Community of Practice finds success with Masterclass Series
On Wednesday 14th April, the Student Leadership Programs Community of Practice ran the first of its 2021 mid-semester masterclass days.
The Student Leadership Masterclass series has been running since 2018, bringing together students from a range of leadership programs across the University, to attend professional development workshops, seminars, panels and networking events each mid-semester break.
The Semester One 2021 masterclass day began with Cultural Intelligence Programs Coordinator Annette Wheatley, presenting an interactive workshop aimed to help student leaders develop their skills in Cultural Intelligence (‘CQ’).
“It was a pleasure being part of the PASS Student Leadership Masterclass program … After a brief introduction about metaphors illustrating the concept of culture, students participated in an activity about cultural value dimensions and had the opportunity to discuss this in small groups. It is always very rewarding to explore these fundamental concepts of successful intercultural communication with students!” – Annette Wheatley.
This was followed by a session on Managing Academic Stress, presented by University of Adelaide Writing Centre Learning Advisor Iran Sanadzadeh, who has recently completed a PhD in Music, and who worked with student leaders to recognise the symptoms of academic stress, consider the contexts that produce unhealthy ways of working, and balance time spent studying with time spent on other aspects of life.
Iran Sanadzadeh - Writing Centre Learning Advisor
Iran’s main message to students? “All the areas of life are important and worthy of your attention. Spending time on yourself is as valuable as the work you do for others”.
Selina Tran, a student leader from the Professions, enjoyed the way this session “encouraged students to reflect on themselves and their own wellbeing as they strive to be better people, build deeper relationships, be more efficient at their work, and especially more satisfied with life”.
Philippa Hook, Employability Project Officer, enjoyed facilitating the always highly popular Student Leader Networking Event where student leaders were excited to meet others from different faculties and student leadership programs: "Students learned some tips to help them network professionally and put their own skills to the test through Speed Networking rounds. It was wonderful to see students making new connections, getting to know fellow Student Leaders on campus, and enhancing their employability skills while having fun. Some great conversations were had by all!”
The day was rounded off by a collaboration with another community of practice – Collette Ortega from the newly formed Student Wellbeing in Learning and Teaching CoP opened the floor to students to tell us about their experiences and how they imagine the embedding of wellbeing ideas and practices into the classroom could be approached.
“The student leaders were amazing and fabulous! It was great to speak with people who were so willing to share their stories and experiences and to generate ideas. There are already multiple projects I can see coming out of this forum” – Colleen Ortega.
Approximately 60 student leaders from across the University were involved in this semester’s masterclass day, including participants from the International Peer Mentor team, Peer Assisted Study Sessions, faculty-based Peer Mentors, Adelaide Graduate Award Ambassadors, Succeed@Adelaide Ambassadors and many other student leadership programs.
For PASS Leader Truong Nhat Vy Nguyen (Vy), the day was a chance to learn from and about others, to spend time connecting with her fellow students, and to feel heard: “The sessions were really engaging, with lots of students sharing their opinions. The sessions were really close to our life experience – Iran had lots of tips from her life as a student that we could apply to our own. Pip gave us a great chance to have more networking experience and practice in real life, and it was so good to share our thoughts in the wellbeing forum, and have someone listen and take action on our ideas.”
If you are a student or staff member who is interested in becoming involved in either the Student Leadership or the Student Wellbeing in Learning and Teaching Community of Practice, please visit the Learning and Teaching website for further details, or contact Chelsea Avard (Student Leadership Programs CoP), Colleen Ortega or Linda Westphalen (Student Wellbeing in Learning and Teaching CoP).
Story prepared by Dr Chelsea Avard, Coordinator - Peer Learning Programs