Abstract
In 2014, we developed a new approach to supporting first year students’ transition into higher education building on the work of Kift, Nelson, and Clarke (2010) whose 3rd Generation Approach is one of transition pedagogy foregrounded by a whole-of-institution transformation. Our 4th Generation Approach focuses on students’ social capital and extends the remit beyond the institution. Our approach recognises students’ social capital as an unexplored resource to be drawn upon to inform the membership of a Community of Practice (CoP). The CoP members collaboratively develop strategies to support the development of students’ important cultural capital, which we consider essential for successful transition. In 2015, we trialled the 4th Generation Approach with a Queensland regional university satellite campus. This paper reports on the implementation of the CoP as one element of the 4th Generation Approach and the important refinements required for future success.
Highlights
IntroductionThe journey towards Higher Education graduation is often viewed as an individual endeavor, but in reality, it is shared with family, friends, teachers, advisors and fellow students
The journey towards Higher Education graduation is often viewed as an individual endeavor, but in reality, it is shared with family, friends, teachers, advisors and fellow students. It is their support in the critical First Year in Higher Education (FYHE) that can determine whether a student will complete their undergraduate journey and achieve their dreams
The FY student is at the centre of transition approaches with each aiming to encourage and aid the student’s “engagement, support and belonging” (Kift, Nelson, & Clarke, 2010, p. 1), the 1st to 3rd Generation Approaches emerge from institutional mores and resources
Summary
The journey towards Higher Education graduation is often viewed as an individual endeavor, but in reality, it is shared with family, friends, teachers, advisors and fellow students. It is their support in the critical First Year in Higher Education (FYHE) that can determine whether a student will complete their undergraduate journey and achieve their dreams. Kift’s (2008) exhortation that the FYHE is “everybody’s business” was to ensure holistic support for the First Year (FY) student This sentiment and Kift, Nelson, and Clarke’s (2010) 3rd Generation Approach laid the foundation for our development of the 4th Generation Approach to the FYHE (Penn-Edwards & Donnison, 2014). The students are isolated from their backgrounds and society and asked to assimilate into the institution, albeit supported by transition pedagogy
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