How to change HE institutions according to adult student's needs -
Polish context of PRILHE project
Adrianna Nizinska (Ph. D.)- University of Lower Silesia, Wroclaw, Poland
1. What is PRILHE ?
PRILHE is an international research project of Socrates – Grundtvig concerned promoting reflective independent learning in higher education. It involves reaserchers from seven universities: Warwick (UK), Goetingen (Germany), Barcelon (Spain), Turku (Finland), Stockholm (Sweden), Lisbon (Portugal) and Wroclaw (Poland). This project is focused on question: how to change institutions in order to adjust them to adult students needs and to benefit the rich potential of their life experience and – as a result – promote reflective independent learning. Theoretical framework of the project includes such approaches like: constructivism, experiental learning, critical learning and transformative learning.
2. Results of the polish research team
In this part I will present some findings based on data from students and teachers questionnaires and interviews. I will show the picture of the institution from the student's point of view and their reflection on the direction of change which are inevitable to meet expectations of the new, postmodern society. This will be an attempt to answer the question how to create supporting space for learning in all its dimension and improving the existing institutions in order to empower individual's potential.
Conducting transformative education – A constructionist perspective
Ms Myriam Mallet- International Relations School of Computing,
University of Teesside, U.K.
This paper reports the action-learning development work of a team of Higher Education teachers, who redesigned a postgraduate module of learning to focus the tutor’s roles on creating the conditions for a transformative educational experience to take place.
One would expect students who are enroled on a professionally-oriented programme of learning to show enthusiasm for, and commitment to, their education. However, when these learners no longer turn up at lectures, when they do not seem to understand the structure of content and what we are trying to help them achieve, and when, worse, they rate what they are asked to learn as largely irrelevant to their future professional needs, then it is time to stop and reflect.
This is what happened on one of our Masters programmes, which had generated rather lukewarm formal and anecdotal feedback from learners. A thorough review of the learning and teaching experience was therefore badly needed, which led to a fundamental overhaul of one of its constituent modules. The aims, intended learning outcomes as well as the assessment strategy and the mode of delivery of this module, were all aligned to make the students’ learning experience as real as possible.
The mixed approach adopted in this development exercise, and presented in this paper, is based on some key aspects of problem-based learning and constructionist teaching, supported by online resources, in order to clarify the purpose of the module within the wider context of a Masters level education, revitalise the learning environment and motivate learners again and prepare them to a life-long-learning.
Changes implemented and outcomes will be examined, and feedback about this new learning experience from professionals, learners and tutors reported, with an emphasis on the latter, as their roles are analysed, and pedagogical considerations and suggestions made about teaching practices in this and other similar active-learning situations that are likely to enhance the students’ learning experience not only at Masters but also at undergraduate levels.
More specifically, the critical-thinking component of this module will be described and discussed, and the role of the online ‘DiaryFolio’ – simultaneously diary and portfolio – will be reviewed in relation to the development of reflective professional practices.
Globalisation and Imperatives for Changes in Educational Policy Making and Implementation in Nigeria
Modupe Adelabu
Obafemi Awolowo University, NIGERIA
Reflective Teaching Practice: A Tool for Transformation
Lynn W. Zimmerman, Associate Professor of Education
Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN
If as the “Rethinking Education” Conference Programme states, institutional change begins with transformation within the individual, the questions for participants become: how do I identify what needs to be changed in myself and in my institution, and how do I effect change? I would like to engage in a dialog with participants about the value of reflective teaching practice as one way of approaching this challenge.
“Reflective teaching practice” is a commonly used phrase in the field of education. For some it refers to a teacher’s awareness of her/his teaching. For others it is the acknowledgment that teaching is dialogical in nature. However, for the critical educator, reflective teaching practice goes beyond awareness and acknowledgement, to action, what Paulo Freire (1970) referred to as “praxis…the action and reflection of men [sic] upon their world in order to transform it” (p. 66). Maxine Greene ((1978) emphasizes that praxis is a shared experience which requires a transformative element.
[P]raxis involves critical reflection—and action upon—a situation to some degree shared by persons with common interests and common needs. Of equal moment is the fact that praxis involves a transformation of the situation to the end of overcoming oppressiveness and domination. There must be collective self-reflection (p. 100).
I believe that teachers need to engage in this action and reflection which is praxis, as individuals and as a collective, and, in turn, should teach their students how to engage in praxis so that they can learn not just to accept the world as it is, but can learn to transform it into a better place.
In this presentation, I propose to explore the concept of reflective teaching practice through an examination of how I interpret the role of praxis, theoretically, as well as in practice, in my undergraduate and graduate classrooms. By sharing how I reflect on the issues that we address in class, and on my own attitudes and behavior in the classroom, I would like to engage attendees in a discussion of how they as individuals engage in praxis related to their own teaching and institutions. I would also like to explore how we as a collective, educators, can effect change in our classrooms, institutions, and the societal context in which we live and teach.
References
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum Press.
Greene, M. (1978). Landscapes of learning. New York: Teachers College Press.
Educational for social change: the contribution of the University of the Middle East Project to enhance educational leadership for social change and cross-cultural understanding in the Middle East and North Africa
Vivian Solana, Lahcen Laabid and Noureddine Boutahar
University of the Middle East Project, SPAIN
In working towards coexistence, cooperation, and peace, education plays a major structural role in shaping new societal patterns capable of sustaining long-term social change. Education can also be an extremely effective vehicle for instilling a respect for human rights, social justice, and multiculturalism.
In his book “Education for Critical Consciousness” Freire emphasizes his belief in people’s potential and purpose as agents of change. He states that empowering people to see themselves as agents of social change and as cultural actors rather than objects is the basis for creating a stable and sustainable change. He strongly believes in education as a tool with which to ‘transform the world’. Essential to this process to take place is what he calls “critical consciousness”. Critical consciousness in a conflict context is the process of raising awareness of unjust realities, ways to face them and strategies to create a change from within. To raise the awareness of the ordinary people to move towards constructive change, education is a key component of a long strategy especially in a conflict context where options are normally limited. The role of the educators in such a context according to Freire is to enable people to critically analyse the world and see themselves as able to transform it is critical.
Navigating the "high seas" of personal and professional change
Lisanne Edwards, The University of the West Indies
"There's a hero if you look inside your soul you don’t have to be afraid of what you are, there's an answer if you look inside your soul and the sorrow that you know will melt away…and you'll finally see that truth that the hero lies in you." (ADAPTED)
"If we hold on together I know our dreams will never die, dreams see us through to forever where clouds roll by for you and I." (ADAPTED)
These two songs present differing philosophies on life and by extension, the process of change. The first song suggests a reliance on the self and the second highlights the importance of community in the change process. In my reflections I have often wondered, "How do you change a person's behavior from what they are used to and what they want to be?" I have always pondered this question during my sojourn in the teaching profession and in my personal life. What kind of person do I want to be? What kind of persons do my students want to be? Is there congruence between who I want to be, who I want to be perceived to be and who I am? How will I approach the anomaly? Vygostky in his theory of social constructivism highlights the role of the socialization process in the construction of meaning.
Professionally, I have been exploring the implementation of the CAPE Communication Studies examination in the Caribbean region and have gained insight into some of the factors that promote change. In the field of education, learning has been established as a change in behaviour. As an educator, I have realized that although behaviour can be influenced, it is autonomous in the final analysis. Fullan (1991) asserts that all stakeholders must be a part of any change in order to promote ownership of the change. He further asserts that stakeholders divorced from the process will not have a personal "stake" in the change. I find this concept to have validity in both my personal and professional life. Inclusion in a change process does not however automatically signify a corresponding attitude that fosters change.
Significantly one must understand that change is often a process as people navigate their way through the high seas of modifying previous assumptions and thus constructing new meanings. What is significant however, is exploring those factors that promote sustained effort and those that inhibit sustained effort in the change process. This paper will examine the role of reflection, immersion, experience and insight in enhancing the process of change on a personal as well as professional level.
Training centre for community development
Sana El Bizri, Mathieu van der Hert, TCCD, Saida, LEBANON
Personal growth is reached through different learning experiences. These experiences include upbringing, peer education, peer group pressure and formal education. Most of these experiences are always moving in different directions and are not conceived as static. But formal education doesn’t have this conceived movement, it is perceived and lived by most people as a static education experience. We as TCCD bring a non-formal education program in the curriculum of formal education establishments. The program called Ambassadors of Peace brings personal learning experiences in the formal education process, empowers the individual and aims to be part of the bigger achievement of reaching the individuals’ full potential.
The program is aimed at enhancing the knowledge of psychosocial issues and social values, as well as empowering students by providing them with tools to combat violence and manage conflicts. The Ambassadors of Peace’s long-term objective is creating a pacific and democratic society and abolishment of corporal punishment by facilitating dialogue.
The program's overall methodology is building the capacities of individuals through learning by doing. It consists out of three stages;
1. The philosophy,
2. Development of skills and
3. Interaction and participation.
In the third stage, new behaviour, attitude and respect of people’s differences and dignity should have been developed in each trainee and should lead to sustainable change on individual levels and initiate sustainable change in society through the individual.
Since 2002, TCCD has given trainings to hundreds of children, students, parents and teachers throughout Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
The program received recognition from the ministries of education in Lebanon and Canada. The recognition by the ministry of education of Lebanon resulted in a formal adoption of the program in the curriculum of Lebanese education. UNICEF Lebanon also acknowledged the program and its manual as profound tools to implement peace and understanding.
The success of this program and the recognition it received makes it a valuable asset for formal educational programs. It brings students together in an interactive environment, where they achieve personal growth; it also makes them aware of their potential. But the most important factor is that it brings them a concept of peace, facilitates dialogue and teaches them communication, tools that are much needed in today’s society with its so called clash of civilizations.
Globalization brings this clash at the forefront of the life of every individual. Students of today are our leaders and policy makers of tomorrow. If we only educate them in static theories, give them a chance to retreat into ivory towers, personal growth and hence the basis of community growth are missed opportunities. The program tries to alter this reality with its aims.
A presentation of the program during the seminar will facilitate awareness and can take part in educational change.
FROM SELF-EVALUATION TO TRANSFORMATION –
The Atlantic College Experience
Kenneth D. Corn- United World College, Atlantic College, Wales, UK
The United World Colleges’ mission statement asserts that: “UWCs make education a force for uniting people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.” This succinct and powerfully purposeful sentence is the starting point and raison d’etre of the ten (shortly expanding to twelve) United World Colleges located around the globe. Atlantic College, established in 1962, is the first of these forward-looking and idealistic educational institutions. Born from the ashes of WWII, The Holocaust, Hiroshima, and the ensuing Cold War, Atlantic College’s mission has always been to empower education as a force for transformation, both on a personal and a global level.
As the UWC movement has grown, and is now well into its fifth decade, a necessary process of reflection and self-evaluation has been instituted in order to keep the movement and its ideals fresh, relevant and effective. Each of the United World Colleges has undertaken (or will soon do so) a process of Self-Evaluation under the auspices of the UWC movement. Atlantic College began this process in January of 2005, and at this point is poised to take on board a number of the lessons, suggestions and recommendations that this process has elicited. Indeed, now is the moment when we will strive to transform words into action. In so doing, it is clear that this Self-Evaluation process is an on-going and evolving dynamic. There is no obvious resolution or end point. As the institution grapples with our own approach to self-renewal, we have yet to finalise the precise nature of the path we will follow.
I propose to make a presentation on Atlantic College’s Self-Evaluation process; my own role within this undertaking, how we embarked upon this process, where it has led us, and where we might go in the future. As an institution and as individuals we continue to try to take the theoretical nature of such a process into the realm of the practical. This, of course, is fraught with numerous challenges. Reflective talk is one thing, positive action is altogether another.
As we remain in the middle of this evolving process, I would like to present our experiences from the perspective of a dynamic continuum; a position of continued engagement with this process, not that of comfortable retrospective. I would outline the structure of Atlantic College’s Self-Evaluation process, the lessons we have (begun) to learn, and the prospect for positive transformational outcomes. I would then like to open the floor to questions and discussion relating to Atlantic College, The United World Colleges movement and the wider issues affecting any institution that embarks upon such a process of reflection and renewal.
A survey of quality in higher education in the west and recommendations for Arab universities
Hayat Diyen: Professor at Mohamed I University, Oujda, Morocco.
PG Dip (Essex), MA (York), Ph.D( Sussex)
We start to hear about quality as being introduced in the agenda of institutional management of some Arab universities, but we notice that it fails to ensure an ongoing response at the grass-roots level of the reform of higher education. As technology, competition and social upheaval transform the world at an accelerating pace, so higher education is increasingly seen as an instrument in producing people who can accommodate and initiate change. In this context, quality in higher education should be regarded as a key reform in future development of quality monitoring.
While some western universities are fighting over issues related to TQM or criticizing the bureaucratic procedures related to the assessment of quality, or discussing the tensions that have risen between quality as accountability procedures and quality as transformation, in Arab countries the term quality remains just a concept in rhetoric and the actual performance outcomes are evidence for this.
In the west, we notice that faith in the quality monitoring processes is undermined by the political agendas that accompany them and result in a negative view of quality. In the developed universities the complaint is about the structuring of procedures of quality assessment. The issue that is reviewed in the assessment of quality is that higher education should not be regarded as a service for a customer but an ongoing process of transformation of the student as participant.
Higher education in Arab countries should respond to new concerns and manage the whole system to explore its purpose, its areas of effectiveness, its weaknesses and future opportunities. We need in Arab universities a stronger incentive structure for teaching performance. We need a reform that really aims at transformation and improvement.
My paper will study approaches to quality in higher education in most countries and suggest some recommendations for improving quality assurance with respect to teaching. The issue of quality must be reassessed. Quality monitoring is seen by many western critics as over-bureaucratic and that the potential for significant change has been hampered by a focus on accountability rather than improvement. How de we develop a quality monitoring system that involves open dialogue and helpful feedback and be a tool for excellence and enhancement? How can we create a culture of continuous improvement and transformation in higher education in Arab countries?
USING MOTIVATION MANAGEMENT TO OVERCOME COMMUNICATION GAPS IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Assistant Professor Mujde Ker-Dincer- Ege University, Faculty of Communications, Public Relations and Publicity Department, TURKEY
Selin Bitirim- Ege University, Faculty of Communications, Public Relations and Publicity Department, TURKEY
In our ever increasing global world, education stands out as one of the main areas of human development due to its important role on being the conjunction point on intercultural, organizational, interpersonal, and intrapersonal relations. The milestone of education is to initiate and facilitate our lives. To achieve this aim education must take a serious role to create a platform where different minds meet. From this point on education also undertakes a role on nourishing feelings of understanding, love, optimism, dialogue, and in general a positive communication climate in any environment where human interactions take place.
Educational institutions as the main communication environments where educators and students come together on the first place, both communication parties have to leave their prejudices, biases, negative attitudes, and pessimistic feelings aside all through their encounters. Even though this sounds achievable in practice it may be a utopia, unless we gain a broad understanding on different personal communication styles and motivational type’s people have. Especially understanding and applying different motivational types in educational institutions can bridge various intercultural patterns, individual expectations, and interpersonal conflicts that cause communication accidents.
Primarily motivation means, an internal state or condition that activates behavior and gives it direction, desire or want that energizes and directs goal-oriented behavior, or an influence of needs and desires on the intensity and direction of behavior, and motivation management means the art of conducting, directing of this psychological state. Motivation management can work on both levels; institutional and individual. On institutional level it can affect organizational climate and organizational health and on the individual level it can increase one’s life quality. Also applying motivation management in educational environment requires two basic approaches; personal and organizational motivation techniques. Using these two different levels and approaches of motivation together in perfect coordination may lead to “education heaven on earth” where no communication gaps, misunderstandings, or “accidents” are experienced.
In this paper the main aim is to focus on motivation management’s role in educational institutions, to achieve excellence in individual and organizational performance, effectiveness, success and its total affect on communication quality. Also we will mention the motivation techniques’ usages on personal and organizational levels that can lead to have self fulfilling lives for both on the educators and students aspects.
WORKSHOPS
WORKSHOP: STUDENT EMPOWERMENT: HIGHER EDUCATION CURRICULA THAT FOSTERS INDIVIDUAL TRANSFORMATION
Ms. Valentine Mukuria (PhD. Student)- The Ohio State University
Educational institutions are faced with the challenge of preparing students to participate actively in the development of society. This paper focuses on institutes of higher education and their role in preparing students to be active citizens responsibly engaged in civic duties. To fulfill this role, universities design curricula of service-learning that immerse students into community projects and challenge students to develop and take active leadership in their communities. Through exposure to their communities, students begin to identify social issues and begin to ponder what role they can play in problem-solving for these extant societal issues. In learning about leadership theories and leadership styles, students then identify their own leadership styles and determine the applicability of theories in the “real world” of the community sites. Through active involvement in the communities, students are challenged to utilize their knowledge (in light of their academic discipline) for community needs assessment, critical thinking and problem-solving. Building of leadership potential, critical thinking and problem-solving skills among students requires well-structured curriculum consisting of opportunities for adequate reflection of student experiences during the service-learning course and community engagement. Hence service-Learning curricula have had an impact on various student outcomes such as personal and interpersonal development, understanding and application of knowledge, critical thinking and perspective transformation (Eyler & Giles, 1999).
This paper will thus discuss components of effective service-learning curricula which promote student transformation by engaging students in active reflection of their experiences and aspirations in future leadership roles. The educational experience gained from participation in a service-learning course is valuable to students as they prepare to be active agents of change in their communities during and after their university education. In this way, the educational experiences fostered through innovative service-learning curricula designed for institutes of higher education genuinely transform individual students who not only experience individual transformation, but also promote social transformation by virtue of being active change agents.
This presentation will include an interactive activity encouraging participants to reflect on the experiences that have led them to personal transformation and how such experiences can be considered as transformative for other individuals and/or institutions. The paper will thus present service-learning as a pedagogy that remains a vital force for educational change…it is an invitation to participate in the process of higher education and a mechanism to enlist the talents of student volunteers. For students, it is an opportunity to integrate the life of the mind with the habits of the heart. (Stanton, Giles & Cruz, 1999, p. xi). Such is the essence of transformation. After all, to be able to change the “world”, one must begin by changing oneself.
Workshop: Human-Centred Education
A hypostasis of nous in the transformation of a human being
The epigenesis of learning and the education of the Self
Solihin Thom, Ad Humanitas, USA
One of the higher human elements – the Mind – initiates the spark that produces the internal impetus for transformation. This causes us to expand intellectually [horizontal learning] and to embed what is learnt [vertical knowledge].
Essence of transformation
• Transformation: a complete change [usually positive]; a change that alters the axis of a coordinate system.
• Reflection [contemplation]: light onto an object, mirror it, step into its shoes, dispel misunderstanding, illuminate a wider view
Prerequisites for effective transformation
• transform the past– notice familial patterns of [non] transformation
• transform the field– be aware of what distracts you from transformation
• transform the territory– pay attention to what seduces you from transformation
• transform the thinking – keep in mind the beliefs, ideals, and ‘maps’ of transformation
• transform the outcome– be conscious of archetypal identities that avoid transformation
The development of a hierarchical model of existence that engenders transformation
• Ontogeny – recapitulates phylogeny
• Memes – recapitulate philosophy
• Memes – and genes determine transformation
Emanation as hierarchical expansion – vertical and horizontal flow as transformation
Emanationists whose models support the hierarchy of somatic, physiological, kinesthetic, psychological and spiritual wellbeing:
• Plotinus to St Augustine, Isaac Luria to Ibn al Farabi and Ibn Sina, Thomas Aquinas to Ernst Schumacker
• Clare Graves, Don Beck and Ken Wilber.
The ‘selves’ of a human being that aid or thwart transformation
The human organism expresses itself in a variety of ways which can be illustrated by describing its various selves, which at their best form a hierarchy in which each supports and informs the one above. Unfortunately any of these selves can usurp, alter, misorder and disrupt this internal order and the other selves – changing their niches and creating altered constitution, perception, behaviors, habits, thoughts and delusory ideas.
• Material self – somatic structure, genetic and cultural influences, familial patterns
• Vegetal self – physiological and autonomic neurology, limbic system, nurturing, recuperative and experiential
• Animal self – mammalian brain, smell brain [rhinencephalon], gender and sexuality, drive, passions and habits
• Human self – neocortex, thought, choice, decisions based on higher considerations, language, abstract learning
• Inspired self – integrated brain, transformative processing, enlightened consciousness, compassionate, ennobling, elevated
self-ordering, expansive, illuminative self: the Caduceus as a symbol of transformation
Axes of transformation:
• Contact – the staff / integrity – self order
• Quickening – the snake / rhythm – expansion
• Enlightenment – the eagle / reflection – illumination
Axes of the unexpected:
• Openness – the dove / surrender – nous
• Wisdom – the gem / value – self-worth
Learning and the transformative process
• Recognition of resources – remembrance of order
• Recognition of state – remembrance of life
• Recognition of action – remembrance of purpose
• Recognition of thought – remembrance of Grace
• Recognition of consciousness – knowledge of Self
Direct experience of the various selves of a human being
Experiential processes to illustrate:
• resources – noticing
• state – awareness
• action – attentiveness
• mental dynamics – mindfulness
• gestalt – consciousness
Direct experience of the Caduceus
Experiential processes to illustrate:
• integrity – in contact with Self and the masculine
• flexibility – in rhythm with Self and the feminine
• reflection – in the light with the male and female [the bigger picture]
• surrender – in the presence of new instructions [letting go of the old]
• value – in appreciation of the worth of what is now known
Tools of the trade
How do we bring this understanding into ourselves, our educational establishment, and our community?
• Tool-box for transformational learning.
Solihin Malim Thom DO DAc
The author graduated as an osteopath in the UK in 1980 and practiced physical medicine in his multidisciplinary clinic in London until emigrating to the US in 1991. Motivated by concern for patients who didn’t get better, he began to search for an understanding of the accidents, patterns and inherited and cultural memes that prevented them from improving. This research still continues and has resulted in a formidable database and expertise in the ontological factors that inhibit the seeding, germination, growth, implementation and consequent learning of new information – whether innate or acquired by rote or experience. The goal of his work is to support transformation by making our inner qualities accessible through education, therapeutic assistance, and gestalt and group facilitation.
Solihin teaches the ontological Human Template model to support personal growth, healing, and personal integration worldwide - notably in Austria, England, Russia and the United States. He also teaches a remarkable and compassionate ontological protocol to health practitioners of all types. He is often keynote speaker or presenter at health, spirituality, peace, and personal stewardship conferences, including the annual meetings of the American Medical Association and the Cranial Academy of Osteopathy.