Anita Walsh

An exploration of Biggs’ constructive alignment in the context of work‐based learning

The paper will explore Biggs’ concept of constructive alignment in the context of work‐based learning (WBL). In his book Teaching for Quality Learning at University Biggs quotes Tyler making the claim that ‘Learning takes place through the active behaviour of the student: it is what he does that he learns, not what the teacher does’. Biggs’ model is student‐centred and outcomes focused, and has been very influential in the area of staff development relating to learning and teaching. The model emerged and has mostly been considered in the context of formal education. However, the strong emphasis on the student and the nature of the learning (as opposed to the location in which the learning takes place) lends itself well to the area of WBL. With the rapid expansion of awards such as the Foundation Degree, many academic colleagues are becoming involved in the supporting and assessing of WBL. For those staff whose background has been in formal teaching, it can prove difficult to achieve the change in perspective which is necessary to effectively support work‐based students. Biggs’ model, which has been very influential inside HE, potentially offers a way of providing guidance to colleagues when they are required to engage with the evaluation and assessment of WBL. The intention here is to consider the constructive alignment model and explore the extent to which it can be applied in a WBL context.

Reflection in work-based learning: self-regulation or self-liberation?

This article considers the role of reflective practice in work-based learning in higher education. The benefits of using reflection for learning at work have been widely recognised and the pedagogy to support reflection is now established. However, the use of reflective practice has been subjected to considerable critique, and many of the criticisms draw on Michel Foucaults concepts of governmentality, pastoral power, confession and self-regulation. Drawing on our professional experiences of supporting students in undertaking reflection, we examine the general critique put forward. Having considered the case that reflection supports self-regulation in a way which disadvantages individuals while benefiting organisations, we argue that reflection can be used to empower individuals. We do this by drawing attention to the elements of Foucaults argument which include the importance of agency in the exercise of power.

Beyond a naturally occurring ethnography: the work‐based researcher

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the contrast between the approach to research taken by academic ethnographers and that taken by work‐based researchers. Van Manen claims that “a good ethnographer describes a cultural reality in such a way that a non‐member of the culture could ‘pass as an insider’ if he or she had internalized the cultural features of the particular setting”. In order to achieve this level of familiarity with a context, ethnographers spend considerable amounts of time embedded in the culture which they are studying – “being there” is seen as fundamental to effective research.Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a reflection and deliberation on personal experience.Findings – The dominance of the academic disciplines and the model of research in higher education which considers the doctoral student as a novice researcher problematises the role of the work‐based researcher. It calls into question the extent to which valid research can be undertaken by practitione...

Engendering debate: credit recognition of project‐based workplace research

Purpose – In the UK there is currently a national consultation on the structure/adoption of an academic credit framework for higher education. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the principles underlying such a framework, when applied in the context of a workplace research project, can facilitate debate between the academic disciplines and work‐based learning practitioners.Design/methodology/approach – This paper argues that the workplace project, when designed and structured according to credit principles, offers a valuable point at which to interact with academic colleagues from the disciplines, and to engage them in debate regarding the academic validity of work‐based learning. The case made here is that workplace research projects (which will have an element of familiarity to colleagues) and academic credit practice (where learning recognition is not contextualised but level of achievement is fundamental) can offer a way to engender that debate.Findings – The lack of academic confidence in wor...

Reflection in a Workplace Qualification: Challenges and Benefits.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges and benefits that arose from the implementation of an innovative example of employer responsive provision, i.e. of a postgraduate programme that is work‐based and designed specifically to meet the needs of the organisation.Design/methodology/approach – The approach is to outline the principles and challenges involved in designing a postgraduate programme that combines both scientific and personal/professional development in a way that is extremely unusual. In order to achieve this, in addition to assessment of technical scientific skills, it was necessary to integrate pedagogy that would support critical reflection on wider professional practice into the programme. The use of reflection on practice adopted an approach which is not familiar to the scientific community.Findings – Adoption of reflection on practice introduced particular challenges for programme design and delivery that required those involved to review their own practice critic...

Researching in the workplace: a chance to avoid researchers' ‘reality shock’?

Considerable scepticism still persists with the academic disciplines in higher education in the United Kingdom about the quality of the research undertaken by employees in their own workplace. Workplace ‘investigations’ are negatively contrasted to academy‐based research degrees, which are held to be a model of how research should be undertaken. In addition, the emphasis within established research practice is on the contribution of ‘new’ knowledge to the discipline. Inevitably, such a perspective disadvantages the researcher in the workplace. However, studies of new researchers in the academy indicate that they experience considerable ‘reality shock’ when they begin their doctorates, and often do not feel well prepared. This is the experience of both science and social science/humanities students. In contrast, those candidates taking workplace professional doctorates welcome the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities. This article outlines why this is the case, and suggests that workplace researchers are more effectively prepared to undertake high‐level research than those who have taken taught courses in the university.

Will increasing academic recognition of workplace learning in the UK reinforce existing gender divisions in the labour market

In the United Kingdom there has been a considerable increase in the academic recognition of workplace learning, and a number of new awards drawing on workplace learning have been introduced. These include apprenticeships and Advanced Apprenticeships, both of which contain National Vocational Qualifications, and the Foundation Degree. In addition, academic practice based on a credit framework has allowed recognition of workplace learning at higher levels of achievement, including postgraduate level. The facility to recognise a broader range of learning across the range of workplace awards has been welcomed as an aspect of widening both participation in and access to formal learning. This article will consider these developments across the spectrum of educational awards from apprenticeships to work‐based Master’s programmes in the context of existing arrangements in the labour market. There is evidence from Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) reports that work experience placements (the main component of work experience at school) are segregated by gender. Statistics relating to some of the new awards also indicate the type of gender divisions which reflect established workplaces. Additionally, the effect of employment factors (such as the glass ceiling and full‐time versus part‐time working) constrains the extent to which women can take advantage of recognition of workplace learning at higher academic levels, where learners must be in a workplace position which supports the development and exercise of sophisticated skills. Consideration across the range of qualifications and employment supports the EOC’s case that, given the lack of explicit recognition of equal opportunities and gender segregation in national developments and policies, the new opportunities for workplace learning are likely to reinforce the status quo.

Experiential Learning: A New Higher Education Requiring New Pedagogic Skills

In 2009, Cedefop, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, issued European guidelines for the validation of informal learning, which was defined as ‘Learning resulting from daily activities related to work, family or leisure’. Such learning arises through experience and ‘takes place in the spaces surrounding activities and events with a more overt formal purpose, and takes place in a much wider variety of settings than formal education or training’. The developing practice in higher education which designs academic programmes to include experiential work-based learning supports the identification and recognition of experiential learning in the workplace and elsewhere. However, the recent surveys of academic practice relating to the integration of experiential work-based learning in the Business Administration subject areas in the UK reveal that there are tensions between the pedagogies adopted to support experiential learning and those used in more conventional programmes. Drawing on examples of practice revealed in the surveys, this chapter will explore the pedagogic tensions which arise when combining knowledge from the academic disciplines and from experiential learning in the same curriculum. It will be argued that emphasis on and commitment to academic disciplines as currently organised perpetuates the undervaluing of knowledge which is derived through direct experience and inhibits the wider and more effective recognition of experiential learning in higher education.

An Opportunity to Widen Participation Through Work-Based Learning? The Impact of Gender

This chapter will consider the extension of higher-level learning opportunities into the workplace, and examine the effect that gender has on workers ’ ability to take advantage of such opportunities. Drawing a distinction between the young ‘novice’ learners inside the university and those more mature, more experienced learners in the workplace, the chapter will consider both the gendered nature of the labour market, and the effect this has on restricting women’s access to the educational opportunities which are developing through work-based learning. Consideration will be given to both formal and informal structuring of the constraints which are experienced by women workers , and proposals will be put forward relating to how work-based learning could be used to help women overcome the occupational barriers they face.

Supporting student innovation through an engagement, employability and employment ecosystem

The purpose of this paper is to explore how students, full-time and part-time, may be supported in becoming ambidextrous – developing “intrapreneurial” skills and capabilities, as well as being introduced to more typical “entrepreneurial” activities. It is proposed that both perspectives will be necessary for future graduates.,The paper highlights the fast-changing nature of the economic and employment context and the future requirements for graduate skills. It analyses and evaluates a framework of curricular and extra-curricular activities which has been developed to address future skills needs. The paper uses a case study to illustrate the issue.,The paper concludes that with increasingly flexible career paths, there is a need for graduates to be prepared for portfolio careers in which they move between employment and self-employment. The development of an independent mindset which can identify and exploit innovation is therefore important.,The paper outlines an approach that has been implemented in a UK higher education institution to the development of innovation skills which is responsive to a wider range of students than the conventional cohort of young, full-time students.,The paper highlights the importance of designing educational experiences which directly address students’ situations and experiences. It also identifies the role of work-based research in the development of an innovative mindset.