Person Specification

Here we set out the sorts of qualities and qualifications we are looking for in a tutor. These include not only theological understanding, but also the ability to work creatively as part of a dispersed team to fulfill training and administrative responsibilities, and to respect the students as partners in learning rather than ‘pupils’ to be taught.

Essential: You should be able to:

• Foster the ministerial formation of your student(s), helping then to integrate academic understanding, practical skills and spiritual awareness.
• hold your own across the theological syllabus with intelligent and motivated students. You are not expected to know all the answers, but you must be able to help them ask good theological questions.
• work with your colleagues in the core STETS staff as a member of the academic team.
• lead small groups into open discussion of sometimes challenging material, giving students space and encouragement to explore their own developing theological understanding.
• undertake the basic orientation course provided by STETS and participate in the ongoing training offered twice each academic year.

Desirable

• Although not essential, current engagement with theological study (e.g., research, HE teaching, etc.) is an obvious advantage. Many tutors find that acting as a STETS tutor is an excellent way of updating and developing their own theological knowledge.

Job Description

These are the core tasks which are asked of you as a tutor. Some tutors also find scope for being involved in other aspects of students’ development towards ministry, but these are the essential responsibilities.Please read them carefully.

Tutors are asked to:

• work with the core staff and module writers in enabling students’ learning, academic, pastoral and spiritual,
  • by providing a suitable meeting space;
  • by preparing for tutorials through attention to module texts and the basic books;
  • by meeting with students for 1½ hour tutorials 5 times per module ( 30 times per year); this may be reduced to 4 times per module by mutual agreement with the group;
  • by offering constructive and careful feedback on the penultimate draft of each piece of assessed work;
• review and develop their own performance as tutors in the light of formal and informal feedback;
• engage in the assessment process of candidates, by contributing to the first year review and mid-course assessment of students’ ministerial development and end of course report; provide brief written feedback at the end of each module, to contribute to the process of module revision; and to undertake training,
  • by completing the initial orientation course;
  • by attending the training days laid on by the course twice a year.