Whose University is it anyway? The complex world(s) of lifelong (higher) learning, government policy and institutional

1. Whose University is it anyway? The complex world(s) of lifelong (higher) learning, government policy and institutional habitus. Liz Marr and Morag Harvey Centre for Inclusion and Curriculum Open University EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

2. Contents • Objectives • Background – the public university • The research – OPULL • The interviews • Discussion • Caveat: Work in progress EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

3. Objectives • Exploring barriers to lifelong learning (especially higher level learning) • Considering the role of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) • Examining attitudes to RPL • The return of the public university EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

4. The public university 1 • The purpose of education is life-enhancing: it contributes to the whole quality of life. This recognition of the purpose of higher education in the development of our people, our society and our economy is central to our vision. In the next century, the economically successful nations will be those which become learning societies: where all are committed, through effectiveeducation and training, to lifelong learning. Dearing Review of Higher Education, 1997, 12 EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

5. The Public University 2 Colleges and universities… all exist to serve public purposes… they should be held accountable for preparing students to be competent citizens, domestically and globally. Lagemann and Lewis (2012, p12) EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

6. The Public University 3 • The multiversity (Clark Kerr) • The modern university as a multiplicity of functional communities • A research university located in a mass education system • Conflict between external pressures for employability and training and internal perceptions of academia as disciplinary apprenticeship arena (see Holmwood, 2011) • Cf Barnett - supercomplexity EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

7. OPULL • Opening Universities to Lifelong Learning through establishing a European model for Open Universities • Partners: • Leuphana University of Luneburg, Germany (Lead) • University of Southern Denmark • University of Helsinki • Open University UK • Funding: German Federal Ministry for Education and Science (BMBF) EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

8. OPULL phases • Phase 1. Mapping educational systems and analysing general frameworks • Phase 2. Testing and evaluating models of Open Universities and RPL • Survey of students in each country (N= 984) • Interviews with (N=53) • national experts on QA , RPL and competence-based admissions • students to probe through construction of biographies, factors which influence success • Phase 3. Modelling Open Universities , RPL systems and Competence-based admissions processes EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

9. The Interviews • Focus • Does the recognition of RPL work? • What do stakeholders think of RPL? • Why is it rarely used? • What can be done to foster its use? • Questions concentrated on fairness, validity, use and understanding • interviewees in four countries • Academic and academic related staff • Students • Other – policy-makers, business, employers EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

10. Purpose of higher education – employability • Higher education is something that enables you to further your education and to enhance your learning and knowledge but not just from a work point of view but from a personal point of view • To get a better job you need a specific qualification • The end result is to come out with a decent degree but there are also the social skills • From my view it would be employability • First and foremost for most people it is for work, the development of a career EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

11. Purpose of higher education – personal learning • It is to learn. People who have a broad and deep understanding of the world tend to be more compassionate and have more empathy and are less likely to go to war and things like that. • I wouldn't want to see a situation where it was all just related to getting a job as it serves another purpose as well which is personal development. • It benefits society in addition to the individual as well as expanding their knowledge and understanding and also their ability to participate in a more full way in community life • Many people will want to pursue education purely for personal development EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

12. Purpose of HE - plurality • A major part of education is being able to train and equip people with knowledge such that they can pursue a job, such that they can develop their career, develop their interests, make the most of what they are capable of doing • It benefits society in addition to the individual as well as expanding their knowledge and understanding and also their ability to participate in a more full way in community life • It has multiple purpose and you have to say purpose to whom? EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

13. Perceptions of RPL • People who haven’t done HE see people who have as somehow being better or smarter. • It is not until you are in a working environment where you actually get to use that knowledge and those skills that it starts to make sense and actually becomes a useable education • … people look down on learning from experience and rate HE study more EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

14. Assessing RPL – student views • You need to find a way of comparing that knowledge that someone has built up with…the academic knowledge that someone has gained. • It might be difficult to record and monitor and to find the right organisation to actually accredit or validate what the prior learning has been • My concern is how you measure prior learning and make sure that it is at the appropriate level EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

15. RPL – Academic attitudes • They will only get the credit once they have done some study with us as well to ensure they have this HE input to their studies • …you have to ask the question, - well how are we going to evaluate what skills they do have and what stage they are at? • There have to be measures which equate with the measures of validity in the academic worlds so traditionally that has been something like essays or exams or something where you are proving what you know is on the same level. EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

16. I think we should but….. • Arts has difficulty in handling this new vocational agenda. It is much less clear to many people how Arts is relevant to vocations. • Some people might think it would be just as easy to do the actual course • There is a reluctance for colleagues to engage with it as they are generally nervous about it as it is seen as possibly lowering standards EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

17. Ivory towers persist? • It is academic snobbery. It is pure and simple self preservation of what it means to be a higher education institute and preserving status of what that is. (UK academic) • … because of the conceit (Dunkelhaftigkeit) of our academic education itself. Universities are pretty stuck-up and conceited. (German academic) • The issues we work with the most are the internal objections. ‘We have our own way of thinking: what we do is the right thing’(Danish academic) EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

18. Some emerging themes • Ability vs knowledge • Vocational vs academic learning • Experiential learning vs theoretical knowledge • Rote learning vs professional development • A clash of life worlds EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012

19. Concluding remarks • Student perceptions of university status appear to be consistent with academic staff perceptions • Universities seem to talk the talk…….. • The relationship between government policies for higher education and university as a public good is complex. • Barriers to lifelong learning in higher education are not just financial, they are also cultural and attitudinal and therefore much more challenging to dismantle. EAN Annual Conference Zagreb 2012