Pearce, J. and Down, B. (2011). 'Relational pedagogy for student engagement and success at university.' Australian Association for Research in Education. 38:483-494

Participants

This paper is based on research undertaken in Australia. They specifically studied university students who came from a low socio-economic background. At the moment, my research isn't going to make such a distinction in its participants, primarily because I argue that the impact of the experiences we see writ large in these groups of students is no less important to acknowledge and understand in all university students. The experiences of those from a low socio-economic background (or other less advantaged background) simply serve to highlight the issues of schooling and the impact higher education can have. 

Relational Pedagogy

The authors are particularly concerned about the importance of relationships between students and academics; a concern shared by Hughes & Saiva (2021) with regard specifically to apprenticeship students (who, due to the different entry requirements (UCAS, 2024a; 2024b), are more likely to come from the background Pearce and Down (2011) studied).

Statistics & Methodology

Data is cited to support the need for the research but this is mostly very out of date (2008) and based in Australia. It will be necessary to cite current and local data for my research. However, the data used in this paper is used effectively to defend the need for such research. 

"If there is to be any serious shift in participation and completion rates of under-represented groups in higher education, then there is an urgent need for politicians, academics and university administrators alike to better understand the realities of such students' experiences of studying at university, from their point of view." p. 484. 

This quote underlines the need for qualitative research in this area. I have chosen to take a Critical Theory approach to my research, which foregrounds the need to raise the voices of those who are frequently oppressed and/or marginalised by society. This approach also supports the need to understand participants' social histories in order to understand their current experiences, as highlighted by Pearce and Down (2011). In fact, apart from the longer-term time-frame and the use of focus groups to enhance learning from individual interviews, my research seems to use similar methods to this paper. Pearce and Down (2011) aimed to "'illuminate the perspective of the 'tellers'" (p. 485) and ensured interviews were open-ended and exploratory.

Deschooling

One of the most interesting terms this paper uses is "schooled knowledge" (p. 485), which, to me, appears to describe the belief systems around social structure, power and education e.g. who should have access to education (i.e. who 'belongs')? Which 'sort of people' fit the "dominant middle class conceptions of the 'good' student" (p. 485)? What is the nature of intelligence and what role does it play in success? It is the process of dismantling these harmful and untrue ideas that I would term 'deschooling' and that I believe can take place in higher education, when it is done well.

The authors also found that participants found difficulties in understanding the 'rules' of higher education. I suggest that those who have had to rely heavily on school rules in order to get through their schooling, with the associated rigidity, paternalism and the disempowering nature, particularly struggle to interpret and engage with the nature of higher education learning. This would suggest that academics should be proactive in coaching students to develop this understanding if they want their students to succeed; and that this 'coaching' is part of 'deschooling'. Pearce and Down (2011) describe experiences of students who had poor relationships with academics and their feelings of frustration when lecturers seemed to expect them to just 'know' how the system works. This brings to mind the culture I have seen in some teams of HE students being adult learners and, as such, should not expect support from academics in learning how to become autonomous learners. Described by Pearce and Down (2011) as "gatekeeping" (p. 490), this assumption ignores the fact that many students have not been privileged enough to have had opportunities to learn how to learn independently and why university is, and should be, different from school. One participant described how:

"Some lecturers don't seem to think that they need to build people up..." (p. 489)

This suggests that students feel very acutely their naivety in this kind of environment and rely on academics understanding this. I would argue that it is disheartening that anyone should need to be 'built up' and prompts the question of why school leaves people with such a need.

One particular point noted by this paper is the need for clear communication that meets the students where they are at by not assuming that they will understand academic language. I think 'deschooling' is partly about how we 'ease' students into the world of higher education and that this process will enable students to actually live better, more critically and more effectively in the world meaning richer lives overall.  

The paper found that positive relationships between students and academics supports learning. I think my research will be seeking to understand why this would be the case. The paper also found that the building of these positive relationships is affected by institutional culture as well as individual academics' views on education and power (and, I guess, the concept of 'schooled knowledge'). 

Other concepts cited by Pearce and Down (2011) as closely associated with relational pedagogy are those of 'belongingness' (e.g. one participant said: "I've had lecturers where I have walked into the office to discuss something and I've thought 'I should not be here'." (p. 490)) and power in education. One key difference between school and higher education is that school relies heavily on a transmissive, 'banking' model of teaching, which hooks (1994) argues reinforces power imbalances. Pearce and Down (2011) suggest that a positive relationship between students and academics help students to feel they belong and also begin to dismantle the imbalance of power intentionally created by schools that appears to disempower people and hinder deep learning. Higher education institutions have an opportunity to impact this power imbalance, which is another element I would argue comes under the term 'deschooling'.

References

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to Transgress. New York: Routledge

Hughes CJ. and Saiva, G. (2019). 'Degree apprenticeships - an opportunity for all?'. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning. 9(2): 225-236

Pearce , J. and Down, B. (2011). 'Relational pedagogy for student engagement and success at university.' Australian Association for Research in Education. 38:483-494

UCAS. (2024a). Foundation Degrees. Available at: https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/what-and-where-study/choosing-course/foundation-degrees (Accessed: 9 August 2024).

UCAS. (2024b). Degree Apprenticeships. Available at: https://www.ucas.com/apprenticeships/what-you-need-know-about-apprenticeships/degree-apprenticeships-0 (Accessed: 9 August 2024)