Purves, Ross;
Pulsford, Mark;
Morris, Rebecca;
(2023)
Leading undergraduate provision in further education colleges: the experiences of BA Education programme leaders.
London Review of Education
, 21
(1)
10.14324/LRE.21.1.09.
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Abstract
This paper explores the experiences of those who lead undergraduate, education-related programmes within English colleges of FE (FE). Questionnaire and interview fieldwork with 14 FE-based programme leaders (PLs) was supplemented by a comparison survey of equivalent professionals from higher education (HE) institutions. Drawing on Hodgson and Spours’ (2009) four-level ‘lifelong learning ecology’ and Nardi and O’Day’s (1999) ‘keystone species’ concept, our analysis characterises the role of the undergraduate PL as distinctive and critical within the FE context. Extremely multi-faceted and busy, this role is also poorly defined, often involving individuals relying on craft wisdom accrued within specific contexts. Three overall strands of responsibility emerged in participants’ view of their role: 1) administrative and organisational demands of colleges and validating/franchising HE partners, 2) providing learners with appropriate support in their studies, and 3) recognising and responding to pastoral needs of students. Tensions were identified between these, with one strand tending to preoccupy PLs at any time, obscuring their view of other important role objectives. As such, we introduce the concept of ‘sightlines’ to capture the importance of enabling PLs to see through and beyond their institutional context and engage outwards rather than turn inwards. Practical recommendations include the provision of time and license to study for advanced qualifications, undertake research and to help nurture distinctive cultures of HE learning.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Leading undergraduate provision in further education colleges: the experiences of BA Education programme leaders |
| Location: | United Kingdom |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.14324/LRE.21.1.09 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.14324/LRE.21.1.09 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY) 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited |
| Keywords: | College-based higher education (HE), English further education (FE), programme leadership, lifelong learning ecology, keystone species, professional development |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10161793 |
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