‘We all know why we’re here’: Learning as a community of practice on Access to HE courses

Nalita James,Hugh Busher,Beth Suttill

doi:10.1080/0309877x.2015.1014319

Nalita James, Hugh Busher + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877x.2015.1014319

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Abstract

This article examines the extent to which Access to Higher Education courses can be defined as communities of practice. Other studies have already revealed the importance of mutual engagement and supportive relationships between students and between students and tutors in facilitating learning. While previous studies carried out on Access to HE (AHE) courses in England and Wales have largely focused on single colleges, the study that this article draws on was carried out in three urban further education (FE) colleges using a linked case studies design and a social interactivist lens. It investigated mature students’ perspectives of their changing learning identities through their developing relationships with their tutors and with each other during their AHE courses. Qualitative data was collected from five to six self-selecting AHE students in each college using focus group interviews and from their tutors using individual interviews. The findings suggest that the AHE students in this study generally participated and interacted in a supportive and collaborative way, guided by their tutors, and how and why they did this. This mutual engagement around particular core values helped to construct communities of practice, although some students remained peripheral participants. Within these communities were considerable inequalities of power, largely sustained by the institutional structures and professional discourses within which the AHE courses were located.

Highlights

Access to HE – A shifting contextAccess to Higher Education (AHE) is a one-year diploma qualification which is designed to prepare adult learners for study at university and is aimed at those ‘excluded, delayed or otherwise deterred by a need to qualify for entry in more conventional ways’ (Parry 1996, 11)
The policy has drawn significant criticism from groups involved with work based, vocational and adult education who have argued that broader participation should be about providing second and third educational opportunities for adult learners who have been unable to benefit from the school system (Fenge, 2011)
This multi-site case study used a social interactionist framework (Lave and Wenger 1991) and linked case study design (Miles and Huberman 1994) to investigate mature adult students' perspectives of their changing learning identities through their developing relationships with their tutors and with each other during their participation in Access to HE courses. Students and their tutors, were asked: Why Access to HE students after leaving school change their views on learning and themselves as learners; the nature and importance of the learning relationships constructed on AHE courses; and how AHE students’ perceptions of their courses and Higher Education are affected by changing policy contexts

Summary

Introduction

Access to Higher Education (AHE) is a one-year diploma qualification which is designed to prepare adult learners (aged 19+) for study at university and is aimed at those ‘excluded, delayed or otherwise deterred by a need to qualify for (university) entry in more conventional ways’ (Parry 1996, 11). The current (2014) British government emphasises the importance and value of education for developing an economy centred on knowledge and skills (BIS 2010, 2012) It has prioritised the involvement of young people under 24 years old, in part to lessen the impact of high youth unemployment, rather than ensuring increased participation by those groups of people who are currently under-represented in higher education. AHE courses, often regarded as the “Cinderella of the education system” (Franklin 2006, 1), are largely taught within the context of the FE sector in England and Wales, itself often perceived as having a ‘historical Cinderella like image’ (James and Biesta 2007, 9) These colleges are ‘commonly regarded as at the centre of providing opportunities for lifelong learning, and a means of promoting economic growth and social cohesion’ (Jephcote et al 2008, 164) and are often perceived as a 'last chance saloon' for people who have under-achieved previously in education. It leads us to challenge critically what is meant by a community of practice in particular educational contexts

Learning and Communities of Practice

The Research Study

Access to HE courses as learning communities

Discussion and conclusion