Recently I attended the Student Lifewide Development Symposium at Aston University, organised by the Centre for Recording Achievement (CRA) and Surrey Centre for Excellence in Professional Training and Education (SEPTrE). This event focussed firmly on the learner as a holistic being, with the objective of moving beyond the formal accredited curriculum to examine and incorporate the significance and value of informal learning; hence the term "Lifewide" Development".
Lifewide learning acknowledges and celebrates the value of learning through activities outside formal learning channels directed by an educational institution. Professor John Cowan’s keynote called for a “radically revised pedagogy” to encourage, recognise and reap the most benefit from learning outside of formal academic acheivement in higher education. In part this responds to the need for graduates to develop life experience alongside their academic qualification, to be actively engaged in their learning journey, enabling them to leave education as well-rounded individuals with life and work skills not explicit to their formal qualification. The proposal for a “revised pedagogy” although student-centric, does therefore reflect the needs of life in the modern world and the expectations of employers.
Lifewide learning acknowledges and celebrates the value of learning through activities outside formal learning channels directed by an educational institution. Professor John Cowan’s keynote called for a “radically revised pedagogy” to encourage, recognise and reap the most benefit from learning outside of formal academic acheivement in higher education. In part this responds to the need for graduates to develop life experience alongside their academic qualification, to be actively engaged in their learning journey, enabling them to leave education as well-rounded individuals with life and work skills not explicit to their formal qualification. The proposal for a “revised pedagogy” although student-centric, does therefore reflect the needs of life in the modern world and the expectations of employers.
Undeniably technology and connectiveness through rapid and amplified communication channels could play a significant role here and opens up many new possibilities for learning individually and collectively both formally and informally, expected and unexpected.
My Summary of the proposed "revised pedagogy"
Although formal curriculum design acknowledges the value of windfall learning (unintended benefits) the lifewide philosophy goes further. It embraces all aspects of an individual’s life as the learning arena, making the learning opportunities extensive and an individual’s “curriculum” route flexible and unique. This means it is impractical and undesirable to describe outcomes in advance beyond aiming to develop confidence and self-analysis skills. The individual chooses the context for their own learning dependent on their interests and experiences putting the learner in control (rather than the institution, an awarding body or tutor) and allowing outcomes to unfold naturally as part of their individual learning journey.
Assessment of such learning has a very different emphasis from competency driven formal curriculum; it is extremely bespoke, pertinent to personal values and goals. As such the only possible approach is a reflective one where students reflect objectively on the learning value of experiences and analyse those reflections in order to pinpoint their learning value and acknowledge self-knowledge and growth.
Professor John Cowan’s keynote explained in more detail why these features of lifewide student development require a radically different approach and pedagogy and how curriculum in this context becomes an open framework rather than a prescribed and structured, pre-planned design.
A Comparison of pedagogy reflected in Curriculum Structure
Traditional pre-prepared formal academic curriculum programme with accrediatation. Lifewide framework developed during informal learning journey of personal value with formal recognition (although not accredited) by the institution.
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