intentions: to show that peoples talk about programme design, teaching and learning can be...
TRANSCRIPT
USING METAPHORS TO DESIGN PROGRAMMES AND QUALIFICATIONS
DR ELLY GOVERSGOVERS EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANCY AND RESEARCH
Intentions:
To show that People’s talk about programme design,
teaching and learning can be understood in terms of metaphors for a programme; and,
These metaphors express particular values and beliefs in our society.
To start designing a programme using a metaphor that reflects your values and beliefs as educator(s).
Guided Tour
Guided Adventure
Production Process
Consumable Product
Mission
Programme = Consumable product‘It is that outcome of the satisfied learner, that they’re getting
what they really paid for; that, if they don’t get the service, it’s not because we haven’t delivered.’
‘We try to deliver the content to ensure that the students get the full amount of learning within the time given’
‘When we decide on the courses that are being selected for a new programme, or for changes to a programme, what is important is that students want to do it.’
‘Flexible delivery is ‘a learner-centred approach to education that covers all learning modes, and provides increased choice to the learner (time, place, access, learning method, mode, tools, pace, institution and content).’ (QMS)
Consumable Product
Programme:
Consumable Product
Purpose: That the customer is satisfied
Student: Customer and consumer
Teacher: Delivers the product and provides instructions for consumption
Institution: Manufactures and sells the product
Learning: Noun: ContentVerb: Receiving/Consuming the product – passive
Structure:
What students learn:
Qualification:
Diversity/Flexibility:
Quality improvement:
More satisfied customers
Programme:
Consumable Product
Purpose: That the customer is satisfied
Student: Customer and consumer
Teacher: Delivers the product and provides instructions for consumption
Institution: Manufactures and sells the product
Learning: Noun: ContentVerb: Consuming the product – passive
Structure: Customer choice; Collection of courses; Pre-determined content
What students learn:
Content that the customer wants to purchase
Qualification: Reward for purchasing a certain number of courses
Diversity/Flexibility:
Choice; Something for everyone
Quality improvement:
More satisfied customers
Programme = Production process‘Because of that applied focus we would be looking at producing work-ready graduates out of the certificates and diplomas.’
‘(...) we try and install in them the same sort of ethics and boundaries that they will be expected when they get out to work, so therefore we can’t be too diverse.’
‘They need to prove to you that they can actually do the work (...) They need to prove this because I need to sign off whether they have actually mastered the learning outcomes.’
‘Industry need to be able to know what they are getting’
‘flexibility to me says that I can adjust it, as long as the end result is they have the understanding they need to master that task in industry’
Production Process
Programme:
Production Process
Purpose: To produce graduates for the job market; that the customer (= employer) is satisfied
Student: Product-in-the-making; Graduate is work-ready product
Teacher: Operates the production process
Institution: Design the process to produce graduates
Employer: Customer
Learning: Being moulded into a graduate - reactive
Knowledge :
Structure:
Qualification:
Diversity:
Flexibility:
Quality improvement:
More satisfied customers (= employers)
Programme:
Production Process
Purpose: To produce graduates for the job market; that the customer (= employer) is satisfied
Student: Product-in-the-making; Graduate is work-ready product
Teacher: Operates the production process
Institution: Design the process to produce graduates
Employer: Customer
Learning: Being moulded into a graduate - reactive
Knowledge : What the customer wants
Structure: Series of operating procedures, no choice
Qualification: Certificate to indicate quality of product
Diversity: Limited; student to fit ‘entry mould’
Flexibility: For teachers to use different tools if needed
Quality improvement:
More satisfied customers (= employers)
Programme = Guided Adventure
‘It is a system of giving the opportunity to a student to work out what the goals are they are getting at, and then using what I come with, (...) cultural capital I suppose, to get there.’
‘Literally I let them explore. (...) I have had many students lost, to the expense of some of the other subjects, which is a good and a bad thing. (...) We do try and keep an eye on them. (...) sometimes they cannot stop. I monitor it in class, and ask how the project is getting on, but a lot of them are secretive too.’
‘Whatever qualifications the students may achieve at the end of this course I don’t even care. What I do care about is their growth personally.’
Guided Adventure
Programme:
Guided Adventure
Purpose: Personal growth of students
Student: Adventurer
Teacher: Acts as Guide and Travel companion
Institution: Facilitator of guides and travel companions
Learning: Taking on the adventure and making sense of the experiences
Knowledge :
Structure:
Qualification:
Diversity:
Flexibility:
Quality improvement:
More and more significant life transformations
Programme:
Guided Adventure
Purpose: Personal growth of students
Student: Adventurer
Teacher: Acts as Guide and Travel companion
Institution: Facilitator of guides and travel companions
Learning: Taking on the adventure and making sense of the experiences
Knowledge : The personal growth resulting from experiences
Structure: Holistic; set out by students with help from teacher
Qualification: Has no meaning
Diversity: Inherent to the structure
Flexibility: Students take responsibility for own learning
Quality improvement:
More and more significant life transformations
Guided Adventure
Active studentStudent controlResponsibility to
student
Production ProcessReactive student
Institutional control
Responsibility to employers
Consumable Product
Passive studentInstitutional
controlResponsibility to
student
Programme = Guided Tour‘Our responsibility is to try and do our bit for the customers. I believe that if they have a great experience that will lead to more customers.’ ‘My job is not to stop people from learning, my job is to encourage them, and if students want to race ahead they can, because I give them all the materials that I have available.(...) And the slow ones stay with me.’
‘If someone does not give the students some clear stepping stones, if they don’t know where the other side of the river is, they will just keep walking until suddenly they feel firm ground again.’
‘The programme should be structured in a way that enables the students to have a number of different kinds of activities and different ways of learning, to cater for the different styles. That can be the choice of electives, or other kinds of assessment tools, or use of different technology tools engaging the students in the most effective ways.’
Guided Tour
Programme:
Guided Tour
Purpose: That the customer (= student) reaches the destination of the tour and has had a good experience
Student: Customer - Tour participant
Teacher: Tour guide; Assists with activities, organises resources, monitors progress
Institution: Tour operator
Learning: Participating in activities during the tour - active
Knowledge :
Structure:
Qualification:
Diversity:
Flexibility:
Quality improvement:
More customers (= students) with a good experience
Programme:
Guided Tour
Purpose: That the customer (= student) reaches the destination of the tour and has had a good experience
Student: Customer - Tour participant
Teacher: Tour guide; Assists with activities, organises resources, monitors progress
Institution: Tour operator
Learning: Participating in activities during the tour - active
Knowledge : Experience gained from doing activities
Structure: Series of aligned activities; choice available, provided this leads to the destination; attainable steps
Qualification: Reward for reaching the destination
Diversity: Variety and choice in activities; specialised guides
Flexibility: Choice in activities
Quality improvement:
More customers (= students) with a good experience
Guided TourActive studentInstitutional
controlResponsibility to
student
Guided Adventure
Active studentStudent controlResponsibility to
student
Production Process
Reactive studentInstitutional
controlResponsibility to
employers
Consumable Product
Passive studentInstitutional
controlResponsibility to
student
Programme = Mission
‘The most important stuff for myself is sharing with these students the beauty of this culture. (...) it is bringing the two people together. Even in this modern day and age we’re still, as far as cultures go, relative strangers; understanding how people think, why things are done, it’s small things.’ ‘The core (of the programme) should be things like walking the talk, it’s about sustainability in terms of environmental practice. Perhaps it’s about (...) (the institution) having a primary focus on its strengths in the region’
Mission
Programme:
Mission
Purpose: To make the world a better place
Student: Citizen
Teacher: Inspires students to make the world a better place
Guided Tour
Active student
Institutional
controlResponsib
le to student
Guided Adventur
eActive
studentStudent control
Responsible to
studentProducti
on ProcessReactive student
Institutional
controlResponsib
le to industry
Consumable
ProductPassive student
Institutional
controlResponsib
le to student
Mission
Design your own metaphorIn groups of 4-5: Develop a metaphor that reflects your values
and beliefs regarding education What is the associated language – what is
teaching, learning, student, teacher, a qualification, the institution, what do students learn,.....?
(Re-)design a programme of your choice to reflect this metaphor (e.g. A university preparation programme, a vocational education programme, a generic foundation education programme)
Draw/write your findings on a flip chart and present to the entire group.
Reference
Govers, E. (2010). Program design practice in a New Zealand polytechnic: Caught in a language trap? In M. Devlin, J. Nagy & A. Lichtenberg (Eds.), Research and Development in Higher Education: Reshaping Higher Education, 33. Melbourne Australia, 6-9 July, 2010.