Rosemary (Roz) Bond (nee Webb)
Birkenhead High School 1954 -1964

Lecturer in Community and Youth Work in Higher Education.

My current post is Senior Lecturer in Community and Youth Work at Bradford College, an Associate College of the University. I teach mostly on undergraduate and postgraduate degrees that lead to professional qualifications for work with young people. I am also the Admissions Tutor for the Department of Applied Social Science and Humanities. The department was inspected by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) this year and we were pleased to receive the highest commendation possible in all categories.

I came into lecturing by a somewhat circuitous route.  I took my first degree in Social Sciences straight from school in the mid-60's and chose a Social Administration option which led to my first career as a social worker. For seven years I worked in England and Scotland and became increasingly interested in social work with young people. After leaving my last post as a juvenile court officer to have my own children (no maternity leave in those days!) I pursued this interest by working part-time, mostly in the evenings at first, in a variety of youth centres. I became increasingly involved in health education with young people and this led me to take a postgraduate degree in Health Promotion at the University of Leeds. In turn, this led to a full-time post with Leeds Youth Service, an involvement with delivering in-service training courses, a further postgraduate course in Social Education in the Community and this post that I have now held since 1989.

Many of my colleagues who teach on youth and social work courses have also been practitioners themselves and we do not see ourselves as pure academics. Our research tends to be community-based and involve local issues (e.g. I am on the Management Committee of a project that supports young people in a housing initiative, particularly young single mothers who want to get back into education or employment)

The majority of the students whom I teach are well over 21 - we have students in their 40s and 50s. Many are from disadvantaged inner city areas and have been failed by the school system. It is tremendously rewarding to see students from such backgrounds graduate. Many have been brainwashed into believing that they could never get a degree. Such students are highly motivated and with the right support thrive and excel. I often attend national youth work events and meet former students who are now earning more than I am!

My job involves teaching small and larger groups (up to 40 students), visiting placement agencies, processing all the UCAS applications for the courses in our department, interviewing applicants, attending Open Days and HE fairs and, inevitably, an increasing amount of paper work including marking. Mature students also need a lot of support including help with personal and financial problems and referrals to (for example) study skills support tutors.

In order to succeed as a lecturer in vocational and professional training in Higher Education you need a relevant degree and post graduate qualifications. These days you may well need a formal FE/HE teaching qualification or membership of a body such as the Institute of Teaching and Learning. You will also need to have worked in the field for which you are training students. This confers credibility with the profession as well as with the students. The financial rewards are not great - school teachers can earn more after a few years service but we have a lot of flexibility in how we work and far fewer problems with discipline as our students have chosen to be here.

 I am unable to offer work experience but would be happy to be emailed for careers advice.