Education · Advice & Questions · Oct 18

How do I raise a placement's missing learning tasks when the staff say the routine office work comes first?

Illustration of a placement student surrounded by filing while a planned chart task remains untouched.

Education

"You'll get onto the analysis once the filing is caught up," my placement mentor said. I'm halfway through a six-week college placement, and the filing is still the whole day.

The agreed learning plan includes working with a small dataset and explaining a chart to the team. So far I've scanned invoices and sorted folders. I don't think routine work is beneath me. I just can't write a final report about analysis I haven't been allowed to do.

The office is short-staffed, and the mentor who signed the plan has been covering another department. Our college contact asked us to flag problems early, but I kept waiting because everyone was busy.

Should I speak to the mentor first or contact the college now? I'd like a workable learning task for the remaining weeks, not a complaint that makes the staff stop trusting me with anything.

Discussion

5 community replies

@JulesAfterDark

You can describe the gap using the signed learning plan: three weeks of filing, with the dataset and chart task still unstarted. That is more specific than calling the placement bad or saying routine work is unsuitable for a student.

@MorganSays

The college asked for early contact. Waiting until the final report is due would leave fewer options. You could tell the mentor you're asking the college to help clarify the learning plan, rather than presenting contact as a threat.

@TheoInTransit

What would a bounded analysis task require from the office: suitable data, permission to use it, some supervision and a feedback slot? Ask whether those can actually be arranged. Don't take confidential files to create your own project while you wait.

@maren17

The absent mentor may not know that 'once filing is caught up' has become the whole placement. A short meeting with dates and one proposed task gives them a chance to respond, while the college can advise on what evidence it needs.

@northstar88

And a proposed task needs an agreed owner and a start date. If the reply is another indefinite 'later,' send that update to the college. Your report can honestly describe the work you did; it shouldn't imply the planned analysis occurred.

How do I raise a placement's missing learning tasks when the staff say the routine office work comes first?

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