Institutional culture and practices

Much of the literature emphasises how the institutional culture of college provides enabling learning opportunities for students. Research exploring students engaged in studies at GFEC revealed that their experiences were often described in contrast to what they had experienced at school. Sailsbury and Jephcote (2008) found that students enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere in contrast to the ‘petty rules’ and ‘regimentation at school’ (p.154). The students appreciated a less rigid timetable which gave them more free time and enabled them to combine their studies with a part-time job. Furthermore, many students felt they were ‘treated like adults’ (p.154) in the college environment which promoted responsibility and an opportunity to establish close working relationships with teaching staff. Many enjoyed how teachers were approachable and able to understand the various situations and needs of the students both as learners and people with lives beyond the course.

This idea of an ‘adult atmosphere’ was a predominate theme reflected in much of the research. Young people appreciate the culture of college, allowing them to dress how they want, being treated as adults, involving activities other than reading and writing and offering experience of real adult life (Ecclestone, 2006, Gorard & Smith, 2007, Lumby et al, 2002, Briggs, 2004). The adult culture, particularly within SFC, as discussed earlier, can create positive learning attitudes within students contributing to and maintaining a purposeful working atmosphere, with students valuing the responsibility they can assume for their own learning (Hodkinson and Bloomer, 2000). According to Lumby et al (2002) SFC is as much of a culture choice for students as it is an academic choice. The strong learning culture found within the focal SFC of Hodkinson and Bloomer’s research created and sustained a strong learning community where learners assumed positive dispositions to learning. This continued to strengthen the community and shape the dispositions of other learners within it. Thus, the learning culture was continually shaping and being shaped by the interactions between the students and staff which valued and supported independent learning. Students reported feeling increased confidence and strengthened ambitions to progress to HE as a result.

This idea of a learning community is significant in that students who feel part of or within the learning community of their college are more likely to feel enabled in their participation. The students in Bathmaker’s (2001) research reported that it was important to them to feel like they were insiders to the learning environment of their college rather than outsiders. Their accounts emphasised the importance of ‘being students’; being accepted, being liked by staff and having friends who were students and generally accepting the ethos of the college. For

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these students, Bathmaker (2001) suggests that these factors were of more value than the content and nature of learning itself (p.97)

Despite the enabling adult learning culture reported by students in the literature, some college practices disabled positive learning and experiences for students. Contrasting against the appeal of the adult environment offered within college, students from Salisbury and Jephcote’s (2008) research struggled to adapt to the academic demands and assessment styles of college and felt overwhelmed by the sudden difference in the teaching and the volume of independent work required. Elsewhere in the literature, A-level students’ accounts highlight some of the challenges they encounter when making the transition from GCSE to A-level, particularly the difficulty of understanding many of the more abstract concepts of some A-level subjects (Bloomer & Hodkinson, 1997).

Learner accounts from Avis’ research (1984) revealed that students found themselves defined as children by staff. College attendance policies required them to account for their every move and if absent they were required to bring a note in from their parents. Whalberg and Gleeson’s (2003) study highlights the contradictions surrounding the adult atmosphere at college. The students in their research reported that they preferred college to school because they were treated in a more adult way however, in some instances they felt as though they were treated like ‘kids’ if they were sent out of the class for talking or for arriving late. College tutors themselves were contradictory as at times they would refer to their students as adults, but at other times as ‘kids’. In the research, tutors strove to develop an adult atmosphere but did not provide a consensus that the students were adults. According to Whalberg and Gleeson (2003), a reason for this contradiction can be attributed to the ‘second class’ image associated with these students (enrolled on an intermediate level GNVQ Business Studies course). Tutors would justify their treatment of students as ‘not adult’ (p.432) because they perceived GNVQ students to lack motivation and saw their choice to take the course as a ‘soft’ option. This demonstrates how powerful these kinds of teacher perceptions are at constructing the learning culture within a college site.

Lumby et al’s (2002) findings offer further support as they state that SFCs provide for learners who are neither children nor adults. Students want the freedom and self-expression offered within the college culture however, they also need a structured learning environment to ensure attendance and that learning outcomes are achieved. These practices stem from wider government policy of allocating funding based on student numbers and objectives to ensure that students complete and achieve in their qualifications. For some students this strict and

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structured environment showed little difference to school (Avis, 1984, Whalberg & Gleeson, 2003).

Other disabling practices revealed in the literature stems from the organisation of the colleges themselves in terms of entry procedures for courses, timing and scale of provision (Gorard and Smith, 2007). In their study of FE student drop outs, Hodkinson and Bloomer (2001, b) found that timetable issues prevented a student, Daniel, from choosing the subjects he wanted to study, ‘I couldn’t do psychology because it was in the wrong column, and I wanted

to do philosophy and it was in the wrong column. And then I thought, politics, but it was in the wrong column. And in the end, I just had to put up with sociology’ (p.122). This restriction

upon the freedom to pursue subjects and courses was reflected among other students in the study. When students failed to get the necessary entry grades, they were forced to make quick decisions about courses, which often resulted in not what they really wanted to do. Arguably, if a student is enrolled on a course which they did not set out to study they may fail to identify and engage with their learning.

The literature presented here illustrates the social processes which underpin the institutional culture of college sites and the practices located within them. James and Biesta (2007) advocate a cultural theory of learning which provides a more holistic way of viewing learners, learning and learning practices. The current domination of measureable outcomes within the post-16 sector such as achievement of qualifications and student retention rates, are generally accepted as the main purpose of learning and are considered to be a reliable measurement of the effectiveness of learning. In opposition to this James and Biesta (2007) state that ‘being a student in FE does not simply result in acquisition of knowledge, skills and qualifications, but affects the whole person’ (p.36). They promote the need to use ‘contextualised judgement due the relational complexity of learning, differing positions and dispositions of learners’ (p.37).

Hence, there is more to learning than a student staying on their course and passing their formal assessments. Learning involves complex, social processes shaped by the individual learner biographies of the students and the practices of the college. Stemming from this, the relationships students form with teachers are an important feature of their learning. Many of the college cultures and learning environments within the research centre upon the nature of the relationships students felt they had with their teachers. These relationships were shaped not only by the interactions themselves between students and teachers, but by the wider college practices and the prescription of the curriculum being taught. The following sections will discuss these concepts further.

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