Facilitating success for non-traditional students:

Possible futures for academic language and learning

Keynote AddressAALL ConferenceNovember, 2011

Professor Marcia Devlin (PhD)Deakin University

Australia

Talking about the future…

Overview

• Caveats• Australian higher education of the future• Possible futures for ALL educators and

the ALL profession

Caveats

• I’m on your side

Caveats

• I’m on your side • I would like to see ALL survive and thrive• I would like to see the work of ALL

professionals recognised and acknowledged

• I mean to imply no criticism of you, your work or your profession

Caveats

• Without John Clanchy and the ANU Study Skills Centre, I would not have:• Learnt to navigate academic discourse• Finished my first degree• Completed 4 subsequent university

qualifications• Become an ALL advisor and helped

thousands of students achieve and succeed• Become a writer or a professor and

contributed to helping tens of thousands of students achieve/succeed

Caveats

• I have based my entire presentation on personal experience and stories (and images from the internet)• AAL -> AD -> writing -> professor

• I’m aware of the limitations of anecdotal evidence and of n=1

• It’s very easy for me to sweep in here with grand ideas based on what’s worked for me…

Overview

• Caveats• Australian higher education of the future• Possible futures for AALL advisors and

the ALL profession

Australia's future in higher education

Federal government response to the Bradley Review

http://www.deewr.gov.au/HigherEducation/Pages/TransformingAustraliasHESystem.aspx

A target that by 2025, 40% of Australian 25-34 year olds will have a bachelor level or above

qual.+

A target that by 2020, 20% of higher education enrolments at undergraduate level should be

from low socio-economic backgrounds+

Increased connectivity with and articulation from VET and other pathways

+Demand driven system

=Profound changes for Australian

universities

Australian universities of the future

More students.

Australian universities of the future

More ‘non-traditional’ students.

Mature age students; VET pathways students; students from low socio-economic backgrounds; Indigenous students; rural students; students who are the first in family to attend university; off campus students; part-time students; students with parental responsibilities; and flexible entry students, among others.

Mastering the student ‘role’

Many non-traditional students have a lack of relevant role knowledge and have particular challenges to overcome in order to achieve and succeed at university.

Mastering the student ‘role’

Having given them access, Australian universities have a responsibility to facilitate achievement for these students.

Overview

• Caveats• Australian higher education of the future• Possible futures for ALL educators and

the ALL profession

Reflection

What do you think are your roles and responsibilities

in relation to the achievement and success

of these students?

Provocative suggestion #1

Your role is to remediate these students and “get them up to scratch”.

Provocative suggestion #1

Your role is to remediate these students and “get them up to scratch”.

This is what many senior managers and university executive members believe.

Provocative suggestion #1

Your role is to remediate these students and “get them up to scratch”.

This is what many senior managers and university executive members believe.

It’s very easy to fail in this endeavour.

Provocative question # 1

Why are you letting others decide your role and responsibilities, and, in particular, the performance indicators on which you

will be judged?

Provocative question # 1

Why are you letting others decide your role and responsibilities, and, in particular, the performance indicators on which you

will be judged?

You understand your role and responsibilities better than anyone.

Possible futures for ALL

Possible futures for ALL

Possible futures for ALL

1. Anticipate and meet student ALL needs (and stop here)

Possible futures for ALL

1. Anticipate and meet student ALL needs (and stop here)

2. Make (the quantity of) this work visible (and stop here)

Possible futures for ALL

1. Anticipate and meet student ALL needs (and stop here)

2. Make (the quantity of) this work visible (and stop here)

3. Help colleagues in faculties anticipate and meet student needs (and stop here)

Possible futures for ALL

1. Anticipate and meet student ALL needs (and stop here)

2. Make (the quantity of) this work visible (and stop here)

3. Help colleagues in faculties anticipate and meet student needs (and stop here)

4. Make (the quantity of) this work visible (and stop here)

Possible futures for ALL

1. Anticipate and meet student ALL needs (and stop here)

2. Make (the quantity of) this work visible (and stop here)

3. Help colleagues in faculties anticipate and meet student needs (and stop here)

4. Make (the quantity of) this work visible (and stop here)

5. Show senior leaders that this work is critical to a university’s core business 

1. Anticipate and meet student needs and stop

This is a dangerous route and end-point to takeThe work you do is invisible if you do this, despite being enormously valuableInvisibility puts you at risk of•assumptions about the value of your work•assumptions about workload•assumptions about the difficulty of the work•reduced funding•seemingly strange restructure decisions

2. Make (the quantity of) this previously invisible work visible and stopThis is a useful thing to doQuantity matters in our contexts/to our managementMake sure your message is clear (I’ll come back to this)But this is •hard to do and •not enough because you do not work alone

3. Help colleagues in faculties anticipate and meet student needs and stopEmbedding is the keyBut embedding leads to invisibility…Relationship management is criticalRelationship management takes time (and is also invisible)

4. Make (the quantity of) this work visible and stop here

This is a useful thing to doQuantity matters in our contexts/to our managementThis is hard to do wellMake sure your message is loud and clear (I’ll come back to this)

 Provocative suggestion #2 (Eloquent version)

You have kept your significant light under a bushel for too long

(After Michael Kirby)

 Provocative suggestion #3 (Blunt version)

Your profile as a profession and as professionals is far too low given the significance of your work in – enhancing the student experience– enhancing student learning– improving retention– contributing to positive student feedback– contributing to teaching quality funding

(in the near future)

5. Show senior leaders your work is critical to a university’s core business 

Provocative question #2: What is a university’s core business?

5. Show senior leaders your work is critical to a university’s core business 

•Use evidence•Use clear arguments•Once is never enough– Communicate, communicate,

communicate

Showing that your work is critical• Conduct robust examinations of your

work and its impacts:• Number of consultations• Number of and attendance at workshops• Downloads of resources• Student satisfaction with services

(evaluation, survey)• Staff testimonials about satisfaction with

‘service’

Showing that your work is critical• Conduct robust examinations of your

work and its impacts:• Mapping of integrations into subjects • Student perceptions of value/gain• Staff perceptions of value/gain• Use of your (written) work elsewhere• Peer esteem (eg, Invitations to share inter-

institutionally) (do this for each other)• Other…

Then, communicate the results

Communication strategies to consider1. Use your extensive skills in written

communication to protect and promote your profession

2. Network outside yourselves3. Manage up more strategically

Communication strategies to consider1. Use your extensive skills in written

communication to protect and promote your profession

2. Network outside yourselves3. Manage up more strategically

1. Use your writing skills to protect and promote your profession• Publish internally – to protect your area/budget/interests– to influence policy and practice– to connect with faculty colleagues

• Publish in professional magazines/publications – to share best practice/’thought

leadership’ with others quickly– to create track record– to reference (!)

1. Use your writing skills to protect and promote your profession

• Publish in popular press – to contribute to credibility– to influence institutional policy (!)– to influence national policy– To be a ‘thought leader’

Universal truths of HE publishing• If you publish it in a professional journal,

no decision maker will ever read it

Universal truths of HE publishing• If you publish it in a professional journal,

no decision maker will ever read it• If it’s in The Australian on a Wednesday,

it is The Truth and all senior leaders will read it

Universal truths of HE publishing• If you publish it in a professional journal,

no decision maker will ever read it• If it’s in The Australian on a Wednesday,

it is The Truth and all senior leaders will read it

• If it’s in Campus Review on a Monday, it is also The Truth and many senior leaders will read it (as will policy makers in Canberra)

Universal truths of HE publishing• If you publish it in a professional journal, no

decision maker will ever read it• If it’s in The Australian on a Wednesday, it is

The Truth and all senior leaders will read it• If it’s in Campus Review on a Monday, it is

also The Truth and many senior leaders will read it (as will policy makers in Canberra)

• If it’s written in plain language (hello, who are the experts in THIS?), it helps busy people understand (seemingly) complex things

Universal truths of HE• If it’s a clear and persuasive argument,

based on evidence, it will often sway opinion and be used as ‘evidence’ to inform decisions

Universal truths of HE• If it’s a clear and persuasive argument,

based on evidence, it will often sway opinion and be used as ‘evidence’ to inform decisions

• If you are the author, you develop a profile*

* This has its pros and cons…I’ve focused here on the pros

Universal truths of HE• If it’s a clear and persuasive argument,

based on evidence, it will often sway opinion and be used as ‘evidence’ to inform decisions

• If you are the author, you develop a profile*

• If you have a profile, people think you know much more than you really do

* This has its pros and cons…I’ve focused here on the pros

Universal truths of HE• If it’s a clear and persuasive argument, based

on evidence, it will often sway opinion and be used as ‘evidence’ to inform decisions

• If you are the author, you develop a profile*• If you have a profile, people think you know

much more than you really do• If people think you know much more than you

really do, they seek your opinion on many things.

* This has its pros and cons…I’ve focused here on the pros

Strategies to consider• Publish in refereed journals that policy

leaders read– Eg The Journal of Higher Education Policy

and Management– This requires you to abandon jargon and

trying to impress scholarly peers

• Tune into senior exec buzz words/ideas and use these in your communication– CReaTe + TLF eg story

Communication strategies to consider1. Use your extensive skills in written

communication to protect and promote your profession

2. Network outside yourselves3. Manage up more strategically

2. Network and develop friends all over the place– Peer friends– Faculty friends– Library friends– Friend in high places• Mentoring/advice• Advocate

Q: Why is this important?

Communication strategies to consider1. Use your extensive skills in written

communication to protect and promote your profession

2. Network outside yourselves3. Manage up more strategically

3. Manage up more strategically• Write a report and send it to the DVC(A)

but not in the same old way– Dramatic report at RMIT story

3. Manage up more strategically• Write a report and send it to the DVC(A)

but not in the same old way– Dramatic report at RMIT story

• Make it relevant to the HE and DVC(A) agenda

3. Manage up more strategically• Write a report and send it to the DVC(A)

but not in the same old way– Dramatic report at RMIT story

• Make it relevant to the HE and DVC(A) agenda

• Make it short (2 pages max)

3. Manage up more strategically• Write a report and send it to the DVC(A)

but not in the same old way– Dramatic report at RMIT story

• Make it relevant to the HE and DVC(A) agenda

• Make it short (2 pages max)• Do this a lot, repeating yourself if

necessary– Service learning story

3. Manage up more strategically• Write a report and send it to the DVC(A)

but not in the same old way– Dramatic report at RMIT story

• Make it relevant to the HE and DVC(A) agenda

• Make it short (2 pages max)• Do this a lot, repeating yourself if

necessary– Service learning story

• Develop PR vehicles – HERG yearbook story

3. Manage up more strategically• Prepare useful materials and send

copies up– Make them really readable– LSES story

Risks in doing nothing• You will be unable to facilitate, or

contribute meaningfully to, non-traditional (and other) student success

Risks in doing nothing• You will be unable to facilitate, or

contribute meaningfully to, non-traditional (and other) student success

• You will make contributions, but they will be unrecognised and this puts the ability to continue to make contributions at risk– “Invisibility = death”

Risks in doing nothing• Your role, status, success and future as

a profession will be decided by others who do not necessarily understand what you do, nor its value

Risks in doing nothing• Your role, status, success and future as a

profession will be decided by others who do not necessarily understand what you do, nor its value

• Your work will (continue to) be – seen as remedial work (and that’s not good)– seen as ‘women’s work’ or ‘housework’ (and

that’s not good)– marginalised– less successful than it could be as a whole.

Risks in doing nothing• Students, who really need your expert

help, will not get it– Without John Clanchy’s help, I would

have given up hope and dropped out– Without your help, tens of thousands of

students might have done the same (and no-one knows this, not even you)

Risks in (putting effort into) changing• Expenditure of time and effort for little

return• Frustration – it won’t all work• Failure – perhaps many times• Messing up – you are human• Treading on toes (but you do work in higher

ed…)• Exhaustion – because of all of the above– Phone a friend (see earlier advice about

networking)– Get back into it

The future is here

The time for AALL is NOW

• Low SES students are front and centre in all universities’ minds• (ISs are big in Victoria right now too)

• Standards are the new black• No-one knows what to do with/about these

matters• It’s not rocket science (but don’t say that)• This is the perfect time for you to step forward

Provocative suggestion # 4

• Revisit your goals as an organisation and include one or more related to promoting your work and your profession– Work on implementing it/them

And finally,

(please) don’t give up.

Your work is too important and valuable to leave its optimisation to chance (or business managers)

Your comments and questions

• • • •

Acknowledgements

Pictures from http://www.google.com.au/search?q=picture+of+space+age&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=B0M&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=eNrJTquzFImZiAfF-I0H&ved=0CCkQsAQ&biw=1419&bih=751

http://www.google.com/search?q=picture+of+person+shocked&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=u9_JTvPmJeO7iAeSobEH&ved=0CCgQsAQ&biw=1290&bih=683