Assessment Policy

This Policy outlines requirements and expectations for monitoring, record-keeping and assessment for TSYP Training Courses. The Policy will be made available to all Students, Teachers, Tutors and Mentors involved in such Courses and will be reviewed at regular intervals.

  1. Monitoring
    1. Prior to commencement of a course, a Course Plan will be submitted to the Education Committee who will ensure that this complies with the official course syllabus.
    2. All TSYP Courses will be approved by the TSYP Education Committee who will be responsible for appointing a Course Director for each Course and an Internal Quality Assessor (IQA).
    3. In addition to oversight of the course, the Course Director will:
      1. 1.3.1.act as Supervisor to the Course Tutor
      2. 1.3.2.ensure that all s have access to all relevant TSYP policies and procedures
      3. 1.3.3.be responsible for assessment appeals, applications for mitigating circumstances 
      4. 1.3.4.In the event of a conflict of interest existing between the Course Director and Course Tutor assessment appeals and applications for mitigating circumstances should be referred to the Head of Education and Training.
    4. The IQA will carry out a Monitoring Visit during the course to ensure the course complies with all policies and expectations agreed by TSYP and will feedback to the Course Tutor(s) with a brief written report identifying strengths and suggesting areas for development. The IQA will, as part of the Monitoring Visit, carry out a moderation of assessment decisions made by the Tutor(s) to ensure Teacher Trainers consistency of approach.
    5. Courses registered with BCYT and/or BWY will also be subject to their accreditation and monitoring procedures.
  1. Record-keeping
    1. CourseTutors will keep an Assessment File with up-to-date records of attendance of students on the Course.
    2. Tutors will also keep records of satisfactory completion of tasks and copies of any feedback given.
    3. Students, Mentors and Tutors will regularly update the Reflective Handbook/Portfolio of Evidence. 
    4. Should any Action Plan be drawn up additional to regular course requirements then this will be recorded and kept in the Assessment File.
    5. Tutors will ensure that any such records are confidential and comply with current data protection legislation.
  1. Assessment

‘Teach what is within you, not as it applies to you but as it applies to the other’ – T Krishnamacharya

  1. This quote captures the approach of TSYP; our teaching is rooted in our own commitment to personal practice and adapted to the needs of our students. TSYP aims to provide training of the highest quality to produce skillful, knowledgeable and professional yoga practitioners. 
  1. To this end assessment will focus on identified competencies in terms of skills, knowledge and attitudes. 
  2. The main assessment tool on our training courses will be the Portfolio of Evidence which will be completed together by Student, Mentor and Tutor/Supervising Trainer. This will be done through compiling evidence about competencies from a combination of observation of practice, recorded tasks, learning checks and discussion.
  3. The Portfolio of Evidence will include evidence of:
    1. 3.3.1.Observed practice – students will be observed in range of contexts, such as teaching (both groups and individuals), role play and discussion. This will be done both informally and formally with feedback.
    2. 3.3.2.Recorded tasks – a number of shorter recorded tasks will be given through the course on a range of topics and can generally be presented in written, audio or video formats as preferred. 
    3. 3.3.3.Case Studies – for the Teacher Training Course with Therapeutic Application, the presentation of six case studies of one-to-one work undertaken over a period of time of at least six months (one year?). The format of this document will be outlined to students in advance and will include details of student assessment using a range of yoga models, planning and evaluation as well as an overall evaluation and reflection on methodology.
      1. 3.3.3.1.Mentors can be consulted for any of these pieces and in this case Mentors’ contributions should be acknowledged by the student.
    4. 3.3.4.Learning checks – Brief learning checks will be undertaken regularly throughout the Course to assess retention and understanding of material learnt. This may be in the form of oral questioning with oral or written responses, or as written questions with written responses.
    5. 3.3.5.Mentor/Tutor discussions – in the spirit of svadhyaya, whereby we aim to develop reflective, self-aware practitioners, the student will be expected to self-evaluate against the competences, reflecting on what evidence they feel they can give of the competencies. This will then be discussed with the mentor and/or tutor who will sign it off when they are satisfied. Progress will be monitored through periodic reviews between student and tutor and agreed actions put in place at an early stage if it is deemed necessary.
  4. A student will be deemed to have met the necessary standard if they have satisfactorily completed the Reflective Handbook and all required tasks.
  1. Roles

Basic roles of Student and Tutor are outlined in the Learner’s Agreement signed at the beginning of the Course. In addition to this, roles are as follows-

Tutor

  1. All tutors acting as assessors will be recognised Teacher Trainers within this tradition, either through appointment by Desikachar or through approval as such by TSYP Committee following sufficient training and experience in this tradition.
  2. Assistant tutors may work with a recognised tutor in an apprenticeship style during their teacher trainer training.
  3. Tutors will be aware of and comply with all TSYP Policies and procedures and uphold the standards and integrity of the tradition. They will aim to provide consistent and constructive feedback to students and support them in their learning to achieve the standard required. 
  4. If, in review, it seems that a student has further needs, the Tutor will agree an appropriate Action Plan with the student in order to meet such needs.  The student has a responsibility to bring to the Tutor’s attention any barriers they face in meeting the demands of the course or where they need further support based on reasonable adjustments or mitigating circumstances. 
  5. The Tutor will co-ordinate with the Students’ Mentors, the Head of Education and Training and the Course Director to ensure the smooth running of the Course.

Mentor 

  1. A key part of this tradition is the role of Mentor and every TSYP teacher should have an ongoing Mentor for both their teaching and personal practice. Some students will have a TSYP teacher prior to beginning the course and may wish to retain them as their Supervising Mentor during and after training. This will only be possible where the chosen Mentor has received or is working towards both TSYP mentoring and supervision training. Otherwise an appropriate supervising mentor will be suggested by the Course Tutor at the commencement of the course. The Supervising Mentor may be also be the Course tutor.
  2. It is expected that during the course the Supervising Mentor will support the student in completion of their Portfolio of Evidence and encourage them to be as consistent and independent as possible in their teaching and practice whilst maintaining the standards of the tradition. As part of this, the Supervising Mentor may need to challenge as well as support and it is recognised that this needs skillful handling.
  3. The Supervising Mentor or the Student can contact the Course Tutor or the TSYP Education Committee where there are difficulties and they will undertake to support both Student and Supervising Mentor in developing a positive relationship. If it becomes clear that the relationship of Student and Supervising Mentor has broken down, the Course Tutor will aim to make suggestions about an alternative, however, it must be clear that having a Supervising Mentor is not optional during the Course.

Course Director

  1. The Course Director will be an experienced Senior Course Tutor appointed by the TSYP Education Committee to oversee the course, ensure that an IQA Monitoring Visit is undertaken and offer support to the Tutor where necessary. 
  2. The Course Director will advise on aspects of course content and teaching methodology. They will always have at heart the highest standards of our tradition exemplified by TKV Desikachar himself.

Education Committee

  1. The Education Committee is responsible for ensuring the consistency of Syllabus in different training courses which may be organised and run in different ways by different tutors according to circumstances.
  2. Course tutors will submit their Course Plan to the Education Committee to check that all aspects of the syllabus are covered. 
  3. The Education Committee will also be responsible for ensuring that tutors have access to moderation. 
  4. Any feedback or evaluation of courses by students and/or tutors will be collated by the Course Tutor or other designated TSYP member and submitted to the Head of Education and Training.
  5. The Education Committee will liaise with accrediting organisations to ensure compliance with agreed Policies, Procedures and Standards.

Students, Tutors, Mentors the Course Director and the Education Committee will always have at heart the highest standards of our tradition exemplified by TKV Desikachar himself.

VersionFinal
AuthorMichelle Tarling
Ratified byTSYP Education Committee
Date RatifiedSeptember 2020
Date issuedSeptember 2020
Date to be reviewedSeptember 2023