The future of training officer courses: part 2 a consumer's viewpoint

In the previous issue, Mr John Hughes, Senior Lecturer in Industrial Training at the Manchester Polytechnic, examined some of the problems faced by colleges in running Introductory Courses for Training Officers and suggested possible developments in the light of recent comments. Over the last twelve months, articles and letters have appeared in the professional press expressing the views both of experienced training staff and of academics running such courses, but in the main the consumers have not joined the debate. The author's intention here is to express one such view, a purely personal view from the third side of the triangle comprising academic staff — sponsor firm — course member. The view is based on experience of the course run in the spring of 1970 by the Department of Management Studies at Manchester Polytechnic. The comments made are generalisations from the particular, but this is perhaps permissible, since it is certain general features of the introductory course, and not its particular form at Manchester, which merit debate.