"When I study, I think of myself like sticky tape": Metaphors for learning and motivation in the evaluation of a university widening participation program

Abstract

<p>Participation rates in higher education are increasing across OECD countries, however demographics remain skewed towards more advantaged populations (OECD, 2018). Developing greater social and cultural inclusion – that is, widening participation - has accordingly become a policy priority in a range of global contexts, including England and Australia. Widening participation programs and policies in both contexts have been critiqued, for instance for reflecting individualised, deficit assumptions (Gale, 2015); or for being based, at least in part, on economic rather than social justice motivations (Burke, 2013; Chapman, Mangion et al. 2015). Nonetheless, such programs have the potential to support greater equity within higher education. Our ongoing, longitudinal study therefore seeks to develop a nuanced evaluation of the operation of one widening participation program in a leading, elite Australian university.</p><p>In this presentation, we present early findings from student focus group data collected in late 2018 and early 2019 (at time of submission, n = 41). Although the broader study is mixed methods in design, the qualitative components were included in order to allow us to go beyond the mapping of trends and open up ways of communicating about, rather than measuring, psychological constructs such as motivation. In particular, this presentation presents data garnered through the use of metaphor cards: images that students were asked to select and discuss as reflective of their views regarding their learning. Barton (2015) argues that such ‘elicitation techniques’ can encourage the discussion of topics that may be otherwise difficult or abstract, and can also serve to reduce power imbalances between interviewers and their participants. Such techniques have also been shown to facilitate discussion (Karnieli-Miller, Nissim et al. 2017), and illuminate issues that may otherwise remain invisible or contested (Sutton, 2011). In addition, metaphors have the power to both reflect and construct our understandings of the world (Harwood, Jones, Bonney & McMahon, 2017), thereby providing a rich source of data.</p><p>Indeed, our early findings suggest that this method of data gathering enables nuanced research conversations. The metaphors chosen by students demonstrate a range of affective relationships with both current and imagined future learning, including some expression of doubt about perceived ability (“the song doesn’t always work”) or application (“I think of myself like sticky tape … if you leave it for a long time it doesn’t get sticky as much”), as well as expressions of trust in formalised education (“you grow, and you can take your time”) and ambition (“to fly high and touch the sky”). The range of responses garnered at this early stage of the research provide support for previous findings (see e.g. McMahon, Harwood, & Hickey-Moody, 2016) that young people from marginalised communities have complex, thoughtful and valuable views to contribute regarding the nature of their engagement in school-based and higher education.</p><p>We conclude our presentation by looking forward to the next steps of the project, where we seek to consider issues such as program construction, student recruitment and pedagogy, through the growing body of data collected across the considerable breadth and depth of the project.</p>