Community – the Undervalued Component of Flexible Learning for Leisure Management at Tertiary Level

Abstract

As universities become more pressured to move towards flexible delivery of teaching programs, educators are questioning the assumption that flexible delivery means only computer-assisted, distance learning. A growing body of literature indicates that best practice in teaching for flexible learning involves a range of learner-centred strategies that may include computer-assisted techniques but should not be confined to that medium. In this climate of change, academics who teach in leisure management programs in university settings are developing approaches to flexible learning that take account of both the nature of leisure as a social and personal experience and the nature of the learning environment at tertiary level. It is argued here that future leisure managers, in particular sectors such as community cultural development, should develop an understanding of the nature of leisure as a self-directed but socially constructed experience. This understanding may be encouraged through the use of flexible learning as a student-centred activity that is enhanced through the development of communities of learners. In this paper a casestudy is used to illustrate how teaching for flexible learning in the context of two community based courses in a leisure management program can support the building of both a community of learners within the academy and a community that crosses university boundaries.