Welcome!
This is a companion website for my book Personal, Academic and Career Development in Higher Education - SOARing to Success. Please use it together with the concepts and exercises that are explained in the book, as part of a coherent educational process.
SOAR is an acronym for Self, Opportunity, Aspirations and Results - all essential, mutually supportive and dynamically related elements within the SOAR process model. You can bring this model to life in the classroom if you activate and contextualize the synergy between SOAR elements, using appropriate teaching and assessment methods that place learners at the heart of their learning.
Packed full of useful practical features, the book can help to improve students' abilities to relate their learning and achievements to the requirements of both tutors and employers, and ultimately transfer and apply those abilities to future careers of lifelong learning.
The book and website act together to enable staff in higher education to - in turn - enable students to learn and develop in more holistic, intentional and self-motivated ways. I hope this will help you lift your curriculum from good to great - and tap into the intrinsic motivations and aspirations of your students. I encourage the use of interactive, facilitative styles to engage students in 'appreciative inquiries' and self-discovery. Enabling them to assess themselves realistically and positively against external criteria set by tutors and employers can help them develop skills and identity that will serve them well in creating and managing their futures in an ever-changing, complex world.