Supporting Student Transitions 14-19

Approaches to teaching and learning

John Bostock, Jane Wood

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317650188
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Educación general

Supporting Student Transitions 14-19 offers transition focused approaches to planning, teaching, learning and assessment designed to meet the needs of these unique learners. Drawing upon the latest research and theory, as well as the authors' extensive experience in the field, it examines in detail transitions in teaching and learning in this complex sector.

Drawing out and critically analysing the key features of both pedagogy and andragogy, the book presents the best elements of each to provide all tutors and practitioners involved in the teaching of 14-19 learners with clear strategies for supporting this group. Practical advice backed by sound theory will provide readers with a clear understanding of the requirements and needs of learners in the school, college and university. Topics explored include:

• The role of the teacher in supporting student transitions
• Understanding transition focused approaches
• Emotional and social factors involved
• Recognising difficulties and helping students prepare

Supporting Student Transitions 14-19 is a practical guide also offering a unique contribution to the discourse on this important sector of education, increasingly afforded the attention it deserves. It will be an essential resource for trainee teachers, students of PCET, lecturers and teachers wanting to build upon their understanding of this group of learners.

Part I

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Relationships

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Chapter 1

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Introduction

New approaches to transition phases

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Introduction

This introduction considers a transitions-focused approach to teaching 14–19 year olds and identifies why it is essential for teachers to manage the transition from school to college and from college to university for their students. This chapter will promote an understanding of these transitions-focused approaches and their relevance in improving learning, teaching, assessment, retention and achievement in these crucial transition phases.

We strongly believe that transitions involve much more than the move from one physical location to another or an age transition from one school to another. We suggest that transitions are profound periods of change and transformation in the lives of students and as such should be studied and managed to ensure students are able to grow and thrive during these difficult phases in their education. For the purposes of this book we use the term transition to mean the process of changing from one educational establishment to another, engendering a period of personal growth while facing challenges and demands, and where the chance to become a new person can be exploited. We do not believe that transitions are always negative experiences and we propose that they need not be troubled or problematic. With the help and support of teachers and support staff at both institutions, they can be a positive experience of challenge, growth and achievement.

Crafter and Maunder (2012) define transitions as being about a change in self-identity born out of uncertainty in the social and cultural worlds of the individual. They suggest that transitions can be best understood by taking into account the social and cultural situatedness of human thought and action. It is important to understand from this that transitions are complex and multifaceted and often involve a change in the very personality of the person involved. This might be enhanced by a period of personal reflection, development and growth by the individual student and will be different in each case.

Vygotsky (1978) developed sociocultural theory based on the premise that children develop by reconstructing cultural knowledge from previous generations of the communities into which they are born. This shows that a child’s development is not just a maturing process as it exists within a historic and cultural bias and that it is profoundly influenced by the communities in which the children live. It is likely, then, that although your students will live in relative proximity to your organisation they will have come from different schools, different communities and have different personal histories. They will be undertaking different journeys and will bring different identities, beliefs and knowledge with them. The changes that take place for each student may take the form of knowledge construction, a change in identity or a change in social position, or any combination of these.

In Post-Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) the lateral transition that occurs when students move from school to college or from college to university has been researched extensively. There is a lot of research to suggest that prior experiences of learning are used to inform expectations about and comparisons with further study. The transition from one learning environment to another involves the student reflecting on their experiences of prior contexts and reconstructing this experience to adapt it to the new context. Beach (1999) identifies this transition as a struggle that has the potential to alter one’s sense of self.

The difficulty arises when a student’s previous experiences of education have not been positive and they bring with them baggage that impedes their ability to learn and to benefit from the experiences at the new organisation. A previously negative self-image as a student that has been reinforced throughout secondary education can be difficult to shake off and even though the new organisation offers a clean slate or new start, students can often struggle to make the most of this opportunity. We will attempt to look at strategies you could use to help students to review and reassess their self-image in chapter 2.

The uncertainty that sometimes arises from change has been referred to by Zittoun (2006) as a ‘rupture’. Ruptures would not be simple everyday changes, but rather they are episodes that engender uncertainty or disquiet. As such, they need to be considered important and managed appropriately. An example of a rupture might be encountering and getting to know new people. This might involve a reorientation of identity based on how the individual is reflected through their interactions with these new people. Students go through a period of social comparison when adjusting to a new environment, comparing themselves with other students and using this comparison to see where they ‘fit in’. They may situate themselves in the new group in a different social position than in previous educational experiences, intentionally or unintentionally. They may move from being a victim of bullying to a bully or vice versa. They might move from being a ‘geek’ to being a rebel etc. These changes might be conscious or unconscious decisions by that specific student or they might be a reflection of the make-up of the new group and the new group’s pressure to conform. These transitional behaviours will be considered in more depth in chapter 4.

Wenger (1998) presents ‘Communities of Practice’ (CoP) as a social theory of learning where social participation in a community is central for learning to take place. No one learns in a vacuum. We all need to interact with our surroundings in order to learn and develop and Wenger identifies this social ‘situatedness’ as a CoP. The participation in a CoP therefore ‘shapes not only what we do, but also who we are and how we interpret what we do’ (Wenger 1998: 4). Transition in a CoP framework, therefore, refers to the process of joining and becoming members of a new CoP, and the transition happens not only to the individual, but also to the community itself by the very inclusion of new members. In this way transitions are very much seen as a two-way process that changes the student and also the learning organisation.

Transitions are not to be seen as isolated ventures but as a prolonged period of social interaction and active participation with others during the introduction to and the settling into new CoP. This might be over a period of weeks or months depending on the specific student. Students can be supported through this period of transition by buddies or peer supporters and also by mentors and teaching staff in both the transition organisations. We will explore these relationships further in chapter 3.

Positive peer relationships are seen to be crucial alongside the role of previous sociocultural experiences, meaning that all students will experience transitions differently. The very journey of transition is important as it is identity-shaping and students will need to be allowed to make their own meaning from the transition journey and to reflect on their personal experiences and feelings in order to re-form their own identities.

Hernandez-Martinez et al. (2011) suggest that there are three main areas of concern facing students during transition periods. These are:

1 The social dimension – this involves students becoming comfortable in the new organisation and making friends and acquiring a sense of belonging.

2 The continuation of curriculum and pedagogy/andragogy – this involves an awareness of the gap between educational practices in both institutions and a sustained focus by staff on how that gap can be bridged and students supported in understanding any changes.

3 Individual progression – this involves the new organisation taking into account the individual history and background of each student.

These areas will be explored in more detail in subsequent chapters. There are some very specific areas of concern about the transition into PCET from school which focus on the fact that GCSE courses do not always prepare individuals to be independent students and specifically do not prepare them for advanced level study. This will also be explored further.

Holland et al. (1998) discuss the concept of ‘positioning’ to explain how students’ identities are developed through continuous participation in social organisations. This means that students are constructing themselves through their interaction with specific organisations, the programmes they study and the activities of learning. It is through this concept that we realise students construct their identities as they travel from school to college and from college to work or university, where they encounter different social relationships and are positioned in different ways in the different organisations.

Because subject studies in PCET are voluntary and selected by the students, then the identity that the student develops is often based around that subject and the career trajectory they wish to follow. This will influence their choices of subjects and further study and also their developing sense of self.

Going to college is often a major change in the social scene, and involves radical changes in curriculum, classroom practice and pedagogy/andragogy. Teachers talk differently and students are expected to be more autonomous and independent. Students who are making this transition often view it as growing up and so as a ‘consequential transition’ (Beach 2003) and therefore accept the intellectual changes and challenges it involves.

Beach further posits that, as a construct in education, transition refers to the appearance of a person carrying the product of learning from one task, problem, situation or institution to another. We therefore need to develop an understanding about how we experience continuity and transformation in becoming someone or something new, and how these consequential transitio...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of illustrations
• Forewords
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Part 1 Relationships
• Part 2 Teaching, learning and assessment
• Notes
• Reference
• Index