Foundation Year Network Annual Conference University of Sussex
Foundation Year Network Annual Conference University of Sussex Conference Panel abstracts (DAY ONE) SESSION 1 PANEL 1: Pedagogy and ‘Non-traditional’ students – Gallery Room Pedagogy as transition: Helen Bardy, Leoarna Matthias, Ann Orrert, Sarah Parkes, and Mike Seal (Newman University). This paper will explore the use of self-directed tutor groups within Newman University Birmingham Foundation Year programmes aimed at non-traditional students, or those anticipated in need of extra preparation for higher education (HE) study. Cited by students as a key transformative element of the course, these are three hour weekly tutorials that are curriculum free and student-led. Our underpinning philosophical approach combines the Swedish Folk High School Grundtvig model of education, critical pedagogy and Tavistock experiential group work. In the Tavistock model the students set the agendas and chair sessions, with the role of the tutor being ‘time, task and territory’ (Kitto:1967, Miller, 1990) i.e. to be there on time and keep the time bound nature of the experience, to keep the group on the task of examining a broad social science curriculum and offering observations on the group process. In our programme, the tutor group role has expanded from learning about group processes, as in the Tavistock model, to developing a critical pedagogy that specifically aims to develop generative themes (Aliakbari, & Faraji, 2011 Freire, 1973). These are seen as a galvanizing force for the group, where tensions and contradictions arise, are worked through and relate to wider social issues promoting active dialogue across peers and the tutor. Such an approach is not without challenges: Critical pedagogical styles have been accused of having authoritarian tendencies (Zachariah, 1986) where the tutor, rather than student, determines the generative themes.
[Show full text]