Warwick Lifelong Learning One Day Conference
Dimensions of Lifelong Learning:
Past, Present and Future
Abstracts
‘Team Tag' Responses to Student Posts and their impact upon Student
Engagement with an Online Course
Kathryn E Burn-Thornton, Department of Continuing Education,
Oxford University, Ewert House, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7DD
Email: kathryn.burn-thornton@conted.ox.ac.uk
Email: kathryn.burn-thornton@oriel.oxon.org
Twitter: @addsabear
http://datasystemsanalysis.conted.ox.ac.uk
Regular engagement with online material, and online activities, has been shown to be an
indicator for satisfaction with an online course, student retention and student achievement.
However, there has been little published work regarding timeliness of responses to student
posts and its impact upon these three variables.
In this paper we present the initial results of a year long investigation into whether timely
responses to student forum posts impact upon student satisfaction, retention and
achievement. Our initial results suggest that timely responses to student posts can results
in an increase in student engagement of more than 20% which is also observed across a
greater population.
These initial results suggest that further investigations will help to provide a new insight into
educational practices, and pedagogies, for online learners.
Following an introduction to the course, and its method of delivery, we describe the two
cohorts of students who were part of the longitudinal study and their selection process for
admission onto the course. This is followed by description of the methods employed for the
longitudinal study and discussion of the results obtained. This is followed by a discussion of
conclusions which may be drawn, as well as avenues for future exploration.
Dr K Burn-Thornton: brief biography
Oxford graduate Dr Burn-Thornton has spent the last twenty years developing new
approaches to analyze data, publishing 250+ journal, and conference, papers and over 20
patents. She has been involved with continuing education for 20 years and is a champion
of blended online learning. She is currently Director of ADDSA at The University of Oxford.
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Research? What do you mean, research? An exploration of ‘non-traditional’
students' experiences of undergraduate research
Mike Gallant and Jeannie Wright, Counselling & Psychotherapy Programmes,
Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of Warwick
Research has become an increasingly important element in the training of professional
counsellor/psychotherapists. In a relatively new profession often taken up as a second
career, and with many students having no previous experience of post-16 let alone higher
education, this is often a challenge for both students and trainers.
This cross-sectional and longitudinal project, begun in October 2014 and continuing over the
next 3 years, aims to discover how students’ attitudes change during their undergraduate
training: their relationship with research; the word, the product, the process and the value of
research evidence in practice.
The research field we inhabit as trainers is an interdisciplinary one. Long dominated by
incorporated aspirations to ape the objectivist, positivist medical model, our students
struggle with the ‘isms’ and have no background in philosophies of knowledge. We question
the epistemological hegemony in research in the talking therapies: as trainers our aspiration
is to encourage students’ confidence in reading and appraising research and in becoming
not just consumers but critical and ethical producers of research.
Although contested, there is a shift towards qualitative approaches to research in the talking
therapies and this project reflects this in its arts-based bricolage. As a training team we
encourage embodied personal experience methods, which for counselling/psychotherapy
students, and practitioners across the broad profession is still considered a radical and
‘alternative’ approach to our task.
We will provide an opportunity to discuss how far our initial questions might extend in
relation to, for example:


the research curriculum we are developing for non-traditional students;
the appropriateness of arts-based bricolage methods of inquiry
We want to develop critical practitioners though not necessarily scientist/practitioners in the
way of psychology professionals.
Early responses appear to suggest that some students feel overwhelmed by the apparent
complexities of research; many move beyond this over the 3 or 4 years of their training to
become great advocates of research as an integral part of professional practice.
This inquiry may inform the approach/facilitative style of trainers and curriculum developers
on this particular course and, possibly, other courses with a similar mature student intake.
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Dr Mike Gallant joined the Centre for Lifelong Learning in 2012 and is currently a tutor on
the second and third year of the Foundation Degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy and
the BA Hons Research, Mental Health, and Drug and Alcohol top up modules.
Mike is accredited by the BACP and the BABCP, and works in the NHS as a Cognitive
Behavioural Psychotherapist and Person-Centred Counsellor (CfD) and supervisor. He has
significant experience in Substance Misuse Services and Primary Care ‘talking therapies’
including running psycho-educational courses. He has a special interest in moments of
meeting and relational depth in therapeutic relationships, and also in collaborative and
creative methods of practitioner inquiry.
Dr Jeannie Wright is Director of Counselling and Psychotherapy programmes at the Centre
for Lifelong Learning. In addition to teaching on the Foundation Degree in Person-centred
Counselling and Psychotherapy, and the B.A. (Hons) top-up, she is responsible for
developing new programmes and for overall management of current courses.
Jeannie has been accredited with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
since 1993. After working in the educational and voluntary sectors in the UK, she spent two
years practising and teaching in Fiji. In 2011 Jeannie returned to the UK from Aotearoa New
Zealand where she was involved in teaching, practice and research. Jeannie is a member of
the editorial board of Counselling and Psychotherapy Research and regularly reviews books
and articles submitted for publication for a number of journals and publishers.
E-portfolios, higher education and lifelong learning
Sara Hattersley, Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of Warwick
Summary
This paper considers the historical relevance of e-portfolios, which relates to the conference
title of ‘past, present and future’. The validation and ‘expert coaching’ which can be integral
to e-portfolios for assessment harks back to a time before examinations for objective
assessment became the norm in HE. The notion that e-portfolios are tools that can
accompany the learner through their studies and beyond looks at how they might be
important not just now, but when a student has left an institution.
The paper addresses the conference themes about conceptual change and critical
approaches to pedagogy, as well as learning, identity, transitions and change, as will be
provided through evidence from students’ experiences.
Higher Education is awash with talk of the latest educational technology (‘ed tech’) trends,
including MOOCs, learner analytics and open badges. E-portfolios have existed in education
for some time, but have not earned quite the rousing reputation of other ed tech tools (Bass
2014).
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This paper critically evaluates the role that e-portfolios have played in recent years in Higher
Education and argues that they are the ideal tool for the modern lifelong learner. In doing so,
the paper will draw on examples from current practice. At a basic level, e-portfolios provide a
convenient repository for a students’ work, but they have so much more potential and could
in fact, pave the way for transformations in curriculum design and assessment which could
not only be radical in the HE context, but which would be highly conducive to our core values
and aims in relation to lifelong learning.
Firstly there is a discussion about the obvious advantages of managing and viewing content
digitally, and learning asynchronously, which should provide the ultimate in flexible access to
learning. Whatever the programme of study, the use of e-portfolios also affords to students
the opportunity and ‘safe space’ to become competent ‘digital citizens’, providing them with
an additional educational outcome which is of value both to employers, and empowering to
the individual. With increasing interest in e-portfolios from complementary university
services, such as Careers, there is also a strong case for the e-portfolio to accompany the
learner beyond their time at the institution, therefore promoting the capacity to continue the
process of reflection, evidence-gathering and learning: as true ‘lifelong learners’.
Secondly, the person-centric nature of e-portfolio spaces provides students with ‘agency’,
control and ownership, which they do not ordinarily experience with educational technology
such as the traditional VLE (virtual learning environment). For the lifelong learner, eportfolios provide the ideal platform to draw together a range of ‘life and learning artefacts’
(which might include reflective writing, documents, images, video etc) and draw critical
connections between them in a single, accessible space. This collecting, curating and
documenting can have educational, cathartic and self-affirming effects, but in addition
supports the notion of ‘student as producer’ with high-calibre programmes such as Mahara
enabling production of pages and collections of publishable quality.
Finally, the paper discusses e-portfolios as a space for assessment. For an individual, eportfolios can capture the iterative, self-evaluative and reflective processes inherent in
assessment for learning. They can capture ‘the journey’ as well as the conclusion. Although
person-centric, most e-portfolio systems have capacity for sharing and enabling commentary
by peers or tutors, allowing a community of practice, critique, support and feedback
conducive to a constructivist approach to assessment and learning. The inherent ability of
students to ‘network’ is also one which is mimicked in the social media practices and
communities to which many lifelong learners belong. Whilst e-portfolios are recognised as
tools supportive of formative assessment, their place in higher stakes, summative
assessment is not well established, particularly given the ubiquitous and enduring nature of
other methods such as formal examinations and assignments. There is a suggestion,
however, that e-portfolios could serve both purposes: as a tool for both assessment for
learning and high stakes, summative activities, which would locate them in pre-18th century
higher educational practices, before the age of the public exam (Trevitt et al, 2013). These
practices might actually be closer to some of the aims of modern higher education, reimagining the roles of tutor and student and re-presenting e-portfolios as an ed tech tool of
serious value to both higher education and lifelong learning.
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Sara Hattersley is the E-Learning Manager in Centre for Lifelong Learning, responsible for
developing and implementing an e-learning strategy across the department, as well as
working with colleagues in the wider University and in partnerships beyond.
Sara's background is in teaching in the Further Education, and for 10 years she was part of
the subject specialist teacher training team in CLL, and Assistant Manager of the Essential
Skills Resource Centre, before taking up her current post. Sara has designed, developed
and taught on several blended study teacher training programmes, creating a range of online
modules and course materials. She has also delivered a number of conference workshops
and seminars on the subject of technology for teaching and learning.
Sara's interests are in the relationship between pedagogy and technology, curriculum
design, accessibility and enabling technology, innovative use of technology in the classroom,
and technology and staff development. Sara was a commendee in the 2009 and 2015
Warwick Awards for Teaching Excellence and has recently published on the theme of
teacher education and technology.
Having an Eureka moment: Using discovery learning to address the needs of
widening participation students
Louisa Hill, Lifelong Learning Centre, University of Leeds
Current statistics reveal that the number of widening participation students is accelerating,
particularly for post-1992 universities (Adams, 2013; Hinton-Smith, 2012; Stone, 2014);
which maybe as a result of government support to make this a strategic target for
universities (BIS, 2011; Hinton-Smith, 2012). These ‘Strangers in Paradise’ (Reay et al,
2009) suffer identity struggles from being in a middle to upper class environment (ARC,
2013; Byrom and Lightfoot, 2012; Crozier et al, 2010). A key way to support these students
is through teaching which can have a positive impact on academic achievement (Bamber
and Tett, 2001; Thomas, 2005) and social engagement (Burke, 2012; Thomas, 2005). They
tend to be perceived as a deficit (Bowl, 2001, Roberts, 2011) with their knowledge, skills and
experience being ignored (Hockings et al, 2008). Limited research in this area (Crozier et al,
2010; Hockings et al, 2010) may have contributed to some teachers lacking awareness of
how to support widening participation students (ARC, 2013). Recent research revealed that
widening participation strategies should be more meaningfully linked to teaching practices
(Stevenson, 2014), especially for elite, research-intensive universities, who see this as a low
priority strategy (Bamber and Tett, 2001). Such practices include diverse teaching strategies
(Baptista, 2011), student-centred learning (Hockings et al, 2010; Thomas, 2012) and critical
pedagogy (O’ Brien, 2013).
With university strategic objectives seeking to increase the number of widening participation
students (BIS, 2011), it is envisaged that Discovery Learning may help to address this need.
Discovery Learning is designed to engage students in inquiry through which, facilitated by
the teacher and materials, they discover the target concept (Hammer, 1997; Kunsting et al,
2013).
This creative pedagogy is suitable for widening participation students as it utilises the
student’s knowledge (Saab et al, 2005). It supports intrinsic motivation (Bruner, 1961),
through the reward of having a ‘Eureka moment’, whereupon the discovery is made. As it
encompasses a high degree of student-centred approaches and, consequentially selfregulated learning, it is perceived to be superior to more traditional teaching methods
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(Henson, 1980). Another benefit is that it provides opportunities for students to develop their
creative, problem-solving (Bruner, 1967), communication (Henson, 1980) and critical
thinking. Thus Discovery Learning promotes increased levels of effective learning (Bruner,
1961) and retention Burns and Ellis, 1970).
This paper will provide a historical grounding of a theory which originated from Brunel’s
(1961) contributions to cognitive learning theory by Piaget (1936). Empirical research will be
drawn on to illustrate how Discovery Learning has in the past, predominantly been used in
science (Burns and Ellis, 1970) and mathematics teaching (Bruner, 1961). Through practical
guidance to educators in lifelong learning institutions, to help fit a ‘square peg into a round
hole’ (Roberts, 2011), this paper hopes to reenergise the use of Discovery Learning. The
paper will be interspersed with examples based on business and administration studies,
which currently attracts the majority of widening participation students (HESA, 2015).
Moreover the research will reveal how this innovative teaching strategy harnesses the rich
knowledge and experiences of a diverse student body. It may also alleviate some of the
negative perceptions of Russell Group universities on social mobility (Stone, 2014).
Louisa Hill is currently a business lecturer delivering predominantly research methods,
human resource management and economics modules. She is studying for her doctorate in
Higher Education at a Russell Group university. She is also an External Examiner and, for
many years, has mentored new lecturers. Having always worked in the higher education
sector, she enjoys instilling confidence in non-traditional students using a variety of
innovative teaching techniques. Her primary research interests include internationalisation
of the curriculum and, in particular, best practice teaching methods for international students.
“It is the language that matters”
A language awareness training for adult educators in vocational training
Nicole Kimmelmann and Katja Dippold-Schenk, Vocational Education & Training,
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Summary
The paper presents results of a German project conducted by an interdisciplinary team of
language didactic experts and lifelong learning researchers. It shows an evidence based
curriculum for a language awareness training for adult educators, the design of three training
modules based on this curriculum and the evaluation results of these training workshops.
The paper correlates to the conference theme in different ways. On the one side, it shows
language awareness as a present and future challenge to adult educators. Lifelong learning
researchers therefore need to cooperate with experts from language learning research in
order to meet learners needs and diversity. On the other side language, skills are
emphasized as relevant skills for lifelong learning processes. As language was seen mainly
from the foreign language perspective for a long time in lifelong learning research and policy,
the paper shows the relevance of second language acquisition as well as mother language
learning through the life span for a successful competence profile.
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With regard to international migration and refugee movement, the aspect of language
awareness will keep relevant for the next century. The results implicate recommendations for
future training programs of adult educators and link to processes in UK Universities to
embed English language and literacy into FE Teacher Training programmes.
Description of the paper
Integrating foreign professionals (from other European and non-European countries) or
employers with second-generation migration background into the job market is a present and
future challenge in lifelong learning contexts and implies an adjustment of adult vocational
training. Adult educators in programs funded by the German government to promote these
professionals in their vocational skill acquisition are faced with culturally and linguistically
diverse groups, struggling with language problems that affect the learning processes in a
massive way (Ohm, 2010). The concept of language sensitizing (Tajmel 2013) enables adult
educators in this field to successfully deal with those needs of linguistic heterogeneous
learner groups by entailing the raising of awareness of the crucial role of language in
knowledge transfer and equipping adult educators with methods to promote the acquisition
of vocational knowledge and language at the same time.
The researchers of the presented project which was carried out by language didactic
specialists of the universities of Bielefeld and Leipzig and life-long learning specialists of the
Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg have developed a modular training
program for adult educators. Therefore project’s framework consisted of assessing needs for
language sensitizing in adult vocational training and developing a framework curriculum for
language awareness of adult educators. The empirical base for this development process
consisted of observations in adult vocational training courses, interviews with adult
educators and questionnaires for participants.
Three language awareness trainings with adult educators to different aspects of the
curriculum were implemented in the cities of the participating universities. Topics included:
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A basic language sensitizing module to show the relevance of language and literacy
to vocational learning processes
Oral communication within the vocational courses within plenum and group learning
processes
Language aspects and difficulties in tasks, exams and exercises within vocational
trainings
The workshops were evaluated by using a mixed-method design integrating observations of
the training workshops, qualitative interviews with participants and trainers as well as
quantitative questionnaires after the workshops.
The paper will illustrate the curriculum, describe the workshops` content and design and
show results of the evaluation process.
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Professor Dr Nicole Kimmelmann is an assistant professor for competence development
in vocational contexts at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) where
she has earned her PhD degree, too. Now she is holding the supply professorship for
vocational education and training at the University of Paderborn. She is an expert in
vocational education and training, language skills promotion and teacher training. In her
work, she connects interdisciplinary approaches, e.g. vocational education and training,
German as a second language, informatics, psychology, sociology, architecture and health
management. At the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) she teaches and trains future
practitioners in vocational and business education and training. Her research work and areas
of interest are language skills in vocational education and training, dealing with diversity and
inclusion, new teaching methods, innovative approaches in teacher education, new media in
educational contexts, self-concept/stress/anxieties and psychologist aspects of teaching and
learning, transitions in vocational education and training as well as designing innovative
learning spaces.
Mrs. Katja Dippold-Schenk is a doctoral candidate and researches in vocational
education/training, language skills promotion and teacher training at the University of
Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). She received her Executive Master of Business Administration
(EMBA) from the McCombs School of Business - University of Texas at Austin/USA and the
Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz. Mrs. Dippold-Schenk has a lot of working
experience in broadcasting/controlling/human resources and teaching different subjects in
Singapore. She is currently responsible for a number of different projects within the
management and research sector. Katja Dippold-Schenk is also a qualified teacher for
German as a second language.
Is knowledge power? An exploration of an historical normative framework for
literacy policy, adult education and the economy in Canadian communities
Alyson King and Shanti Fernando, Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities,
University of Ontario Institute of Technology
In this paper, we examine historical trends in adult education and lifelong learning, Canadian
policies surrounding that education, and the historical and present day connections of adult
education to the economy and community development. This examination is grounded in
critical theory and will include the voices of current adult educators from a supported
education program and those working in the literacy sector in Canada to show the interplay
between history, policy and adult education practice and to provide the foundation for
examinations of lifelong learning in Canada.
In the past, because more employment opportunities existed for those lacking strong
literacy, there was not the same sense of urgency regarding illiteracy and lack of education
as has emerged in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It is not that the problem of
illiteracy has grown, but rather that the nature of work and, indeed, society has changed
such that available jobs tend to require, at a minimum, more literacy skills, if not higher
qualifications in terms of formal education (Curtis, 2008). The number of Canadian adults
living and working with low literacy skills is significant: between 1994 and 2003, there was an
increase of a million working-age Canadians with low literacy skills (Advisory Committee on
Literacy and Essential Skills 2005). We argue that education has often been too narrowly
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limited in terms of the availability and access to education, as well as its definition, and
therefore excluded many adults from the freedom and employment that such education and
improved knowledge could give to them. In an analysis of articles on adult education in a
four year period from 1990 to 1994, for example, Solar (1998) found that the most important
theme was that of adult education’s relationship with the labour market.
However, as Paolo Freire (1976) argues, adult education helps people understand the
structures that oppress them. Today, the idea of transformational learning is tied to lifelong
learning, particularly in the sense that information is not static and one needs to constantly
develop an understanding of new processes and structures. Historically, Canadian
governments have accepted the premise that education needs to be accessible in order to
build a strong nation. Although adult education is not treated in the same way as primary and
secondary education, it is an important building block of community development. Adult
educators, in the tradition of Freire, are community developers. They connect adults with
their environment and help them deal with developments be they social, economic,
technological or personal. While lifelong learning is often seen as merely prolonging initial
education, it is more about personal development, increasing one’s participation in social,
economic and cultural development, and developing community knowledge to enable civic
participation (Brown and Hannis, 2012). Lifelong or transformational learning is also about
improving or upgrading skills and improving one’s technical or professional qualifications
(Grace, 2013; Mezirow, 1997). In this sense, lifelong learning is important for labour market
integration. In other words, without developing the skills for lifelong learning, one may be left
out of real participation in both the community and the job market (Soydan, 2004; Arbesman
& Logsdon, 2011). We argue for high quality adult education that “becomes a central pillar
for the construction of a more efficient and equitable society” (Friere quoted in Torres 2014,
p 124), addresses the literacy gap, and helps with labour market and community integration.
Lifelong learning is a tool of inclusiveness and equality.
Dr Alyson King is an Assistant Professor in the Community Development and Policy
Studies program in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at the University of Ontario
Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Ontario Canada (UOIT). Dr. King earned her PhD degree
at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Her background is in
the history of education in Ontario. Her research concentrates on improving equity in
communities and institutions through increasing accessibility in education and raising
awareness of barriers to equity. In addition to this research on Supported Education for
persons living with mental illness, she also conducts research on academic integrity, student
persistence and success, and (multi)literacies in the knowledge economy.
Dr Shanti Fernando teaches and researches in the Community Development and Policy
Studies program in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at UOIT. She received her
PhD in Political Science from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada in 2003. Her
concentration is on community development policies in the form of anti-poverty and adult
education policies that increase the equity of marginalized groups. Along with her research
on supported Education for persons living with mental illness she also conducts research on
domestic violence service provision, labour market integration and anti-racism policies. In
addition to her role as Associate Professor at UOIT, Dr. Fernando also served at the Director
of UOIT’s University-Community Link Unit (providing links in research and education
between UOIT and the outside community) from 2011 to 2014 and is on the Board of
Directors for the Literacy Network of Durham.
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An interdisciplinary ‘Gateway’ to undergraduate study: Programme design
and student perceptions
Nicolie Murphy, Ravinder Dhinsa and Rachel Nally, Undergraduate Students,
Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of Warwick
This paper reports on the development and success of the Centre for Lifelong Learning’s
new pre-entry course for ‘non-traditional’ and adult learners. ‘Warwick Gateway to HE: Social
Studies’ provides a pathway for members of the local community, with little or no formal
qualifications, to undertake a BA Social Studies degree at the University. The course is
timetabled flexibly, allowing adults to fit their studies around work and family commitments.
The non-accredited, 75 hour course is free.
The Gateway draws from critical pedagogy – developing academic knowledge and skills
from students’ own experiences and adopting an interdisciplinary approach to analyse
familiar contexts and settings. The course begins from participants’ personal experiences
and develops, as the group become more academically confident, to explore aspects of
culture and society. As the course progresses, participants develop the academic skills,
experiences and confidences to succeed on a Warwick degree.
The Gateway has proved to be a highly successful and innovative way of widening access
and participation at Warwick. The paper outlines our approach to course development and
details outcomes from the first two cohorts – both of which completed the course during
2014. Of the 30 students who have completed the Gateway, 25 continued to higher
education study in October 2014. Video clips of students interviewing one another at various
intervals during the course illustrate students’ pre-course expectations, their hopes and fears
and their personal and academic development. The paper explores the ways that the
Gateway equips learners with the skills, the support networks and the confidences to help
them succeed at degree level study.
Nicolie Murphy, Ravinder Dhinsa and Rachel Nally are Undergraduate Students,
In Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of Warwick
Pedagogical supervision – A professional strategy of lifelong
learning for educators
Francesca Oggionni, Department of Educational Human Sciences,
University of Milano-Bicocca
Summary
Pedagogical supervision is a meta-reflective tool that activates analytical processes on
educational practices by focusing on intentionality and planning. It is an indispensable
supportive resource in educational work for teams, for the maintenance of services and the
continuous re-planning of interventions. It is a tool that stimulates critical thinking on social
educator’s identity, role and professionalism, enabling him/her to conceptualize knowledge
acquired on the field and to interconnect theories and strategies of intervention.
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My study starts from the belief that educators’ professionalism has to be thought and must
make use of tools able to activate and oversee reflective and dialogical processes of (self-)
evaluation and practical transformation, leading to the development of theories.
Pedagogically centered reflection shared within work teams, services and organizations
enables educators to review their praxis in terms of intentional aims and educational
projects; but, above all, it makes them able to conceptualize knowledge acquired on the field
and strengthen their own professional identity.
The (Italian) scanty production of thought around pedagogical supervision is an indication of
its complexity, as well as the pedagogue’s difficulty in recognizing and being recognized as
"the main” professional depositary of knowledge about education. This in turn leads to the
consequent risk of delegating the task of developing the interpretative framework in which
educational events are included to professionals from different disciplines, thus losing sight
of the specific pedagogical point of view and aims. [An international debate and comparison
of praxis should be interesting.]
Supervision is a dynamic process, modulated according to needs and functions defined by
work teams, starting from the formulation of questions on meaning and from the negotiation
of objectives and contents. Pedagogical supervision is not focused on practical problems,
although it produces significant effects on the praxis through the implementation of reflective
processes that increase educators’ levels of awareness and professionalism. It is a
supportive tool in the process of constructing a professional identity and role, transversal to
different areas and contexts of intervention.
The professional figure of supervisor appears crucial, not only because his/her conceptual
frameworks direct the focus of attention on educational processes, but also because his/her
methods of constructing the setting and managing working groups dynamics determine the
course and the effectiveness of the supervisory process. He/she has to show complete
mastery in specific knowledge and transversal skills for whose acquisition, currently, he/she
has assumed autonomous responsibility of self-training. However, a second level learning
and training course as well as a professional lifelong learning process are highly desirable.
Within socio-educational services, multiple meta-reflective experiences related to learning
and training, counseling, coordination and research processes are performed; a comparison
with supervision has been made, offering some thoughtful insights about potentially
confusing overlapping areas.
Pedagogical supervision has been the main object of a research made during the PhD.
The PhD study has been published in Italy [La supervisione pedagogica, FrancoAngeli,
Milano 2013] and the book has received both a national and an international prize for
pedagogy.
Francesca Oggionni holds a PhD in Human Sciences and is currently research fellow with
the Chair of General Education at the "Riccardo Massa" Department of Educational Human
Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca. Her research has centred on the professional figure,
areas of intervention and training of educators. She has authored the books "La
Supervisione Pedagogica" [Pedagogical Supervision] (FrancoAngeli, 2013) and "Il profilo
dell'educatore. Formazione e ambiti di intervento" [The Profile of the Educator. Educational
training and areas of intervention] (Carocci, 2014) and has published articles and essays in
journals and anthologies.
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Identities and social networks: Two adult male students transformations in a
Chinese public University
Ding Qun, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
In the contexts of Chinese mass higher education, economic growth and the increasing
demand for highly skilled people in the labour market, the Chinese government has adopted
new polices enabling adult students to enter full-time higher education. As such, in 2002,
national postgraduate entrance examination restrictions based on age were relaxed. This
has enabled potential postgraduate students under 40 who want to be governmentsupported students to have the opportunity to start their full-time studies. Self-financing
postgraduate students also have no age restrictions. In 2014, the limitation based on age
under 40 was further abolished. Based on my Ph.D. research into full-time mature students
in Chinese public universities, this paper explores two male postgraduates’ lived experiences
of being at university in terms of learner and professional identities as well as the influence
of social networks and particularly family through life history and semi-structured interviews.
The two students studied in the same university. Both originated from rural backgrounds.
After graduating from college, they had been rural school teachers for many years. Despite
having similar backgrounds and motives for studying in higher education, they had
contrasting learning outcomes at university. Whilst one was positive about his university
experience and highlighted his persistence, the other expressed the possibility of dropping
out despite having the benefit of higher education. They experienced self-change and, in this
sense, had different transformative learning experiences, based on Illeris’ (2014, p.580) new
definition of transformative learning – ‘changes in elements of the learner’s identity’.
Moreover, the transformative process was complex as a result of the interaction between
individuals and social contexts (ibid.).
Thus, this paper examined the students’ identity transitions by relating their learning
experiences to their work and family life. Results revealed how, in the light of their previous
professional identity, they interacted with academic staff to construct and further develop
their new identity as students and, how family influenced their learning careers or vice versa.
It can thus be argued that learner identities are not fixed but rather fluid and fragile as a
consequence of the changes in external contexts. Furthermore, learning careers are
complex and not unilinear or upwardly progressive but multi-directional, volatile and even
contradictory (Crossan et al., 2003).
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Ding Qun is a postdoctoral research fellow affiliated with the Freiberg Centre for East Asian
Studies at the Hebrew University, Israel. She did her Ph.D. research in the School of
Education, University of Sheffield, UK. Her experiences of being a full-time teacher at a
Chinese Open university and being a mature student in Europe initially aroused her interest
in adult learning in higher education. Her research to date has focused on part-time and fulltime mature students (including non-degree students, undergraduates and postgraduates)
and has explored their learning experiences in terms of access to educational opportunities,
motives for learning, interaction with other students and university staff, teaching and
learning methods, learning outcomes, learner identities and learning careers.
Her experiences of studying and working overseas help to develop an interest in crosscultural educational transition and especially the cross-cultural experiences of Chinese
students. In the existing literature, little attention has been paid to Chinese mature students
studying abroad, despite more recent literature on Asian students studying in the UK and
Australia. In future research, she intends to explore the experiences of Chinese mature
students/ researchers studying abroad and their partners, and on how they apply their
international experience to career development.
Lifelong learning in Australia: Reviewing research directions
and practice
Sue Webb, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
This paper presents an overview of the current state of research and research directions in
the field of adult education and lifelong learning in Australia. Yet, the UK and Australia share
a long tradition of policy borrowing, in both directions, particularly with respect to their post
compulsory education systems and social inclusion policy and practices (Gale 2011).
Therefore, reviewing and reflecting on how this field is developing and being practiced in
Australia will contribute to the conference discussions of the past, present and future of
Lifelong Learning.
In Australia according to Kearns (2005) this field is defined broadly and poorly understood.
Arguably the field operates in bounded spheres of activity often in institutions, workplaces or
communities characterized by different missions and different funding arrangements,
including both private and public sources of funding and regulatory control and funding from
either the Commonwealth or the States and Territories. Therefore, in trying to map the state
of the field, on the one hand the paper will take conceptualisations of the field from policy
texts, such as the Commonwealth Government of Australia (2011) Building Australia’s
Future Workforce: trained up and ready for work, to document where adult education and
lifelong learning is likely to be found. On the other hand, the paper will undertake empirical
research on the field using qualitative thematic analysis of texts to identify conceptualizations
developed by researchers and practitioners through their learned societies and journals.
Additionally, empirical research will document current academic practices within universities
in order to understand how researchers in this field are contributing to construction of the
lifelong learning professional by running degree programs (both undergraduate and postgraduate) for adult educators.
The empirical work will examine the aims and activities of the following learned societies:
Adult Learning Australia and the journal the Australian Journal of Adult Learning; and
AVETRA and the journal International Journal of Training Research. Whilst there are some
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other journals of relevance to the field edited and hosted in Australian universities, these are
not linked to learned societies. Moreover, the other two major educational learned societies
for education do not have any special interest groups or networks focused on adult learning
and adult education. These societies are: Higher Education Research and Development
(HERD) and the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE).
The paper will argue that the conceptualizations of the field provided by policy have been
significant in segmenting Australian researchers into learned societies that identify with
specific sectors and organizational forms of adult education, community education and
vocational and work-based education, rather than facilitating their participation in broader
education and social science learned societies. Early analysis of the content from the last six
years from the two journals: the Australian Journal of Adult Learning; and the journal
International Journal of Training Research will be used to begin to consider the direction of
the field in Australia and how this compares with other research on journal publication that
has included analysis of an Australian based journal, Studies in Continuing Education (see
Fejes and Nylander,2014).
The paper discusses the implications of these findings for the quality of research (given the
commentary by the social sciences panel of the UK Research Excellence Framework 2014
on what was considered high quality research in this field), as well as for practice and the
ability to sustain university teaching programs to build the professional capacity of adult
educators? Drawing on literature that suggests status differences in VET, both within
Anglophone countries and between Anglophone and German speaking countries (e.g. Graf
2013; Kyvik 2004; Norton et al. 2005; Parry et al. 2012; Powell et al. 2012; Wheelahan
2009), the paper concludes by raising questions about the future directions of lifelong
learning research and practice in Australia, if it continues to be ‘captured by the discourse’
(Coffield 1998) of the policy texts.
Sue Webb is a Professor of Education at Monash University, Australia. Prior to the move to
Australia she was Professor of Continuing Education and Director of the Institute for Lifelong
Learning at the University of Sheffield, UK. Co-Editor of the International Journal of Lifelong
Education, she is known internationally for her research and leadership in the field of adult
education and lifelong learning where she has published, lectured and provided external
advice to a number of universities in the UK, Australia and New Zealand and been an expert
panel member on European projects. She has researched the policy effects and practices
related to access and participation of students from under-represented groups in the field of
further and higher education, including the experiences of migrants and refugees, drawing
on empirical work conducted mostly in the UK and Australia.
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For age is opportunity… Critical reflections on learning in later life
Alex Withnall, Associate Fellow, Centre for Lifelong Learning,
University of Warwick
As awareness of the ageing of populations in many countries across the world has grown
over the last few decades so interest in learning in later life has emerged with recognition of
rising life expectancy. Developments were initially influenced by the various frameworks for
understanding ageing and life course changes in respect of work and retirement. Some
frameworks were used to address various aspects of ageing and to formulate international
policy developments whilst others have merely provided guiding principles in different
countries. Yet with the move away from traditional notions of retirement and realisation of the
sheer diversity of older people’s lifestyles, gerontological approaches have come to have
less relevance. In the light of emerging debates about the nature of lifelong learning, more
interest has emerged in exploring who older learners are, what fuels their aspirations and
influences their choices and the kinds of learning practices in which they are involved
whether in the labour market or outside it.
The European Union has continued to focus mainly on ambitious targets for the employment
of older workers and a progressive increase in the age of exit from working life but there has
also been more recent emphasis on developing aspects of citizenship and competence. The
Lifelong Learning Programme (2007-13) in its Grundtvig strand particularly sought to fund
activities that addressed the challenge of an ageing population across Europe resulting in a
range of transnational projects that focused specifically on aspects of later life learning.
Other current debates, in Europe and beyond, are concerned with older people’s use of
technology for individual learning and, paradoxically, with developing more inclusive
community based approaches. At the same time, there is some emerging interest in different
countries in identifying how frailty (itself a contested term) and dependence in later life might
be addressed in educational terms if learning is to be truly lifelong. An overarching project,
ForAge, begun in 2012, aims to develop a European multi-lateral network that will provide an
archive, a focal point for discussion and exchange of good practice in order to raise
standards in later life learning throughout Europe.
It will be argued that what has been missing from debates so far is an understanding of
changes in cognitive ability over the life course and especially in later life. Drawing on
existing empirical data, discussion will focus on different approaches to exploring changing
learning capacity and will make a plea for closer integration of findings from education,
psychology and neuroscience in order to advance current debates. Finally, some
suggestions will be made as to what a realistic strategy for learning right across the life
course might include.
Dr Alexandra Withnall is an Associate Fellow in the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the
University of Warwick having retired from her post as Associate Professor in Lifelong
Learning & Health in Warwick Medical School in 2009. Alex previously worked at the
Universities of Lancaster and Keele and at NIACE. She has long been interested in ageing
issues, especially in aspects of later life learning, and has published extensively in the field.
Alex was awarded a prize by the Society for Educational Studies in 2011 for her book
Improving Learning in Later Life (Routledge 2010) and has recently contributed chapters to a
number of books on lifelong learning. She is a past Chair of the Association for Education
and Ageing
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Only 7 stories. The fictional approach to resource development
Peter Wolstencroft and Carol Thompson, University of Bedfordshire
The aim of this paper is to introduce participants to the theory that there are seven types of
resources and if we know this then we can ensure that we use all seven, rather than relying
on our tried and trusted ‘old favourites’.
Whilst teacher training within the lifelong learning sector has tended to encourage new
teachers to ‘take risks’ or ‘do something different’, the constraints of performativity (Ball
2003) have meant that teachers have become increasingly unwilling to try new approaches.
The result of this compliance approach (Silverman 2008) is a conservative, almost
regimented approach to teaching that fails to embrace the full spectrum of opportunities.
It is a much quoted maxim that there are only seven stories in fiction (Booker 2004) and that
any film ever made fits into one of these categories. The new research undertaken by the
presenters suggests that the same can be true for teaching resources used in the
classroom. The paper presented will look at the research completed and will aim to show
how teachers tend to focus on a small number of resources whilst neglecting other
categories. This represents a missed opportunity and ensures that teachers often ‘play it
safe’ rather than trying out new resources. It will take a critical approach to pedagogy, and
broaden the discussion to look at the concept of ‘teacher competencies’ and ‘teaching
competencies’, an idea that is intertwined with modern initial teacher education. The
background research includes evidence from other sectors as well as the post compulsory
sector. This helps provide a context within which lifelong learning sits.
The presentation will look at each of the seven clearly defined categories and explain the
process teachers go through when deciding which type of resources to use. Alternative
strategies will be suggested and there will be a strand on the innovative use of resources in
teaching. The research has been carried out across phase and will stress the importance of
the sharing of good practice across age groups.
Finally, the researchers will challenge participants to ‘do something different’ in their next
teaching session. This will involve stepping away from the categories they use on a day to
day basis in the classroom and trying something from one of the other categories.
Dr Carol Thompson and Peter Wolstencroft both work at the University of Bedfordshire
within the Department of Teacher Education. Between them they have over thirty years
working and managing within further education and together they have co-authored a series
of papers about the challenges working within the sector. Their latest project looks at the use
of resources within education and how the concept of 'risk taking' is failing to have an impact
across the sector. Both presenters have worked on the Cert Ed/PGCE in Post Compulsory
Education for many years, a course that Carol now coordinates. In addition to this Carol
leads the Coaching and Mentoring unit on the MA Programme at the University of
Bedfordshire and Peter is the portfolio leader for undergraduate teacher education courses.
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