Navigate workshop

 Navigate workshop

On the 27/10/2023 we had our first Navigate workshop. The aims of this workshop was to Identify different forms of communities within the class and university, articulate the value of Kingston University’s Graduate attributes, understand the content and benefits of the Navigate workshops, introduce growth mindset framework through various scenarios of transitioning to university. We first went through the different communities in the University from the smallest to biggest, this went: You, room number, course, department, faculty, degree level students, Kingston university. We then got shown how to get involved in the various communities eg. Using the KU app. We also learnt about what navigate is and that it aims to develop your reflection, discussion, and personal/ professional development skills. We ranked 9 graduate skills from most important to least important in our opinions. In my opinion each skill has the same importance in our professional lives. The skills were: creative problem solving, digital skills, enterprising, questioning mindset, adaptability, empathy, collaboration, resilience, self- awareness. After this we then learnt about growth mindset and how that’s important to have throughout our time as students and in our future career. A growth mindset is: belief that character, intelligence, & ability can be developed, embraces challenges, Persists despite obstacles, sees effort as key to success, values constructive criticism, Inspired by others’ success. We compared this with a fixed mindset which is belief that character, intelligence, & ability are fixed & can’t be changed, avoids challenges, gives up due to obstacles, sees effort as pointless, ignores constructive criticism, threatened by others’ success. After this workshop, I do think I learnt about new skills that would be helpful to develop for my future career. I now know about different communities in the same social surroundings as me. I also know that a growth mindset is good for university so I’m not afraid to take on unfamiliar challenges and I’m ready to learn more.

We had our second workshop on the 12/1/2024. This workshop’s aims were to explore values and motivations, understand and draw connections between personal and social identities and reflect on one’s abilities and experiences. Values can be Fundamental beliefs, sense of right and wrong, guide decision making, individual and/or shared, intrinsic or extrinsic. We discussed a table full of different values such as compassion, integrity, loyalty, knowledge, power. We chose what value we this is the most important, I chose respect as I believe this is important especially in a workplace to build relationships and to earn respect back for yourself. We then moved onto motivators. We spoke about extrinsic motivators such as Money, Grades, Career, Praise and Recognition, Family and Friends vs intrinsic motivators: Sense of Achievement, Interest, Pride, happiness, curiosity. I think extrinsic motivators are stronger that feelings for me personally. My biggest motivator for choosing a marketing course was money. I hope that through this course I end up with a well-paid job that will help me live a comfortable life. We then discussed our personal identity. At first, we spoke about our interests, hobbies, preferences and then we moved onto where we come from, race, sex, orientation, age, religion. We then revisited growth mindset and how to develop our own. To build a growth mindset we must Tell yourself a different story, set learning goals, capitalise on your failures, Choose Goldilocks tasks, Be consistent & flexible.

The final workshop was on the 19/1/2024. This workshop’s aims were to develop an understanding of the KU Graduate Attributes through solution generation, develop self-reflection skills, using the STAR reflection technique and KU Graduate Attributes, understand the enrichment and support services available and how to access them. We discussed problem solving and the skills we could that we would have with a marketing background to help problem solve including our teamwork and communication skills, analysis skills and that our solutions would work best for the client and be efficient and cost savvy. We spoke about what area in marketing we could see ourselves in, I see myself in data analysis/ science. The skills I could bring to this role would be my Microsoft skills and database skills. I am good at analyzing data and problem-solving. We also talked about reflection and how to build self- awareness, confidence and how to develop these skills.