ATHERTON J S (2003) Learning and Teaching: Learning Contracts [On-line] UK:
URL provided at end of article.
Learning Contracts
Learning contracts are agreements between a teacher (or teaching team) and a
learner (or occasionally a group of learners). They normally concern issues of
assessment, and provide a useful mechanism for reassuring both parties about
whether a planned piece of work will meet the requirements of a course or module:
this is particularly valuable when the assessment is not in the form of a set essay
title, or an examination.
However, there is more to the principle of the learning contract than a convenient
administrative device. It is based on the principle of the learners being active
partners in the teaching-learning system, rather than passive recipients of whatever
it is that the teacher thinks is good for them. It is about their ownership of the
process.
Merely using the technique, however, does not automatically bring about this
ownership and involvement. As Collins (1991) has pointed out, the contractual
bargain is often one-sided, with all the obligations being on the side of the student,
and none on the part of the teacher. The teacher does not even undertake
unequivocally to award a pass mark to the resultant work: she will do so only if in
her judgement it meets the required criteria.
After all, all assessments are based on a contract, which usually remains implicit. It
is of the order of:
"The teacher undertakes that:
if the student produces such work as the teacher specifies,
to a standard which the teacher will determine (whether or not that
standard is based on fixed criteria or personal whim, and regardless of
whether the standard is known to the student), the teacher will award a
mark to that work. The student indicates acceptance of this 'agreement'
by producing the work"
That is a slightly unfair version, but only slightly. Matters can be improved by being
explicit and transparent about the marking scheme. Learning contracts seek to make
explicit this implicit deal, which should at least expose any one-sidedness, and
ideally provide a basis for addressing it.
Initially, there may be considerable student resistance to learning contracts: they are
not part of the rules of the educational game they are familiar with. The common cry
is, "Just tell me what to do!" Nevertheless, if their negotiation is taken seriously (by
the teacher as well as the student, and recognising the time which has to be put into
tutorial consultations about them), they are very valuable ways of focusing attention
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on things which matter.
Form of the Contract
There are many forms which the contract can take (See Anderson, Boud and
Sampson, 1996 for a guide), but the following represents a general example:
Student name and
details
Course name and
level
This is pretty obvious
So is this, but the course level is important, because that
sets the expectations of the piece of work: the level
criteria should be set out clearly somewhere—perhaps in
the handbook.
They may not be expressed as outcomes, but this is
Outcomes to be
where the student puts the course requirements about the
addressed
piece of work.
Form of submission It could be a project, a portfolio, a videotape of practice,
an object the student has made, a computer program ... If
the tutor signs the form, she is agreeing that a
submission of this type will be acceptable.
This is the crunchy bit: this is where the student sets out
Outline of
her intentions for the submission. Much of the rest of the
submission
form may be governed by course regulations, but this
has to be original. It is a statement of the student's
solution to the problem, "How am I going to produce
evidence that I can meet these outcomes?"
So far, the contract has been one-sided, as Collins
Resources and
comments. This is where the student can request input
assistance
from the tutor, such as looking over a draft, or providing
copies of some material not in the library, or an
introduction to an interviewee.
Signatures
This section is also the place to clarify complicating
issues, such as collaborative work in a small group, and
how marks are to be apportioned.
These are what make the magic work: the contract is not
worth anything until it has been agreed and signed by
both student and tutor. Usually the student keeps the
main copy to submit with the completed work, but the
tutor can keep one on file for security purposes if
necessary.
The tutor's signature makes explicit the implicit bargain
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above. She is agreeing that if the student delivers what is
promised, credit will be awarded.
Practically, then, the contract allows for considerable variation in the form of
submission, and clarifies in advance such thorny problems as collaborative working
and how much help the student can expect from the tutor.
At the level of principle, however, it changes the student from being merely reactive,
in the sense of responding to set demands to produce a 4,000-word assignment on
this or that, to being proactive in taking the initiative in proposing work to meet the
requirements.
To reference this page copy and paste the text below:
ATHERTON J S (2003) Learning and Teaching: Learning Contracts [On-line]
UK: Available:
file:///c:/Documents%20and%20Settings/charlotte_ryan/My%20Documents/20062007%20COURSES/websecond%20round/field/hold/learning_contracts.htm Accessed: 28 August 2006
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