Credo - a reflection on professional values!
If you read my previous blog, Music has really influenced my thinking of late. It's always been a big part of who I am, but more recently I've found myself thinking a lot more about words, lyrics and meaning. Perhaps this is just a reflection of the fact that I'm getting older and the thumping dance tracks don't quite appeal to me as much as they once did. But, in a reluctance to admit to the advancement of time, I prefer to think it's more a reflection of my own learning journey as I think about my current and past experiences.
But this week I've been thinking a lot about by school music classes. I loved learning about the history of music and how musical styles progressed through the centuries. One of my favourite texts on the subject was a book entitled Stylistic Harmony by Anna Butterworth (1994), a lecturer that I had the privilege to study with for a short period at Napier University in Edinburgh. During that time I learned about harmony not only in a "follow the rules" kind of way, but I also learned about why those rules existed and how they meant something important to musicians and composers at that time.
I remember the book started with some exercises in Gregorian Chant, one of the earliest forms of religious music. Over time I developed quite an interest in religious music and one type of music that captured my attention was the Credo (one of the movements in a religious Mass). But what inspired me about it was the word Credo itself, a latin word meaning, "I believe". Recently this has come to mind a lot because, on a professional level, I've found a lot of my own beliefs being challenged.
The College Development Network (CDN) in 2018 published a set of Professional Standards for Lecturers (which was later updated in 2020). To be clear, these almost perfectly summarise what I believe a professional lecturer should strive towards in their career. But, two years and a pandemic later, how have these professional values held up?
In reflecting specifically on the first of these today, I arrived at something of an exasperating realisation.
1.1 Students at the centre
"1.1.1 Understands student needs, the context in which they are living and studying, and the impact of
these on learning." (CDN, 2020)
This is the first element of professional standards stated under the heading of professional values.
Over the past two years, I'm sure that many of us have been granted an insight into the incredible experiences of learners who have continued to live and study while facing immense challenges. Those challenges are not gone! The reality of trauma lives with people for many years, if not a lifetime. So the importance of trauma informed pedagogy continues to be of importance to me and in my own practice.
Those same students who have sat exams at home during periods of lockdown and covid restriction, working online, under open-book conditions, while juggling the complexity of family life, fighting numerous distractions around them all the while managing to simultaneously hold down part time jobs... Those same wee superstars are sitting and passing assessments and exams under conditions that would have been unthinkable only two years ago. So, to hear that they are being made to resit these same exams in class under closed-book controlled conditions makes my blood boil. Why? Because their organisation is being audited!
This is the polar opposite of what we as an academic and professional community believe in. So what motivates this action? A belief that the inspectorate won't approve? A belief that when students can cheat, they will cheat? Or an inbuilt belief that online assessment isn't as rigorous as traditional exams?
It reminds me of a meeting I took part in back in spring time of 2020 when I had to participate in a discussion where the Open University (OU) and Distance Learning Qualifications in general were berated because the exams weren't strict enough! The implication was that it's easy to cheat in an exam which is conducted under open-book conditions. As an OU graduate I was furious because it smacked of the traditional heirarchy, the "I've got a better degree than you because I studied at a bricks and mortar university" attitude. And quite clearly this mindset hasn't changed.
What's absolutely hilarious though is that, in examining this same document of professional standards, two lines later it says:
"1.1.3 Develops learning relationships based on mutual respect and integrity." (CDN, 2020)
The irony of this juxtaposition strikes me heavily in this context because there is clear evidence to suggest that if more time was spent in developing relationships based on mutual respect and integrity, then the likelihood of students even attempting to cheat is minimised.
So, in order to attempt to redress this, I want to make two things clear (my professional version of a Credo if you like).
1. Open-book assessment is not the same as open assessment.
Open-book assessment simply provides students with the abilitiy to refer to their notes whilst sitting a traditional assessment or exam. This can be done in a standard classroom while being observed by your lecturer or invigilator. And while open-book assessment may go some way to alleviating exam anxiety, it doesn't address the fact that learners who are working, studying and sitting exams at home have access to resources and tools that could enable them to collude.
Open Assessment is a much broader concept which acknowledges, recognises, celebrates and accredits learning that takes place beyond the traditional classroom setting.
The astonishing thing is that we have all engaged in Open Learning to one degree or another. We have all learned on the job, took part in some kind of civic activity, done some independent learning, contributed to online discussion forums, chatted with people at work, reflected on and grown from these experiences both as a person and a professional. I myself am in the process of learning the art of silver-smithing from youtube, taking part in online community forums, attending workshops, experimentation, being mentored by other more experienced artists... the list is endless. And, the best thing about this kind of learning is that it can't be faked. You can't cheat your own life experiences!
So, as a maths educator I ask you, what's a better form of assessment? An exam done in the exam hall asking you to repeat parrot-fashion skills that have been taught in a way which facilitates maximum number of exam passes (gaming the system)? Or a real life project where students have to complete a science experiment using materials found around their house, taking pictures to show what they did, participating in discussions with other students to develop their communication and independent learning skills, followed by a reflective presentation on what they learned? Then turn their learning into a course that other students can benefit from?
Which of these approaches demonstrates more authentic learning? If authenticity of assessment evidence is reduced to the lecturer's ability to directly observe someone's performance, then that's quite another issue addressing the power balance in our classrooms.
But personally I would love to see learners engaged in an online forum where they can discuss mathematical problems and collaborate on how to work out the solutions or, conversely, help each other to figure where they made mistakes! It's the very basis of social-constructivism and lies at the heart of digital pedagogy.
2. Context is Important!
People often ask me why I studied with the Open University. One person even dared to ask me, "Why didn't you study at a real university? Get a real degree?"
The reality is very simple. I was an anxious young man who from a young age had mental health problems (I recognise that and acknowledge it now, but at the time I couldn't admit that to myself). Moreover I was raised in a poor family - my mother was a self-employed hairdresser and my dad was a general labourer so we didn't have much in the way of money. Moreover, my dad had difficulties with addiction so life was chaotic at times. We didn't have a car, so travel wasn't an option. I fully expected that I would go to my local college, get a job in a local supermarket to bring in some money and finish my degree with the Open University. Why? Because it was the only institution that was able to meet my needs.
(Me and my family at my Open University graduation in 2004)
Think about that for a moment. Of all the universities in the country that I could have applied to, only one of them was able to meet my needs. I got good grades at school and could have applied to some local universities, but all of them meant travel costs, or being away from home where I could help my family and the people that I love. Yes, as I indicated earlier, I did study at Napier University for a short period of time, a traditional bricks and mortar university. But I dropped out. Not because of the workload, not because I didn't enjoy the course, and not because I couldn't do the work. I dropped out because our family simply couldn't afford the travel costs.
So, to the critics out there, let that one sink in before you go criticising Open Education.
Ultimately the Open University in the UK have changed my life. If it wasn't for Open Education and Open Assessment and the hard work of tutors who got to know me (via telephone tutorials back in the day before the internet was a thing) and took the time to understand the challenges I was facing, I would never have been able to get a job at the same college where he studied teaching other people just like me and give back to the same community that has been so much part of my own history and upbringing. I would never have been able to buy a house, own a car, travel the world... The OU changed my life. In return I, and many thousands like me, are fiercely loyal to the OU because they met our needs. Just as the CDN standards highlight, it's a relationship!
So, as far as a "real degree" is concerned, that's about as real as it gets!
The sad thing is that this remains true today, almost 25 years later. There are young people who are going through these same experiences that I went through, or worse, all exacerbated by a pandemic that has shocked us all. So, it has never been more important to get to know our learners, get to understand their context and the challenges they're facing. Underlying the everyday demands that we all face, regardless of whether we work in schools, colleges, universities or in some other open educational setting, we can't afford to forget the human face of education.
So what do our learners need from us at the moment? Do they need us to be questioning their honesty? Adding to their workload? Or do they need our help to build lasting professional learning relationships based on respect and integrity?
References
College Development Network (2020) Professional Standards for Lecturers in Scotland's Colleges [Online]. Available at: https://www.cdn.ac.uk/professional-standards/ (Accessed 9th March 2022).
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