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Imagining a Beautiful Mosaic:Flexible Learning Practices for Access, Diversity and Participation
Tony WallHead of Flexible Learning & Teacher Fellow
York St John University
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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
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Familiar Patterns (short, fat)
Important notions:Content ‘coherence’ + Academic Freedom
Ongoing challenge: engraining academic culture(s)?
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Familiar Patterns – Long, thin structures
Important notions:Content ‘coherence’ + Academic Freedom
Embedded learner preparation / development(transition, retention, success)
Engraining in academic culture(s)
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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)?
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Familiar Patterns – Extended degrees
Important notions:Content ‘coherence’ + Academic Freedom
‘Bolt-on’ learner preparation/development Partnership (possibly)
Ongoing challenge: engraining in academic culture(s)
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Familiar Patterns – APL for Access(access)
Important notions:Content ‘coherence’ + Academic Freedom
Ongoing challenge: engraining in academic culture(s)
access
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‘Familiar’/Emerging Patterns – APEL?(access employer engagement)
Important notions:Content ‘coherence’ + Academic Freedom
Recognition of experiential and partner-learning (as part of award rather than for access)
Learner preparation/development???Ongoing problem: engraining in academic culture(s)???
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‘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)
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‘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)
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‘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”
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‘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
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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
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…towards a community-negotiated partnership learning approach
aspiration raisingIn-community and/or YSJU campus
transition
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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)
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…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
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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?!
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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”)
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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
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Making it happen – facilitators
Vision of the possibilities Academic frameworks – ‘shells’? Academic structures – ‘owned’? Leadership, champions, commitment Examples, pilots Evaluation, experimentation
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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)
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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’) …?
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A beautiful mosaic…
…and beauty is in the eye of
the beholder(how can these practices help
you?)
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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