Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs New creative careers: the problems of progression and uncertainty Book Section How to cite: Taylor, Stephanie and Littleton, Karen (2011). New creative careers: the problems of progression and uncertainty. In: Shaw, Jenny; Wise, Jan and Rout, Amelia eds. Research in the Lifelong Learning Networks. York: Lifelong Learning Networks National Forum, pp. 52–57. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2011 The Authors Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://www.lifelonglearningnetworks.org.uk/uploads/document/811/ebook-research-in-the-llns.pdf Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk Edited by: Jenny Shaw, Jan Wise and Amelia Rout January 2011 I am delighted that we are now able to share with you this e-book which presents some of the research work completed by Lifelong Learning Networks during the past five years. The collection provides a deep insight of the work which has taken place and how individual LLNs identified real needs of vocational learners, rather than those based on rhetoric. The research has informed developments within specific regions but indeed findings are transferrable across regions and it is hoped that they will form a basis for further research in some areas. Through the work we are able to gain a real insight into the issues surrounding the challenges of widening participation and how these challenges can be met. One of the problems of the research work of the LLNs was that it would be lost at such a time that the LLNs were no longer funded. This work will ensure that it is not. My thanks go to the research group that steered this work and the researchers who completed it. Jill Ward Chair of the LLN Directors group Contents Page 1 Crossing Campuses: Level 3 Tutor Visits and Vocational Progression 4 Ruth Waring, WVLLN Progression Co-ordinator, University of Bath. Kate Thomas, WVLLN Progression Co-ordinator, Bristol UWE 2 Facilitating an Understanding of a New Qualification: 10 The Linking London Response to the Advanced Diploma Sue Betts, Kate Burrell, Pam Calabro, James Chappell, Andrew Jones, The Linking London Diploma Team 3 ‘Mentoring for Progression’: bringing the benefits of peer mentoring to non-traditional learners 14 Emma Thomas, Progress South Central & Karyn Buck, The Learning Ladder 4 Reasons for non progression to HE among early years students 20 Laura Gibbons 5 Tracking the Entry of Vocational Learners into Higher Education in a Rural Area of England 23 Donna Obrey and Colin Wood, Herefordshire and Worcestershire Lifelong Learning Network 6 Returning to Learn: the study experiences of part time foundation degree students 32 Mary Haynes, Sheffield Hallam University, Department of Education, Childhood and Inclusion 7 Women into Engineering 35 Amelia Rout and Dipa Patel, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Lifelong Learning Network 8 Widening Participation in Academically Challenging Degree Programmes: 40 Helping Vocational Learners Navigate the Admissions Process in Veterinary Medicine Rachel Davis, Peter Nunn, Jon Parry, Sarah Field, Margaret Kilyon, Nigel Goode, Belinda Yamagishi 9 Bridging from FdA to Honours Degrees: A Report on Students’ Perceptions 47 Diana Aronstam, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London 10 New Creative Careers: The Problems of Progression and Uncertainty 52 Stephanie Taylor and Karen Littleton, Open University – research funded by the National Arts Learning Network 11 Reflections on an Evolving Approach to Curriculum Development 58 Emma Thomas, Progress South Central 3 1988:167). The evolution of understanding and practice related to vocational progression to HE has reflected the ‘spiral of cycles of planning, acting, observing and reflecting’ central to action Crossing Campuses: Level research (ibid:168). 3 Tutor Visits and Vocational Context The activities the LLN programme as a whole are underpinned by the recommendations of the Leitch Review of Skills (2006) and evidence that less than 50% of learners with Level 3 vocational Progression qualifications progress to HE by the age of 21 in comparison with 90% of learners with two or more A Levels (Connor et al, 2006). In their study, Connor et al identified attitudinal factors which presented barriers to applicants with vocational qualifications. In the first phase of the WVLLN’s Ruth Waring, WVLLN Progression Co-ordinator, University of Bath. operation, its Progression Co-ordinators prioritised efforts to understand more about the attitudes Kate Thomas, WVLLN Progression Co-ordinator, Bristol UWE. towards higher education among potential vocational applicants themselves. A formal data collection exercise resulted in the publication of a report: Level 3 and Beyond? Choice, Influence and Transferability in Level 3 Vocational Learning (Thomas et al, 2008). One of the findings Introduction reported was that 50% of vocational learners in the region saw their tutors as the main source of The Western Vocational LLN is organised around a largely decentralised approach, placing a advice about progression to higher education (ibid, p8). The role of Level 3 vocational tutors in FE Progression Co-ordinator within all but one of its partner HEIs. While the role of each Progression Colleges as ‘key influencers’ on students considering their progression options is supported by Co-ordinator depended to an extent on the institutional culture of their host and the way each was recent research (Daly and Thomas, 2008; Aimhigher Greater Merseyside, 2008). positioned within their institution, Progression Co-ordinators have been collectively responsible for researching, generating and implementing progression agreements and a range of progression- With relationships between WVLLN Progression Co-ordinators and staff in FECs in the region related activities at local and regional levels. At the time of writing, the authors of this chapter, Ruth having been enhanced by the data collection process, one-to-one focused discussions were then Waring and Kate Thomas are employed as Progression Co-ordinators at the University of Bath and held with Level 3 vocational tutors, Programme Managers and Information Advice and Guidance Bristol UWE respectively. The University of Bath is a member of the 1994 Group of internationally (IAG) staff about their experiences of supporting students on vocational courses applying to study renowned research-intensive universities and Bristol UWE, a post-1992 university, is the largest in HE. In these discussions, FE guidance managers highlighted that a significant proportion of provider of higher education in the South West of England. Level 3 tutors on vocational courses at FECs had progressed into FE teaching via professional and industrial routes rather than through higher education. Although the former route is obviously This chapter focuses on an initiative arising out of investigations into perceptions of and barriers to desirable for effective vocational teaching, it places lecturers at a disadvantage when it comes to progression to higher education (HE) among Level 3 vocational learners and their tutors in FECs. talking to students about the experiences of studying higher education and/or living on a university The initiative involved inviting small groups of FE tutors to take part in structured but informal visits campus. Furthermore, discussions held with HE colleagues showed that the majority of academic hosted by Departments and Schools within the network’s HEIs. These visits aimed to support staff undertaking HE admissions-related roles, particularly at Russell Group and 1994 Group Level 3 vocational tutors in Further Education (FE) in raising aspirations among successive cohorts universities, had progressed to their current positions through the traditional A-level route in a of vocational learners by extending their own experience and understanding of HE. The tutors school environment. This meant they were generally less familiar with the curriculum and teaching primarily targeted by the initiative were those working in the 16 Further Education Colleges (FECs) and learning approaches of Level 3 vocational courses and with Further Education settings. in the region who had moved into a teaching career via professional/industrial experience rather than through higher education. The chapter traces the early development of the initiative, presents One FE guidance tutor suggested a possible way to address the issue would be to provide an participant feedback and considers the opportunities and challenges presented by a deceptively opportunity for Level 3 vocational tutors to spend time on a university campus meeting staff simplistic formula. In particular, the authors highlight the inter- and intra-institutional and cross- and students. This seemed to address the need for further awareness from both HE and FE sector collaborative process required to initiate and sustain the initiative, its impact and the ways perspectives. In focusing on Level 3 vocational tutors, rather than Level 3 learners such visits would in which insights arising from the programme were fed back into practice around vocational complement, rather than duplicate, work done by university outreach schemes and Aimhigher. progression to HE. This suggestion formed