Developing internal content to improve staff skills doesn't have to be a long and expensive process. Find out how British Council Corporate English Solutions helped the Indonesian MoH RI upskill the capacity of MoH health polytechnic English lecturers to design an English module for nursing students. In the future, this module will be independently accessible for 38 MoH health polytechnic students and lecturers.
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Creating internal content to develop staff can be expensive and time-consuming without the right skills in learning design. With staff positions constantly changing and with increased hiring, it’s important to make sure you can upskill your teams to create high quality content quickly and within budget.
In this case study, discover how we supported MoH RI in upskilling their health polytechnics in learning design to develop an English module for nursing students, which will be independently accessible for 38 MoH health polytechnic students and lecturers.
Project background
In recent years, Indonesia has seen a growing demand for graduates to effectively communicate in English. This increasingly sought-after language skill primarily allows graduates to be competitive in the job market, especially when looking for jobs overseas.
Improving English language skills is also a focus for the 38 health polytechnics in Indonesia where students and lecturers learn and develop skills.
The current English proficiency for these first-year health polytechnic students is, on average, B1 (Intermediate). To support them in their courses and future careers, The MoH RI, Directorate General for Health Workforce wanted to create an English module to help students and lecturers improve their English language learning process and experience of the MoH polytechnics.
The MoH RI decided that a 180-hour, self-study English language module would be a flexible, cost-effective solution, accessible from all over Indonesia. A small team of lecturers and experienced English teachers from the health polytechnics was formed to work on the programme design.
The MoH RI collaboratively with Indonesia Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) sought an experienced organisation to guide their learning designers in developing the module. British Council Corporate English Solutions were brought in to provide their expertise.
‘We wanted British Council for its expertise in English Language Curriculum Development.’
Zoe Dayan, Regulatory Reform and Health Attaché, FCDO, British Embassy Jakarta
The opportunity
The English health polytechnic lecturers knew they could provide valuable insight to create a focused and effective self-access English for nursing programme.
However, although experts in their fields, they didn’t have a particularly strong background in learning design for self-study programmes. As consultants, our role was to coach the team in creating a coherent and engaging self-study English module for MoH RI health polytechnic students.
To ensure we achieved the desired learning outcomes, we needed to:
- upskill the writers with knowledge to create an effective self-access English module
- support them during the different stages of the English module design
- ensure that chapters written by different writers worked together to produce a coherent, level appropriate programme, and
- meet the short time frame and plan the module development in line with the busy schedule of the lecturers.
British Council’s four-step solution
We used our four-step solution process to create a customised programme to meet the needs of Directorate General for Health Workforce, MoH RI, specifically MoH health polytechnics.
Step 1: Consultation
The process began with a free consultation and needs analysis, which enabled us to understand the context, pain points and objectives of the project we were facing.
This was followed by meetings with the learning designers and relevant stakeholders to establish a strong relationship, set the objectives, content focus and delivery model of the project, and build trust with the team.
Step 2: Design
We created a bespoke training plan for the learning designers, to upskill them in the specific areas which helped them create an effective English module for MoH health polytechnic students.
Closely consulting with the team, we created a range of resources to support them with the learning design of English for nursing. These included guidelines for writing objectives, guidelines on questions and question types, and how to write effective syllabuses. An exemplified lesson template was also developed to ensure consistency of approach in the learning design. It provided a foundation for writers to work from when developing each of the six English chapters.
Step 3: Delivery
Our consultants worked with the learning designers for four months while they developed the English for nursing content. We coached the writers on objective setting, course layout and sequencing, making sure the content was relevant to the intended audience.
To find out more about personalising learning content, read our blog 4 reasons why personalised English learning is good for your business.
Our consultants also upskilled the writers in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) to ensure that the course provided an appropriate level of challenge for the students’ English proficiency levels.
This process allowed the writers to put the skills they learned into practice while completing each chapter of the module.
Step 4: Evaluation
To ensure continued skills development, we conducted one-to-one consultations and personalised evaluations with targeted feedback for the learning designers as they developed each chapter.
Once they had implemented the recommended changes, the British Council team carried out a final review before the module was signed off by the MoH RI and FCDO.
The results
The project successfully reached its objective of upskilling the learning designers in a short period of time, as well as creating an effective English for nursing module for MoH RI health polytechnic students.
‘British Council helped to shape the learning content and tailor it for the appropriate English level of the learners. They also coached the lecturers on how to create a curriculum for the first time.’
Zoe Dayan, Regulatory Reform and Health Attaché, FCDO, British Embassy Jakarta
We’re proud to say that the lecturers involved in writing the module were impressed with the British Council’s understanding of the needs of the project, and thought we provided recommendations in a motivating way . They felt that they successfully developed transferable skills in designing English for nursing programmes.
We were also assured that British Council Corporate English Solutions would come highly recommended by them to other organisations that may be looking to upskill their English development programme.
‘The team provided the great consultants that always supported and improved our confidence to write, revise, and re- write’.
Lecturer, part of the writing team
Although this was not in the original learning objectives, this project certainly provided added value, as all writers felt that even their own English skills had developed throughout this process.
‘Thank you so much for all your hard work and commitment and flexibility with this project – and for steering it to such a successful conclusion. We got a lot more from you than we asked for’.
Zoe Dayan, Regulatory Reform and Health Attaché, FCDO, British Embassy Jakarta
Find out more about our customised programmes
This project illustrates that, with the right support, teachers, lecturers and learning designers alike can be trained to produce high-quality effective English programmes in a cost-effective way.
Through our four-step solution process, we were able to fully understand the needs and requirements of the project and create a bespoke training plan and resources to support the writing team.
Discover our customised programmes >
Related reading
• Motivating online self-study learners
• 4 reasons why personalised English learning is good for your business