Become a PAL Leader

PAL Leaders would usually have the following qualities:

• Competent performance on the first year of the course
• Empathy with the first year experience
• An interest in people and how they learn
• Good communication, listening and interpersonal skills
• Good self organisational skills
• Ability to model and demonstrate good study habits
• Possession of other qualities such as credibility, commitment, honesty and approachability

There are many benefits to being a PAL Leader:

• Develops personal skills such as leadership, teamwork, interpersonal communication, facilitation and coaching skills
• Enables you to gain confidence especially in situations when teamwork is required to attain a goal
• Provides valuable experience to enhance your CV
• Enables you to revise and practice your subject, and gain a deeper understanding of it
• Provides opportunities to attend PAL Conferences and events and share experiences with PAL Leaders from other institutions.
• Good salary

PAL Leaders are expected to:

• Attend the initial PAL Leader Training
• Offer regular sessions from September to May
• Attend follow-up training where possible
• Maintain contact with PAL staff and academic staff
• Complete attendance sheets, self-reflection forms and gather student evaluation information on a weekly basis
• Maintain a professional attitude on issues such as confidentiality, marks and complaints
• Demonstrate good learning strategies, facilitate discussion rather than re-teach material, discourage attending PAL as a substitute for classes

Training

PAL Leaders benefit from a comprehensive training programme to prepare them for their role. All PAL Leaders are required to attend. This training programme takes place over four days, usually one day in June, two days in September, and one day in January.

In addition, Leaders also receive on-going training support to help them to develop strategies to strengthen interpersonal skills. Below are examples of some of the topics covered during these sessions:

• Self-esteem, learning confidence and active listening
• Voice and body language for personal impact
• Groupwork, group dynamics and diversity
• Engaging groups through sensory awareness
• Dealing with difficult situations in the classroom
• Intelligence and learning
• Self-marketing in industry
• Promotion and recruitment

The skills and experience gained as part of the training and the role itself are valuable and transferrable to a wide range of careers.

Resources

PAL Leaders are able to use the refurbished PAL room (4E22) and PAL Office (4E24) on Frenchay Campus, where extensive training materials and resources are available for Leaders to use in their PAL sessions.

You can access training materials and other resources for the PAL Module (UBILUF-20-2) through myUWE.

The PAL Co-ordinator and a member of the PAL module teaching staff aim to observe PAL Leaders in their sessions throughout the academic year, and give them feedback on their techniques and group management.

The PAL team also operates an open-door policy so that they are available wherever possible to support PAL Leaders, and PAL academics also provide support throughout the year.