“Taking the path of least resistance”: a constructivist grounded theory of H.E. teacher practice enactments at a UK landbased college

“A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy”Landbased Studies Foundation and Bachelor degrees (FD and BSc) are generally taught in specialist FE landbased colleges, with teachers typically teaching both FE (Ofqual RQF Levels 0–3) and HE (Ofqual RQF Levels 4–6). Such teachers are designated in the literature as being HE in FE (Higher Education in Further Education) or CBHE (College Based Higher Education) teachers. Using a single case study landbased college, this study adopts a qualitative, naturalistic methodology using intensive interviewing and classroom observations of six Animal, Equine and Veterinary Nursing Studies HE in FE teachers. Characterised as an under-represented group within UK education research, these teachers teach both HE and FE within a small, UK landbased college. The study examines the nature of HE teacher pedagogic practice enactments, and factors which enable and constrain them within an FE college environment. Conceived within a interpretivist socio-constructivist framework, this study is influenced by the anti-dualist social philosophy of Practice Theory (PT) whereby people, places and material objects all contribute to how practice is enacted. Rather than considering material artefacts to be merely background objects and a college being simply an inert container where teaching takes place, a sensitivity to Practice Theory considers the FE context, material aspects and teacher pedagogic practices as a whole, rather than from one or other side of the structure versus agency divide. Within this study a particular variant of Practice Theory, Practice Architectures (PA) (Kemmis and Grootenboer, 2008), has been used to sensitise the study. The study adopts a Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) approach as a means of exploring a neglected and under-theorised area of Post-Compulsory education. The CGT methodology influenced and guided the research design and interpretive data iv analysis. Using purposive sampling of teacher participants, theoretical sampling, and the iterative cycles of constant comparison associated with Grounded Theory (GT), the data was used to construct four key categories. From these categories three main theoretical themes were identified from the data; Surveillance and Control, Teacher Identity and Agency, and Pedagogic Risk Aversion. The interpretive analysis suggests that HE pedagogic practice enactments are influenced and constrained by the college as a site, by its management, and by the wider neoliberal landscape of surveillance and auditing, as well as by the teachers themselves, the HE students, and material, non-human physical spaces and artefacts. The resultant HE pedagogic practice enactments are risk averse, tending towards instrumentalism and teacher-centeredness. The final CGT theoretically accounts for the HE practice enactments of the HE in FE teachers at the college and is discussed in relation to HE in FE literature, and to a number of pertinent theories within and beyond education. The CGT contributes to an enhanced understanding of HE teacher pedagogic practice enactments, and has potential for generalisability beyond the specific college. The original contributions to knowledge consists of: devising a novel methodology whereby PT/PA and CGT are articulated; adding to the body of literature for HE in FE pedagogy; and adding to the pauce corpus of literature for landbased education

Making the invisible visible: Value and reward for personal tutors

Academic advising is a core part of the teaching and learning experience in higher education, but it receives little recognition in workload allocations or institutional prestige. We argue that it is high time that personal tutoring and academic advising be valued and esteemed as much as other core parts of the modern academy

Peer observation and review of teaching in College Higher Education

This is the authors' PDF version of an article published in Peer observation and review of teaching in College Higher Education published by SEDA© 2014.This book chapter discusses how peer observation of teaching (POT) has become established practice in higher education (HE). It focuses on data generated from a small scale study of the nature and use of POT within an HE in FE context and argues that using a developmental, peer approach (as opposed to one focussed upon Ofsted grading criteria) is a cornerstone of higher education and needs to be embedded into HE in FE in order to develop an genuine and collegial HE culture within a further education college

Threshold concepts: from personal practice to communities of practice (book review)

Threshold concepts: from personal practice to communities of practice (book review) edited by Catherine O’Mahony, Avril Buchanan, Mary O’Rourke and Bettie Higgs reviewed in Journal of Pedagogic Development. 4(2), pp.72-

Rapley, E (2017) Practising Research: Why you're always part of the research process even when you think you're not, Frost, N (2016) reviewed in Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section (QMiP) Bulletin Issue 23 Spring 2017

Book review in Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section (QMiP) Bulletin Issue 23 Spring 2017

Neglected spaces. Exploring connections between physical settings and pedagogic enablement and constraint of HE teachers in an FE college.

This paper presents a summary of selected findings from a Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) study exploring higher education (HE) teacher pedagogic practice en- actments of six College Based Higher Education (CBHE) teacher participants in a UK FE land-based college. A CGT approach was used as it is advocated as being a useful approach to adopt when exploring a neglected and under-theorised area, such as post- compulsory education pedagogic practice. Following a ‘hunch’ regarding the potential influence of an FE environment upon CBHE teacher HE pedagogic practice enact- ment, the CGT methodology was informed by Schatzki’s anti-dualist social philoso- phy of the site ontology. The site ontology contends people, places and material ob- jects all contribute to how pedagogic practices are enacted. Rather than considering material artefacts to be merely background objects and college buildings simply being inert containers where teaching takes place, a site ontology considers material, non- human artefacts and human practices as a whole, rather than from one or other side of the structure versus agency divide. As such, a site has ‘powers of determination’ re- garding how individuals are able to enact their practice and develop their identity within a specific site. The study was situated within the constructivist/interpretivist paradigm using a qualitative, ethnographic methodology ‘to understand phenomena in context-specific settings’ (Hoepfl 1997, 47). Multiple empirical teaching observations and interview data from animal, equine and veterinary nursing CBHE teachers indicat- ed how the physical, symbolic and material, non-human spaces and artefacts of the FE context did impact upon HE classroom pedagogic practice enactment, by prefiguring and constraining their HE pedagogic practice. Participants reported how the FE con- text and taken for granted existing conditions at the site limited their extent to which they were able to enact their HE practices and develop HE teacher identities. This pa- per highlights some of the challenges of offering HE within an FE college, and invites FE college leaders to consider the impact of the FE context upon HE teachers’ HE pedagogic practice enactment and HE teacher identity

Research and scholarship in college higher education: Reaping what you sow, or turning a blind eye?

Much has been written about the challenges of teaching and working as a college higher education (CHE) teacher (Creasy, 2013; Fenge, 2011; Golding Lloyd and Griffiths 2008; Turner et al., 2009a). Teaching hours and lack of remission for HE teaching, switching between academic levels and serving two policy and quality assurance masters has long been a feature of this literature (Kumari, 2017; Springbett, 2017; Turner et al., 2009b). This Think Piece is formed of opinions that are my own and relate to a specific sector of CHE (landbased education which includes animal, equine, agriculture, horticulture, countryside management studies), but it is likely to resonate (to a greater or lesser extent) with all CHE sectors. My main concern is the relationship between validating universities and colleges delivering their qualifications, particularly with regard to research and scholarship capabilities

HE teacher practice in an FE college – exploring connections between physical settings and pedagogic enablement and constraint

UK College Based HE (CBHE) accounts for 1 in 10 HE students, and has a particular role in providing UG education for students from widening participation (WP) backgrounds. Whilst garnering some interest from researchers, and with an increasing number of colleges gaining/seeking to gain foundation degree awarding powers (FDAP), CBHE continues to be under-researched and under-theorised. This extends to exploring the pedagogic practices of teachers who teach HE within an FE college, where few micro-level studies have explored the what, how and why of the pedagogic practices CBHE teachers enact in their HE classrooms. This presentation discusses how a recent research study combined Practice Theory (PT) with Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT), to construct a substantive theory to theoretically best account for HE teacher pedagogic practice enactment within an FE college. Entitled ‘Taking the path of least resistance’, it includes in-depth exploration of CBHE teacher practices and experiences using interviews and multiple teaching observations. Taking notions of practice as espoused by Schatzki (the ‘site’) and Kemmis and Grootenboer (Practice Architectures), and acknowledging materiality and the potential impact of a physical context upon teacher practice, this presentation discusses the role of an FE college ‘site’ in enabling and constraining HE teacher practice. It proposes recommendations for opening up new communicative and intersubjective spaces to best facilitate opportunities for CBHE teachers to be supported to develop their HE pedagogic practices within an FE setting

“Personal epiphanies and seeing the world afresh; Developing a qualitative research methodology to explore higher education teacher pedagogic practices in a UK landbased college”.

The pedagogic practices of those teaching higher education (HE) within a further education (FE) college (HE in FE) is arguably both under-researched and under-theorised. Drawing upon a qualitative empirical study, this paper presents a novel methodological approach to studying HE teacher pedagogic practice within a small, largely FE landbased college. In the light of an amplification of interest in the concept of practice within international education and teacher research, this paper articulates the journey taken by the author towards developing a novel methodology to explore HE pedagogic practice within a group of HE in FE teachers at a UK landbased college. This includes the personal challenges of developing the methodological framework, wrestling with and eschewing previous positivist assumptions and developing a reflexive stance. Inspired by notions of practice as espoused by Kemmis and Grootenboer (2008) and Charmaz’s Constructivist Grounded Theory (2006), the paper outlines the qualitative methodological framework designed to generate insights into both how and why particular HE pedagogic practice enactments occur within a specific FE landbased college site