Author: Henrik Steenberg

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Analysis of an organisation: A University of the Third Age (U3A), Mornington, Victoria

Author: Michael Small

U3A, Mornington

Edition: Volume 57, Number 1, April 2017

Summary: The purpose of this paper is two fold: to look at Mornington U3A in organisational terms and then look at U3AM as a loosely coupled system.  One outcome of the study would be to undertake further analyses of U3As in Victoria to determine the levels of bureaucracy under which each operates.  Questions to be asked: are U3As in Victoria operating as bureaucracies and so need to be loosened up? Or are they run as organisational anarchies and need to be tightened up?

Keywords: organisation, loosely coupled systems, bureaucracy, collegial, rational, mechanistic, anarchic, goals, efficiency, effectiveness

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 57_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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On the borders of Pedagogy: Implementing a critical pedagogy for students on the Thai Burma Border

Author: Jen Couch

Australian Catholic University

Edition: Volume 57, Number 1, April 2017

Summary: This article uses an auto-ethnographic approach to explore the reflections and insights that occurred during my teaching of a subject in adolescent development on the Thai Burma border. This paper adopts a relatively descriptive style to a personal reflection of teaching on the border and how it transformed the way I teach and made me look at the pedagogy that underpins my teaching practice. I found a lack of congruence between the pedagogical theories that are espoused and how I could apply these to a border setting. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to explore some of the ways I began to develop a Thai Burma classroom praxis that drew on the theoretical underpinnings of a humanising critical pedagogy.

Keywords: refugee, Burmese, critical pedagogy, transformation, collaboration

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 57_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Integrated non-formal education and training programs and centre linkages for adult employment in South Africa

Author: Celestin Mayombe

University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Edition: Volume 57, Number 1, April 2017

Summary: This article outlines the results of a qualitative study, which investigated the adult non-formal education and training (NFET) centre linkages with external role-players in providing post-training support for the employment of graduates. The concern that informed this article is that adults who face long-term unemployment remain unemployed after completing the NFET programs in South Africa. The article reports on an empirical study conducted to investigate what constitutes NFET enabling environments for employment.
The findings reveal that managers did not create adequate linkages that could enable graduates to access needed post-training support, community resources, public goods and services. The author concludes that without linking the NFET programs to external stakeholders, graduates will continue to find it difficult to be employed or to start small businesses which perpetuates unemployment and chronic poverty in South Africa.

Keywords: Non-formal education, adult training, employment, centre linkages, South Africa

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 57_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Just another student survey? – Point-of-contact survey feedback enhances the student experience and lets researchers gather data

Author: Warren Lake, William Boyd, Wendy Boyd and Suzi Hellmundt

Southern Cross University

Edition: Volume 57, Number 1, April 2017

Summary: When student surveys are conducted within university environments, one outcome of feedback to the researcher is that it provides insight into the potential ways that curriculum can be modified and how content can be better delivered. However, the benefit to the current students undertaking the survey is not always evident. By modifying Biggs’ revised two-factor study process questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F), we have provided students with immediate point-of-contact feedback that encourages students to consider their own cognitive processes. The main purpose of the modified tool is to provide immediate benefit to the student, whilst retaining the functionality of the survey for the researcher. Two versions of the survey were presented to students, a feedback version and non-feedback version, with results indicating that the participants of the feedback version had a significantly higher opinion that the survey helped them to be a better learner. In general, the importance students place on feedback, regardless of the version of the survey completed, was evident in the study. The point-of-contact survey model implemented in this study has successfully allowed a tool that was once exclusively researcher focused to be oriented towards current students, introducing an additional layer of feedback, which directly benefits the current student, whilst retaining its usefulness as a diagnostic research tool.

Keywords: Feedback, survey feedback, student feedback, point-of-contact feedback, immediate feedback, R-SPQ-2F

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 57_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Insights into attrition from university-based enabling programs

Author: Cheryl Bookallil and Bobby Harreveld
CQUniversity, Australia

Edition: Volume 57, Number 1, April 2017

Summary: High attrition rates from university-based enabling programs continue to be the subject of much research and administrative effort. Understanding the factors behind decisions to withdraw from such programs is difficult since those who do not successfully complete an enabling program may not readily agree to participate in research into their motivations for enrolling, and reasons for withdrawal, leaving them silent in the literature. Students who are relatively successful with enabling study have ‘insider’ perceptions to share concerning the motivations of their fellow students, and the barriers some face. They can provide unique insights into factors behind the intractable problem of high attrition from enabling programs and the low rates of articulation into university study.

Keywords: University-based enabling programs, attrition, articulation, barriers

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 57_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Second chance education: barriers, supports and engagement strategies

Author: Harry Savelsberg, Sylvia Pignata, Pauline Weckert
University of South Australia

Edition: Volume 57, Number 1, April 2017

Summary: Second chance education programs are now a well-established presence in institutions seeking to provide access and equity pathways for socio-economically disadvantaged groups. This paper focusses on the strategies used to support positive engagement in second chance equity programs, drawing upon evaluation research data from four TAFE sponsored programs. Interviews were held with service providers involved in the programs’ development and delivery, and focus groups were held to gather information from program participants. The findings highlight the complex and often multiple barriers facing participants and the importance of delivering programs with sustained and tailored approaches. While tangible educational and/or employment outcomes were delivered, it was the associated social and personal development that made these programs especially successful. Hence, there is a need for equity programs to be holistic, scaffolded, and tailored to practical and vocational pathways.

Keywords: Vocational pathways, second chance education, access and equity

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 57_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Second chance learning in Neighbourhood Houses in Victoria

Author: Tracey Ollis, Karen Starr, Cheryl Ryan, Jennifer Angwin and Ursula Harrison
Deakin University

Edition: Volume 57, Number 1, April 2017

Summary: Neighbourhood Houses in Victoria are significant sites of formal and informal education for adult learners. Intrinsically connected to local communities they play an important role in decreasing social isolation and building social inclusion. The focus of this research is on adult learners and adult learning that engages with ‘second chance’ learners who participate in adult learning programs in the Barwon and South West regions of Victoria. The greater Geelong region is characterised by declining car automotive and textile manufacturing industries and emerging new industries such as hospitality and tourism. The data from the research participants in the study include career changers, long term and recently unemployed, newly arrived and migrant communities, young people and older adults. This paper focuses on the learning practices of second chance learners who frequently have negative perceptions of themselves as unsuccessful learners, but are transformed through their learning experiences in Neighbourhood Houses. We argue the unique social space of the Neighbourhood House, the support and guidance offered by staff and teachers, the unique pedagogy and small group learning experiences, allows adult learners to reconstruct a new identity of themselves as successful learners.

Keywords: informal learning, formal learning, adult education, ACE, VET, training reform, Neighbourhood Houses

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 57_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Is society capable of learning? Beyond a metaphysical foundation

Author: Ya-hui Su
National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, Taiwan

Edition: Volume 56, Number 3, November 2016

Summary: There is an assumption that any contemporary society should become a learning society to maintain stability in the face of change. Although proponents and policymakers take for granted that a society has the ability to learn, can this idea be defended? There is a problem in determining exactly what is meant by a learning society that learns. One response concerning whether a society has the ability to learn is negative, arguing that society lacks agency. In this article, I argue that society has the ability to learn by demonstrating how the negative position is untenable; I also show how the positive position is possible when the idea that a society has the ability to learn assumes a new meaning based on the view that a society is composed of individuals. I present Habermas’ view that society can be a learning mechanism on its own, yet I argue that social agency has a distinctive character on its own but not a distinctive character on its own behalf. We need not build a metaphysical foundation, which claims that society can be a learning mechanism on its own in a way that extends beyond the efforts of individuals to construct a self-image.

Keywords: individuals, society, intersubjectivity; learning; learning society

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 56_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.

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Reasons for the slow completion of Masters and Doctoral degrees by adult learners in a South African township

Author: Masilonyana Motseke
University of South Africa

Edition: Volume 56, Number 3, November 2016

Summary: The aim of the study was to investigate the reasons why adult learners took longer than required to complete their Master’s and Doctoral degrees. A questionnaire and focus group interviews were used to collect data. Twenty adult learners who registered for the Master’s and Doctoral degrees at one township campus of a university were targeted, and 16 responded. All 16 participants lived in the townships, and obtained their primary, secondary and tertiary education from the township schools. It was found that the lack of computer skills, poor research skills, inadequate access to the internet, stress, supervision problems, as well as employer’s workload contributed enormously to the adult learners’ inability to complete their studies within the prescribed period. The study also highlighted the impact of apartheid education on adult learners at postgraduate level. The apartheid education system, which was characterised by poor education provision, played a major role in the slow completion of Masters and Doctoral degrees by the African adult learners. It is recommended that African adult learners who enroll for Masters or Doctoral degrees should do training in research approaches, computer skills, information search and stress management prior to their study. The study duration for both the Masters and Doctoral degrees also need to be reviewed, especially for adult learners or students who obtained their education from the township schools.

Keywords: Slow completion, African adult learners, Master’s and Doctoral degrees

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 56_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.