Educationalfutures August 2010

This file contains the Educationalfutures Volume 2(3) cover and journal contents.

This file contains the editorial for Educationalfutures Volume 2(3) August 2010.

This paper focuses on one of the central aspects of educational theory and practice: self-reflection. The critical sociology of Niklas Luhmann is featured. Sufficient of his work is now available in translation to support an initial survey. The generality of Luhmann’s work derives from an adaptation of Bertalanffy’s General Systems Theory. The principal modification Luhmann makes is to incorporate Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela’s concept of autopoiesis. Luhmann makes communication the central feature of social life, and the bulk of his work has focussed on the forms of communication that exist within the ‘function systems’ of mass society. In terms of the Anglophone tradition of educational research, one aspect of this theorising is particularly significant: the centrality of human subjectivity for social analysis is radically questioned. Luhmann’s critical perspective specifically targets the phenomena of self-reference and self-reflection in relation to the social effectiveness of the education system. He concludes that institutional improvement will continue to be elusive because of inherent instabilities in the processes of self-recognition.

Keywords: Autopoiesis, change, code, communication, functionality, Luhmann, organisation, self-reference, self-reflection, society, structure, system.

This paper suggests that students experience transitional difficulties when moving from level three courses (‘A’ level or equivalent) to first year undergraduate study. Research was undertaken with a sample of 47 ‘A’ level students and 47 first year undergraduates. Questionnaire results were drawn on to establish the study and academic skills used by students. Analysis of quantitative data revealed differences between the two groups in their strategies to learning. Open questions encouraged students to write freely about their approach to study. Using a thematic analysis the responses revealed qualitative insights into the different approaches and attitudes of sixth form students and those studying in higher education. The overall aim of the research is an improved evidence based understanding of the differences in the academic skills used by students studying for ‘A’ levels and those required by first year undergraduates.

This preliminary study is part of the ‘Flying Start’ project, which is a multi-centre, two-year project funded by the Higher Education Academy, in which Liverpool Hope University and the University of Derby are the lead institutions. Flying Start involves a range of initiatives all aiming to improve students’ learning experiences as they progress from ‘A’ level or BTEC/AVCE courses to degree programmes at university. Further research is presently being undertaken to learn more about the transitional issues experienced by students moving from one sector to another and this piece of research will form part of a larger study. For more information about Flying Start, see www.hope.ac.uk/flyingstart

Most academics find the process of giving detailed, appropriate feedback to students an extremely time-consuming one. With increased VLE use and blended approaches to delivery, opportunities are now available to re-appraise different ways of recording and giving feedback to students. Under the auspices of the Joint Information Systems Committee’s (JISC) Sounds Good project (Rotheram, 2009a), the main aims of this research project were to test the hypothesis that using digital audio feedback can benefit staff and students by both saving assessors’ time and providing richer feedback to students. During a compulsory first year module for Education Studies students at Newman University College, 83 students were asked to submit a 1500 word essay as a text file via Moodle. This online submission allowed for both traditional written annotation of the original script as well as the embedding of an audio mp3 file for student feedback. A total of six Education Studies teaching staff were involved in the marking process, and views were elicited from both staff and students via questionnaire after the marking process was completed. Initial findings show that an overwhelming majority of respondents were very enthusiastic about the use of audio feedback, although a number of guidelines and recommendations were needed for its future use.

Keywords: feedback, audio, mp3, VLE, Moodle

This paper presents action research which was initiated with professional support staff during the Working in Higher Education Award, an accredited, work-based course at the University where they were employed. The research participants perform a variety of roles within the University and have diverse educational experiences. Two interventions, use of e-portfolio tools and a critical friend, were integrated into the initial module, and their impact on participants’ capacity to link learning to practice was investigated via primarily qualitative methods.

The connection between learning and professional practice is an area of particular pertinence for work-based learners. Literature on this topic indicates three significant domains in relation to fostering the linkage between learning and work: the work environment, the learning environment, and the learner. The research findings contributed to the further elaboration of these domains, and an additional key theme, labelled “social”, was identified; this represented the impact of support from others, particularly colleagues and line managers, on participants’ confidence, motivation, and reflective capacity.

Insightful recommendations emerged from the findings which may be of relevance to work-based learning practitioners, for example the significance of fostering social engagement in the learning and work environments, the alignment of the curriculum to disparate professional roles, and the use of the interventions developed as a vehicle to promote reflection.

The paper considers what impact changes in further education structures and cultures have had on lecturers’ professional identities. As traditional sources of authority become increasingly open to contestation, it examines various responses. Based on an eighteen-month ethnographic study in a further education college in the south-west of England, it uncovers shared cultural characterisations of the lecturer, evident in the data. The paper contends that these characters help shape students and lecturers understanding of themselves, each other and the learning encounters they participate in. Four ‘characters of lectureship’ are identified – ‘enforcer’, ‘diplomat’, ‘insider’ and ‘senior buddy’. While some characters seek to reassert more traditional forms of authority, others are open to more democratic, dialogic and authentic manifestations.

Keywords: Further education; learning cultures; authority