UNISON’s tutor training programme is primarily aimed at ULRs who want to develop their skills in trade union education, but is also relevant for branch officers who may wish to lead workshops or discussions in the branch.
Discussion leaders
This course focuses on arranging discussion groups for small numbers of participants (between 5 and 10 people) and leading discussions. It is about using the everyday techniques of talking, listening listening, and summarising, in a semi formal setting. The emphasis in the course is on learning by doing, so the majority of time is spent on running two discussion groups. The approach developed will also be useful for informal discussions.
Lay tutor training
This introductory course on tutoring methods is aimed primarily at branch activists who want to use education methods to run organizing-focused branch-based training for members.
On completing this course activists will understand:
- Teaching and learning approaches appropriate for trade union education.
- How to run a simple group-based activity.
- How equality and diversity issues relate to learners’ needs in an educational setting.
- How learners benefit from a group learning process.
- How tutoring knowledge and skills can engage branch activists around union organising.
- How to develop their tutoring skills and knowledge.
Equalities for tutors
This course is designed to complement the earlier stages of the tutor training course. Its aims are to raise awareness about equalities issues and particularly about the roots of discrimination, how and why discrimination works in society and what challenges this creates for tutors.
The course offers an approach to understanding discrimination, in order to help equip tutors to tackle it. The final part of the course focuses on practical strategies for tackling discrimination.
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