Michael Osborne

Policy and practice in widening participation: a six country comparative study of access as flexibility

Widening participation to higher education (HE) is central to the educational policies of countries throughout the world, and takes the form of a range of types of intervention, which can be classified within a three-fold typology. Access as in-reach refers to those programmes that prioritize recruiting potential students into the institution—examples include adult Access courses and certain summer school provisions for school-leavers. Access as out-reach is typified by efforts to widen participation and involve partnerships with one or more of employers, schools and the wider community. Alongside in-reach and out-reach exist a number of initiatives that can neither be categorized primarily as either of these, but focus on transformations and adjustments to the structure, administration and delivery of HE programmes. The third category of Access as flexibility refers to systematic as against discrete provision and includes such structural arrangements such as the use of accreditation of prior learning (APL), open and distance learning and the use of information and communications technology (ICT). In this paper—based on research commissioned by the Scottish Executive—policies and practices from Australia, Canada, England, Finland and France are compared and analysed with particular focus being given to flexibility. The implications of these policies and practices and their potential transferability to Scotland are considered.

Higher education's many diversities: of students, institutions and experiences; and outcomes?

The paper examines the extent to which diversity in the backgrounds of students and diversity in the forms and characteristics of universities combine to produce diversities in learning experiences and outcomes. It draws on a recent major national study in the UK which has been investigating how student learning is mediated by a series of social and organisational factors. Fifteen case studies of student experiences in different universities lay at the heart of the study and provide extensive qualitative and quantitative evidence about the realities of diversity in UK higher education. The paper reports both diversities and commonalities in the student experience and its outcomes, some of which challenge the predominantly hierarchical and reputational conceptions of diversity and differentiation currently dominant in debates about UK higher education. The student ‘voice’ on these matters as reported here does not fully coincide with current policy priorities and ‘voices’. Student perceptions of the ways in which they have changed as a result of the experience of higher education embrace a range of factors within which the social and the personal are at least as important as the academic. Although the focus in this paper is on student learning on undergraduate degrees in the biosciences, business studies and sociology, a model of university learning contexts and settings is presented which may have wider applicability to achieving a better understanding of higher education’s increasing diversity.

University continuing education: The role of communications and information technology

Continuing policy initiatives at both National and European levels emphasise the need to increase participation in higher education (HE) through more flexible delivery. One of the key elements of flexible delivery is seen to be the use of communication and information technologies (C&IT). These technologies clearly have the potential to reach a much wider student body, irrespective of geographical and/or social limitations. We briefly explore the role of C&IT in Universities and argue that its use is far less ubiquitous than predicted. We then explore the impact of C&IT on pedagogy in HE as well as on the organisation of teaching and learning, with a particular emphasis on delivery to small companies. We conclude that the current use of C&IT in HE is likely to continue to confirm the already existing gap between those with and those without access to these technologies and predict that the role of multinational corporations in education is likely to increase.

Increasing and Widening Access to Higher Education: A Comparative Study of Policy and Provision in Scotland and Australia.

1. This is a revised and extended version of a paper which was presented at the International Access Network Conference, Portland, Maine, USA, June 1994, and the Second National Conference on Equity and Access in Tertiary Education, Melbourne, Australia, July 1995. The place of access policies within higher education through a comparative approach which examines recent developments in Scotland and Australia is examined. The development of access policies is presented in the context of wider change, which is restructuring higher education in both societies. The importance of factors associated with national economic development in this process is emphasized, and the possible conflict with policies which are designed to encourage equity is explored. The impact of these policies both on the structure of the higher education systems, and on participation rates is examined. While there are major differences between these two societies, in terms of geography, history and political agendas, this paper emphasizes...

Mix and match? Further and higher education links in post-devolution Scotland

This article examines the links between Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) at the time when the power to determine Scottish educational policy was being devolved to the new Scottish Parliament. It examines the educational context in which elections to the new Parliament took place especially questions of access and provision. Events following the elections, where educational policy became a key issue, are then outlined. We conclude by speculating about the future of FE-HE links in post-devolution Scotland.

A Comparison of Developments in University Continuing Education in Finland, the UK and Sweden.

This paper develops work carried out under the aegis of a European Commission‐funded university continuing education (UCE) network. It compares the ways in which UCE has developed in three countries within Northern Europe. The authors firstly review the developments of university education in general in Finland, the UK and Sweden, paying particular attention to the factors that historically have influenced UCE. They then focus on developments and policy imperatives of the last decade. A number of convergences and divergences in policy and practice in the three countries are pointed to. In both Finland and the UK, UCE is well defined by state or quasi‐state agencies and is an activity that has been located within well‐defined structural units in most institutions. Universities in these two countries have a diverse mission based on a national lifelong learning agenda. By contrast, in Sweden, whilst there is a longstanding international tradition of adult education rooted within democratic movements and a recognition of the importance of equality of access, the provision is to a large extent embedded in universities and not manifest as UCE. What provision that does exist as UCE is patchily distributed across the university sector and nonuniform in character. UCE provision within Finland and UK to varying degrees in becoming more diverse in its make‐up. The presence of new providers in a ‘CE market’, an emphasis on UCE as an economic instrument, moves towards the accreditation of provision and the loss of a particular identity for UCE are amongst factors creating increasing heterogeneity of provision in these countries.

Are Academic Outcomes of Higher Education Provision Relevant to and Deliverable in the Workplace Setting

Current developments in higher education strongly indicate that the way ahead in many disciplines is much closer co-operation between academia and industry. There is growing demand that recognition should be given to learning, irrespective of the environment in which it occurs.This article reflects on what are deemed to be essential components of a degree, and considers how they might be transformed into forms suitable for demonstration in the work environment. The discussion is supported by findings of a survey carried out in conjunction with a development - Structured Industrial Practice Studies - which integrates academic learning and learning in the work environment for full-time students. The findings, however, are of relevance beyond the particular model of learning and mode of attendance. There appears to be potential for achieving in the workplace aspects of courses which, in recent times, have been the prerogative of higher education establishments. However, such potential is variable between working environments and is dependent on higher education providers adapting to different structures in delivery.

Learning at Work: Work-Based Access to Higher Education.

The Learning at Work Project, funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, was initiated at the University of Stirling. It was developed in response to an awareness that many employed people, especially those on the shop floor, are excluded from access to higher education due to a number of situational, institutional and dispositional barriers. The Learning at Work Project seeks to provide a preparatory program for higher education that is negotiated as a tripartite agreement between employers, employeesand a university, and is based in and around the workplace. This article addresses the educational participation of adults from lower socio-economic backgrounds and the barriers they experience.

Lifelong learning, development, knowledge and identity

This Special Issue both complements and builds upon a previous volume of Compare (vol. 36, no. 3, 2006) that focused on different models and meanings of lifelong learning. In this earlier edition, Schuetze, Casey and other contributing authors explored various dimensions of lifelong and lifewide learning, a range of models and modes of learning, and the different agencies that have a stake in the lifelong learning agenda. They analysed policies and their implementation in predominantly developed countries in order to further our understanding of what a ‘learning society’ really means. This volume builds upon their work by continuing the exploration of various facets of lifelong learning, but in the context of developing countries where globalising and development agendas are precipitating radical re-thinking of who learns what, and how. As the forces of globalisation threaten to homogenise nations and cultures across the world, there is an urgent need to re-conceptualise our constructions and practices of lifelong and lifewide learning so that they may help to stem this trend and facilitate a form of development premised on notions of equal difference and social justice, not merely economic gain. By lifelong learning we mean structured, purposeful learning throughout the lifespan, from cradle to grave, and by lifewide, we include all the activities, formal and informal, through work and through leisure, that adults are involved in on a day-to-day basis. The term lifewide learning1 is a relatively new and underused one, but as the European Commission’s Memorandum on Lifelong Learning states, it

Older learning engagement in the modern city

Abstract This research employs novel techniques to examine older learners’ journeys, educationally and physically, in order to gain a ‘three-dimensional’ picture of lifelong learning in the modern urban context of Glasgow. The data offers preliminary analyses of an ongoing 1500 household survey by the Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC). A sample of 1037, with 377 older adults aged 60+, was examined to understand older learner engagement in formal, in-formal, non-formal and family-learning contexts. Preliminary findings indicate that all forms of older learning participation are lower than younger and middle-age counterparts. However, there is a subset of ‘actively ageing’, socially and technologically engaged older adult ‘learner-citizens’, participating in educational, physical, cultural, civic and online activities (including online political discussions and boycotts). These older learners were more likely to be working, caretakers and report better health overall. Long-term disabilities were associated with less engagement in non-formal learning activities. Additionally, engaged older learners’ GPS trails show more city activity than their matched non-learning-engaged counterparts. Place-based variables, such as feeling safe and belonging to the local area, moderated adult participation in learning activities. The full data-set will be accessible to researchers and the general public via UBDC, providing a complex data source to explore demographically diverse learners’ within an urban context.