Educational Learning and Development

Building and Enhancing Capacity

Margaret Baguley, Patrick Alan Danaher, Andy Davies, L. De George-Walker, Janice K. Jones, Karl J. Matthews, Warren Midgley, Catherine H. Arden, Linda De George-Walker

• Publisher: Palgrave Pivot
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781137392848
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Educational Psychology

Through ten research projects, this book explores the topic of educational learning and development in order to examine issues that are impacting, either positively or negatively, on current research in this area. The authors explore the capacity building potential of the projects and what factors impacted on or assisted their development.

1

Conceptualising and Contextualising Educational Learning and Development

Abstract: Educational learning and development is evidenced in a range of sectors and is of interest to a range of stakeholders, particularly in regards to its capacity-building potential. This introductory chapter seeks to conceptualise and contextualise this area in the following three ways. The first section will present various approaches taken in conceptualising educational learning and development, including an overview of current contexts. The second will present ten distinct empirical data sets that have been analysed and assist in conceptualising and contextualising this area. The data sets will be used in the third section to identify eight ‘hot topics’ and ‘wicked problems’ in educational policy-making and practice in order to further understand and re-conceptualise educational learning and development from new and perhaps also challenging perspectives.

Baguley, Margaret, Patrick Alan Danaher, Andy Davies, Linda De George-Walker, Janice K. Jones, Karl J. Matthews, Warren Midgley and Catherine H. Arden. Educational Learning and Development: Building and Enhancing Capacity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. DOI: 10.1057/9781137392848.0006.

Introduction

Educational learning and development is evident in a range of sectors, and is particularly attractive due to its potential to build and enhance capacity. The role of education in both learning and development is complex, diverse and dependent on context. As Freedman and Hernandez (1998) contend, ‘[C]ontext is a complex social, political and economic milieu in which theory and practice are enacted’ (cited in Bamford, 2006, p. 29). A teacher, instructor or facilitator is often involved in the learning process which encompasses many diverse areas including school-discipline subjects, vocational areas, adult learning and professional expertise. Educational qualifications are seen as an important part of professional expertise and also development (Heyneman, 2000; Pilz, 2012) with various types of evaluation and feedback playing an important part in ensuring the quality of courses and curricula being offered (Cathcart et al., 2013; Moore, 2009).

There has been increased emphasis on the relationship between assessment and its connection to quality teaching and learning in areas such as professional development (Baguley & Kerby, 2012; Nicol et al., 2014), accreditation (Geigher, 2009; Jung & Latchem, 2012), various modes of learning including online (Anasatasiades, 2012; Cheng et al., 2013) and catering for diverse learners (Hallahan et al., 2012; Richard, 2009). This reflects greater accountability across a range of sectors with standardised testing and other measures of performativity which appear to comply with neoliberal reform policies (Carr & Porfilio, 2011).

The education sector has faced many changes due to its pivotal role, particularly in the schooling system, of educating students and preparing them to live in society. It is essential in a complex and rapidly changing world that educators are able to update their knowledge and skills as required so that they can appropriately respond to the needs of a diverse range of learners. As James (2008) reveals creating capacity through processes such as professional development empowers a person to face change and uncertainty. As Baguley and Kerby (2012) contend, ‘[R]elevant and authentic professional development enhances capacity through various aspects such as supportive networking, the acquisition of new knowledge and expertise, the opportunity to pursue an area of interest and the ability to design, implement and evaluate a project’ (p. 108). The cycle of continuous feedback and evaluation is an important process for capacity-building and ensuring educational development is current, relational and relevant. This is particularly critical when ensuring learning and teaching are contextual and able to effectively cater to a diverse range of learners.

In 1960 UNESCO adopted the Convention against Discrimination in Education which seeks to discourage all forms of discrimination in the education sector. This mandate also builds upon the foundation established by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 (United Nations, 2013). Later social uprisings such as the Civil Rights movement in the United States led to formal legislation in settings such as schools and workplaces which sought to eliminate discrimination in various guises, such as in relation to gender, age, sexuality, disability, religion, race and socio-economic status.

In the education sector various approaches to teaching and learning have also been affected by such changes with one of the most important being the placement of the learner at the centre of this process. This is evidenced in the widespread implementation of constructivist approaches which draw upon the ideas of educational theorists such as Dewey, Piaget and Vygotsky. Through constructivist approaches educators have

come to value the view that as students construct knowledge, learning is organized around the purposes of the learner, including social purposes, and occurs within cultural contexts as students use the cultural tools at hand to assist them in knowledge construction. (Stewart & Walker, 2005, p. 12)

There is extensive literature related to educational learning and development which focuses on learner-centred approaches and values the role of the learner in the process (Cheville, 2010; Halpenny & Pettersen, 2014; November, 2012). This knowledge and its implementation is an important aspect of capacity-building in the education sector. Educators are also aware of learning preferences and styles, such as the Myer Briggs Type Indicator, and multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983) which assist in constructing curricula and assessment that provide opportunities for learners to demonstrate their learning in a range of ways. This view is supported by Davis’s finding (2008) in Australia’s national review of visual education that ‘the curriculum stalwarts of literacy and numeracy are no longer sufficient to equip students with the basics they need to operate in the innovation oriented, digitally wired twenty-first century’ (p. 10). Davis contends that the arts, for example, provide other ways of learning but have been diminished in the current accountability climate. These issues provide a brief overview of some of the factors which have impacted on the area of educational learning and development.

This volume is a companion piece to our previous book Contemporary Capacity-Building in Educational Contexts (Palgrave Pivot, 2014). This book has been created through the work of members from one of the three research strands of the University of Southern Queensland’s inaugural faculty research centre, known as the Capacity-Building Research Network (CBRN). (For further background information about the CBRN, please refer to the companion volume mentioned earlier.) The eight authors of this volume and its companion are members of one of the research strands of CBRN. Each member has expertise in different disciplines and areas of research which brings a richness and diversity to our writing. We have shared our data sets and in the process have been involved in different team combinations throughout the writing of both books. This process has been professionally enriching and productive and, we believe, has resulted in chapters which bring fresh perspectives to the areas under investigation.

This chapter has been divided into the following three sections:

1 The way educational learning and development has been conceptualised in current literature

2 The research projects providing the empirical data sets which inform this book

3 The ‘hot topics’ and ‘wicked problems’ that provide a framework for the book’s purpose and structure and to which an investigation of educational learning and development informed by the data sets can contribute new insights and perspectives.

This approach is intended to provide a well-structured and methodologically rigorous basis for investigating educational learning and development across the range of research projects encapsulated in the data sets and through contemporary literature.

Approaches to Conceptualising and Contextualising Educational Learning and Development

The contemporary nature and diversity of learners and educators inevitably result in a wide range of approaches towards conceptualising and contextualising educational learning and development. The importance of being able to interact socially as part of our everyday lives is essential for any transformational change. As Brown & Lambert (2013) note, ‘[S]ocial learning inevitably goes beyond that of each individual to shape the whole of society’ (p. 3). It is evident that in our personal and professional lives social learning is an essential component of being able to interact with others effectively.

Kolb (1984) developed a learning cycle that drew on the work of important theorists such as Piaget, Freire, Lewin and Jung and proposed that individual learning is based on direct experience, which he described as experiential learning. He depicted the key elements of experiential learning in a circle sequence which includes: Feeling, Watching, Thinking and Doing. Kolb posited that there are many factors which influence a person’s preferred learning style including ‘social setting, past experience, personality and occupation’ (cited in Brown & Lambert, 2013, p. 11). However, Brown and Lambert (2013) contend that Kolb’s model is based on a Western cultural model of identity and argue it was important for non-Western participants to re-design the cycle in their own terms; although they have seen that the learning cycle has been found to be effective with Indigenous Australian communities, and in Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

In addition to the impact of social learning on educational learning and development, the influence of culture is also an important element which needs consideration. There is extensive literature on the impact of multiculturalism on the education sector with a number of theorists investigating different perspectives of this area. For example, Race (2011) explores how English-speaking countries have attempted to incorporate cultural diversity and change through their education systems. Gay (2010) has investigated the beliefs and attitudes of pre-service teachers and teachers in relation to racial, cultural and ethnic differences. The implications of power and privilege in language, culture and learning form the focus of Nieto’s (2010) work which is grounded in sociocultural theory.

Throughout the extensive literature on the effect of culture on education, various terms are used to describe cultural diversity such as ‘multicultural’, ‘intercultural’ and ‘transcultural’. As Dervin et al. (2011) contend, in many cases these terms are used to resolve or minimise what is perceived of as ‘difference’. This reduction fits neatly into a climate of globalisation which seeks to homogenise experience. However, in this perceived acceleration towards ‘sameness’ there is simultaneously the human need to distinguish oneself as an individual. Increasing regulatory demands evidenced in formal, large-scale and standardised systems, such as through external testing, appear to have neglected this important aspect of human nature (Chiu et al., 2011) and have impacted on educational opportunities to take alternative directions which could consume time, resources and may not be measurable. Disillusionment with the mainstream education sector has led to an increasing number of parents and educators worldwide seeking alternative methods of education, such as home schooling, particularly for students with diverse needs such as learning disabilities (Lehr et al., 2009).

Mottaz (2002) notes that alternative education, like traditional education, is based on the belief that all childre...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• 1  Conceptualising and Contextualising Educational Learning and Development
• 2  Changes and Continuities
• 3  Collaboration
• 4  Professional Learning and Development
• 5  Individual Learning Needs and Designing Learning Programs
• 6  Information and Communication Technologies
• 7  Leadership
• 8  Learning and Teaching Styles
• 9  Individual Differences
• 10  The Transformative Potential of Educational Learning and Development
• References
• Index