imagining a beautiful mosaic: flexible learning practices for access, diversity and participation

Imagining a Beautiful Mosaic:Flexible Learning Practices for Access, Diversity and Participation

Tony WallHead of Flexible Learning & Teacher Fellow

York St John University

Imagining a Beautiful Mosaic - Flexible Practices for Access, Diversity and Participation 2 of 24

Towards a mosaic

Starting point of diversity (of purpose?) Access, diversity, participation (and transition) ‘Lifelong learning’? Employer engagement?

‘Flexible’ practices (and patterns) Recognising value for our purposes Strategically placing together Noting ongoing/emerging challenges Possibilities for a vision of life-long-learning


Familiar Patterns (short, fat)

Important notions:Content ‘coherence’ + Academic Freedom

Ongoing challenge: engraining academic culture(s)?


Familiar Patterns – Long, thin structures


Embedded learner preparation / development(transition, retention, success)

Engraining in academic culture(s)


Familiar Patterns – Access(awareness / confidence raising; community delivery?)

Important notions:Generating interest / building confidence‘Bolt-on’ learner preparation/development

Content ‘coherence’ + Academic FreedomPartnership (possibly)

Ongoing challenge: engraining in academic culture(s)?


Familiar Patterns – Extended degrees


‘Bolt-on’ learner preparation/development Partnership (possibly)

Ongoing challenge: engraining in academic culture(s)


Familiar Patterns – APL for Access(access)


Ongoing challenge: engraining in academic culture(s)

access


‘Familiar’/Emerging Patterns – APEL?(access employer engagement)


Recognition of experiential and partner-learning (as part of award rather than for access)

Learner preparation/development???Ongoing problem: engraining in academic culture(s)???


‘Familiar’/Emerging Patterns – Short Awards(Adult education / employer engagement)

Important notions:Broad interest / content ‘coherence’

Embedded learner preparation/developmentOngoing problem: engraining in academic culture(s)


‘Emerging’ Patterns – Negotiated / CAT Awards(Employer engagement; cross institutions)

Important notions:Need/interest ‘coherence’ + Learner Freedom?

Embedded learner preparation/development?Ongoing problem: engraining in academic culture(s)


‘Emerging’ Patterns – Bite size(Employer engagement)

Important notions:Need/interest ‘coherence’ + Learner Freedom?

Learner preparation/development???Ongoing problem: engraining in academic culture(s)???

Accredited learning / activities

Non-accredited learning / activities

Optional accreditation: “wrap-around”


‘Emerging’ Patterns – Accreditation (FEC / employer engagement)

Important notions:Need/interest ‘coherence’ – organisational/individual

Partnership & Distributed LearningLearner preparation/development???

Ongoing problem: engraining in academic culture(s)???

In/at a HEIIn/at a business / work setting


An Example from a YSJU Dialogue…

transition

aspiration raisingIn-community and/or YSJU campus

transition

transition

bite-size modules

activities

clusters of bite-size modules - negotiated

transition

YSJU campus


…towards a community-negotiated partnership learning approach

aspiration raisingIn-community and/or YSJU campus

transition


A Summary of ‘Flexible’ Patterns

Diversity of patterns (practices), usually separated and/or isolated: recognition for prior experiential/community-based learning

(localised, ) credit accumulation and transfer (small) negotiated studies (small, localised, intensive) credit-wrapping around external organisation provision

(employer-facing provision) distance, open and blended learning (fragmented) accredited partnerships (mixed: FE, employer engagement)


…towards a community-negotiated partnership learning approach

Determined by a community of

learners (plus advice and guidance)

Within the particular ‘cultural context’

Within a negotiated award structure

Affecting motivation to learn relevant subjects / skills


Towards a Mosaic for Care Leavers:Starting Out

Context and commitment – Frank Buttle Trust Plotting the life journey of care leavers Who has a ‘learning and development’ role or

impact? What is ‘legitimate’ learning in academe? “informal” = “formal”? Experiential learning important

Developing relationships with ‘developmental influencers’ “they are not HE material” (see Wall and Davenport, 2009) What is ‘legitimate’ learning in academe?!


Towards a Mosaic for Care Leavers:Developing Partnerships

Developing ‘activity’ partnerships Developing accreditation partnerships:

Accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) Credit recognition Academic practices (not necessarily skills) development

embedded in: Content determined by the local, specific group Utilise flexible academic frameworks (e.g. ‘shell award’

suite of awards) Utilise innovations in teaching/assessment (“creative

assessment beyond the essay”)


Possibilities

Bringing together multiple practices A wide diversity of approaches Focus for impact – aims, aspirations,

opportunities ‘Engagement with credit’ A mode of ‘partnership learning’ – shared

delivery, shared risk, commitment to learning from the partnership, and developing it


Making it happen – facilitators

Vision of the possibilities Academic frameworks – ‘shells’? Academic structures – ‘owned’? Leadership, champions, commitment Examples, pilots Evaluation, experimentation


Growing Challenges What is HE?

What is ‘valid learning’? APL – broadening to APEL + APCrL + ACnL –

accreditation of concurrent learning Teaching (+R) Accreditation of Learning (+R)?

Teaching vs Support T/S Learning Professionals (specialist curriculum

developers, link tutors, assessors, moderators) Notions of ‘professionalism’

Notion of ‘coherence to/of what’ – content, process, experience?

Academic Freedom Learner/Demand driven Costing, Funding, Pricing (inc. ELQ)


Additional principles for life-long-learning?

People developing personally and professionally, over time – in different areas

Multiple awards (vs. towards a degree) – credit accumulation, specialist

Learning as a broad, inclusive term (inc. informal) Developing criticality, autonomy (confidence,

motivation, critical/reflective skills) Shared, partnership approaches Using a mosaic of practices (vs. in ‘silos’) …?


A beautiful mosaic…

…and beauty is in the eye of

the beholder(how can these practices help

you?)


Collaborative inquiry and research in the issues raised today:

Tony Wall, [email protected] +44 (0) 1904 876948 Flexible Learning Centre, York St John University,

Lord Mayors Walk, York YO31 7EX

imagining a beautiful mosaic: flexible learning practices for access, diversity and participation

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