Thing 10 - Graduate traineeships, Masters Degrees, Chartership, Accreditation
This part of the programme reminds me that there is some focus in the 23 Things on the professionally qualified rather than the para-professional or, well, what do you call us? Unqualified? Faceworkers? aka the salt of the earth, the only way a library service is run? Sorry just channelling my own moans and the shameless oily behaviour of certain senior managers I have encountered over the years.
I touched on the difficulties of getting access to the CILIP certification process in an earlier post, which I hope has been improved since I tried for that some years ago. I have achieved a NVQ L3 and ECDL which is as much as my role here requires. Working in a college, the emphasis is more on teaching and supporting roles and some of my colleagues have gone that way, from PGCE to lower learner supporting qualifications. I have resisted this route for me so far as I see myself as a library person rather than a teaching one.But the role has changed to one of supporting the learner/user in their use of the technology and equipment rather than one of signposting towards the actual books. Here I face what many of us do, to persuade a user to look at a book rather than at Wikipedia.
I flirted with a postgraduate qualification last year, getting a place on a distance learning course. But when the reality of perhaps studying for four years when I hope to retire within ten and the amazing cost of the course set in I reluctantly withdrew. I am still looking for my next bit of education/training.
While
my children have faced the rising debts associated with higher
education I am reluctant to go this way myself, for the reasons above.
I wonder does anyone else have the expertise to advise what they did next? I have had a look at other bloggers' remarks and the relevance of costs of things and funding education does filter through. I haven't found any remarks from non-professionals yet, I will keep looking though.
