Judgement day at BAL

Earlier this month saw glimpses of Education 2030 in an innovative cross-departmental learning opportunity at DMU when students from the Faculty of Business and Law’s Human Resource Management (HRM) and Law departments came together for a mock employment tribunal.

Judge Saleem Ahmed presided over the session with a great deal of professionalism and dedication to create a realistic experience for BAL students. The student’s efforts were recognised by Judge Ahmed who congratulated the students for organising an excellent mock tribunal. He added: “I have to say the students made a tremendous effort. We have a few budding advocates there I think and potentially a few future stage actors as well perhaps!” 

The session resulted in several arguable issues that were quite like typical real-world discrimination cases.

What happened on the day was only possible due to the hard work and collaborative efforts of Beth Miller (HRM/OB), Peter Butler (HRM) and Melica Martin (Law). Melica has also been instrumental in the formation, and running, of the innovative Bold Leaders Attaining Culture and Knowledge (BLACK) Law Society.

Pictured, from left to right: Peter Butler, Judge Saleem Ahmed, Melicia Martin

Feedback from the students was that they found it tremendously helpful. One student said: “The event itself was extremely educational and insightful of how the courts deal with day-to-day discrimination claims. The judge went into depth with how individuals and organisations can take a claim to the employment tribunal and what the outcome is likely to be.” Another said: “I enjoyed the fact that it was interactive and realistic. Getting the judge to host the event was terrific! It was great to see a simulation of what a real-life tribunal would be like.” Another student said: “It was very interesting and helped me to see theory in practice.”

The faculty has recently finished validations of all BAL undergraduate programmes as part of the ambitious DMU Education 2030 project, led in BAL by Dr Leanne De Main, Associate Dean Academic. The project will lead to a complete transformation of how teaching and learning is delivered across the faculty, with more innovative and unique approaches like the mock tribunal session in the pipeline.

Indeed, for these past few months, the faculty through its BAL TaLEnt programme has been having regular workshops and sessions to support colleagues in the drive to rethink BAL’s approach to higher education. Dr Chris Odindo, Associate Professor Student Experience, said, “From a student experience perspective, having these types of collaborations gives our BAL students a wider sense of belonging and community beyond their immediate class groups. And, from a teaching and learning perspective, having such a simulation of real-world issues certainly helps to develop the type of skills and attributes that will empower our students to be successful.”

 

Photos: Jemima Doudu