Professional Development in the Co-Creation Officer role
There are several activities that Co-Creation Officers can support with when working on your team. Taking on a role like can be a great opportunity for students to gain some work experience and develop several skills. Therefore, it is recommended that a personal development task is set as part of the role to cement the commitment to contributing students’ professional development. This can be treated as a type of 'Personal Development Review.'
Below are some examples of tasks that students could work on as part of their role. Once you set one (or more) of these tasks, please check in with the students to see how they are finding the process. Make sure you set out expectations for how often students should be working on this. For example, if students are working with you 10 hours per week, you might ask them to reserve an hour each week, or a couple of hours every two weeks.
1. Creating a Co-Creation Philosophy
This task is to create a Co-Creation Philosophy. Co-Creation Officers create this at the start of their role but continue to develop it throughout the process. A Co-Creation Philosophy is the students’ own interpretation of what Co-Creation means to them, what effective Co-Creation looks like, and the opportunities they see through engaging with Co-Creation. This can be presented in whatever way the students want to, such as through creating a poster, a word document, presentation, etc. It should be shared with the project team during the first couple of weeks of being in the role, and then again after a few months in the role.
2. Monthly Reflective Task
The Co-Creation Officers could submit a monthly reflective task to their supervisor. They should aim to answer questions along the lines of: What have I done this month? What will I be doing going forward? What do I need going forward? What have I learnt so far? How am I feeling?
The aim of this is to capture the learning and development that the students go through in the role. The supervisor should review the monthly report and identify opportunities for the individual going forward, such as setting tasks that fit with goals and aspirations, or addressing any concerns and issues. For example, if a student has a particular interest in project management, the supervisor could find opportunities for the student to shadow certain project management tasks within the team. This report can be presented in whatever way the students want to, such as through creating a poster, a word doc, presentation, etc.
3. Reflective Portfolio
Building on the above, the students could use the monthly reflective task to create a reflective portfolio as they progress through the role. The aim of this is to capture the learning and development through the whole process. The reflective portfolio should answer: what the students learned in the role, what they gained out of their experience, identify skills that were developed, and goals and aspirations for the future. Completing this portfolio could be a useful way of identifying skills and development, which the students can use in the future when applying for roles and opportunities. This can be presented in whatever way the students want to, such as through creating a poster, a word doc, presentation, etc. The project team should review this reflective portfolio and look at the lessons learnt, and how the Co-Creation Officer experience can be improved for students in the future.
4. Co-Creation Officer Handbook
Students could create a handbook for student experience for any future Co-Creation Officers who join your project team. This can be used as part of the induction process for future projects and students. The handbook should outline what students should know when coming in to the role, challenges and how to overcome them, top tips and advice, etc. This can then be developed by the future cohort of students and contribute to effective knowledge transfer and community building.