Associate Professor Jennifer Lees-Marshment incorporated authentic scenarios in the writing assignments of POLITICS 315 to help students develop relevant writing skills for their future careers in government and other political jobs.
Workplace writing is very different from academic writing at University. To help prepare students for their future careers, the assessments in POLITICS 315 required students to write memos and reports, genres of writing more commonly found in the workplace, rather than academic essays. As well as engaging students to create forms of writing more authentic to their future working lives, students were presented with scenarios to help put themselves in the place of a practitioner in the field of politics.
About the course
POLITICS 315: The Practice of Politics is all about working in politics. It focuses on exploring the range and nature of jobs in politics. Students engage in informed reflection on their suitability for different jobs, develop awareness of cultural and ethical issues (e.g. diversity in politics), develop workplace writing skills and visualise their future. The course uses a future focused teaching philosophy which is dedicated to developing students’ future capabilities and vision of who they may become whether a practitioner or researcher.
The Practice of Politics is run through interactive workshops in which information is presented to students and they are asked to reflect on it in relation to their own future careers. It covers the range of jobs available in politics and government, the highs and lows of working in politics, and the skills to practice politics both effectively and ethically. There are three parts to the course:
Working in politics: The ideal of practising politics; political jobs; political practitioners; and the highs and lows of working in politics including job satisfaction & suitability.
Effective Political Practice: Practical skill training – workplace writing.
Ethical Political Practice: Ethical awareness, supporting diversity, dilemmas of being a government adviser and the art of the possible/achieving change.
Assessment to develop workplace writing skills
Assignments in this course are designed to both engage with the activities and content of the workshops and resources in the online resource centre, and to develop students’ skills in writing for the workplace.
The assessment task we are focusing on in this case example required students to choose from a set of scenarios and write a memo for a Minister, offering recommendations for practice based on a specified piece of academic literature. They needed to give added researched context, transforming information from academic sources into practical advice for a minister, presented in the form of a memo (a workplace style report) using a set template.
The workplace writing style requires students to write concisely, clearly, and use tools such as bolding, images, subheadings to highlight the key points. They are also asked to write their advice – recommendations – in an action-oriented style.
Assignment task
Write one of the set memos for a Minister/PM, offering recommendations for practice based on a specified piece of academic literature, with added researched context, presented in workplace report style using the set template.
Scenarios:
- Write a memo for the Minister of Defence on condolence payments.
- Write a memo for the Minister of Foreign Affairs on China’s South Pacific presence.
- Write a memo for the Minister of the Environment on deliberative democracy and freshwater governance.
- Write a memo for the Labour Prime Minister and Labour’s Political Marketing.
Example of scenario 1
Write a memo for the Minister of Defence on coalition forces condolence payments for civilian casualties offering recommendations for practice based on research by Tom Gregory.
Gregory, Tom (2020) ‘The costs of war: Condolence payments and the politics of killing civilians’ Review of International Studies (2020) 46: 1, 156-176.
Themes and context to consider and research
Themes the research explores
- The background to condolence payments to civilian casualties by coalition forces.
- The strategic imperatives behind condolence payments.
- Condolence payments as a weapons system.
Suggested new developments to research
- Speeches/actions by the Minister of Defence – see Beehive website.
- New defence priorities and principles, launched December 2021. See principles and ministerial priorities.
- The potential impact on New Zealand’s global reputation – and nation brand – if they are involved in civilian casualties.
Example template
Memo For:
Memo from:
Title:
Date:
Purpose of the memo:
Summary of academic literature:
Additional research:
Recommendations for action:
Sources:
Example assignment task
An example assignment task written by Liam Davies, a student of Practice of Politics from the 2020 cohort. The memo is to the Minister of Climate Change and is titled: Designing Effective Participation Processes for Renewable Energy Policy.
As well as a template to assist students, guidance was given on things to consider, such as identifying additional factors that are related to the issue and the ministerial context. This therefore keeps the assessment unique and authentic as every time the course is taught the political context has changed.
This video features past students of the course discussing how the workplace writing and media training was valuable to them. They talk about how learning to write succinctly in memos and the other assessments and learning activities in the course helped them develop the valued workplaces skills.
The value of teaching effective practice such as workplace writing, media training.
In this video, Jennifer Lees-Marshment discusses why she wanted to redesign her assessment. Liam Davies (a former student turned tutor, who has now secured his first role working in government) joins her. Here he relates how authentic assignments in the course helped develop the skills he needed for the workplace. Jennifer also explores the signs the redesigned assessment was successful, and discusses feedback from students.
In this video, Jennifer Lees-Marshment talks through changes made to the assessment and the changes she would like to see. Jennifer also discusses the challenges of setting authentic assessments, the equity benefits of designing for more authenticity, and tips for starting out.
See also
Employability Community of Interest Group
The Employability CoI brings all those interested in employability together to provide support, share best practice ideas, coping strategies, and tips to maintain motivation while seeking employment. Request access to the group.
Page updated 28/04/2023 (added video interviews)