1. Enabling Accessibility, Flexibility and Equity:
A Transition Pedagogy for Pathway Programs.
Professor Sally Kift ALTF Senior Fellow; OLT Discipline Scholar: Law DVC (Academic), James Cook University

3. Shared foci of attention, whatever the pathway or program!

4. Overview: A Fair Chance for All (DEET 1990)
The social justice piece
Pathways into higher education
In 2016: What do we know about what works?
An inclusive First Year/ Student Experience
Transition Pedagogy for learning, success and retention
Critical and integrative focus on curriculum design
From theory to action
6 (First Year) Curriculum Principles
Some practical examples

5. Equity, Social Justice & Widening Participation.
Underpinning –
Equity, Social Justice & Widening Participation.
The National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education argues that equity is predicated on the recognition that:
‘ … social systems (including education systems) tend to produce unequal outcomes (advantage and disadvantage), … in part this is because individuals’ starting positions and the processes involved in the production of social and economic outcomes are unfair. In this context, a commitment to equity is a commitment to adjusting social systems for socially just means and ends. In short, equity is a strategy: (a) to achieve (more) socially just ends; and (b) is informed by a theory about why and how a particular social system is not just.’

6. http://www. productivity. govt
Sep, 2016
(Issues Paper, at 30)
The Commission finds that the tertiary education system is not well-placed to respond to uncertain future trends and the demands of more diverse learners ...Nor does it reach out, as much as it could, to extend the benefits of education to groups that have traditionally missed out on tertiary education (Draft Report at 2).

7. NAEEA & FABENZ: Terminology
Enabling course: “…a course of instruction provided to a person for the purpose of enabling the person to undertake a course leading to a higher education award.” (Australian Higher Education Support Act 2003 Schedule 1)
“Enabling-like courses”: bridging, foundation [NZQA levels 1,2 &3], uni preparation, pathway, [concurrent] supplementary (Hodges et al., 2013)
“[main purpose ]…to allow a second chance for tertiary education for students who, for a variety of reasons, have not followed the more traditional pathway from secondary schooling directly into higher education. Thus a greater number of people and from a wider range of demographics have been able to gain access to higher education (James, 2007, p. 1.)” (Hodges et al., 2013, 14)
“To encourage, promote and widen access and successful participation in tertiary education leading to employment or further study.” (FABENZ website:

8. Alternative pathways…
“Higher Education Course: …may be award courses, non-award courses, Bridging for Overseas Trained Professionals or enabling courses. Higher education courses do not include TAFE courses. It is an Australian or overseas equivalent, complete or incomplete course. These include students who attended pathway colleges that award undergraduate diplomas, students switching courses or universities, or students returning for a second degree.”

9. Alternative pathways…
Enabling programs
Foundation & bridging courses
Alternative admissions tests
(eg Aust Special Tertiary Admissions Test)
Yr 12 completed as mature-age
Recognition of OS qualifications
‘Portfolio’ entry approaches
Vocational Education & Training (VET)
Other sub-degree programs (eg JCU Diploma of HE)
Other…

10. “Enabling” and “Enabling-like”
“Increasing opportunities for access with success”
1988: Aust Govt category of “Enabling” re disadvantaged students taking certain bridging/ preparatory & academic learning support programs in unis
“A diverse range of approaches”
HECS-exempt status
“Enabling and related programs are intended to address the outcomes of disadvantage. This concerns more than the ‘topping up’ of skills and knowledge, and explains…the emphasis given to issues such as student awareness and confidence building, the positioning of students to make informed choices, the need for students to experience the culture of higher education, the need for universities to open up and liberalise their culture, etc.” (at xv)

11. Pathway Programs : The “Cinderella” of HE
Hardworking, neglected, undervalued and not well understood.
Enabling those who may never have gone on to university … otherwise…

12. Australian OLT Project
“University-based enabling programs have proven to be a successful pathway into higher education. From the early offerings of the University of Newcastle Open Foundation Program (OFP) in 1974 until the recent post-Bradley dramatic expansion of programs, such programs have been generally successful at both enabling access to higher education for a large number of students from non-traditional backgrounds and also at preparing them appropriately for performance at a higher level.”
Enabling Retention Final Report, 2013, 16
Hodges, B., Bedford, T., Hartley, J., Klinger, C., Murray, N., O'Rourke, J. and Schofield, N. (2013) Enabling retention: processes and strategies for improving student retention in university-based enabling programs, Office for Learning and Teaching

13. What leads to successful foundation/ bridging education:
Esp at pp35-36
Institutional commitment: value & support programs; best staff teaching
A bridging/ foundation pedagogy
Diagnostic assessment & acad advising for all new students
Support widely available, actively promoted & staff aware of services.
Integrated teaching, content & assessment across disciplines
Learning environment inclusive & affirming
Course content contextualised to cohorts’ experiences
Existing cultural capital “valued and accommodated” (Zepke et al. 2005, 14)
Learning collaboratively; skills integrated into discipline course content
Assessment integrated
Specific criteria, frequent feedback, early opportunities for success

14. Enabling & Sub-bachelor Pathways Report (2016)
Considered level of preparedness & easy transition re various pathways.
Equity groups via enabling generally better retained in 1st yr than most other sub-Bach pathways.
Overall, enabling students articulating with greater satisfaction than via VET, esp re: preparation for uni, confidence, & sense of belonging.
66.2% students articulating via VET undertook VET “for its own benefits, not as a pathway to university studies”.
“…wide range of innovative enabling programs, whose overall success is evident in the national retention rates – and to some extent the success rates – of enabling graduates who proceed to undergraduate level”.
“[T]he various sub-bachelor pathways serve distinct cohorts of students and act in a complementary, not contrasting, fashion.”

15. Enabling & Sub-bachelor Pathways Report (2016)

16. Qualitative findings from student survey
Enabling & Sub-bachelor Pathways Report (2016)
Qualitative findings from student survey
Enabling programs might be improved by:
Better align enabling course content, structures and processes with UG level, to help acculturate students with their post- enabling experience;
Workload & requirements/ standards/ level of difficulty similar to uni level;
University systems, structures and processes being mimicked in the pathway program;
Enhanced academic skills development;
More transparent information for prospective students re what enabling program is/ does.
“This is probably one of the best things I could have done, the extra guidance offered by the course prepared me in many ways for university life.”

17.
“This website aims to encourage, inform and assist adults who have not previously completed Year 12 or who completed high school a long time ago, and are now preparing for entry into TAFE diploma and university degree programs.”

18. http://www. bridgetostudy. com

19. Enabling programs: “variously referred to as Foundation Studies, Foundation Programs, Special Entry Programs, or Alternative Entry Programs…”(at 5).
“ an enormous depth and complexity behind the student experience of studying a Bachelor’s degree, having entered via an Enabling program from a low-SES background. Overall, students had an enormously positive experience of adapting to academic culture, and felt grateful… This often meant an increase in their subjective sense of academic self-efficacy, something that they felt quite aware of...” (at 48)
2016
However, this was rarely a universally positive transformative experience.
…[despite] narratives of positive transformation and social mobility that emerge …, it must also be acknowledged that student journeys also involve significant change, trauma, disruption and social stigmatisation. Because of this, institutional support structures are essential and should be given a more prominent place as essential instruments in building towards student success.
…In particular, women experienced significant challenges and even breakdowns in their intimate relationships, as their new student identities were seen to undermine their identities as wives and mothers. (at 49)

20. First Year Student Experience
Student success is largely determined by student experiences during the first year.
Upcraft, M. L., Gardner, J. N., & Barefoot, B. O. (Eds.). (2005). Challenging and supporting the first-year student. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, p 1.
First Year Student Experience

22. FYE approaches (Kift, et al
FYE approaches (Kift, et al., 2010; Kift, 2009; Wilson, 2009; Kift, 2015)
1st generation FYE
Siloed co-curricular – professionals on curriculum’s periphery
2nd generation FYE
Curriculum focus – recognises entering diversity and supports student learning experience via pedagogy, curriculum design & L&T practice – requires faculty & professional partnerships
3rd generation FYE
1st and 2nd generation FYE quality assured, joined-up and seamless across whole institution, across all its disciplines, programs & services via faculty & professional partnerships
= Transition pedagogy –
a guiding philosophy for intentional first year curriculum design and support that carefully scaffolds and mediates the first year learning experience for contemporary heterogeneous cohorts.
Kift & Nelson (2005)

23. 3rd Generation whole-of-institution culture shift
From a deficit model of student blame to a focus of inclusion and success
From a primary focus on student integration (into institutional culture) to an ‘adaptation’ approach whereby institutions adapt culture, processes and practices to support diversity (Zepke et al., 2005)

24. Tinto (2009): “Educational conditions”…
“stop tinkering at the margins of institutional academic life and make enhancing student success the linchpin about which they organize their activities ... [E]stablish those educational conditions on campus that promote the retention of students, in particular those of low-income backgrounds”.
Tinto, V (2009) Taking Student Retention Seriously: Rethinking the First Year of University. Keynote address delivered at the ALTC FYE Curriculum Design Symposium,
QUT, Brisbane, Australia, February 5,

25. UK: What Works? (2012) Student Retention & Success
Nurture a culture of belonging (academic & social)
Institutional commitment, planning & leadership
Is a mainstream priority for institution & staff
Staff accountability, development, recognition & reward
Student capacity: clear expectations; skills development; engagement & interaction opportunities
Quality institutional data; monitoring for at-risk
Partnership between staff & students

26. New Zealand: Work from Ako Aotearoa
OLT Conference, Sydney
June 2014
New Zealand: Work from Ako Aotearoa
March, 2014
July, 2013
July, 2012
Peter Coolbear, Ako Aotearoa

27. Common Themes Celebrate success
Whole of institution, holistic approaches with success focus
Connectedness important; ‘Ako’
Strong relationships based on trust, respect & reciprocity
Engagement with family, partners & community
Culturally safe, inclusive & effective learning environment
EG: culturally relevant content & pedagogy for relevance, motivation & engagement; culturally engaged teachers & support staff; personalised
Culturally relevant peer mentoring, peer support & role models
Encourage self-directed learning & self-motivation
High, realistic & consistent expectations (with support to achieve)
Regular data monitoring processes in place & feedback provided

28. Academic & Profession Partnerships to co-create with students
Student partners

29. JCU 2015 Student Retention Report (Oct, 2016)
EG: Academic Language and Learning
JCU 2015 Student Retention Report (Oct, 2016)

30. & intentional curriculum design
Harnessing
Transition Pedagogy
& intentional curriculum design
A need “for universities to develop enabling and transition pedagogies (Kift, Nelson & Clarke, 2010; [Kift & Nelson], 2005) that embedded the development of specific skills into the curricula…in order to address the challenges of culturally distinct enabling and bridging cohorts.” (at 19)
“The development of a transition pedagogy that understood the learner was central to curriculum design… This in turn led to the creation of a positive learning community, successful learning relationships and inspired learner identities. The result is both the development of a model for transition in the enabling space, as well as an emerging enabling program that rises to the challenge of preparing talented, aspiring students who would otherwise have missed the opportunity to gain access to university via traditional means.” (at 32)