Jo Patel (right) and a colleague with two tourism student winners of 'Big Bang’ exhibition volunteer awards.
After 17 years in the travel industry, Jo Patel joined North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College as a travel and tourism lecturer in 2002
What got you into travel, tourism and FE?
Pure chance! After leaving school with O-levels, I took a City and Guilds qualification in business and then worked for 17 years for an independent travel agency, during which I took posts in tour operations, overseas and retail - I managed the agency’s busy Coventry office for several years. I left to have a family, returned to work part-time, and was then asked to speak about retail at my local college. I enjoyed interacting with the students so much that I decided to enter FE teaching full-time. From a young age, I’d always loved talking to customers - even in my first part-time job sweeping up at a hairdressers I’d chat to them all day. And I’ve always been fascinated by places.
What’s your main role?
Between us, my fellow programme manager and I teach BTec qualifications to around 60 students in groups of around 20 (one group at level 2 and two at level 3 - equivalent to A-level). Most are 16-19s though we also have mature students aged up to 25. We manage the whole programme, including planning, assessing, delivery and internal modifications. Some course units cover transferrable skills for any industry such as business, employability, marketing and customer services. Tourism-specific units embrace the whole industry including transport (airlines etc), event management, hospitality, hotels and restaurants, tour operators, retail, cruises and visitor attractions. The sheer breadth particularly helps those students who arrive unsure about their future to decide which area of tourism they want to work in.
What’s a typical day?
I arrive at 8am to discuss plans with my colleague for the day and any issues arising and do admin work such as sifting through emails and updating students' independent learning plans - here we can enter comments about what might be affecting their ability to meet a specific target grade. I’ll also liaise with employers to arrange work placements.
I start promptly at 9am to simulate workplace patterns - I explain to late arrivals that if, say, they were airline cabin crew and turned up late, they could miss the flight and get sacked! However, once sessions start, flexibility kicks in and we might continue beyond the standard 90 minutes. I time our breaks to fit activities and we don’t have bells to end sessions. Most days I teach four 90-minute sessions, with Wednesday afternoons free to catch up on marking, sharing good practice across departments, updating tracking sheets and holding preparatory meetings. It’s a busy job - 25 hours of teaching within a 39-hour week - which often includes lunch breaks taken at my desk spent talking to parents and on other duties. It’s certainly not 9-5.
Flexibility extends to what we teach: we have to stay in line with awarding bodies but we also deliver optional units we judge to be especially relevant to local employer needs. On our campus at Wigston we focus strongly on event management (a key interest of our students) and hospitality (to meet the needs of many local hotels and restaurants), whereas our sister Nuneaton campus focuses more on transport with its close links with East Midlands airport. When courses start we often adjust what we teach according to students’ wishes and interests and where they’d choose to do their work placements
Two interesting tasks you have completed recently?
We take a cohort of students as volunteer helpers to the annual three-day Big Bang event at Birmingham’s NEC, Birmingham - it’s a huge exhibition associated with STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, maths) and is aimed at young children. Duties include helping set up the event, ushering visitors into the exhibition area, working on the stands and even doing stints dressed up as the event’s big mascot. Our students often don’t want to go as they fear being asked questions by the general public, but assign them a role and give them a uniform to wear and it’s amazing how they flourish and benefit from seeing how a large event is organised.
We also regularly invite guest speakers from the industry, including former students now in HE or working in the industry - one talked about doing a university course to become an airline pilot.
What’s the most challenging aspect of your role?
Finding really good two-week placements for our students. It’s getting difficult to button down employers. Security, health and safety, and data protection issues mean placements are rare at airports, for instance. We work closely with Marriott Hotels, Tui, the space center in Leicester and other organisations and try to expand our list of placements every year.
Any achievements you are particularly proud of?
Some of our students received a prestigious Big Bang volunteer award over the past two events at a prestigious award ceremony.
I’m also always proud of students who often start on our level 2 course and yet may have been let down at school, been excluded or been unable to complete school qualifications. College gives them another chance and it’s great to see them finish their first year having successfully passed their English and maths GCSEs. I see an amazing change as they turn into positive and confident individuals. That’s very rewarding.
How do you keep up with industry trends?
We spend a day each year off-campus working with a travel organisation of our choice. And after visiting students on placement, we spend time quizzing their employers. We follow the press closely and get our students to do likewise, so they often inform us about ‘the Dreamliner 737 now operating direct to Australia’ and so on.
Any tricks of the teaching trade you can pass on?
The job is far more than just teaching. When the students arrive we treat them like adults and invite them to take responsibility for their learning. Most come from a school where they have been treated like children so we tell them it’s their education so they need to take ownership of their learning - perhaps in helping decide how they would like to be taught or assessed - and that does down well as a contrast to their treatment at school.
I also relate everything I teach back to their chosen career in explaining why it’s important. Many don't see why, say, they have to practice role-playing until I tell them they will have to do presentations during job interviews. Whatever you teach, make it relevant to your industry.
What personal qualities and skills do you need?
A passion for travel and tourism. I’m totally sad whenever I’m out with my family - I’ll be looking at customer service standards or pointing out the latest tourist route down under! You need to be a sponge constantly absorbing information about the industry you teach. Know how to engage your students, especially 16-19s, show them real empathy with their often difficult situations at home and other problems, and thank them for arriving promptly for sessions. Praise challenging students whenever possible. Above all, stay motivated and enthusiastic with a smile on your face, because working in tourism is all about selling yourself as a service.
Ditto background/training/qualifications?
Working full-time in tourism for several years is essential and then getting a part-time PGCE teaching qualification on the job sponsored by your college. In addition, take up as many relevant CPD opportunities as your college can offer to update your teaching and assessment skills. Every term we have a teaching day where we all share best practice. When I was still working in tourism but also teaching part-time in college, I took - and passed! - the exams the students took to ensure I knew the syllabus I had to teach.
A key interview question for someone applying?
How will you keep students motivated and get across your passion and excitement about the industry?
What spurs you on to work each day?
It’s being part of the great relationships I form with my students, staying in touch with them for networking, and knowing what I’ve taught them is helping them in the workplace.
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