“I would never have thought about going to college before”: how qualitative data help to understand community learners’ educational progress

Dr Nicole LederleDr Bernadette SandersonMs Paula Cleary

West of Scotland Wider Access Forum, University of the West of Scotland (UWS)

Contents

•Evidence gaps•Findings •Discussion

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Evidence gaps

•National Audit Office (2008): “Widening Participation in Higher Education”

•Scottish Funding Council (2010): “Learning for All”

•Focus on educational progression •Focus on school leavers

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Community-based adult learning •Focus on key, attitudinal, personal and

practical skills (cf. Dewson et al., 2000)•Linking to social inclusion, civic

engagement and employability (cf. Gallacher et al., 2007; McGivney, 1999)

•Multiple disadvantage of community learners

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Overview of research

•Community-based WP project: CALL West •Qualitative approach: semi-structured

telephone interviews •Focus on social and personal development•Focus on processes and outcomes•One year into the programme

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Findings

•Experience of multiple socio-economic disadvantage

•Educational progression •Social and personal progression•Complexity of community-based learners’

lives

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Goals achieved?

•Do the data we have presented help to close the ‘evidence gap’? Is educational progression of target groups an appropriate measure of progression?

•What can we learn from the data? Should support be generic or individualised?

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Contact: Nicole.Lederle@gcu.ac.uk

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References:• McGivey, V. (1999) Informal Learning in the Community: A

Trigger for Change and Development, Leicester: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education.

• Dewson, S., Eccles, J., Tackey, N. D. and Jackson, A. (2000) Guide to Measuring Soft Outcomes and Distance Travelled, Brighton: The Institute for Employment Studies.

• Gallacher, J., Crossan, B., Mayes, T., Cleary, P., Smith, L. and Watson, D. (2007) ‘Expanding our Understanding of the Learning Cultures in Community-Based Further Education’, Educational Review, 59, 4: 501-517.

• Schuller, T., Preston, J., Hammond, C., Brassett-Grundy, A. and Bynner, J. (2004) The Benefits of Learning: The Impact of Education on Health, Family Life and Social Capital, London: Routledge-Falmer.

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