This paper will propose that a new approach to work-based pedagogy is required to enable mobile learners – often negotiating various physical, social and virtual learning environments – to develop greater personal agency and subsequent control over their Higher Education (HE) experience. A relatively new group of employer-sponsored, Foundation degree (Fd) students will be the focus of discussion, though it is hoped that issues raised are of wider relevance. Themes from ongoing research will offer perspectives on the importance of identity, purpose and relationships to students of health and social care, who have potential to become more strategic in their approach to learning

Foskett, Ros

James, Liz

Wintrup, Julie

English

Southampton (e-Prints Soton)

3rd WLE Mobile Learning Symposium: Mobile Learning Cultures across Education, Work and Leisure 27 March 2009, WLE Centre, IOE London, UK http://symposium.londonmobilelearning.net www.wlecentre.ac.uk www.londonmobilelearning.net 1   Work-based learning and student agency: developing strategic learners  Julie Wintrup  Ros Foskett  Liz James J.Wintrup@soton.ac.uk   R.Foskett@soton.ac.uk   ej1q07@soton.ac.uk  Abstract This paper will propose that a new approach to work-based pedagogy is required to enable mobile learners – often negotiating various physical, social and virtual learning environments – to develop greater personal  agency and subsequent  control over their  Higher Education  (HE)  experience. A relatively new group of employer-sponsored, Foundation degree (Fd) students will be the focus of discussion,  though  it  is  hoped  that  issues  raised  are  of  wider  relevance.  Themes  from  ongoing research will offer perspectives on the importance of identity, purpose and relationships to students of health and social care, who have potential to become more strategic in their approach to learning.   Context Foundation degrees were introduced in 2001 to upskill the workforce and widen access to HE (DfES, 2003). In healthcare, employers access the qualification to support the development of new roles. This is fuelling the demand for learning in the workplace, often supported by on-line materials. HE and FE providers remain responsible for delivering quality standards and student satisfaction, while preparing non-traditional entrants for academic success and progression into Honours programmes (HEFCE,  2000).  Innovative  approaches  are  therefore  needed  to  bring  these  agendas  together successfully; that is, approaches which go beyond routine consultation with employers.  A deeper understanding of how this employer-sponsored group of students make use of all their learning opportunities is necessary if they are to cope and thrive. Of particular interest are the ways in which  they  translate  their  educational  requirements  into  work  activities,  and  in  turn  utilise  their experiential learning at work to develop academic ability. Freedom from the somewhat restrictive features of traditional, professional healthcare programmes means more expansive approaches can be incorporated  into  programme  design.  Expansive  curricula  include  broader  experiences  across workplaces,  engagement with multiple communities of practice, access to career progression and scope to extend roles, as described by Fuller & Unwin (2003). Such creative and exciting possibilities must be balanced though, with the reality of juggling family life, work and HE study.    Research findings: places and people  This paper draws upon related aspects of two of the authors’ current pedagogic research studies, to illustrate two different aspects of agency: a sense of moral identity and a sense of belonging. In the first study, the importance of feedback from service users, carers and workplace colleagues emerges as critical to participants’ sense of moral identity. Discourse analysis reveals these three groups to be 3rd WLE Mobile Learning Symposium: Mobile Learning Cultures across Education, Work and Leisure 27 March 2009, WLE Centre, IOE London, UK http://symposium.londonmobilelearning.net www.wlecentre.ac.uk www.londonmobilelearning.net 2 the most frequently discussed in relation to self, decision-making and development of reasoning and judgement  skills.  Actions  are  reflected  upon  as  ‘right’  in  light  of  positive  responses  from  those receiving  care  or  support.  The  detailed  recollection  of  interactions  suggests  a  sense  of  moral proximity,  which  contributes  to  an  identity  not  professionally-constructed  but  explained  through personal experience: ‘I remember when my mother was ill and trying to get treatment for her’. Users and carers appear to be part of a community of practice, providing not only a place to learn, but ‘a context for new insights to be transformed into knowledge’ (Wenger, 1998:214).  In  the  second  study,  graduates  reflect  upon  their  changing  sense  of  self,  as  worker  and  learner. Findings  indicate  that  one  of  the  ways  in  which  students  become  active  participants  of  social communities is through the informal formation of peer support groups. However, their dual identity can be challenged, incurring a need to negotiate a new sense of belonging and legitimacy within a work-related social community. A degree of role-confusion was expressed: ‘I’m here to be a student, well,  when I’m at  work I’m the manager  so  I  couldn’t really be a student,  you know’. Yet  our expectation as educators is that these roles co-exist for Foundation degree students.    Both studies highlight participants’ reliance upon service users / carers, colleagues and line-managers for exposure to, and reflection upon, learning opportunities. While Virtual Learning Environments can provide continuity and scope to share resources, students in the second study reported needing a good deal of support to fully exploit this medium. Ashton (2004) found the most junior workers to be vulnerable to exclusion from networks and knowledge, raising the issue of how this group of students gain access to both during their working-learning lives.   A new approach to pedagogy: mobile learners as strategists and agents To  seek  to  work  with  employers,  without  reassessing  the  needs  of  the  employed  student,  risks perpetuating myths regarding the benefits of work-based learning. Students report being motivated by a ‘clear purpose and direction in life’, above technical skill (Lizzio & Wilson, 2004:115), suggesting time invested in developing goals is well spent. However personal agency requires not only purpose, but  knowledge  of  processes,  cultures  and  norms,  in  order  to  influence  relationships  and  access learning opportunities. Easily accessible information about entitlements, risks, rules – and when these change – is essential to students, as needed. Working students, with little time to waste, require strategic approaches to study: organising time and study methods, understanding assessment, self-regulating effort and developing meta-cognition (Entwhistle, 2000). It is unusual though, for such approaches to be explicitly encouraged and facilitated; students described taking many months or even years to work this out.  The  third,  and  newest  study,  is  a  collaboration  involving  students  and  employers  in  a  joint development of a work based learning module. Its goal is to learn broader lessons about developing curricula and virtual resources in collaboration with employers, through the inclusion of the learner voice  at  all  stages  of  the  project.  Students  are  included  in  all  curriculum  development  and implementation alongside academics and employers. In this way the curriculum is co-constructed and all three stakeholders have a better understanding of the learning objectives which will result. It is hoped, that in this way, the learner voice will be captured at the development stage and this will lead to a better understanding of the competing demands on the students' time during the module by the academics and employers. By making explicit the role of agency and strategic learning, it is hoped that all contributors will generate ideas and learn from each other. In this paper, the authors will share some of the early findings of the study. 3rd WLE Mobile Learning Symposium: Mobile Learning Cultures across Education, Work and Leisure 27 March 2009, WLE Centre, IOE London, UK http://symposium.londonmobilelearning.net www.wlecentre.ac.uk www.londonmobilelearning.net 3 References Ashton,  D.N.  (2004).  The  impact  of  organisational  structure  and  practices  on  learning  in  the workplace, International Journal of Training and Development, 8. 1 pp43 – 53.   DfES (2003). Foundation degrees: Meeting the Need for Higher Level Skills. London: HMSO  Entwhistle,  N.  (2000).  Promoting  deep  learning  through  teaching  and  assessment:  conceptual frameworks and educational contexts.  (Paper presented at TLRP Conference, Leicester, November 2000).  Accessed 6/2/9 on: http://www.tlrp.org/acadpub/Entwistle2000.pdf   Fuller, A.  & Unwin, L. (2003). Learning as apprentices: managing expansive learning environments, Jourmal of Education and Work, 16:4.   HEFCE (2000) Foundation Degree Prospectus. Accessed 6/2/9 on:  http://www.hefce.ac.uk/Pubs/hefce/2000/00_27.pdf   Lizzio, A. & Wilson, K. (2004). First-year students’ conceptions of capability, Studies in Higher Education, 29:1, pp 109 – 208.   Wenger,  E.  (1998),  Communities  of  Practice:  Learning,  Meaning  and  Identity.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.         

Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge:

Foundation Degree Prospectus. Accessed 6/2/9 on: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/Pubs/hefce/2000/00_27.pdf

Foundation degrees: Meeting the Need for Higher Level Skills. London: HMSO Entwhistle, N.

The impact of organisational structure and practices on learning in the workplace,

Work-based learning and student agency: developing strategic learners

Work-based learning and student agency: developing strategic learners

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