Successful outcomes in vocational education and training courses : how pedagogy and expectations influence achievement

This paper reports on a four year Australian Research Council funded Linkage Project titled Skilling Indigenous Queensland, conducted in regional areas of Queensland, Australia from 2009 to 2013. The project sought to investigate vocational education, training (VET) and teaching, Indigenous learners’ needs, employer cultural and expectations and community culture and expectations to identify best practice in numeracy teaching for Indigenous VET learners. Specifically it focused on ways to enhance the teaching and learning of courses and the associated mathematics in such courses to benefit learners and increase their future opportunities of employment. To date thirty-nine teachers/trainers/teacher aides and two hundred and thirty-one students consented to participate in the project. Nine VET courses were nominated to be the focus on the study. This paper focuses on questionnaire and interview responses from four trainers, two teacher aides and six students. In recent years a considerable amount of funding has been allocated to increasing Indigenous Peoples’ participation in education and employment. This increased funding is predicated on the assumption that it will make a difference and contribute to closing the education gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians (Council of Australia Governments, 2009). The central tenet is that access to education for Indigenous People will create substantial social and economic benefits for regional and remote Indigenous People. The project’s aim is to address some of the issues associated with the gap. To achieve the aims, the project adopted a mixed methods design aimed at benefitting research participants and included: participatory collaborative action research (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988) and, community research (Smith, 1999). Participatory collaborative action research refers to a is a “collective, self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own social and educational practices” (Kemmis et al., 1988, p. 5). Community research is described as an approach that “conveys a much more intimate, human and self-defined space” (p. 127). Community research relies on and validates the community’s own definitions. As the project is informed by the social at a community level, it is described as “community action research or emancipatory research” (Smith, 1999, p. 127). It seeks to demonstrate benefit to the community, making positive differences in the lives of Indigenous People and communities. The data collection techniques included survey questionnaires, video recording of teaching and learning processes, teacher reflective video analysis of teaching, observations, semi-structured interviews and student numeracy testing. As a result of these processes, the findings indicate that VET course teachers work hard to adopt contextualising strategies to their teaching, however this process is not always straight forward because of the perceptions of how mathematics has been taught and learned historically. Further teachers, trainers and students have high expectations of one another with the view to successful outcomes from the courses.

Successful outcomes in vocational education and training courses and mathematics: how pedagogy and expectations influence achievement

This paper reports on a four year Australian Research Council funded Linkage Project titled Skilling Indigenous Queensland, conducted in regional areas of Queensland, Australia from 2009 to 2013. The project sought to investigate Vocational Education and Training (VET) and teaching, Indigenous learners’ needs, employer culture and expectations and community culture and expectations to identify best practice in numeracy teaching for Indigenous VET learners. Specifically it focused on ways to enhance the teaching and learning of courses and the associated mathematics in such courses to benefit learners and increase their future opportunities of employment. To date thirty - nine teachers/trainers/teacher aides and two hundred and thirty - one students consented to participate in the project. Nine VET courses offered in schools and Technical and Further Education Institutes (TAFE) were nominated to be the focus on the study. This paper focuses on student questionnaire responses and interview responses from teachers/trainers one high school principal and five students as a result of these processes, the findings indicated that VET course teachers work hard to adopt contextualising strategies to their teaching; however this process is not always straight forward because of the perceptions of how mathematics has been taught and learned by trainers and teachers. Further teachers, trainers and students have high expectations of one another with the view to successful outcomes from the courses.

Service-learning through multiple client-sponsored projects in an MBA marketing course

This paper outlines an approach for teaching Marketing Principles in an MBA course through service-learning to enable adult learners to connect the lectures’ marketing content to a real-world marketing project. During the course, 40 students in groups of four to five individuals were involved in eight different client-sponsored marketing projects executed simultaneously. The rationale, planning and management of this approach utilised current research on service-learning, living cases and client-sponsored projects in marketing education. The experimental curriculum design is presented in a timeline that mirrors the preparation and management of the group projects and the considerations to be taken into account when initiating and facilitating the projects. Reflections from this iteration of the service-learning design suggest the importance of: detailed project planning, the involvement of students in choosing the projects, the introduction of forms and feedback loops, the role of the instructor in facilitating the students and managing expectations, and the role of the company representative in supporting the groups.

Web 2.0 e inglês como língua estrangeira: atitudes de professores e alunos adultos

O presente estudo tem por objetivos compilar e analisar percepções sobre o uso de ferramentas web 2.0 no ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira e aliar a análise de atitudes à teoria da Andragogia, que trata do aprendizado de adultos, proposta por Knowles (1973, 1975, 1984, 1990). O assunto parece não contar com estudos coordenados, visto que Thomas (2010) apenas muito recentemente editou um compêndio com trabalhos envolvendo as possíveis aplicações de recursos da web 2.0 no estudo de uma língua estrangeira e as percepções de alunos, embora outros estudos, como os de Rosell-Aguilar (2004), Conole (2008), Kárpáti (2009) e Jarvis e Szymczyk (2010) tenham discutido o assunto isoladamente. Neste trabalho é realizada a compilação das opiniões de alunos adultos e de professores de inglês como língua estrangeira. Como instrumento de coleta de dados optou-se pela utilização de questionários fechados. Tal abordagem possivelmente dá a esta pesquisa um caráter inédito, ao menos no que se refere à coleta de atitudes de alunos adultos e professores brasileiros de um curso de idiomas quanto ao uso de ferramentas web 2.0 no ensino de uma língua estrangeira. A análise dos dados mostrou que aprendizes adultos e professores têm atitudes positivas e estão preparados para a utilização de recursos web 2.0 em sala de aula. Conclui-se, entretanto, que embora a maioria dos participantes desta pesquisa concorde que o uso de tais ferramentas contribui para o ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira, alguns ajustes e procedimentos ainda devem ser implementados para que as ferramentas web 2.0 se tornem não apenas um acessório, mas parte integrante do processo de aquisição do idioma

Práticas de leitura e escrita na educação de jovens e adultos: como formar leitores e escritores?

No processo escolar de formação de leitores e escritores há um movimento ativo do sujeito com o texto, sendo o professor interlocutor e mediador desse processo. A presente pesquisa pôde verificar como a legitimação do conhecimento de mundo de sujeitos jovens e adultos com pouca ou nenhuma escolarização, em sala de aula, possibilitou o autorreconhecimento da condição de cada um como leitores e escritores. Para chegar a esse achado, investiguei práticas de leitura e escrita em uma classe de educação de jovens e adultos (EJA), buscando relacioná-las aos usos cotidianos da leitura e da escrita na vida dos sujeitos dessa classe. Busquei auxílio em contribuições teóricas de autores do campo da EJA, e de outros, cujos estudos são referência na área da leitura e da escrita e da formação de leitores e escritores, do mesmo modo que fui auxiliada na compreensão de como me valer de procedimentos metodológicos, para melhor capturar as revelações da prática pedagógica, durante o período de observação empreendido na classe. A abordagem teórico-metodológica adotada, de natureza qualitativa, contou com observações sistemáticas e instrumentos como o diário de campo, entrevistas semiestruturadas e uma ficha perfil dos sujeitos da pesquisa. Dispondo desses diversos recursos, pude perceber o processo de formação de leitores e escritores em uma turma já alfabetizada do Programa de Educação de Jovens e Adultos (PEJA) do município do Rio de Janeiro. Como reflexão final de meu estudo, arrisco afirmar que as práticas pedagógicas de leitura e escrita propostas pela professora na turma investigada rompiam com a lógica abissal (como nomeada por SANTOS, 2009), uma vez que as atividades levavam em conta a realidade e os conhecimentos dos sujeitos, não se restringindo a saberes escolares, considerados pela lógica hegemônica de hierarquia de mundo, como os únicos válidos. Outras questões, entretanto, nessas práticas de leitura e escrita puderam ser questionadas, como o fato de as atividades serem individuais, em maioria, apesar dos debates permanentes realizados no coletivo. Também o diálogo prioritariamente se dava entre professora e alunos, e não entre pares, o que restringia a horizontalidade da interlocução entre sujeitos. Por fim, reflexiono quanto à lógica escolar de organização do Programa, em que os avanços na aprendizagem têm sequência serial, o que põe em cheque concepções de continuum na EJA e, em última instância, do direito a aprender por toda a vida.

Lessons learned in an information skills training programme for a mental health Trust

Parker, R. & Urquhart, C. (2007). Lessons learned in an information skills training programme for a mental health Trust. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 24(1), 58-61.

Where there is smoke, there is (the potential for) fire: soft indicators of research and policy impact

There is a growing literature examining the impact of research on informing policy, and of research and policy on practice. Research and policy do not have the same types of impact on practice but can be evaluated using similar approaches. Sometimes the literature provides a platform for methodological debate but mostly it is concerned with how research can link to improvements in the process and outcomes of education, how it can promote innovative policies and practice, and how it may be successfully disseminated. Whether research-informed or research-based, policy and its implementation is often assessed on such 'hard' indicators of impact as changes in the number of students gaining five or more A to C grades in national examinations or a percentage fall in the number of exclusions in inner city schools. Such measures are necessarily crude, with large samples smoothing out errors and disguising instances of significant success or failure. Even when 'measurable' in such a fashion, however, the impact of any educational change or intervention may require a period of years to become observable. This paper considers circumstances in which short-term change may be implausible or difficult to observe. It explores how impact is currently theorized and researched and promotes the concept of 'soft' indicators of impact in circumstances in which the pursuit of conventional quantitative and qualitative evidence is rendered impractical within a reasonable cost and timeframe. Such indicators are characterized by their avowedly subjective, anecdotal and impressionistic provenance and have particular importance in the context of complex community education issues where the assessment of any impact often faces considerable problems of access. These indicators include the testimonies of those on whom the research intervention or policy focuses (for example, students, adult learners), the formative effects that are often reported (for example, by head teachers, community leaders) and media coverage. The collation and convergence of a wide variety of soft indicators (Where there is smoke …) is argued to offer a credible means of identifying subtle processes that are often neglected as evidence of potential and actual impact (… there is fire).

New Irish speakers and the ‘gaelicisation’ of Belfast

New Irish speakers in Belfast play a crucial, complex part in the revitalization and change of both the city and Irish within Northern Ireland. This paper examines the role of new Irish speakers in transforming Belfast, whose emergence from a post-conflict period involves a reassessment of communal cultural expressions. Markers of ethno-national identity are bitterly contentious locally, and yet increasingly celebrated, in line with international trends, as high status cultural forms and potentially profitable tourist attractions. Irish in Belfast currently occupies an ambiguous position: divisive enough for a sign reading ‘Happy Christmas’ in Irish to be experienced as an insult by some city councillors, yet a secure enough part of the establishment for a neighbourhood to be officially rebranded as the Gaeltacht Quarter.
When, how and where new Irish speakers use the language in Belfast has implications for the relationship of Irishness to the Northern Irish state and for the place of Belfast within regional frameworks across the UK, Ireland and Europe. Adult learners and young people exiting Irish medium education have an impact on life in Belfast beyond its small population of Irish speakers. Urbanisation fuelled by new speakers, which shifts the balance of Irish language resources and speakers away from traditional rural Gaeltacht areas and towards cities, also has implications for the language itself. Recent increase in new Irish speakers in Belfast is due to expansion in the Irish-medium sector as well as to adult learners, whose decisions contribute to the school expansion.
Urbanisation, multilingualism and intergenerational shift combine in Belfast to produce new linguistic norms. Moreover, in a minority language community where hierarchies of ‘authenticity’ are weighted towards the rural and the native speaker, where the rural and the native have traditionally been conflated, and where indigeneity is a central concept to contested nationalisms, the emergence of a self-confident, youthful Irish speaking community in Northern Ireland’s biggest city involves a recalibration of the qualities signifying ‘gaelicness’. As students, professionals, hobbyists and activists, new Irish speakers in Belfast occupy a vital position at the crux of changing ideas about place, language and identity.

Apropriação do português por adultos eslavófonos: o tempo e o aspeto

As alterações no panorama social português que ocorreram no virar do milénio, marcadas pela chegada massiva de imigrantes provenientes de países que não tinham laços históricos e linguísticos com Portugal – com destaque para as comunidades do Leste europeu –, vieram colocar novos desafios à sociedade e à escola portuguesas. Com o propósito de caracterizar o perfil de apropriação da Língua Portuguesa (LP) de aprendentes adultos eslavófonos residentes em Portugal, foram recolhidos 87 questionários e testes linguísticos junto de adultos falantes de línguas eslavas que frequentavam cursos de LP em contexto formal/ não formal. Complementarmente, foram realizadas 17 entrevistas a aprendentes e professores. A análise de dados, de carácter quantitativo e qualitativo, centrou-se em três eixos fundamentais: a) o perfil de apropriação da LP; b) a gestão dos repertórios linguísticos; e c) as dificuldades manifestadas na apropriação, compreensão e uso do sistema temporal-aspetual em LP. Para cada um destes eixos, salientamos as seguintes conclusões: a) o contexto formal/ não formal é aquele que é considerado o mais eficaz; a apropriação da LP decorre ainda em contexto de autoaprendizagem e em contexto informal. A expressão oral afigura-se como uma competência de intervenção prioritária para este público. b) os repertórios linguísticos dos informantes deste estudo são limitados em número e diversidade de línguas, estando quase circunscritos às línguas eslavas, com amplo destaque para o Russo. A influência das Línguas Maternas na apropriação da LP é percecionada, de uma forma geral, como negativa, e é reduzida a adoção de estratégias de rentabilização interlinguística. c) as principais dificuldades no que se refere ao Tempo e Aspeto prendem- -se com o modo conjuntivo, os tempos compostos, os valores secundários de alguns tempos verbais, o pretérito perfeito composto do indicativo, a distinção entre o pretérito perfeito simples e o pretérito imperfeito do indicativo e a distinção entre os verbos ‘ser’ e ‘estar’. De uma forma global, apontam-se como pistas de intervenção a criação de cursos de LP de nível mais avançado, uma maior rentabilização do capital linguístico presente em sala de aula e a frequência, por parte dos docentes, de formação em línguas eslavas. A nível de recursos didáticos, sugere-se a elaboração de materiais bilingues para autoaprendizagem e de materiais de apoio ao professor. Seria igualmente útil a promoção de mais oportunidades de interação entre imigrantes e nativos.

Referencial de competências-chave na área de sociedade, tecnologia e ciência : adequação e pertinência

Trabalho de projecto de mestrado, Ciências da Educação (Formação de Adultos), Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Educação, 2011

Understanding the Patient Experience Through the Power of Film: a Mixed Method Qualitative Research Project

Film is a highly attractive teaching instrument for the study of different terminal diseases, exploring bioethics (Beauchamp and Childress, 2009) and is a preferred medium over traditional lectures (Edmunds, 2013) to provide realistic examples for adult learners. It can tap into ethical issues; facilitate decision-making; and examine underlying issues such as euthanasia; assisted suicide; and professional responsibility. Contrast this with standard means of teaching, such as scenarios- although a useful pedagogic tool, these are limited because students must imagine the clinical scenario. Film can fill that imaginative gap (Volandes, 2007). It can be utilised as an active teaching strategy for a variety of topics in nursing (Edmunds, 2013) providing a unique way to promote active learning in nursing education (Herrman, 2006). The objectives of the study, aim to help pre registration student nurses from each year of study to engage with their role as health care professionals; provide open discussion and debate on how they view the personal experience of illness/disease/disability/death and to reflect on their role and provision of patient care. It is delivered in 3 tiers to provide a range of data for thematic analysis; 1) Film screening followed by a ‘5 minute reaction’ discussion and post screening questionnaire; 2) Pre screening guided activities for reflection and discussion; 3) Focus groups. This project meets identified aims from the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) by fostering creative and innovative approaches to teaching and learning; facilitating and supporting the design and delivery of continuing education development programmes and activities; and demonstrates professionalism that staff and institutions bring to teaching. Preliminary feedback and themes will be presented.

Exploring the events that engage graduate students in transformative learning /

This research explored the events that engaged graduate students in transformative learning within a graduate program in education. This context was chosen because one objective of a graduate program is to facilitate critical thinking and transformative learning. The question ofhow adult learners perceive and experience learning steered the direction ofthis study. However, the purpose ofthis research was to study critical incidents that led to profound cognitive and affective changes as perceived by the graduate students. Specifically, the questions to be answered were what critical incidents happened to graduate students while in the Master ofEducation program, how were the incidents experienced, and what transformation resulted? The research design evolved over the course of a year and was highly influenced by previous empirical studies and criticisms oftransformative learning theory. The overall design was qualitative and phenomenological. A critical and interpretive approach was made to empirical data collected through a critical incident questionnaire and in-depth interviews. Inductive analysis allowed theory to be built from the data by making comparisons. New questions emerged and attention was given to social context, the passage oftime, and sequence ofevents in order to give meaning and translation ofthe participants' experiences and to build the interpretive narratives. Deductive analysis was also used on the data and a blending ofthe two forms of analysis; this resulted in the development ofa foundational model for transformative learning to be built.The data revealed critical incidents outside ofthe graduate school program that occurred in childhood or adult life prior to graduate school. Since context of individuals' lives had been an important critique of past transformative learning models and studies, this research expanded the original boundaries of this study beyond graduate school to incorporate incidents that occurred outside of graduate school. Critical incidents were categorized into time-related, people-related, and circumstancerelated themes. It was clear that participants were influenced and molded by the stage oftheir life, personal experiences, familial and cultural conditioning, and even historic events. The model developed in this document fiom an overview ofthe fmdings identifies a four-stage process of life difficulty, disintegration, reintegration, and completion that all participants' followed. The blended analysis was revealed from the description ofhow the incidents were experienced by the participants. The final categories were what were the feelings, what was happening, and what was the enviromnent? The resulting transformation was initially only going to consider cognitive and affective changes, however, it was apparent that contextual changes also occurred for all participants, so this category was also included. The model was described with the construction metaphor of a building "foimdation" to illustrate the variety of conditions that are necessary for transformative learning to occur. Since this was an exploratory study, no prior models or processes were used in data analysis, however, it appeared that the model developed from this study incorporated existing models and provided a more encompassing life picture oftransformative learning.

Are there transformative indicators for motivation to learn?

Fourteen nursing s tudents enrolled in a community coll ege were chosen by purposeful se lection to be i nterviewed in a qualitative survey. A proposed mode l of Learner Motivation Development was examined . The mode l describes four stages of motivati on development progression across the lifespan: I Survival (infancy to childhood), I I Expl oration (childhood to adolescence), III Identification (pre- adulthood), and IV Reflection ( adulthood ). This r esearch examined the last two stages. The criteria used to categorize the students within the fr amework were bas ed on human development theories as described by Maslow (1954) and Erikson (1950). The concept of critica l thinking proposed by Brookfield (1987) and the ideas of transformative learning expressed by Mezirow (1991) were also incorporated. The researcher' s criteria , antici pated behaviours and characteri stics, were used to ana lyze the students' responses to open-ended questions. The central theme of the research was based on the assumption that motivation to learn is intrinsic and inherent in pre-adult and adult learners. Six pre-adults and two adults met the descriptors set for stage III Identification. Five adults and one pre-adult met the criteria for stage IV Reflection. The impact of life e xperiences and maturation were clearly demonstrated.

Self-directed learning, lifelong learning and transformative learning in the Society for Creative Anachronism

This study examines the connection between leisure group participation and learning activities undertaken by participants in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), a medieval recreationist group. The thesis of this connection was developed through the researcher's observations during SCA participation. The intent of this study is to understand adult learning from the self-directed learning, lifelong learning, and -transformative learning components derived from participant's SCA experiences. This qualitative study was conducted by interviewing eight active SCA participants, two in each participation theme of historical research, artistic representation, performance, and martial skills. Informants' responses demonstrated an integration of their leisure activity with learning. The contextualization of learning a s both a primary activity and a necessary support to participation, places learning a t the heart of participants' SCA related activities. The positive descriptions of learning activities, descriptive terms of ownership, and situating learning as an enjoyable activity engaged for the pleasure of the experience, provides adult educators with a fascinating glimpse of willing and engaged adult learners pursuing lifelong learning outside of the traditional educational structure. Two themes emerged during the interviews. First, bonding with others provided the motivation to continue their activities. Secondly, a feeling of commitment and helonging defined their enjoyment and satisfaction with SCA participation. The clear implications are that adult educators can create effective learning communities by developing educational structures that engage adult learners wi th meaningful social interaction.

Disquietude: A Sonata-Form Inquiry Into Multiliteracies Practices in an EAL Classroom

This narrative case study describes an English as an Additional Language teacher’s struggle to understand her young adult learners’ apparent resistance toward multiliteracies pedagogical practices in a college setting. Multiliteracies Pedagogy (New London Group, 1996) advocates the use of digital media, and home languages and culture, to engage diverse youth in designing personally meaningful multimodal texts that can significantly impact learner identity, voice, and agency. This arts-based study uses an innovative sonata-style format to document the making of a class documentary, accompanied by teacher reflections on the video project in the form of poetry, journal excerpts, and classroom dialogue. The sonata form provides a unique methodology for teacher inquiry, allowing the teacher-researcher to explore the ways in which curriculum, pedagogy, and sociocultural influences intersect in the classroom. The study does not end with a clear resolution of the problem; instead, the process of inquiry leads to deeper understandings of what it means to teach in the complex worlds of diverse learners.