The Effects of the Marketization Of Post-Compulsory Education (PCE) on Pedagogic Practice, and Creating a Positive Change in that Environment

Author(s):

Shane Payne(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

ERG SES D 12, Institutional Frameworks in Education

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-21

13:30-15:00

Room:

W4.21

Chair:

Janinka Greenwood

Contribution

The Post-Compulsory Education (PCE) sector is becoming increasingly marketized, something that is being echoed across Europe. Within such institutions there is a need to ‘deliver’ programmes as efficiently as possible to make them cost effective, yet, importantly, aim to have as many students as possible achieve the qualification. With this comes a need to monitor the effectiveness of the lecturers and make them more accountable for the success of their students. This study explores how the effects of monitoring and accountability have impacted on the lecturers’ pedagogic practice and how it has resulted in a narrowing of the curriculum. As a result, the students are not being given the opportunity to achieve to the best of their ability and develop a deeper subject knowledge. This study will endeavour to find a pedagogic approach that will address this issue.

The research questions are:

How do lecturers experience monitoring and accountability when teaching HE in the PCE classroom and what has that meant for learning and teaching?
What kind of methodological design/approach would be best used to investigate a complex environment such as the PCE classroom?
How can bricolage be used as an approach to identify the interconnections of different phenomena?
Can a revised pedagogic approach be developed to encourage deeper learning and understanding in the PCE classroom?
What is the impact of a revised approach to pedagogy on student learning?

The research questions 1 – 4 are exploratory and are designed to inform the actions that will be taken to address question 5.

Epistemologically, my view is that knowledge is whatever I deem to be practically useful for any aspect of the study. Given that I am using an iterative process where the detail and direction may change in terms of the acquired knowledge, the nature of the knowledge or the understanding of the knowledge, an epistemological stance of pragmatism was be adopted. For the pragmatist, an ideology can only be true if thoughts, beliefs and statements are verified by generating practical consequences (Gray, 2014; Howell, 2013). Therefore, the pragmatic approach to research asserts that questions cannot be based on theory alone, there must be some element of practical experience to support it (Dewey, 1950). Pragmatism’s renewed popularity is in some part because it provides an epistemological justification to mix different methods and approaches (Onwuegbuzie et al., 2009).

Ontologically, the research is being conducted from a realist and idealistic metaphysical perspective. The realist metaphysical position will be adopted because, independently of thought, it accepts objects and events for what they are (Rescher, 2003); their properties, and how they relate to each other are part of the nature of the world regardless of whether or not we know about them (Khlentzos, 2011). This is complemented by an idealistic metaphysics, which contends that occurrences that are observed are ‘phenomenon of the brain’ that require an application of thought and reflection to help shape my interpretation of the events (Schopenhaur, 1966): 15-16).

An approach of Appreciative Inquiry has been used to highlight current positive aspects of pedagogic practice of participating lecturers, identifying pedagogic methods that could be used or modified to improve the learning opportunities for the students. With the epistemological stance of pragmatism, Action Research is the ideal vehicle to apply the changes and collect data. Accepting the complexity of the PCE classroom, and the many interconnected strands that may need to be investigated, the bricolage approach is being applied to support a realist and idealistic ontological approach giving the freedom to determine what reality is and free me as the researcher from any single philosophical stance.

Method

Appreciative Inquiry: is a method that has been applied to the study to show how procedures and structures work when at their best. It explores the best approach to personal change by engaging in dialogue and raising positive questions based on successes, dreams, hopes and aspirations (Kelm, 2011; Whitney and Trosten-Bloom, 2003). By considering these aspects along with the strengths, I am in a position to identify ways in which practice could be transformed for the better. Appreciative Inquiry is both collaborative and participatory and relies on interactive techniques such as discussion and interviews to inform the action research (Whitney and Trosten-Bloom, 2003). Action Research: is being used as the basis for developing change (research question 5) to develop and trial the practical and theoretical changes that I want to incorporate into the classroom to improve pedagogic practice. By taking positive, practical action and making changes towards the classroom approach, I will be able to interpret the participants’ views on how well (or not) the actions went towards addressing a particular area of focus. The original action research model by Lewin (1946) involves 3 moments in a cyclical process. For this study I have chosen to use the extended action research model by Townsend (2013), which consists of 6 stages. This action research model allows for changes of foci that may occur through regular reconnaissance and reflection, which will be ideal for the complex environment in which the study will be conducted. Bricolage: is an important approach when carrying out the action research and analysing potentially large amounts of diverse data from such a complex environment. To a degree, bricolage frees me as the researcher from the constraints of single philosophical stances allowing me to adopt a pragmatic perspective using those methods that best suit any particular context (Lévi-Strauss, 1966). However, bricolage is not an ‘anything goes’ approach but respects the complexity of interpreting the data, allowing the contextual circumstances to dictate the most appropriate mode of gathering and analysing data (Denzin and Lincoln, 1999). This flexibility of approach will give me the freedom to peel away the different layers of discovery, such as inter-relationships and external influences, that I may encounter whilst trying to understand an environment as complex as the classroom. Bricolage will give rigour and an informed and multi-perspectival way in which to discover the lived world (Bridges, 1997; Foster, 1997).

Expected Outcomes

The research conducted so far shows that monitoring and accountability does appear to have an effect on the pedagogic practice in the PCE classroom. There are high expectations placed on lecturers to ensure that students achieve qualifications, largely due to funding for students only being made available to PCE’s upon successful completion of courses. Therefore, PCE organisations are under pressure to generate as much funding as they can to remain operational, so they need as many students to pass their courses as possible. As a result, the responsibility placed on lecturers inevitably leads to them teaching to the test/unit criteria. Following discussion with the teaching staff on what they currently do well in the classroom, and what their ‘dream’ lesson would look like, and feedback from the students regarding their learning experiences and preferences, I have created a pedagogic approach that appears more effective in teaching the subjects in which the students can learn more and to a better depth of knowledge - despite the demands imposed by the monitoring and accountability on the sector. Such a model may be of interest to lecturers in European institutions who face similar challenges. Appreciative Inquiry has been a positive strategic approach to inform the Action Research, which is being used in an operational role to apply pedagogic approaches to the classroom. The views and feedback of both experienced lecturers and students have been used to inform the study. Data collected from each cycle of the action research has been thoroughly analysed and evaluated and used to inform the next cycle and the methods of data collection. The study may well conclude that a different, more structured approach to teaching and learning in the classroom is the best way, within the constraints of the marketized classroom to ensure that deeper learning takes place.

References

Bridges, D. (1997) Philosophy and educational research: A reconsideration of epistemological bounderies, Cambridge Journal of Education, 27 (2), 177-189. Denzin, N. K. and Lincoln, Y. S. (eds) (1999) The SAGE handbook of qualitative research, 3rd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Dewey, J. (1950) Art as Experience. New York: Capricorn. Foster, R. (1997) Addressing epistemologic and practical issues in multi-method research: A procedure for conceptual triangulation. Advances in Nursing Education, 20 (2), 1-12. Gray, D. E. (2014) Doing Research in the Real World, 3rd edition. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Howell, K.E. (2013) An Introduction to The Philosophy of Methodology. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Kelm, J. B. (2011) What is Appreciative Inquiry [youtube video] at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwGNZ63hj5k (accessed: 3 August 2014) Kincheloe, J. L. and Berry, K. S. (2004) Rigour and Complexity in Educational Research: Conceptualizing the bricolage. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Khlentzos, D. (2011) Challenges to Metaphysical Realism, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), (http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2011/entries/realism-sem-challenge/) Online accessed 15 August 2014. Kincheloe, J. L. and Berry, K. S. (2004) Rigour and Complexity in Educational Research: Conceptualizing the bricolage. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Lévi-Strauss, C. (1966) The Savage Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lewin, K. (1946) Action research and minority problems, Journal of Social Issues, 2 (4), 34-36. Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Johnson, R. B. and Collins, K. M. T. (2009) Call for mixed analysis: A philosophical framework for combining qualitative and quantitative approaches, International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, 3 (2), 114-139. Rescher, N. (2003) Epistemology: An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge. New York: State University New York. Schopenhaur, A. (1966) The World as Will and Representation Vols One and Two, trans. York: Dover Publications. Payne, E.F.J. New. Srivasta, S., Cooperrider, D. L. and Associates (1990) Appreciative Management and Leadership. San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Townsend, A. (2013) Action Research: The Challenges of Understanding and Changing Practice. Berkshire: Open University Press. Whitney, D. and Trosten-Bloom, A. (2003) The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide for Positive Change. San Fransisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Author Information

Shane Payne (presenting / submitting)

University of Leicester

Education

Leicester

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