its permission to reproduce
extracts from Course and Unit Specifications and the Skills for Work Rationale,
and to LANTRA for help and advice.
SFEU is grateful to Learning and Teaching Scotland for permission to reproduce
the text on pages 55-56, from their Core Skills, Working with Others Intermediate
1 materials. The full Working with Others pack can be downloaded from the LTS
NQ Online website: www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq
Clip art in this pack is reproduced by kind permission of Bayer Healthcare, Animal
Health Division, Bayer House, Strawberry Hill, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 1JA.
© Scottish Further Education Unit 2006
Scottish Further Education Unit
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Rural Skills:
Land-based Industries: An Introduction (Intermediate 1)
DX0V 10
Introduction
These notes are provided to support teachers and lecturers presenting the
Scottish Qualifications Authority Unit DX0V 10 Rural Skills: Land-based Industries:
An Introduction. Copyright for this pack is held by the Scottish Further Education
Unit (SFEU). However, teachers and lecturers have permission to use the pack
and reproduce items from the pack provided that this is to support teaching and
learning processes and that no profit is made from such use. If reproduced in
part, the source should be acknowledged.
Enquiries relating to this Support Pack or issues relating to copyright should be
addressed to:
Marketing Officer - Communications
The Scottish Further Education Unit
Argyll Court
Castle Business Park
Stirling
FK9 4TY
Website: www.sfeu.ac.uk
Further information regarding this Unit including Unit Specification, National
Assessment Bank materials, Centre Approval and certification can be obtained
from:
The Scottish Qualifications Authority
Optima Building
58 Robertson Street
Glasgow
G2 8DQ
Website: www.sqa.org.uk
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this Support Pack,
teachers and lecturers should satisfy themselves that the information passed to
candidates is accurate and in accordance with the current SQA arrangements
documents. SFEU will accept no responsibility for any consequences deriving
either directly or indirectly from the use of this Pack.
Scottish Further Education Unit
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Contents
Reference Section
6
What are Skills for Work Courses all about?
7
The Course in Rural Skills (Intermediate 1)
10
Unit Outcomes, PCs and Evidence Requirements
12
Employability Skills Profile
15
Tutor Support Section
16
How to use this pack
17
Guidance on Delivery of Land-based Industries: An Introduction
19
Employability Skills
25
Integrating the Content of the Employability Skills Unit
25
Generating Evidence and Assessment Opportunities for Employability Skills 27
Resources
28
Suggested Learning Programme
35
Learning and Teaching with Under 16s
37
Skills for Work Workshops
40
Student Support Section
41
Welcome to Land-based Industries: An Introduction
42
What are land-based industries?
44
What makes for Successful Team Working?
55
Do’s and Don’ts of Teamwork
59
Some Information Resources
67
Navigating the Internet for land-based industry sites
69
Types of Questions
70
Hints and Tips – some good advice!
74
Putting Your Portfolio Together
79
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Reference Section
Scottish Further Education Unit
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
What are Skills for Work Courses all about?
Skills for Work Courses are designed to help candidates to develop:
• skills and knowledge in a broad vocational area
• Core Skills
• an understanding of the workplace
• positive attitudes to learning
• skills and attitudes for employability
A key feature of these Courses is the emphasis on experiential learning. This
means learning through practical experience and learning by reflecting on
experience.
Learning through practical experience
Teaching/learning programmes should include some or all of the following:
• learning in real or simulated workplace settings
• learning through role play activities in vocational contexts
• carrying out case study work
• planning and carrying out practical tasks and assignments
Learning through reflecting at all stages of the experience
Teaching/learning programmes should include some or all of the following:
• preparing and planning for the experience
• taking stock throughout the experience
• reviewing and adapting as necessary
• reflecting after the activity has been completed
• evaluating, self-assessing and identifying learning points
The Skills for Work Courses are also designed to provide candidates with
opportunities for developing Core Skills and enhancing skills and attitudes for
employability.
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Core Skills
The five Core Skills are:
• Communication
• Numeracy
• Information Technology
• Problem Solving
• Working with Others
Opportunities to develop aspects of Core Skills are highlighted in Guidance on
Teaching and Learning Approaches.
Employability
The skills and attitudes for employability, including self-employment, are outlined
below:
• generic skills/attitudes valued by employers
• understanding of the workplace and the employee’s responsibilities, for
example time-keeping, appearance, customer care
• self-evaluation skills
• positive attitude to learning
• flexible approaches to solving problems
• adaptability and positive attitude to change
• confidence to set goals, reflect and learn from experience
• specific vocational skills/knowledge
Course Specifications highlight the links to National Occupational Standards in
the vocational area and identify progression opportunities
Opportunities for developing these skills and attitudes are highlighted in each of
the Course and Unit Specifications. These opportunities include giving young
people direct access to workplace experiences or, through partnership
arrangements, providing different learning environments and experiences which
simulate aspects of the workplace. These experiences might include visits,
visiting speakers, role play and other practical activities.
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
A Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Executive 2004) identifies aspirations for
every young person. These are that they should become:
• successful learners
• confident individuals
• responsible citizens
• effective contributors
The learning environments, the focus on experiential learning and the
opportunities to develop employability and Core Skills in these Courses contribute
to meeting these aspirations.
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
The Course in Rural Skills (Intermediate 1)
Course Rationale
The land-based sector is very diverse and includes a wide number of disciplines
that share a common element of being active, practical and mainly based
outdoors. The major disciplines that are recognised as land-based by the sector
skills council for the area include the following: agricultural crops; fencing
industries; land-based engineering industries; production horticulture industries;
tree and timber related industries; environmental conservation industries;
landscaping industries; agricultural livestock; animal care industries; aquaculture;
equine industries; farriery; fisheries management; game and wildlife management
and veterinary industries.
There is a very wide range of land-based businesses in Scotland with a great
variety of job roles. Changes in rural land use, including the decline and change of
traditional agriculture, have created a knowledge gap. Research has indicated that
fewer people are likely to contribute to the rural economy and its development
unless more individuals are introduced to the possible opportunities in land-based
industries in the UK.
This Rural Skills Course has been designed to provide a broad basis for
progression into further education and training in the land-based sector. It allows
candidates to begin to develop some of the basic practical skills necessary to
work in most of these disciplines as well as an opportunity to explore the very
diverse employment prospects that exist.
The primary target group for the course is school candidates in S3 and S4. It is
anticipated that, for this group of candidates, the course will rely on and build on
existing partnerships between schools and further education colleges delivering
specialisms in land-based industries. It may also be delivered in conjunction with
training providers or employers specialising in the land-based industries. These
partnerships will enable the course to be delivered in a variety of appropriate
learning environments with access to relevant teaching expertise.
The course has been designed with a common core that allows candidates to
develop an insight into the numerous opportunities of the land-based industries
and to develop the basic common skills of the sector. It also allows candidates to
choose a route that is related to either animals or plants where they can develop
specific basic practical skills in that general category.
The general aims of the course are to:
•
widen participation in vocationally-related learning for 14–16 year olds
•
allow candidates to experience vocationally-related learning
•
provide candidates with a broad introduction to the land-based sector
Scottish Further Education Unit
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
•
encourage candidates to develop a good work ethic including reliability,
flexibility and a positive attitude to work
•
provide opportunities to develop Core Skills in a realistic context
•
encourage candidates to take charge of their own learning and development
•
provide a range of teaching, learning and assessment styles to motivate
candidates to achieve their full potential
•
facilitate progression to further education and/or training
The specific aims of this course are to:
•
introduce candidates to the various disciplines of the land-based sector
•
allow candidates to develop a basic knowledge of a selection of land-based
industries and related job roles
•
allow candidates to experience an outdoor working environment
•
allow candidates to develop an understanding of the very flexible requirements
of the individual who works with plants and/or animals
•
allow candidates to develop an awareness of health and safety issues that are
integral to a career in a land-based industry
•
allow candidates to develop the technical knowledge, skills and understanding
of some of the commonly used practical skills associated with land-based
industries at this level
•
introduce candidates to the technical knowledge, skills and understanding of
some specific practical skills associated with a selection of land-based
industries at this level
•
prepare candidates for more focused further learning opportunities, study and
training for employment in land-based industries
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Unit Outcomes, PCs and Evidence Requirements
National Unit Specification: statement of standards
Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction (Intermediate 1)
Acceptable performance in this Unit will be the satisfactory achievement of the
standards set out in this part of the Unit specification. All sections of the
statement of standards are mandatory and cannot be altered without reference to
the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
Outcome 1
Contribute to a group investigation into the nature of a range of land-based
industries.
Performance Criteria
a) Agree roles, methods and a plan for a group investigation into a range of landbased industries.
b) Identify as a group a range of land-based industries to investigate
c) Carry out the agreed activities in the investigation.
d) Describe the range of land-based industries selected by the group.
e) Contribute to the presentation of the findings of the group investigation.
f) Identify improvements which could be made to the investigation.
Outcome 2
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a selection of jobs available in a
range of land-based industries.
Performance Criteria
a) Identify job opportunities available in a range of land-based industries.
b) Describe the conditions and type of work done by someone in each job.
c) State the types of appropriate qualification for each of the jobs identified.
d) State the progression opportunities for each of the jobs identified.
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Evidence Requirements for this Unit
The evidence for this Unit, covering all the Outcomes and Performance Criteria
will be gathered through the production of a single portfolio of evidence and an
assessor observation checklist.
The portfolio should consist of:
•
A brief plan for the investigation of three industries which will identify roles and
methods
•
A record sheet for each of three selected industries which includes:
•
•
what happens in the industry
•
whether the industry is land or water based
•
whether the industry has a seasonal pattern to its nature (seasonality)
•
five major resources that the industry needs
An Investigation Review Sheet
The three industries must be selected from the list below, with at least one being
selected from each of the two categories.
Animal-Related Industries
Plant-Related Industries
Agricultural livestock
Agricultural crops
Animal care industries
Environmental conservation industries
Aquaculture
Fencing industries
Equine industries
Land-based engineering industries
Farriery
Landscaping industries
Fisheries management
Production horticulture industries
Game and wildlife management
Tree and timber based industries
Veterinary industries
Floristry
•
A record sheet of each of three jobs with at least one from each of the two
industry categories above) which should include:
•
•
•
•
•
a statement regarding types of appropriate qualification to do that job
a list of three characteristics of someone who is likely to be suited to do that
job
a description of three tasks that are carried out by somebody employed in
that job
a description of the likely working hours and salary range for somebody
working in that job
one possible progression route from that job
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
The assessor observation checklist will provide evidence that the candidate has
carried out the agreed tasks and contributed to the presentation.
The item for this Unit contains assessor observation checklists. The NAB
illustrates the national standard required for this Unit. Centres who wish to devise
their own assessments should refer to the NAB to ensure a comparable standard.
NB
Centres must refer to the full Unit Specification for detailed
information related to this Unit.
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Scottish Further Education Unit
=B
=C
=D
=E
=F
=G
Estate Maintenance: An Introduction
Employability Skills for land based industries
Animal Husbandry: An Introduction
Animal Handling: An Introduction
Crop Production: An Introduction
Soft Landscaping: An Introduction
Employability skill/attitude
acceptable time keeping and attendance
understanding roles and responsibilities in the workplace
planning and preparing for work
working co-operatively with others
awareness of efficient resource use
ability to follow instructions
health and safety awareness
self review and evaluation
positive attitude to learning
G = Assessor checklists and candidate log sheets of practical tasks undertaken
F = Assessor checklists and candidate log sheets of practical tasks undertaken
Assessment evidence:
A = Portfolio containing candidate planning and review sheets and assessor checklists
B = Assessor checklists of practical tasks undertaken
C = Candidate/assessor review sheets, risk examination log
D = Assessor checklists and candidate log sheets of practical tasks undertaken
E = Assessor checklists and candidate log sheets of practical tasks undertaken
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
C
A
A, C
A, C, D, E, F, G
C
A,B,C, D, E, F, G
B, C, D, E, F, G
A, C
C
Evidence
In addition to the specific, vocational skills developed and assessed in this Course, employability skills are addressed as
detailed below:
=A
Land Based Industries: An Introduction
Employability Skills Profile: Rural Skills (Intermediate 1)
Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Employability Skills Profile
15
Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Tutor Support Section
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
How to use this pack
This pack comes in two sections.
In the first section advice is given to tutors on the following:
• general Guidance on delivery of the unit
• signposting of Employability Skills as they occur within the Unit
• guidance on Integrating the Employability Skills for Land-based Industries Unit
as well as generic employability skills, qualities and attitudes throughout the
Unit
• advice on where it would be appropriate to collect evidence for the assessment
of employability skills)
• resource requirements in terms of physical resources and recommended texts
or supplementary resources
• a suggested learning programme
• guidance on Learning and Teaching with under 16s
In the second section, student support notes are provided which include the
following:
• materials relating to the knowledge, understanding and skills required to carry
out investigations alone and with others
• some interactive student activities accompanied by exemplar answers for
student referral or tutor use following activity
• resource guidance for students to help them source appropriate information
• hints and tips on presentation of information
• advice on putting together the portfolio
Centres should note that this Unit has been designed to allow students to find out
more about land-based industries through experiential learning. The Student
Notes in this pack give guidance to students on how to approach the tasks, with
some formative exercises about team working etc but are not designed as a
substitute for the portfolio building activities which will form the main activities of
learning. Rather, they are intended to supplement and complement the practical
work that will be carried out in the course of Unit delivery. Use of the materials
and activities is not mandatory but they will provide centres with a flexible
set of materials which can be selected, adapted and used in an order that
best suits their situation. Tutors are encouraged to use the materials
creatively in ways which will engage the younger student.
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
You may wish to place the student notes on your Intranet by downloading this
pack from the Skills for Work section of the SFEU website www.sfeu.ac.uk. On the
web-based version, the hyperlinks are live and there is a link between
emboldened terms to the Glossary of terms, which may be useful for the learner.
If printing out the student notes, please note that the photographs should be
in colour.
Activities are identified with the
Scottish Further Education Unit
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Guidance on Delivery of Land-based Industries: An Introduction
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Students should be introduced to all of the activities that they will be assessed
on very early on in delivery to allow them to make decisions about how they
will approach the investigations.
They should see the instrument of assessment and be familiar with what they
must do as individuals and as a group.
It is also wise to identify any planned visits that you have for the students from
an early stage.
Students should also be given the opportunity to discuss or ask about job roles
with individuals who work in the land-based sector. This may be possible
during visits or at other times, for example, through visiting speakers. It may be
necessary to communicate with somebody in a written fashion, e.g. by e-mail.
The tutor should support candidates to prepare a structured approach to visits
and interviews.
It may be useful to help students to draw up a list of pertinent questions that
would be suitable to use in an interview or discussion. These questions could
be prepared through group discussion prior to the interview taking place.
Tutor time to support any Internet investigations may also be necessary.
The student notes are extensive in terms of references. It is not expected that
students will need to refer to all parts, only those which relate to the land-based
industries they intend to investigate and how they intend to present their findings.
You may wish to place the student notes on you own Intranet. The hyperlinks are
live and there is a link between emboldened terms to the Glossary of Terms,
which may be useful for the student.
If printing out the student notes, please note that the photographs should be
in colour.
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Range of Industries for Investigation:
Animal related Industries
Plant related Industries
Agricultural Livestock
Agricultural crops
Animal Care Industries
Environmental Conservation Industries
Aquaculture
Fencing Industries
Equine Industries
Land-based Engineering Industries
Farriery
Landscaping Industries
Fisheries Management
Production Horticulture Industries
Game and Wildlife management
Tree and Timber based Industries
Veterinary Industries
Floristry
Any land-based industry that is referred to by the Skills Sector Council for the
sector, LANTRA, is an acceptable industry for learners to investigate. This also
includes crofting (which is not immediately apparent from the categorisation used
above).
It is strongly recommended that tutors familiarise themselves completely with the
National Assessment Bank item for this Unit prior to starting as this will very much
determine the model of delivery.
The Unit is designed to give students an introduction to the very many and varied
opportunities that exist in the land-based sector, many of which rarely receive
much attention through normal career guidance. The Unit also allows learners the
opportunity to develop their investigative, presentation and review skills, both as
an individual and with others. There is therefore little didactic delivery of any
information about the land-based industries in the student notes.
Students should carry out some basic research into their selected industries,
which may involve reading and researching the Internet, the use of audio-visual
case study material as well as visiting real workplace settings and interviewing/
talking to people who work in the industry: They should be encouraged to use a
variety of methods to find out information required for this Unit.
Ideally, initial teaching methods should communicate the range of the possible
opportunities that exist in the land-based sector. Group discussion may be a
useful way to disseminate experience of any of the industries e.g. some students
may live on a farm, croft or attend a riding centre. In some instances, the Centre
may wish to steer students to examine industries that are particularly pertinent for
the local area.
It is strongly recommended that students are taken on a visit to at least one of
their chosen industries to experience the environment for themselves. Valid risk
assessments should be carried out by the delivery centre on possible visits prior
to their occurrence but students could be encouraged to find out what PPE
Scottish Further Education Unit
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
(personal protective equipment) and precautions that they may need to take
before going as a preparatory activity.
Examples of appropriate visits include:
•
livestock farm
•
arable farm
•
croft
•
land-based engineering firm
•
Forestry Commission (forests, plantations and regional/district offices)
•
garden centre
•
florist shop
•
riding school
•
equine stud
•
pet shop
•
animal welfare centre
•
farriery business
•
veterinary hospital
•
game estate
•
landscape gardener
•
wildlife preservation organisation (e.g. Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds)
•
environmental conservation organisation (e.g. Scottish Environmental
Protection Agency)
The following web addresses may be of use to centres when trying to organise
visits:
British Association of Landscape Industries
http://www.bali.co.uk/index2.asp
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
British Florists
Association
Cat Protection
http://www.britishfloristassociation.org/index.html
http://www.cats.org.uk/contact/findcp_stage2.asp?region=7
Crofter’s
Commission
Castle Wynd,
Inverness,
IV2 3EQ
Tel.01463 663450
e-mail: info@crofterscommission.org.uk
http://www.crofterscommission.org.uk
Farriery Training
Service
Sefton House, Adam Court, Newark Road, Peterborough
PE1 5P
Tel. 01733 319911
e-mail: frc@farrier-reg.gov.uk
http://www.farrier-reg.gov.uk
http://www.lantra.co.uk/Farriery/
Forestry
Commission
Scotland
Silvan House
231 Corstorphine Road
Edinburgh
EH12 7AT
Tel: 0845 3673787
e-mail: fcscotland@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/Scotland
Game
Conservancy Trust
Fordingbridge
Hampshire
SP6 1EF
Tel: 01425 652381
http://www.gct.org.uk/default.asp
Lantra, Scotland
Newlands, Scone
Perth PH2 6NL
Tel: 01738 553311
Fax: 01738 553322
e-mail: lantra.scotland@lantra.co.uk
http://www.lantra.co.uk/Scotland/
National Farmers
Union, Scotland
Head Office
Rural Centre - West Mains
Ingliston
Midlothian
EH28 8LT
Tel: 0131 472 4000
e-mail: webmaster@nfus.org.uk
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
http://www.nfus.org.uk
Royal College of
Veterinary
Surgeons
Belgravia House
62-64 Horseferry Road
London SW1P 2AF
Tel: (020) 7222 2001
e-mail: admin@rcvs.org.uk
http://www.rcvs.org.uk
Royal Society for
RSPB Scotland
Protection of Birds, Dunedin House
Scotland
25 Ravelston Terrace
Edinburgh
EH4 3TP
Tel: 0131-311-6500
e-mail: rspb.scotland@rspb.org.uk
http://www.rspb.org.uk/scotland/index.asp
Scottish
Equestrian
Association
http://www.equinesport.org.uk/sea/web/contact.asp
http://www.s-e-a.org.uk/index.asp
Scottish Society
for Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals
603 Queensferry Road,
Braehead Mains,
Edinburgh EH4 6EA
Tel: 0131 339 0222
http://www.scottishspca.org/
Scottish Wildlife
Trust
Cramond House
Kirk Cramond
Cramond Glebe Road
Edinburgh
EH4 6NS
Tel: 0131-312-7765
http://www.swt.org.uk/
Dogs Trust
Dogs Trust
17 Wakley Street
London
EC1V 7RQ
Tel: 020 7837 0006
http://www.dogstrust.org.uk
Soil Association
Scotland
18 Liberton Brae,
Tower Mains,
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Edinburgh,
EH16 6AE
Tel: 0131 666 2474
e-mail: contact@sascotland.org
http://www.soilassociation.org/scotland
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Employability Skills
2, 3, 4,
5, 6
Signposting of Employability Skills
in the Land-based Industries: An Introduction Unit
Throughout the unit students will have the opportunity to develop the
following employability skills. Where opportunities to integrate and embed these
through the activities suggested in this pack, they are highlighted with a numbered
flag as shown above. The numbers corresponding to each employability skill are:
1
Timekeeping and
attendance
4
Working
cooperatively with
others
7
Health and safety
awareness*
2
Understanding
roles and
responsibilities in
the workplace
5
Awareness of
efficient resource
use
8
Review and self
evaluation
3
Planning and
preparing for work
6
Following
Instructions*
9
Positive attitude to
learning
Achievement in employability skills marked with an asterisk* will be clearly
identified as a result of the evidence generated through the assessment activities
for this Unit. There are opportunities in the Unit to develop the remaining skills
identified, particularly if learning activity encompasses the following
recommendations.
Integrating the Content of the Employability Skills Unit
and other generic employability skills
For time keeping and attendance, the tutor could monitor
the
timekeeping and attendance of students at all activities
1
related to the planning, investigation and presentation
activities that they will undertake. Make your expectations
clear from the start. You can have the students more or less
write class guidelines themselves by identifying pros and cons of good and
poor attendance and timekeeping – the benefits in the workplace of one
and the consequences of the other.
•
•
2
Students will develop an understanding of the roles and
responsibilities of workers in some land-based industries
through the investigation that they will undertake in Outcome
2.
Scottish Further Education Unit
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
•
4
The necessary group approach of Outcome 1 of this Unit
means that students need to work co-operatively with others,
which is in many ways a question of communication. Get the
class into the habit of working as a team early when planning
and carrying out their investigation.
Discussions and interviews with workers in the various
industries should highlight efficient resource use as part of
5
the responsibilities of their jobs – tutor guidance when
preparing questions to ask on visits can help to ensure that this
aspect is covered. Students could perhaps also be made aware
of the necessity to use resources efficiently through the planning of their
presentation: they could, for example, be given a rationed quantity of paper
for a poster presentation or a set budget for a video presentation.
•
•
The students can be monitored on their health and safety
awareness, particularly during any visits to real workplaces.
They could also be encouraged to observe how health and
safety is applied in any workplaces they visit - use a health and
safety checklist to focus their observations perhaps.
•
Planning and preparation; following instructions and self
review and evaluation are all integral parts of the activities
associated with the Group investigation of Outcome 1 in this
Unit.
7
8, 12, 13
The attitude towards the whole project is likely to develop the
attitude towards learning. When students are attentive,
9
follow instructions, volunteer for tasks, ask questions,
demonstrate a desire to learn more, take advice etc., they are
showing a positive attitude to learning. They may achieve this
aspect of the Employability Skills Unit with ease simply because they are
enjoying their work and their experience is a positive one.
•
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Rural Skills: Land-based Industries: An Introduction, Intermediate 1
Generating Evidence and Assessment Opportunities for
Employability Skills
In addition to developing the student’s employability skills throughout the delivery
of the Unit, there are specific opportunities to generate evidence for assessment
of employability skills.
You should refer to the employability skills profile in the reference section at the
front of this pack to familiarise yourself with these skills. You should also
familiarise yourself with the National Assessment Bank (NAB) material for the
Employability Unit.
The following sections of the review sheets for Outcome 1 of Employability for
Land-based Industries can be completed through the activities of this Unit
•
Planning and preparing for work
•
Working co-operatively with others
•
Following instructions
Some of the practical activities involved in the delivery of this Unit give the student
the opportunity to complete the assessment of Outcome 3 of the Employability in
Land-based Industries Unit as there may be some useful opportunities for
students to examine the risk associated with some of the activities carried out by
the workers they meet on visits.
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Resources
Resource Requirements for Land-based Industries: An Introduction Unit
Physical Resources:
•
Classroom or workroom facilities to deliver theory aspects of the course:
should include presentation facility, whiteboard or flipcharts.
•
Internet access and/or access to recommended learning resources.
•
Suitable materials for presentation of findings depending on the medium
chosen by (or chosen for) the students. The possible methods of presentation
should be considered by tutors prior to the student planning phase and any
Centre restrictions should be identified to students before they start to plan.
(For example, if you do not have a video camera that they can use, ensure that
they know this from the start!)
•
As it is very strongly recommended that the Centre visits at least one landbased industry, suitable transport arrangements and any necessary PPE
would need to be considered for that visit.
Recommended Learning Resources
The Sector Skills Council for the land-based sector, LANTRA, has some excellent
Internet resources that candidates could be directed towards.
http://www.lantra.co.uk/
The LANTRA website will guide you to two very useful general sites where you
can find out more about all of the career opportunities:
http://www.afuturein.com/ (careers for adults)
http://www.ajobin.com/ (careers for young people)
The websites below are useful links for the investigation of career opportunities in
general:
http://www.pathfinder-one.com/Pages/articles/sep02lantra.htm (article with live
interviews)
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Explore_types_of_jobs/T
ypes_of_Job/p!eipaL;jsessionid=a63025766017$B8$C6$0?secno=S0&state=sho
wsec (Graduate career area for land-based industries)
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http://www.connexionsdirect.com/jobs4u/jobfamily/environmentanimalsandplants/environmentanimalsan
dplants.cfm?id=151: a very good link to all of the plant and animal based careers
http://www.careertrack.info/ (Good case studies in agricultural industries)
http://www.jobseekersadvice.com/ (advice on job searching)
www.careers-scotland.org.uk, Careers Scotland website: Jobs in Scotland
http://www.khake.com/page39.html a good general agriculture, aquaculture career
guide
The following websites allow a more detailed examination of each of the sectors:
Land Management and Production
Agricultural crops
http://www.ca.courses-careers.com/agriculture.htm
information about careers in agriculture
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Agriculture
up to date information about agriculture in general
www.ukagriculture.com/
interesting information and news about agriculture in general
www.nfu.org.uk
this website and the section about agriculture has some information about working
in farming
Agricultural livestock
http://www.ca.courses-careers.com/agriculture.htm
information about careers in agriculture
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Agriculture
up to date information about agriculture in general
www.ukagriculture.com/ interesting information and news about agriculture in
general
www.aboutscotland.com/jedforest/ a farm with livestock near Jedburgh, Scotland
that does farm visits
www.obanrarebreeds.com
a farm of rare breed livestock near Oban that does visits
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www.nfu.org.uk
this website and the section about agriculture has some excellent information
about working in farming
Aquaculture
http://www.piscestt.com/pisces/careers/default_en.asp
career opportunities in aquaculture and further links
Fencing
http://www.connexionsdirect.com/jobs4u/jobfamily/buildingandconstruction/fenceerector.cfm?id=346
a direct link to jobs in fence erecting
Floristry
http://www.lantra.co.uk/Floristry/
information about floristry from Lantra including careers
http://www.societyoffloristry.org/
the Society of Florists with lots of useful information about the subject.
Land-based engineering
http://www.connexionsdirect.com/jobs4u/jobfamily/engineering/agriculturalengineer.cfm?fd=444
(agricultural engineering case study)
http://www.planitplus.net/careerzone/areas/default.aspx?PID=nf&TOPL=10&SEC
L=10G&ID=146
advice for young people about careers in the industry
Production horticulture
British Society for Plant Pathology
Careers in plant pathology, jobs, studentships and bursaries
British Society of Plant Breeders Ltd - Info and links
Royal Horticultural Society - Careers info, list of RHS courses
Thrive - FAQs on careers in horticultural therapy, courses and useful links
Institute of Horticulture
Includes a directory of consultants with their specialisations, and a list of UK
horticulture courses
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http://www.gardenvisit.com/landscape/LIH/careers/syllabus.htm
some excellent advice about careers in landscaping and landscape architecture
http://www.careers.ed.ac.uk/STUDENTS/Careers/Q2.html
has some excellent further links to horticultural sites
Trees and timber
http://www.ecotreecare.co.uk/jobs_in_tree_surgery.htm jobs in tree surgery
http://www.connexionsdirect.com/jobs4u/jobfamily/environmentanimalsandplants/arboriculturalworkertree
surgeon.cfm?fd=517 direct link to the tree work in jobs4u
http://www.trees.org.uk/qualleaf_txt.php
Arboriculture Association jobs in the arboriculture and tree working industries
Animal care
http://www.learndirect-advice.co.uk/featured/anjobs/ career with animals
Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors
a website which tells you about becoming a pet psychologist
British Institute of Professional Dog Trainers
includes information on courses on how to become a dog trainer
Guide Dogs for the Blind
includes information on jobs and volunteering at Guide Dogs
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
includes information (under 'News and info') on job vacancies, as well as
interesting links
Kennel Club
includes a recruitment section and lots of information about different dog breeds
Pet Care Trust
includes a "find-it" directory of professional pet care and other related services
that can be searched by county, town or postcode
PDSA - includes a section on employment.
RSPB - includes a section on vacancies
http://www.scottishspca.org/
the SSPCA animal welfare organisation in Scotland
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Careers in the RSPCA
includes job profiles, and a link to current vacancies (note that the RSPCA is NOT
in Scotland - it is the SSPCA here)
Federation of Zoos - working with animals in the zoo environment
Association of British Wild Animal Keepers
The site includes worldwide vacancies and ‘So you want to be a Zoo Keeper?’
Working with Animals in Entertainment
guidelines for working with animals in the entertainment field
Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Animal Therapy
The website contains a comprehensive career section on becoming a chartered
physiotherapist in animal therapy.
Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW)
A scientific and technical animal welfare organisation.
Institute for Animal Health
Research into animal health, information, postgraduate opportunities and
vacancies
Institute of Zoology - Information, news and jobs at London Zoo, Whipsnade Wild
Animal Park and the Institute of Zoology
Animal technology
http://www.learndirect-advice.co.uk/featured/anjobs/
Institute of Animal Technicians
Animal Technicians are responsible for the care and welfare of animals being bred
for, or used in, research. Includes a careers section.
Equine studies
Scottish Equestrian Association
the Governing Body for most things equestrian in Scotland
British Horse Society
excellent careers pages on working with horses, together with vacancy
information
British Horseracing Board
guide to careers in the British racing industry, training information, current
opportunities and graduate development
Horse and Hound Online
guide to careers and opportunities, with college and training directory
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Association of British Riding Schools - includes a fact sheet on ‘So You Want to
Work with Horses’, (URL: http://www.abrs-info.org/publications/factsheet4.pdf) a
directory of approved riding schools and information about qualifications and tests
Riding for the Disabled Association
National news and general overview of the organisation.
Farriery
http://www.farrier-reg.gov.uk/ has good links about how to become a farrier
National Association of Farriers, Blacksmiths and Agricultural Engineers
Veterinary nursing
British Veterinary Nursing Association
careers and information about vet nursing
British Equine Veterinary Association
This site contains a useful guide to veterinary nursing. Dental technicians and
information on courses for continuing professional development.
The Royal Veterinary College
The organisation to which all UK practicing veterinary surgeons belong.
PDSA - includes a link to a section on ‘employment’.
Environmental Industries:
Environmental conservation
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment
(Scottish Executive: Environment web pages)
up to date information about the environmental industries in Scotland
http://www.naturenet.net/people/getajob.html (jobs in countryside management)
Scottish Environment Protection Agency
the Scottish environmental protection agency: information about the environment
and its management
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Fisheries management
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Fisheries
(Scottish Executive: Fisheries web pages) up to date information about fishery
industries in Scotland
http://www.britishtrout.co.uk/jobs.htm
(British Trout Association: careers in fish farming inc case studies)
http://www.seafish.org/land/training.asp?p=fe
(Seafish Training: careers in the sea fish industry)
Game and wildlife management
RSPB - includes a section on vacancies
Federation of Zoos - working with animals in the zoo environment
Association of British Wild Animal Keepers - includes a useful article entitled "So
you want to be a zoo keeper?”
Landscape
The British Association of Landscape Industries (http://www.bali.co.uk/index2.asp)
The following website may be helpful in developing the learners’ ability to
complete the risk assessments:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg163.pdf
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Suggested Learning Programme
for Land-based Industries: An Introduction
Chunks of learning activity are suggested for this Unit. The order, grouping and
timing of these sessions are at the discretion of individual centres and will depend
on factors such as timetabling, class size etc. However, the emphasis is on guided
learning and not on didactic delivery of information and most of the allocated time
should be dedicated to supporting the students’ own planning, investigating and
presentation, preparation and delivery.
•
introduction to the unit: the nature of it and how it will be taught and assessed
including guidance on the nature of the portfolio
•
a consideration of what rural skills are including group work to identify what
land-based industries the class are aware of and some feedback from the
groups, group work to identify what jobs in the land-based industries there are
and some feedback from the groups
•
forming groups that can work together to fulfil the first outcome of the unit
•
group activity to consider the needs of successful teamwork with feedback
from the groups
•
feedback from the tutor on successful team working
•
tutor presentation of different team roles and rules of team working
•
group individuals to consider which of the team roles that they think they would
be good at
•
short tutor presentation on why planning is important; set a deadline for
presentation
•
group decisions on which three industries they are going to investigate
•
tutor presentation on different methods of finding information
•
tutor presentation on the pros and cons of different forms of presentation
•
group consideration of who is going to do what, how and when in terms of both
the investigation and the presentation of the information found
•
agreement between tutor and groups about the suggested plans
•
at least 12 hours of time should be dedicated to allowing students to find
information (including visits, Internet searches, and preparation of questions);
they should be encouraged to also find out information for outcome two
concurrently when applicable
•
at least 3 hours of time should be dedicated to allowing students to prepare
presentations.
•
presentations for each group (time will depend on number of groups)
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•
group review of the investigation and presentation (and completion of review
logs)
•
support individuals to complete Section 1 of their portfolios including plans,
descriptions and individual review of the industry
•
further time to support individuals to gather and compile information for Section
2 of their portfolios
•
individuals to complete Section 2 of their portfolios.
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Learning and Teaching with Under 16s
Scotland’s Colleges have made significant progress in meeting the needs of
young learners. Our knowledge of the learning process has increased significantly
and provides a range of strategies and approaches which gives us a clear steer
on how lecturers can add to their skill repertoire. Lecturers can, and do, provide a
stable learning environment where young students develop a sense of selfrespect, learn from appropriate role models and see an opportunity to progress.
There are basic enabling skills for practical application which can further develop
the learning process for this group of students. So what are the characteristics of
effective learning and teaching which will help to engage young learners?
Ten ways to improve the learning process for Under 16s
(This list is not exhaustive!)
1. Activate prior knowledge and learning – ascertain what the learner knows
already and teach accordingly. Young people do have life experience but it is
more limited than adult learners and they may not always be aware of how it
will assist them in their current learning.
Tips - Question and answer; Quick Quiz; Quick diagnostic assessment on
computer; present key words from the course or unit and see how many they
recognise or know something about.
2. Tune learners into the Big Picture – the lecturer knows the curriculum inside
out and why each lesson follows a sequence, however the young learner does
not have this information and is re-assured by being given the Big Picture.
Tips – Mind map or concept map; use visuals, for example wall displays of
diagrams, photographs, flow charts; explain the learning outcomes in language
they will understand; We Are Learning Today (WALT) targets and What I‘m
Looking For (WILF) targets; give clear and visible success criteria for tasks.
3. Use Advance Organisers – these are lists of the key concept words that are
part of the course or unit.
Tip – Highlight on any text the concept words that you will be using; make a
visible list and put it on display – concept words can be struck off or referred to
as they occur (NB this helps with spelling and independent learning as they do
not have to keep checking meaning); highlight essential learning and action
points.
4. Vary the teaching approaches. The two main approaches are instructing
and demonstrating, however try to provide opportunities to facilitate learning.
Tips – Ask students what they know now that they did not know before, or
what they can do now they could not do before, at appropriate points in the
lesson or teaching block; ensure there are problem solving activities that can
be done individually or in groups; ask students to demonstrate what they have
learned; use a range of question and answer techniques that allow
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participation and dialogue, eg. provide hints and cues so that they can arrive at
answers themselves.
5. Preview and review of learning. This helps to embed previous learning and
listening skills and provides another opportunity to elicit learner understanding.
Consolidates and reinforces learning.
Tips – At the beginning of each lesson, or session, review previous learning
and preview what is coming up; at the end of each lesson or session, review
what has taken place and what will be focussed on next time – these can both
be done through question and answer, quizzes and mind mapping activities.
6. Language in the learning environment. Do not assume that the language
which is used in the learning environment is always understood by young
learners, some words may be familiar but do not have the same meaning when
used vocationally.
Tips - At appropriate points ask students what words mean; explore the
various meanings of words to find out if they may have come across this
language in another context; by looking at the structure and meaning of words
there is an opportunity for dialogue about learning and to build vocabulary.
7. Giving instructions in the learning environment. This is one of the most
difficult tasks a lecturer has to do whatever the curriculum area. With young
learners this may have to be repeated several times.
Tips – Ask a student to repeat back what you have asked them to do before
beginning a task; ask them to explain the task to one of their peers; use the
KISS principle – Keep It Short and Simple so that they can absorb and process
the information.
8. Effective feedback. Feedback is very important for the learner to assess their
progress and to see how and what they can improve. Provide opportunities to
engage in dialogue about the learning function of assessment – provide details
of the learner’s strengths and development needs either in written or spoken
form. With younger learners identifying one or two areas for development is
sufficient along with acknowledgement of what has been done well.
Essentially, learners are helped by being given a specific explanation of how
work can be improved. You can also use summarise assessment formatively,
ie. as an opportunity to identify strengths, development needs and how to
improve.
Tips – Ask students themselves to identify their own strengths and
development needs – self evaluation; peer evaluation of work can be
successful once they have been taught how to do it; the lecturer can produce a
piece of work and ask students to assess it anonymously; have a discussion
about the success criteria for the task and ensure the students are clear about
them; allow learners to set criteria for success and then measure their
achievements against these.
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9. Managing the learning behaviour. Under 16s are coming into Scotland’s
Colleges and training establishments from largely structured and routine-driven
environments in schools and early feedback from those undertaking Skills for
Work courses indicates that they very much enjoy the different learning
environment that colleges and other training providers offer. Remember
though that these are still young learners. They will still expect lecturers to
provide structure and routine and will perform best in a calm orderly learning
environment. Young students will respond to firm, fair and consistent
management. Such routines have to be established quickly and constantly
reinforced.
Tips – Health and safety is non-negotiable and consequences of noncompliance with the regulations should be made clear and adhered to at all
times; set out your expectations from day one and provide a consistent
message; have clear beginnings, middles and endings for each session; be a
positive role model for your students, i.e. be there before they are and manage
the learners with respect; always deliver what you promise; build up good
relationships and get to know the learners, make the curriculum interesting and
stress the relevance of the learning; set up a positive behaviour management
system. By following these guidelines you will build up two-way respect, which,
while sometimes challenging to achieve, can be very powerful and work to
everyone’s benefit.
10. Care and welfare issues. School/college partnerships mean increasing
numbers of young learners in college. Lecturers have to be aware of their
professional responsibilities and mindful of young people’s rights. However
lecturers have rights too, in terms of feeling safe and secure in working with
young people and there are basic steps staff can take to minimise risks. It is
essential that colleges ensure that lecturers have a working knowledge of the
Child Protection policies (local authority and college documentation) and to
follow procedures and policies diligently. School/College Liaison Officers will
be familiar with these documents and can provide support and advice. There
are also training sessions on Child Protection available from SFEU (see
below).
Tips – Avoid one-to-one situations with young students in a closed area; do not
do or say anything that could be misinterpreted; if the opportunity arises, do
some observation in schools to see and discuss how teachers use the
guidelines for their own protection as well as the young person’s.
Most young people are a delight to work with and they will positively enjoy the
experience of learning in college. However, there will inevitably be some who are
disengaged, disaffected and who have not yet had an opportunity to experience
success. ‘Skills for Work’ is a unique educational initiative that young people can
be motivated to buy into - you as the lecturer are key to the success of these
programmes.
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Skills for Work Workshops
To take this 10 point plan forward and to add to it, you can attend one of SFEU’s
‘Get Skilled Up’ half day workshops for lecturers delivering Skills for Work
Courses, when we explore further the learning process and look at a range of
specific teaching and learning techniques to use with the under 16 age group. To
find out when the next event is visit our website www.sfeu.ac.uk or contact the
Learning Process team at SFEU on 01786 892000.
Child Protection Workshops
These are run on a regular basis by staff at SFEU in Stirling and also in colleges.
For more information on these workshops please contact members of the Access
and Inclusion team at www.sfeu.ac.uk or contact the team at SFEU on 01786
892000.
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Student Support Section
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Welcome to Land-based Industries: An Introduction
The notes that you’ll be given as you progress through the course are intended to
help you with the background knowledge for the skills that you will learn whilst on
this course. You’ll find that there are several activities which are designed to help
you to carry out the investigations that are part of this Unit as well as how to
produce and present your portfolio evidence for this Unit.
Some of the group activities look quite difficult and you may not think that you
have enough knowledge to do them but don’t worry! These activities are just to
make you think about what you are reading: they’re not tests and the answers
you’re given here go into a lot more detail than you would be expected to come up
with by yourselves.
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What will you be doing in this Unit?
Task 1: Carry out a group investigation into 3 land-based sector industries
In this Unit, you’ll have the opportunity to investigate three land-based industries
as part of a group. This will involve:
• planning the investigation as a group
• carrying out your part of the investigation
• presenting your findings (as a group)
• transferring your findings to your own individual portfolio (record of work)
You’ll be given more guidance on each of these steps as you go along.
Task 2: Investigate 3 job roles from the land-based industries
You’ll be given the opportunity to find out about some of the job opportunities that
are available in these industries. This may help you to decide whether a career in
a land-based industry is the right way for you to go. You might do this as an
individual or as part of a group again (your tutor will guide you on how to approach
this). This will involve:
•
•
finding out about jobs
transferring your findings to your own individual portfolio (record of work)
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What are land-based industries?
•
•
•
Land-based is the term used to describe all of the industries that we have in
Britain that have some element of working outdoors involved in them: usually
with plants, animals or both.
There are currently seventeen different industries recognised within the sector
with an estimated 1700 different job roles!
Many of them offer great opportunities to enjoy an outdoor lifestyle.
Activity
4
In groups, think of some of the industries that you think belong to the
land-based sector. How many can you get?
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Answer
This is a hard one! You probably wrote down some of the following in one way or
another:
•
Farming: beef, dairy, arable (crops)
•
Crofting
•
Animal Care: pet shops, dog kennels, catteries, zoos, animal welfare
•
Fish Farming: sea and freshwater
•
Aquaculture
•
Horse Riding: trekking centres, riding schools, competition horse yards,
racehorses, trotting horses etc, horse stud farms (breeding horses)
•
Farriery (you may have said ‘blacksmiths’ but the correct word is farriery)
•
Estate management
•
Gamekeeping
•
Wildlife management
•
Veterinary Surgery/ Nursing
•
Environmental Conservation
•
Fence Manufacturing and supplying
•
Land-based engineering (caring for agricultural, horticultural machinery)
•
Greenkeeping
•
Horticulture (you may have various forms of this like ‘market gardening’ or
Garden Centres
•
Landscaping (you may have said garden design but landscaping goes way
beyond this)
•
Forestry Management
•
Sawmill Industries
You might even have thought of a few more!
All these industries are very different and can offer lots of different job
opportunities. To make things simpler, we’ve split the land-based industries into
two categories for you: plant and animal related. You’re obviously not going to
have time to look at every one of these industries in detail, but you might want to
start thinking about which ones you would like to find more about.
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Animal-related Industries
Plant-related Industries
Agricultural Livestock
Agricultural crops
Animal Care Industries
Environmental Conservation Industries
Aquaculture
Fencing Industries
Equine Industries
Land-based Engineering Industries
Farriery
Landscaping Industries
Fisheries Management
Production Horticulture Industries
Game and Wildlife management
Tree and Timber based Industries
Veterinary Industries
Floristry
Do you know what these ones are all about?
•
What is aquaculture?
This is the commercial breeding of fish
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•
What are equine industries?
These are all industries that involve the horse.
•
What is farriery?
Farriery is the art of shoeing horses.
•
What is land-based engineering?
This is a form of mechanical engineering, looking mainly at farm machinery.
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•
What are production horticulture industries?
These are industries that involve the commercial production of plants.
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Activity
From the lists of animal based and plant based industries that you were given,
write down which 5 industries interest you the most and give a reason.
Industry
Reason for choice
Activity
What jobs do you think people might do in the five areas that you have chosen?
Industry
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Answer
It’s impossible to give you a whole list of job roles for the whole sector, but here
are a few examples:
On a large mixed farm (cattle, sheep and crops) there could be a:
•
cowman/woman
•
dairyman/woman
•
tractor operator
•
farm manager
•
shepherd
•
farm secretary
Note that sometimes people may carry out more than one of these job roles.
On a large horse competition ‘yard’ and riding school there could be:
•
a professional rider
•
several riding instructors
•
several grooms
•
a yard manager
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Activity
2
What industries do you think the following pictures represent?
a)
----------------------------------------------------
b)
---------------------------------------------------
c)
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d)
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Answer
a) Veterinary industries: This is a veterinary nurse checking a dog’s pulse (whilst
the dog is anaesthetised)
b) Farming (in some form): This is somebody driving a tractor and scraper to
clean a cattle shed
c) Fencing or estate management: The hole in the wire requires to be repaired by
someone, or replaced with a new fence.
d) Farriery: This is a farrier shoeing a horse.
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How are we going to find out more about these industries and jobs?
You’re going to take part in a group investigation into three land-based industries.
Remember what’s involved?
To do this, you’ll work as a team where everybody contributes to the
investigation.
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What makes for Successful Team Working?
Playing roles
For a team to be successful every member in the team has to have a role, just like
actors having roles in a play. For a group or team, the roles are not about the
activities they complete – they’re more about the way the group members behave.
There are lots of different labels for the roles in teams. Six are described below.
Leader:
Makes sure everyone is included and draws others out of their
shells. Is a good decision maker and good judge. Doesn’t
dominate everything
Ideas person:
Is creative and has a good imagination, comes up with good
ideas.
Information gatherer:
Good at finding things out and contacting other people on behalf
of the group. Usually confident and enjoy talking to people they
don’t know.
Team worker:
Able to listen, sensitive to people’s feelings, build bridges
between people and fill gaps.
Critic:
Can spot problems and snags. Looks at things from every
angle. May initially annoy the others in the team because they
can seem very negative but could be perfecting your teamwork!
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Finisher:
Makes sure that everyone keeps to deadlines and finishes what they
start.
Joker:
The joker can lift the spirits of a team especially if they are
struggling and keep the atmosphere light by clowning and telling
jokes. However, the joker must also contribute to the business of
the team!
Sometimes people take on more than one role, especially if your group is small.
But nobody should get away with being the joker all of the time!
Source: Learning and Teaching Scotland, Core Skills, Working with Others Intermediate 1
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Activity
2, 3, 4
1. Which are you – leader, ideas person, information gatherer, team
worker, critic, finisher or joker? Give reasons for your answer.
2. Now think of a time when you were involved in doing something as part of a
group or a team. It could be to do with school / college, in your part-time job if
you have one, as part of a club or just with friends in your spare time.
a) First, describe what the task or objective was:
b) Did the team complete the task?
c) Did it all go according to plan?
If it did, try to think of some of the reasons that it worked well. If it didn’t
work out, write down some of the reasons why.
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d) What would you do differently next time?
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Do’s and Don’ts of Teamwork
Before getting down to the nitty-gritty here are some good rules about working
with others to help to ensure group harmony:
Do
•
contribute to the group by putting forward ideas and getting involved in
discussion
•
co-operate with other members of the group
•
select specific roles for every group member (e.g. spokesperson, leader, timekeeper, presenter etc.)
•
take on your given role within the group
•
share the workload equally
•
respect the values and opinions of others
•
communicate and share ideas with each other
•
encourage others to speak.
Don’t
•
sit back and do nothing
•
think that others will do the work
•
take lead and ignore others
•
be afraid to speak
•
expect all your own ideas to be used
•
leave people out of the discussion
•
become distracted from the subject
•
be aggressive, interrupt or criticise unnecessarily
•
ignore other members of the group
•
allow one person to dominate.
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You can now start to apply the above principles to the activities that you have to
do as a group.
Stage 1: Plan the Investigation
Reasons to make a plan
If you make a time plan it can help you to:
• work steadily towards a deadline – doing things gradually
• make the best use of everyone’s time
• make sure nothing gets missed out
• allow extra time for unexpected things happening
The industries have been grouped into the two categories below. You must
choose at least one industry from each category and a third from either (this
means you will have 2 from one side and one from the other).
ANIMAL-RELATED INDUSTRIES
Agricultural Livestock
Animal Care Industries
Aquaculture
Equine Industries
Farriery
Fisheries Management
Game and Wildlife management
Veterinary Industries
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PLANT-RELATED INDUSTRIES
Agricultural crops
Environmental Conservation Industries
Fencing Industries
Land-based Engineering Industries
Landscaping Industries
Production Horticulture Industries
Tree and Timber based Industries
Floristry
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Activity
Decide, as a group, which 3 industries the group is going to
investigate.
Write them down here:
What needs to be done?
The information that you need to find out is basically ‘What happens in the
industry?’ For this you will need to identify:
•
the title of the industry
•
does it produce a product?
•
does it serve the community?
•
what does it do for the people that it serves?
•
is the industry land or water based?
•
does the industry have a seasonal pattern to the way it works (seasonality)?
•
five resources (such as buildings and equipment) needed for that industry
You need to decide what methods the group are going to use to find this
information and then how it is going to be presented.
Who’s going to do it?
Who is going to do each part of the investigation and presentation? You’ll need to
think about the various tasks involved and the best people to do them. There
might be tasks for one person, two people and some for the whole group.
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Hints on Planning
•
use a copy of the planning sheet (the one that eventually goes in your
portfolio). This will let you write out your plan roughly before you all do your
own version for your portfolio.
•
if some tasks are not popular, make a rota so that everyone does their share
•
give yourselves enough time – work out how long it will take you to get
everything ready. You’ll have a deadline when everything will have to be
completed – speak to your tutor about this.
•
if you’re looking for people to give help or information, you need to find them. If
you want to speak to people on a planned visit to a land-based industry, what
questions are you going to prepare to ask them? (Remember that it would also
be useful to ask them questions about their job role for the second part of your
portfolio too!)
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Plan for the Investigation of Land-based Industries
Candidate Name:
Activity
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Group:
Who responsible and how?
Completion Date
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Activity
1, 4, 9
Stage 2: Carry out the investigation
Commit yourself to the tasks that you’ve agreed to do.
Much of this will be about finding information.
Finding Information
These notes will be helpful for both the first and the second sections of your
portfolio. A reminder of the information that you require for each of the tasks of the
portfolio is attached below. This may help you to decide how you will gather this
information.
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Industry Sheet:
Name of Industry:
Question
Your Answer
1. What happens in the industry?
2. Is the industry land or waterbased?
3. Does the industry have a seasonal
pattern to what goes on? If so, give
a short explanation of the way in
which it is seasonal.
4. List five major resources required in a)
the industry.
b)
c)
d)
e)
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Job sheet
Title and General
Description of job
Title:
General Description:
One qualification that
could be suitable to
carry out that job role
Three characteristics of 1.
somebody who is likely
to be suited to that job
2.
3.
Three tasks carried out Task 1
by somebody in that job
role
Task 2
Task 3
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Some Information Resources
The Internet
The Internet is really useful and you’ll be given some excellent links to websites
that will help you a lot with this project, but remember that there are lots of other
sources of information and you should try not to rely on the Internet for everything.
Sometimes we tend to just ‘cut and paste’ information which is not a good way to
go about things: remember that you’re trying to take in this information not just
pass it over.
Here’s a list of other information sources that you may want to consider using –
you can probably think of some more:
Print:
books, leaflets, worksheets, handouts, newspapers and magazines.
People:
tutors, other students, family, friends, experts are all good sources of information
As you’re likely to go on at least one visit to a land-based industry, it is useful to
try and plan how you can ask questions of people. You may even find some useful
contacts and want to telephone, e-mail or write to these people.
Audio-visual:
TV, videos, DVDs, CD-ROM may all offer you some useful information.
Visual:
Don’t forget about photographs, pictures, posters.
Organisations
The types of organisation that are likely to have the type of information that you
are looking for include:
•
Livestock farms
•
Arable farms
•
Crofts
•
Land-based engineers
•
The Forestry Commission
•
Garden centres
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•
Florist shops
•
Riding schools
•
Equine studs
•
Pet shops
•
Animal welfare centres
•
Farriery businesses
•
Veterinary hospitals
•
Game estates
•
Landscape gardeners
•
Wildlife preservation organisations (e.g. Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds)
•
Environmental conservation organisations (e.g. Scottish Environmental
Protection Agency)
Visits to the Workplace
Your tutor may take you on one or more trips to land-based industries. There is no
substitute for the real thing and you should make sure that you gain as much
information for your portfolio on these trips as you possibly can.
Remember to plan before you go on these visits: have your questions ready to
ask: both about the industry and the jobs for both sections of your portfolio.
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Navigating the Internet for land-based industry sites
Where should you start?
LANTRA - this is the organisation that is responsible for many of the qualifications
in land-based industries:
http://www.lantra.co.uk/
The Lantra website will guide you to two very useful general sites where you can
find out more about all of the career opportunities that you may have an interest
in:
Click on the following link:
http://www.afuturein.com/
You can then click on your chosen sector to find out about:
1. Working in (e.g. animal care).
Clicking on this menu brings up a screen with a lot of useful information for
activity 1 of the portfolio
2. Skills required: this is useful for part two of the portfolio
3. Qualifications that could help you in an animal care career: useful for part two
of the portfolio
4. Case Studies: information from real people in the industry. Could be useful for
both part 1 and part of the portfolio
5. Useful links: takes you to some more useful websites that may help your
investigations
You can also find out more about career opportunities on this young persons site:
http://www.ajobin.com/
This site helps you to consider your own personal qualities against the
opportunities that exist in the land-based industries, so it is worth exploring.
There are other very good websites that will allow you to explore the land-based
sector further – your tutor can advise you on the ones that will help for the
industries you’re investigating.
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Types of Questions
• open questions – based on the who, when, where, why, what and how key
questions you have already worked on, and
• closed questions – these give yes/no type of answers
Some of the questions ask for facts and others ask for the opinion of the person
being interviewed.
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Activity
1.
Look at the following examples and decide if they are open or closed
questions. Also say which asks for fact or opinion:
Question
Type
Open/Closed
Fact/Opinion
1. Where did you go on holiday last year?
2. Who did you go with?
3. Did you enjoy yourself?
4. What kind of accommodation did you stay in?
5. Would you go back there again?
6. What was the best part of your holiday?
Think about the kind of information that you may want to get from an interview.
Remember that you can ask people questions about the industry and different job
roles.
Refer to the copy of the industry sheet and the job sheet that you will need to
include in your portfolio.
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Activity
3
If you know that you want to interview somebody either during a visit
or through other arrangements, you will need to know what questions you want to
ask them to get the information for either an industry and/or a job.
Think about the information you are looking for and write down some of the
questions you should ask.
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1&4
Stage 3: Present your findings
You now need to agree as a group how you are going to present this information
to the tutor and the rest of the class. Here are some possibilities that you may
want to consider a:
•
talk
•
talk with a PowerPoint presentation
•
poster presentation
•
video diary
•
written report
•
visual display
You may want to read through and discuss the hints and tips on each of these
before deciding which method of presentation is right for your group. If you have
an idea that’s not in the suggestions above, that’s great, but make sure that you
run it past your tutor first and perhaps have a look for some hints and tips on how
to make your chosen method work.
Once you’ve agreed on your presentation method, you’ll need to:
•
agree what tasks each member of the group is going to do. It’s important to
play to the strengths of the group members. Is there a very creative
individual or a good photographer who could help your group to do a fantastic
poster or visual display? Or is there an IT whiz who could help you all to make
a great PowerPoint presentation? You’ll want to make the presentation of your
information as interesting as possible for the audience.
•
present the information (there’s some good advice on the next page!)
•
remember to add this information to your final plan document (the one that
goes in your portfolio)
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Hints and Tips – some good advice!
Giving a Talk
Twenty minutes is probably more than enough time to get across all of the
information that you want. However, if you are given 20 minutes by the tutor, limit
yourself to 15 minutes to allow time for questions from the audience.
Consider the following:
•
plan your talk carefully around the main pieces of information. You may have
three of you speaking: one for each industry, so try and ensure that you agree
a fairly common approach.
•
practise your talk: often, both alone and in front of friends who’ll give you
honest opinions about what’s good and what you might need to change.
However, make sure that you lay down some ground rules like no laughing!
Try not to read it word for word off a sheet - this can sound a little awkward
and a bit boring. A card with bullet points to prompt what you are going to say
is a good approach.
•
never try to add bits to your talk that you don’t really understand yourselves.
Remember that somebody might ask you a question about it later. However,
put yourself in the listeners’ shoes: how many times have you just wished they
would get to the end? Is there something that you can do that will make it more
interesting? If the team have some ideas on this, be sure to run them past the
tutor first!!
•
try not to pace around or wave your hands about too much. Look at your
listeners. If you are very nervous, sometimes it’s good to look around the room
without focussing on people because that can make you worse. However,
don’t just stare down at the floor or your bullet cards.
•
use a loud, clear and enthusiastic voice. If you don’t seem to care about
your topic, why should your audience?
Don’t forget that you are not expected to be an expert at doing this yet. Giving a
talk is not the easy option for most of us and the fact that you gave it your best
shot is fantastic!
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Giving a PowerPoint Presentation
PowerPoint or other overhead slides can be a useful way of ‘propping up’ your talk
and can help you to show some nice pictures and diagrams that help to keep your
audience interested. They are your bullet cards that the audience can also see.
Remember that most of the hints about giving a talk still apply to this (unless you
are able to add sound and auto play for your audience?)
The following hints and tips should hopefully help to stop you from falling into the
common pitfalls of this method of presentation:
•
Include only necessary information on slides:
Don’t cram them with lots of writing: do you read overheads when the writing is
small and difficult to see?
•
Limit each slide to one main heading with a couple of bullet points and
possibly a picture or graphic.
•
Include on each slide only information that you will discuss. Other information
is distracting and confusing.
•
Make sure your slides are readable. Font sizes of 18-24 point seem to work
well in most cases.
•
Slides with light backgrounds may be easier to read than slides with dark
backgrounds, particularly if any room light is present. Most computergenerated slides project much darker than they appear on the computer
screen. Choose colour combinations that contrast well.
•
Keep it simple - people should be impressed by what is said and not be
distracted by the fact that you can make the slide rush in and do an
emergency stop!
•
Organise your slideshow and know what is coming up next and what you are
going to say along with that slide. When you practise, you’ll think that it is
going to take a much shorter time than it does so don’t overdo the number of
slides.
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Preparing a Poster
You may have thought that the poster option was the easy one: no need to do a
scary talk! Yet, doing this well is actually quite difficult and requires quite a lot of
detailed planning to get it right. You have quite a lot of information to get on to the
poster and it has to be presented in a way that others can understand it. It’s also
likely to go on display to a much larger audience than just your own class.
If you want to go ahead with this option, consider the following hints and tips:
•
Before you begin designing the poster, think about what the audience needs
to know and create a list to help narrow down your main points.
•
If you want to be able to get all the information on to your poster, it may need
to be as big as 1.2m x 2m or even 1.2m x 2.4m. This may seem huge, but
the bigger the piece of card you can get, the better. You need to source this
huge bit of card before beginning the design process. You will probably need
some good glue and scissors too.
•
Keep it simple: simple words, simple message, simple design
•
Begin by doing a few rough drafts on paper that is scaled down (same ratio
between height and width). This allows you to determine the number and size
of pictures, headings, and length of text before transferring it on to the
expensive card! Let the group decide which designs are best.
•
Include only brief information that is easy to read. Use a letter style that is
simple and avoid fancy styles. You are probably best to print from the
computer and then cut and paste. Few people have good enough handwriting
to be impressive on a poster.
•
The organisation and flow of the poster needs to be very clear. Make very
important points large and less important points smaller. You will then make
clear the sequence in which the poster is to be viewed. The title needs to be
able to be read from a distance.
•
Keep it neat and clutter free. Allow fairly large areas of open space: a poster
will look crowded when there is less than 20% open space on it.
•
Check your spelling and then check it again!
•
Use intense colours: dark lettering against a light background is usually
easiest for people to read.
•
Use good quality and relevant pictures and graphics to capture the
reader’s attention.
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Writing a Report for a Newsletter
Writing a report sounds like a bit of a boring option,
but with a little effort and the inclusion of pictures, you
can make your report really interesting and have it
included in the school newsletter. Also, if you find that
most of your group are a little shy and not keen on
standing up in front of the others, it’s a good
alternative!
Here are some hints and tips about writing your report:
•
Think about who is going to read it.
If it’s going in the school newsletter, you can’t assume that the readers know
anything about your project so write in a way that they will understand.
•
Try and include pictures of the places that you visited or the industries that
you investigated.
•
Try and format the report into a newsletter style (your word processor
software should be able to help you here).
•
Think about your approach: can you think of a catchy title?
Have an introductory paragraph; main paragraphs and then a conclusion with
any acknowledgments (thanks) that you think you should add (e.g. someone
that you interviewed).
•
Remember to use the spell-checker!
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Making a video information film
Always a glamorous option, but you need to be quite good to get away with it!
Obviously, you need to have permission to use the equipment and be sure that
you can work it before starting. You also need to think about whether you are
going to have enough relevant footage about the industries to make it interesting
for the viewers.
Here are some hints and tips if you decide on this option:
•
choose somebody with a ‘lively’ voice to do the commentary
•
choose somebody with a steady hand to do the camera work
•
take footage of the industries that you visit
•
have questions ready for any people that you interview and ask their
permission to film
•
think about how you are going to fill the gaps.
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Putting Your Portfolio Together
The portfolio is the evidence that you need to show that you took part in the
group investigation of the industries and your investigation of job roles. You may
want to consider the following when putting it together:
Top tips to impress your tutor!
•
It should not be copied from other members of the group and needs to be in
your own words.
•
There is not that much writing to do, but it is important that you make sure that
all the necessary pieces of paper are included and you may want to make it
more attractive by adding your own pictures or other information. However, if
you do this, make sure it is relevant.
Activity
Complete this checklist to make sure that you have included all of the
sections of your portfolio before you hand it in to the assessor/tutor.
Evidence Required
1, 2, 6,
8, 9
Present (tick when in
place)
Section 1
Completed Plan for Investigation log sheet
Record sheet on industry 1
Record sheet on industry 2
Record sheet on industry 3
Completed Review of Investigation log sheet
Section 2
Record sheet of job 1
Record sheet of job 2
Record sheet of job 3
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