Abstract
Higher education institutions are working in times of change, including a changing student body, changing demographics, and the challenges of globalization. In the UK and many Western countries, part-time enrolments in universities are expected to rise at a much faster rate than full-time, with the mix between part-time and full-time shifting substantially. Whilst policies and practices have often denied opportunities to part-time learners, the changing landscape of UK higher education – with many similarities to the landscapes in much of the developed world – are opening more flexible opportunities to participate in higher education. However, those possibilities are too often marginal, with full-time and younger learners dominating the discourses and practices of higher education institutions. This paper will discuss ways of supporting academic learning for diverse groups of part-time learners, showing how pedagogic approaches can be developed that enhance and support more flexible and effective learning. Institutions face particular challenges in ensuring that the voices of diverse groups of students are heard. This article will argue that to enhance social inclusion, institutions need to ‘speak’ to mature students and part-time students – and many currently do not. However, it will conclude that there are pedagogic approaches which enable more inclusive practices in higher education to be mainstreamed.
Highlights
Higher education institutions are working in times of change, including a changing study body, changing demographics, developments in technologies, and the challenges of internationalisation and globalisation
As a report by Universities UK showed (Ramsden and Brown, 2008), this will change the demographics of universities, as the majority of entrants to part-time undergraduate degrees are over the age of 30, and are more likely to be women
Part-time learners are not always able to participate in the social life of an institution due to the many competing demands on their time; and the culture of the institution is likely to be geared towards full-time students, and in particular full-time younger students living away from home
Summary
Higher education institutions are working in times of change, including a changing study body, changing demographics, developments in technologies, and the challenges of internationalisation and globalisation. Part-time learners are not always able to participate in the social life of an institution due to the many competing demands on their time; and the culture of the institution is likely to be geared towards full-time students, and in particular full-time younger students living away from home Those part-time and mature students returning to study or who are first time older learners – for example women who have been caring for children or others as discussed above – may find that their range of experiences are not valued in the classroom, and they can be dismissed as not as intellectually able as those with a more conventional route into higher education. Teachers need to adapt their pedagogic approaches to develop modes of delivery that will enhance the learning experiences of all their students, including parttime and ‘non-traditional’ students
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