Smith, B. L. and MacGregor, J. (2009). Learning communities and the quest for quality

Smith, B. L. and MacGregor, J. (2009).  Learning communities and the quest for quality.  Quality Assurance in Education, 17(2), pp. 118 - 139.  Retrieved on June 5, 2010 from  http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=Article&Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/1200170202.pdf

Introduction

Although there is more access to higher education than ever before, Smith and MacGregor question the academic success and educational effectiveness of pedagogy.  Concerns are that there is an increasing divide in socio-economic and minority attendance; students lack readiness or preparedness to enter higher education; and there is general dissatisfaction with the skills graduates attain.  However, studies conclude that higher education increases socio-economic and cultural development.

Although a variety of human resource literature cover quality improvement, higher education institutions have been slow in adapting to change.  Student engagement and active learning have been the focus for designing new curricula and pedagogies.  Curricular learning communities are representative of the paradigm change to reform curricula structure and provide platforms from which to understand the phenomena of quality improvement.

Learning communities - a structural intervention

Academic life for students has often been viewed as haphazard, as learning structures permit taking courses which in reality have no bearing to each other, and students are very often off-campus with a multitude of other responsibilities to attend to.  The curricular learning approach is a structural approach that reduces fragmentation.  Coherence of thema are addressed by introducing courses that are interlinked, offering individuals the opportunity to actively participate and build relationships with other students.  Integrated teaching methods have proven effective (e.g. faculty members work in tandem to develop learning programs that tie in together).

Learning communities are adaptable and flexible.  Programs are designed according to knowledge and feedback.  Teams are highly specialised and high functioning (e.g. teaching teams can comprise of faculty, librarians, academic advisors).  Learning communities very often have close ties to the environment and conduct all manner of research.  Usually, learning communities are heavily focused on first year students who require more intense minding as they become accustomed to community life and focus on intellectual development as habits developed at this time are formative and sustain the motivation to complete a degree program successfully.  Areas that curricular learning communities add to are in basic studies and development education; general education; clarity in comprehending the intended subject; and programs for specialisation (e.g. athletes).

Learning communities and the quest for quality

Multi-level learning is a key strategy for learning communities.  Programs are designed to teach not only students, but faculty members and the holistic community.  Traditional styled classes have been redesigned to incorporate social networking that is critical to a learning communities success.  Community work operates as a structural framework for multi-disciplinary pedagogy.  Cognitive scientists and academic researchers have found these methods to be effective in engaging students intellectually.  While this practice is widespread, the implementation process is compromised when group members (e.g. faculty) are unable to commit to responsible practice.  Clarity of organisational mission is essential when accepting members to the community (e.g. employment).  Sharing is essential when embedding quality initiatives.  Linking programs sequentially provides the capacity for connecting students and faculty as quality becomes synonymous with their practice.

The accountability for developing best working practice has transformative effects upon the community as a whole.  Faculty members share knowledge in order to integrate syllabi, and are flexible in switching teaching positions to make the most of opportune teaching moments.  Quality comes with experience and practice, bringing planning and strategy into the full teaching environment.  This move has brought teaching from its solo perspective into a realm of collective learning and transformation, inhibiting "random curriculum tinkering that has characterized so many of the past efforts at educational reform" (pg. 8).

Using learning communities as levers for change

Building learning communities occurs as the organisation transforms through collective stages of development.  Organisational structures must be planned so as to support ongoing growth and development.

The Evergreen State college

The founding mission of this college is to remain as current fifty years on as it is presently, where it enjoys celebrity as a national resource.  Their working model is continually adapted to transform other more traditional institutions.  The original design of the institutions curriculum strategy was inspired by Meiklejohn.  Firstly, he believed that reductionism in curriculum lacked clarity when divided into components; secondly, in stimulating both individual and faculty members' intellect, progression and evolution occur naturally.  The benefits range from being cost-effective, scalable, and adaptable.  Organisational process and structure is interwoven with educational philosophy (e.g. epistemic belief).  It is known that learning communities enable good working relations by means of its adaptability to change.  Guidelines are as follows:

1. interdisciplinary study;
2. collaborative learning;
3. the linking of theory and practice;
4. personal authority and engagement; and
5. learning across significant differences and diversity.

Faculty members of Evergreen have their portfolios assessed as a matter of faculty record to document their evaluation.  The nuances of behavioural output displayed by students is constructive to self-evaluate feedback and is supportive of team teaching.


Clearly, the culture at Evergreen is one of innovation and adaptability as experimentation is an acceptable ongoing proven process.  "Low boundaries and fluid structures such as the tradition of faculty members rotating into administrative roles as deans, the practice of recreating much of the curriculum each year, the hiring of broadly trained faculty, and the presence of curricular planning units that have no budgetary or hiring authority ensure that the institution will not revert to traditional forms" (pg. 11).

Mature communities have a culture that is sustained by consistent and developing structure.  It is therefore crucial to have a highly intuitive approach in creating faculty recruitment processes and to this end, summer faculty institutes have emerged.


Wagner College
Wagner, a liberal arts center, is located in an environment known for its natural beauty.  The impact this has on creativity has had significant influence on its culture.  The core of educational philosophy is one of experimentation that is deeply embedded in first year curricula.  It is a form of meditative activity that develops a freedom to explore self and environment, and translates as civic responsibility.  Topics are interrelated and segue into "practical experience, reflection and synthesis" (pg. 12).  New faculty members are expected to begin their career at Wagner teaching first year curricula, and to commit to a minimum of three years with the community.


Experience generates an holistic understanding and a culture that is imbued with discipline.  Continuing discourse develops terminology, or a language, that is specific to the community and describes the abstract (e.g. tacit knowledge).  Since the Wagner Plan was implemented, enrollment and staff retention has significantly increased.  An overall rise in finances sustains the evolving community that struggled in the late 90's.


Community colleges and the quest for quality
The institutions of further education are often viewed as a strategic feeder for higher education.  The apparent dysfunction to this success is the independence of curricula strategy that blocks integration.


Learning communities maintain community colleges by incorporating the behavioural changes observed in the environment.


La Guardia Community College
La Guardia became a center of experimentation when integrated learning was embedded in program structures.  Students engage in vocational learning as part of degree programs.  Course programs delivered learning sympathetic to the needs of the environment.  The educational philosophy underpinning LaGuardia is a culture that develops an ethos of learning.  Teaching students about goals and goal-setting is of prime importance.  As curricula revolves around teaching towards professional qualifications, students have many points of entry, thus enrollment rates increased substantially.


A short ten years after instituting learning community structures, a professional discussion panel made up of academics deconstructed the knowledge gained from multi-level practice.  A shared language grew as communication grew more sophisticated.  Conversations that come up during dedicated sessions are unlikely to occur during the course of a normal working day.


Skagit Valley College
Students were obliged to take learning community programs in order to make the grade.  Learning communities are known to have an impact on reciprocal teaching.  Sharing information with both faculty and student members brings new awareness, or a new perspective, from which to see things from thereby engendering the changes required to systematically sustain evolution.  Clarity in direction emerges through critical analysis.  This type of feedback is constructive in supporting the community's strategic goals.


Observations of internal structure have made the connections between learning goal-setting at Skagit and going on to higher education.  College instigated research is currently investigating the performance of students who complete both programs to increase the validity of their practice.


How learning communities work as levers for change

1. Learning communities are clearly positioned, aimed at large arenas and issues, and are central to the organisation's mission.  The structure of a learning community is a stabilising factor in academia.  This core is reflected and embedded to perpetuate generational learning cycles and phases of development.
2. Learner centered leadership is a key component of effective learning communities.  Transformation occurs at grass-roots level indicating a shift from traditional hierarchy to flattened power sources that diffuse controlling tendencies and elitism.
3. While not the only "quality strategy", learning community initiatives offer a high leverage point for the pursuit of quality.  Learning community members are deeply embedded in the culture (e.g. living the life) which is a different approach from communities that attract members through external participation (e.g. involuntary participation).
4. Learning communities meet faculty where they are.  As learning communities practice on-site, theoretical models and conceptions of new practice become discourse developed from social interaction.
5. Successful institutions have created new organisational structures, roles, and processes and appropriate resource investments to support their learning community programs.  Deliberate investment yields results.  By investing in faculty members (e.g. time to attend training and reflection programs) the community continually draws upon the environment to identify areas for further research.
6. Successful programs attract and reward competent people and create a context to build a sense of community and learn from each other.  Embedded culture sustains the community as phases of development move senior members towards retirement.  Recruitment processes are designed to instill team spirit.
7. Successful programs have a living mission and a lived educational philosophy of reaching toward more effective practices.  The potential for readiness to action is high in learning community members (e.g. positive restlessness) that drives a continual learning process.  Situated activity relies on the benefits of high-functioning members.

The future of learning communities

Sustainable development in learning communities is not only a practical method of sustaining an interest in learning, it is also a pragmatic and financially stable practice.  Community discourse is built up based on culture and language through narratives of social interaction.  Core philosophy integrates the foundation of educational practice allowing focus to remain on the objective.  While there is a plethora of learning communities, those listed are distinguishable because of strong links to community, individual and group.

Clark, J., Dodd, D. and Coll, R. K. (2008). Border crossing and enculturation into higher education science and engineering learning communites

Clark, J., Dodd, D. and Coll, R. K. (2008).  Border crossing and enculturation into higher education science and engineering learning communities.  Research in Science and Technological Education, 26(3), pp. 323-334.  Retrieved on July 4, 2010 from http://pdfserve.informaworld.com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/269567_751304989_903081781.pdf


Enculturation into communities of practice
Designing a framework for teaching and learning embeds a system of integration and participation.  Language, artifacts, and tools sustain group culture that manifests through social interaction, and is attributed to culture and past activity.  Teaching and research improves over time with an increase in group participation.


Learning is viewed as a distribution of cognition, and emerges in social contributions to learning.  Individual minds develop in the right setting with situation monitoring and accurate self-evaluation.  Positive perception of self improves group culture.  Sense making is a negotiated exercise.  Context is therefore a critical component of participation.  However, contextual settings (e.g. institutions for higher education) are only limited to individual imagination.  Learning that takes place in an educational context is broken down to its component parts in order for participants to generate new meaning as it applies to their situation (e.g. the ability to transfer what has been learned to a new setting).  An holistic understanding of knowledge is applied, and can be used in multiple situations.  Static knowledge becomes living knowledge and creates new meaning with every application.  Distributed cognition is more than the concept of individual brain power, and lives in the social interaction between group members.  The environment is part of the interactive process.  Social interaction is made possible through technological and psychological tools (e.g. software and language).  Evolutionary processes have led to improvements in both and is inherently part of the sociocultural context.  As language is conceptual, misunderstandings can occur during communication which is why it is important to have specific terminology.


Border crossing into communities of practice
Teaching practice is considered to be a social activity contained within discourse specific to the environment (e.g. classrooms).  Each community can be said to be unique, thus discourse is subject to extreme diversity.  Clarity of objective can be seen immediately when considering internal power sources, the relationships extended, how knowledge is embedded in daily activity, and the assessment procedures.  A transformational approach has been accepted as a method to empower students.  Empowering students promotes an increase of values and identity.


Introduction to new learning methods (e.g. graduate programs) takes the student from what is known (e.g. current levels of education) to new levels of meaning making.  Students are expected to link external culture to group culture, progressing towards full assimilation of the new community.  Research into enculturation has noted that there may be interference in accepting a Western pedagogy by indigenous or minority groups.  Language and epistemic beliefs are seen to be a block to many.


Vocational institutions are known to benefit domains such as science and engineering.  Students who have access to subject matter experts (e.g. working alongside scientists) are more likely to accept group culture and ethics (e.g. legitimate peripheral participation).  Learning is motivated by a need to belong.  Belonging encapsulates intrinsic motivation and a desire to know more.  Language and terminology become second nature.


Methods of analysis
Clark, Dodd and Coll analyse methods to understand how students assimilate a different culture and use practical methodology of interviewing group members derived from a national study conducted in New Zealand.


Staff perception of the nature of their higher education learning communities
In order to understand how students assimilate, the exact nature of the culture must be determined first.  Teachers values and principles (or behaviour modeled) are causal by nature.  Individual success is based on the ability to learn independently, to self-regulate, to accept challenges (e.g. increased workload), and to participate.


There are considerable differences observed between cultures in schools and higher education.  Students are expected to monitor their learning schedule and participation.  Emphasis is placed on lecturer roles, which are different entirely from the modeled behaviour of a school teacher.  Responsibility comes with acceptance of group norms.  Higher education settings provides more freedom for students, and many times a lack of commitment becomes a sure sign of failure.  Practical exposure to other students connects individuals to their environment, finding safety or security in their ability to ask questions.  Several higher education institutions regulate attendance and commitment from students by having them sign a contract.


Clark, Dodd and Coll state that general feeling acknowledges the barrier that students face when entering university from schools.  Naivety in choosing suitable training programs is apparent to lecturers when students join without any knowledge of their selected topic.


Higher education develops practical skills and ability in students who prepare to enter the workforce.  The time spent in higher education allows an individual to develop a maturity that helps foster an attitude commensurate with the world of work.  Independent learning promotes maturity and thoughtfulness, and the ability to concentrate and focus on work.


As each institution of higher education have identifiable values, students who register with that community are expected to align themselves to group culture (e.g. plagiarism is frowned upon).  Collaboration occurs through acknowledging a sense of belonging to the group.  


Individuals are valued because they have attributes and aspects of independent learners.  The culture and values of higher education institutions instills a cohesion through embedded tasks, establishing community spirit.  Pedagogical approaches assume the responsibility of undertaking various aspects of group development.  Levels of experience, personal characteristics, and capability lead to diffusion of tension between individuals if identity building processes have been an effective measure of enculturation.


Role models are critical when developing these observational skills, as goal setting procedures procure immediate results.  Mature students are seen to be more in tune with this approach, as their wisdom allows them to carry the responsibility more easily.


Student perception of the nature of their higher education learning communities
Students are tested on their affiliation to group culture.  Assessment and validation come from values, honesty, and collaboration.  Students adopt the characteristics of the organisation and use them as guidelines to structure and develop personal working styles.  Clark, Dodd and Coll observed students levels of awareness as it relates to community practice.


Independence in learning
The move to higher education from school demands a certain level of personal accountability.  Independent learners (e.g. students who are able to self-regulate) are more likely to have a level of organisational skills (e.g. time management) that propel and guide towards their end objective.  Without a definitive plan or schedule, students remain unfocused and unclear about their primary function.


Working hard
While first year students prepared themselves to understand new areas of interest (e.g. science), the pace of learning is enduring and chronic.  Without extra effort and determination to accomplish the tasks, students may find themselves lagging behind.  In general, higher education institutions develop program structures that link modules together.  Student understanding increases as they acquire new knowledge and create their own meaning to comprehend the following tasks.


More demanding assessment regimes
Progressive understanding comes with recall.  Student recall is a key objective when analysing information.  Rote memorisation is not enough.  Details come from intellectual stimulation of the subject and students are required to really think about what is absorbed (e.g. knowing what photosynthesis means, rather than just understanding it as a sequence of events).


Developing practical skills
To facilitate understanding and encourage further stimulation, improving on practical skills is a pragmatic and sensible way of developing deeper insight.  Without the practice of applying knowledge, students miss out on some aspects of learning.  Concepts are made clear during activity.  Specific fields of employment develop a system of tools that aid working practice.  Students who are exposed to and have practical working knowledge of these tools are more likely to find immediate employment  (e.g. lab work).  In addition, students are expected to have documented learning in a manner that not only briefs supervisors, but becomes part of the individuals' research history.  The recording of personal learning creates more meaning to an individual than when information is just read and acknowledged (e.g. blogging).


Values
Plagiarism is a highly frowned upon activity as it is considered an unethical form of research.  However, when working collaboratively, cheating is no longer an offence.  The group exists so that knowledge can be shared.  Role models provide the impetus for individuals to be successful students.  Ethical practice is incorporated into daily activities and student observations generate similar personal ethics and values.  Passion and interest is transferred from lecturer to student.


Collaboration with others
Students find that collaboration makes it easier to comprehend the mass of information that is encountered.  Group discourse aids stimulation and capacity for analytical thinking.  Full participation in group work means that the acquisition of information to discuss is critical.  Lack of sufficient knowledge in an individual creates disharmony and reduced levels of participation.  Commitment to self correlates significantly with commitment to group activities.


Summary and conclusions
Dodd, Clark and Coll state that from observations of students and teacher in higher education, it is clear that independent learning takes into account the responsibility and commitment to learning, full and active participation in group work, understanding why artifacts are produced, the ongoing development of practical skills, and the growth of values and ethical behaviour.  
Acclimatisation to higher educational culture promotes progressive advancement in career and life experience.


Discussions and implications
The development of cultural awareness in higher education is driven by social contribution in student learning.  Interaction between educators and students creates transactive memory for the group (e.g. distributed cognition).  Successful collaborative work requires technical and psychological tools, and a structure that embeds learning in daily activity.  Students produce artifacts that can be used by both group members and individuals to intensify knowledge gathering.  Deeper levels of analysis can be achieved from diverse perspectives.  Knowledge and learning developed in this manner is more effective for student learning than rote memorisation (e.g. reading manuals without practice).  Tacit knowledge is made clear from data and becomes explicit knowledge through discourse.  By building and fostering a sense of community, alignment to group culture prepares students for the future.

Anderberg, E., Norden, B. and Hansson, B. (2009). Global learning for sustainable development in higher education: recent trends and a critique.

Anderberg, E., Norden, B. and Hansson, B. (2009).  Global learning for sustainable development in higher education: recent trends and a critique.  International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 10(4), pp. 368 - 378.  Retrieved on June 5, 2010 from http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=Article&Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/2490100405.pdf


Introduction
Global Learning for Sustainable Development (GLSD) has been of international interest since UNESCO implemented its Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) objectives through the Framework for a Draft Implementation Scheme that introduce profound changes for higher education.  The significance of this relates to the way we view the world in terms of learning as a global concern.  Not only are we expected to understand the world we live in, we look for learning systems that are sustainable within a global culture.  The authors address concerns for the complexity and interconnectedness of problems in a more holistic and multidisciplinary manner.


Policy declarations that emerged in the 1970's highlighted the growing concern and specific awareness of issues in higher education and global development.  One of the two major themes of the Kyoto Declaration of 1993 states that higher education institutions take responsibility for educating the public through outreach activities (outlined in UNESCO, 1998) to increase awareness of Sustainable Development (SD).  There are relatively few research articles on global learning and higher education which is to be expected as this domain has only been explored for twenty years.


The emerging of GLSD
Global learning is defined as the embedded practice of acquiring new knowledge through connections and links made to everyday life to understand how problems of global dimensions and lines of conflict can be minimised to create sustainable practice in education.  The authors indicate that perception dictates that there is no one right answer to any problem, but that a variety of methods may complement and accommodate most situations.  Knowledge is not bound by the Principles of Cause and Effect as the amount of information gathered and distributed is vast and valid for shorter periods.  Knowledge has become more specialised laterally, so institutions have adopted new methods for learning required in a global context.  The focus is on how global learning networks stimulate learning in groups.


Literature review findings: challenges of GLSD in higher education
University/institutional levels
Work in 2004 shows that higher education institutions are playing a significant role in educating the population by offering lifelong learning courses on community awareness in learning, research and innovation, and critical analysis of policy debates of global learning structures.  Local universities act as a feeder for government to raise knowledge infrastructure of developed and developing countries.  Online learning is seen to reduce cost and increase the flexibility of learning for an environmentally responsible generation.  Therefore higher education supports integrating the national knowledge framework.


Existing methodology is not equipped to face the challenges of global learning comprehensively.  Instead, three main attributes are seen as core elements of interest:

1. the characteristics of students;
2. a philosophy of education; and
3. the process and content of education.

The authors refer to research that reveals knowledge and skills developed are moving towards multidisciplinary, multilevel and multicultural approaches in research and education.  Global learning requires institutions to train their students to have knowledge in diverse methodology, online connections, technology, global modelling, global communities and extensive field research.  The implications that technology brings to the 21st century has considerable significance in knowledge acquisition, methods and practice that sustains valid and relevant activities.


Curriculum level
Global learning is about careful analysis of information rather than rote memorisation.  Commitment to learning (e.g. establishing interest, intrinsic motivation and goal-setting procedures) leads to situation monitoring.  An approach of this sort requires specific competencies in group collaboration, systems thinking, integrated thinking, self-confidence, cooperation, flexibility, creative and lateral thinking, and the ability to reach a compromise.


An example of global learning systems where schools integrate mobile learning through interactive visits to exhibitions, workshops, classroom activities and corresponding auxiliary equipment for teachers can be found in Austria.  Heuristic learning (e.g. learning through experimentation and experience) complements sustainable development in concepts such as environmental education, education for sustainable development, global learning and peace education.  Adaptation and transformation is required for individuals to renegotiate concrete learning experiences as the situation relates to individual epistemic and ontological beliefs.  Individual and group development of self-regulating systems that lead to goal-setting procedures are crucial in maintaining collaborative unity.


Global learning enhances traditional teaching and learning practices.  A study of social policy from a global learning perspective focuses on how higher education in Britain promotes awareness, knowledge and understanding of sustainable development.  Global learning enhances curriculum development as a result of its relevance and dynamism.  Students are stimulated to broaden their outlook and think further than their individual and national context.  Creativity and imagination are necessary components when critically analysing social policy on a global scale.


Content-based approaches limit a global perspective (e.g. focusing on what is taught rather than critically analysing the information provided).  A focus driven approach (e.g. embedded learning that facilitates knowledge construction so students are able to internalise meaning/significance) requires more strategic planning rather than addition to content.


Individual level
One identified problem in teaching sustainable development is a common language.  Much meaning is lost and integration of sustainable development practice into the curriculum is problematic.  To empower and teach students, educators in higher education require substantial knowledge of issues in sustainable development themselves (e.g. subject matter expertise).  Educators who are unfamiliar with the topic for discussion may inadvertently limit knowledge gathering for the students.  Educators who can expand conceptions extend approaches to teaching and learning.  Comprehensive education delivers information, know-how and belief systems that are synonymous with identifying and growing into a culture of sustainable development.


Analysis of empirical research on qualitative differences in student learning reveals that global contexts activate student commitment to learning about sustainable development.  Students who developed critical thinking skills were found to have an awareness of the complexities and interconnecting concepts of sustainable development.  Students who asked questions and reflected on subject matters relevant to sustainable development found dialogic exchange and being in an extended global learning space (e.g. being with similar others) beneficial to learning outcomes.  Online discussion (e.g. social interaction with embedded learning activity) contributes to deductive rather than inductive reasoning leading to an holistic approach towards sustainable development and understanding the intricacies of global learning.


Discussion
Changing attitudes towards curriculum, pedagogy and higher education has meant that institutions with embedded sustainable development activities have increased transactive memory relevant to the growth of global perspectives.  Crucial to understanding the scale, impact and complexity of global learning is the constructive use of tools to develop individual self-confidence.  Consideration of political, socioeconomic and environmental factors shape the context and perspective of global knowledge on sustainable development.


Generating new global knowledge incrementally guides professionals in education to develop commensurate teaching strategies and curriculum design (e.g. flexibility to adapt and transform with new knowledge).  More research on global settings (e.g. world society) is required to understand competency as an expression and a result.  In order to integrate sustainable development into curricula, innovative approaches to multi-disciplinary, multi-lingual and multi-cultural understanding of competency should be investigated as a priority.


Conclusion
Alternative and multi-disciplinary theories, research strategies, and interventions are needed to sustain GLSD at higher education.  Institutions cultivate values and perspectives based on local requirement and can vary from community to community.  Suggestions for a competencies-driven curriculum takes rhetoric into praxis. Curricula in general integrates a global perspective without considering how students will learn in a global context.  Pioneer research in gathering information on best practice teaching and learning strategies is ongoing.


GLSD is significantly linked to complexities which is an incentive to find holistic ways of teaching and learning.  Student understanding of the complexities in a global context is pivotal to the competencies that are developed.  By integrating competencies and knowledge based curriculum developed through knowledge capability theory, it is possible to see that one feeds the other (e.g. increased levels of competency correlate positively to new teaching strategies that generate new ability).  This creates holistic knowledge and generates new capabilities to learn and handle complex theory.