Tales from the borderland: Enabling students’ experiences of preparation for higher education

Article Sidebar

PDF
Published: Aug 21, 2019
Keywords:
enabling programs higher education student preparation widening participation borderland Discourses

Main Article Content

Julie Willans
Central Queensland University, Australia

Abstract

The fundamental aim of pre-university courses is to prepare non-traditional students with the skills, knowledge and confidence to enter higher education. However, for many students, this unfamiliar learning context can feel like a ‘not so sure’ place, a borderland between their previous lives and the anticipated goal of a university education. Drawing on the work of Alsup (2006) and Gee (2005; 2011; 2015), this paper takes the analysis of a corpus of student data from one Australian university to demonstrate how borderland Discourses can provide a porthole into the dichotomous space navigated by many students as they engage in an enabling course. The borderland Discourses of inclusivity, exasperation and empowerment discussed in this study are testimony to the contradictions and ambiguities that can arise when institutional expectations pertaining to studenthood enhance and/or unsettle the multiple identities negotiated by enabling students who are on the threshold of a university education. In their expressions of frustration regarding personal limitations and positivist, institutional practices, students provide poignant insight into issues that cause tension for them. Conversely, the sense of belonging experienced by students in ‘safe’, supportive learning environments with compassionate teachers, and structured, scaffolded curriculums that imbue a sense of capability, confidence, and empowerment, seemingly allow for a fuller, positive embodiment of a student identity.

Article Details

How to Cite
Willans, J. (2019). Tales from the borderland: Enabling students’ experiences of preparation for higher education. Access: Critical Explorations of Equity in Higher Education, 6(1), 48–64. Retrieved from https://novaojs.newcastle.edu.au/ceehe/index.php/iswp/article/view/114
Issue
Vol. 6 No. 1 (2019)
Section
Research Paper
Copyright is retained by the author.

References

Alsup, J. (2006). Teacher identity discourses: negotiating personal and professional spaces. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Anzaldúa, G. (1987). Borderlands: La Frontera – The New Mestiza. San Francisco, CA: Aunt Lute Book Company.

Australian Government. (2017). Improving retention, completion and success in higher education. Discussion Paper, June. Retrieved from https://docs.education.gov.au/

system/files/doc/other/final_discussion_paper.pdf

Baxter, A., & Britton, C. (2001). Risk, identity and change: Becoming a mature student. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 11, 87-102.

Bennett, A., & Burke, P. (2017). Re/conceptualising time and temporality: an exploration of time in higher education. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 39(6), 913-925. doi:10.1080/01596306.2017.1312285

Bennett, A., Hodges, B., Kavanagh, K., Fagan, S., Hartley, J. & Schofield, N. (2013). ‘Hard’ and ‘soft’ aspects of learning as investment: Opening up the neo-liberal view of a programme with ‘high’ levels of attrition. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 14(3), 141-156(16). doi:10.5456/WPLL.14.3.141

Bennett, A., Motta, S., Hamilton, E., Burgess, C., Relf, B., Gray, K., Leroy-Dyer, S., & Albright, J. (2016). Enabling pedagogies: A participatory conceptual mapping of practices at the University of Newcastle, Australia. University of Newcastle, Australia. Retrieved from https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/

Repository/uon:32947

Bennett, A., & Motta, S. (2018). Pedagogies of care, care-full epistemological practice and ‘other’ caring subjectivities in enabling education. Teaching in Higher Education, 23(5), 631-646. doi:10.1080/13562517.2018.1465911

Blair, E., Cline, T., & Wallis, J. (2010), When do adults entering higher education begin to identify themselves as students? The threshold-of-induction model. Studies in Continuing Education, 32(2), 133-146. doi:10.1080/0158037X.2010.488355

Bunn, M., Bennett, A., & Burke, P. (2018). In the anytime: Flexible time structures, student experience and temporal equity in higher education. Time and Society, 1-20. doi:10.1177/0961463X18787649

Burke, P. (2013). The right to higher education: neoliberalism, gender and professional mis/recognitions. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 23(2), 107-126. doi:10.1080/09620214.2013.790660

Burke, P., Bennett, A., Bunn, M., Stevenson, J., & Clegg, S. (2017). It’s About Time: working towards more equitable understandings of the impact of time for students in higher education. Project Report. Perth, WA: National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE), Curtin University.

Cherastidtham, I., & Norton, A. (2018). University attrition: what helps and what hinders university completion? Carlton, VIC: Grattan Institute. Retrieved from https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/University-attrition-background.pdf

Department of Education and Training. (2017). 2016 Appendix 2 – Equity groups. Retrieved from https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/2016-appendix-2-equity-groups

Gale, T., & Parker, S. (2016). Retaining students in Australian higher education: cultural capital, field distinction. European Educational Research Journal, 16(1), 80-96. doi:10.1177/1474904116678004

Gee, J. (2005). An introduction to discourse analysis: theory and method (2nd ed.). Cornwall, UK: Routledge.

Gee, J. (2011). How to do discourse analysis: A toolkit. London, UK: Routledge.

Gee, J. (2015). Discourse, small-d, Big D. In K. Tracy, C. Ilie & T. Sandel (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction (1st ed.), pp. 418-422. NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. doi:10.1002/9781118611463

Hanover Research Council. (2009). Best practices in student course evaluation. Retrieved from http://www.planning.salford.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/20760/Best-Practices-in-Student-Course-Evaluation-Membership.pdf

Hellmundt, S., & Baker, D. (2017). Encouraging engagement in enabling programs: The student’s perspective. Student Success, 8(1), 25-33. doi:10.5204/ssj.v8i1.357

Hodges, B., Bedford, T., Hartley, J., Klinger, C., Murray N., O’Rourke, J., & Schofield, N. (2013). Enabling retention: processes and strategies for improving student retention in university-based enabling programs. Final Report.

Kahu, E. (2014). Increasing the emotional engagement of first year mature-aged distance students: Interest and belonging. The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 5(2), 45-55.

Kahu, E., Stephens, C., Leach, L., & Zepke, N. (2015). Linking academic emotions and student engagement: mature-aged distance students’ transition to university. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 39(4), 481-497. doi:10.1080/0309877X.2014.895305

Kift, S., Nelson, K., & Clarke, J. (2010). Transition Pedagogy: A third generation approach to FYE – A case study of policy and practice for the higher education sector. The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 1(1), 1-20.

Krause, K. (2005). Serious thoughts about dropping out in first year: Trends, patterns and implications for higher education. Studies in Learning, Evaluation Innovation and Development, 2(3), 55-68.

Lane, J., & Sharp, S. (2014). Pathways to success: Evaluating the use of “enabling pedagogies” in a university transition course. GSTF Journal on Education, 2(1), 66-73. Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/628/

Leach, L., Zepke, N., & Prebble, T. (2006). Now you have got them, how do you keep them? Relationships and the retention puzzle. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 41(1), 113-132.

Leathwood, C., & O’Connell, P. (2003). ‘It's a struggle’: the construction of the ‘new student’ in higher education. Journal of Education Policy, 18(6), 597-615. doi:10.1080/0268093032000145863

Leathwood, C., & Hey, V. (2009). Gender/ed discourses and emotional sub-texts: theorising emotion in UK higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 14(4), 429-440.

Lisciandro, J., & Gibbs, G. (2016). "OnTrack" to University: Understanding Mechanisms of Student Retention in an Australian Pre-University Enabling Program. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 56(2), 198-224.

Munro, L. (2011). ‘Go boldly, dream large!’ The challenges confronting non-traditional students at university. Australian Journal of Education, 55(2), 115-131. Retrieved from https://research.acer.edu.au/aje/vol55/iss2/3

Masika, R., & Jones, J. (2016). Building student belonging and engagements: insights into higher education students’ experiences of participating and learning together. Teaching in Higher Education, 21(2), 138-150.

Morison, A., & Cowley, K. (2017). An exploration of factors associated with student attrition and success in enabling programs. Issues in Educational Research, 27(2), 330-346.

Motta, S., & Bennett, A. (2018). Pedagogies of care, care-full epistemological practice and ‘other’ caring subjectivities in enabling education. Teaching in Higher Education, 23(5), 631-646. doi:10.1080/13562517.2018.1465911

Muldoon, R., & Wijeyewardene, I. (2013). The barrier is down but the line recedes for many: Improving opportunities and outcomes in enabling education. In Cunningham, P. (ed.). Identities and Citizenship Education: Controversy, crisis and challenges. Selected papers from the fifteenth Conference of the Children's Identity and Citizenship in Europe Academic Network. London: CiCe.

Naylor, R. (2017). First year student conceptions of success: What really matters? Student Success, 8(2), 9-19. doi:10.5204/ssj.v8i2.377

Nelson, K., Picton, C., & Martin, K. (2017). Understanding the Completion Patterns of Equity Students in Regional Universities. Perth, WA: National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE), Curtin University.

Ralston, N., Nicolazzo, Z., & Harris, J. (2017). Betwixt-and-between: Counter-stories from the borderlands of higher education. About Campus, 22(4), 20-27. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/abc.21299

Read, B., Archer, L., & Leathwood, C. (2003). Challenging Cultures? Student Conceptions of 'Belonging' and 'Isolation' at a Post-1992 University. Studies in Higher Education, 28(3), 261-277. doi:10.1080/03075070309290

Reay, D. (2005). ‘Beyond Consciousness? The Psychic Landscape of Social Class’. Sociology, 39(5), 911–28.

Reay, D., Crozier, G., & Clayton, J. (2009). ‘Strangers in Paradise’? Working-class Students in Elite Universities. Sociology, 43(6), 1103-1121.

Relf, B., Crawford, N., O'Rourke, J., Sharp, S., Hodges, B., Shah, M., & Katersky Barnes, R. (2017). Lighting the path(way): articulating curriculum design principles for open access enabling programs, Australian Government Department of Education and Training, Australia [Report Other]. Retrieved from https://ltr.edu.au/resources/SD15-5063_NEWC_Relf_Final%20Report_2017.pdf

Rosiek, J. (2003). Emotional scaffolding an exploration of the teacher knowledge at the intersection of student emotion and the subject matter. Teacher Education, 54(5), 399-412. doi:10.1177/0022487103257089

Sagan, O., Foulkes, P., Wallis, J., Barron, E., & Wicks, K. (2007). Aspects of students’ identity formation. Project Report. UK: University of Bedfordshire. Retrieved from https://www.beds.ac.uk/bridgescetl/back/reports/aspectsofstudentsidentity

Shields, S. (2015). ‘My work is bleeding’: exploring students’ emotional responses to first-year assignment feedback. Teaching in Higher Education, 20(6), 614-624. doi:10.1080/13562517.2015.1052786

Stone, C., & O’Shea, S. (2016). Older, online and first: Recommendations for retention and success. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 35(1), 57-69. doi:10.14742/ajet.3913

Stevenson, J., & Clegg, S. (2011). Possible selves: Students orientating themselves towards the future through extracurricular activity. British Educational Research Journal, 37(2), 231-246. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01411920903540672

Tett, C., Cree, L., Hounsell, J., & McCune, V. (2008) “A real roller coaster of confidence and emotions”: learning to be a university student. Studies in Higher Education, 33(5), 567-581.

Thomas, K. (2015). Rethinking belonging through Bourdieu, Diaspora and the Spatial. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 17(1), 37–49. doi:10.5456/WPLL.17.1.37

Tinto, V. (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Tinto, V. (2006). Research and practice of student retention: What next? Journal of College Student Retention, 8(1), 1-19.

Tinto, V. (2017). Reflections on Student Persistence. Student Success, 8(2), 1-8. doi:10.5204/ssj.v8i2.376.

Vaismoradi, M., Jones, J., Turunen, H., & Snelgrove, S. (2016). Theme development in qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 6(5), 100-110. doi:10.5430/jnep.v6n5p100

Van Rijswijk, M., Akerman, S., & Koster, B. (2013). Student teachers’ internally persuasive borderland discourse and teacher identity. International Journal for Dialogical Science, 7(1), 43-60.

Varnham, S. (2018). Working with students for students: enhancing up-take and success through creating a culture of partnership. Presentation at Student Retention and Success 2018 Conference, 27-28 June, The Events Centre, Collins Square, Melbourne.

Vogler, C. (2007). The Writer’s Journey (3rd ed.). CA: Michael Wiese Productions.

Waller, R. (2005). ‘I call myself a mature student. That one word makes all the difference’: Reflections on adult learners’ experiences. Auto/Biography, 13(1), 53-76.

Whannell, R. (2013). Predictors of attrition and achievement in a tertiary bridging program. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 53(2), 280-301. Retrieved from https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=569556588464275;res=IELAPA

Wimpenny, K., & Savin-Baden, M. (2013). Alienation, agency and authenticity: a synthesis of the literature on student engagement. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(3), 311-326. doi:10.1080/13562517.2012.725223

Willans, J. (2010). Navigating personal change: transforming perceptions of self as learner. Doctoral Thesis, Faculty of Arts, Business, Informatics and Education, CQUniversity Australia.

Willans, J., & Seary, K. (2011). Tensions in the borderland – the place of becoming. Refereed paper presented at the 1st International Australasian Conference on Enabling Access to Higher Education: Aspirations, Access, Attainment: Adding Value and Transforming lives through Widening participation, December 5-7, University of South Australia.

Willans, J., & Seary, K. (2018). “Why did we lose them and what could we have done”? Student Success, 9(1), 47-60. doi:10.5204/ssj.v9i1.432

Zepke, N. (2013). Student engagement: A complex business supporting the first year experience in tertiary education. The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 4(2), 1-14. doi:10.5204/intjfyhe.v4i2.183

Zepke, N. (2014). What future for student engagement in neo-liberal times? Higher Education, 69(4), 693-707. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-014-9797-y#citeas

Zepke, N. (2018). Student engagement in neo-liberal times: what is missing? Higher Education Research & Development, 37(2), 433–446. doi:10.1080/07294360.2017.1370440

Zepke, N., & Leach, L. (2018). A critical reflection on a research partnership. Student Success, 9(3), 1-12. doi:10.5204/ssj.v9i3.452