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Effective Learning Advisers’perceptions of their role in supportinglifelong learningDaphne Loads aa Napier University , Edinburgh, UKPublished online: 05 Jun 2008.

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Effective Learning Advisers’

perceptions of their role in supporting

lifelong learning

Daphne Loads*Napier University, Edinburgh, UK

This project investigated how Effective Learning Advisers in Scottish Higher Education

Institutions perceive their role in supporting lifelong learning, particularly with regard to academic

writing. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with five participants, and data were analysed

in the light of Griffin’sanalysis of the purposes behind the policy shift to lifelong learning, Wenger’s

conceptualisation of communities of practice and social learning systems and Baynham’s typology

of approaches to academic writing. The report concludes that ELAs see themselves as successfully

contributing to the support of lifelong learning. However, their role lacks clarity, and further

investigation is recommended.

Introduction

Over the past 10 years, a new post has appeared in the majority of Scotland’s 21

Higher Education Institutions. Variously entitled Academic Support Advisers, Study

Development Advisers, Academic Skills Advisers, Academic Skills Managers or

Effective Learning Advisers, they offer workshops, presentations and one-to-one

support to students and advice and staff development opportunities to academic

colleagues. In this report they will be referred to as Effective Learning Advisers

(ELAs). Similar roles are well-established in other countries. Arendale (2004) traces

the history of academic support in the USA from its origins in the tutoring provided

for the sons of wealthy families in the seventeenth century through to the teaching

and learning centres offering services to students and staff in today’s colleges and

universities. In Australia, specialist Learning Advisers are employed in every

university (Percy et al ., 2004). The websites of Higher Education Institutions

elsewhere in the UK frequently draw attention to their academic support services

(Bridgewater College, 2005; Brunel University, 2005; Cardiff University, 2005;

Liverpool Hope University, 2005; University of Bath, 2005; University of Exeter,

2005). This project sought to investigate how ELAs working in Scottish Higher

Education Institutions (HEIs) perceive their role in supporting lifelong learning,

*Napier University, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Care, Faculty of Health, Life and

Social Sciences, 13 Crewe Road South, Edinburgh, EH4 2LD, UK. Email: d.loads@napier.ac.uk

ISSN 1356-2517 (print)/ISSN 1470-1294 (online)/07/020235-11

# 2007 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/13562510701192016

Teaching in Higher EducationVol. 12, No. 2, April 2007, pp. 235�245

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particularly in relation to academic writing. For this small-scale exploratory

investigation, four main questions were addressed:

1. What do ELAs understand by ‘Lifelong Learning’ and what do they do to

support it?

2. How do ELAs perceive the policy context for the introduction and retention of

their posts in Scottish HEIs?

3. Where do they locate themselves in the institution and/or academic community?

4. How do they identify, explain and justify the forms of writing that are

appropriate for university level study, and how do they respond to forms of

writing that do not fit these criteria?

The investigation was carried out as part of my work in a ‘new’ university in

Scotland, and was submitted as part of the assessment for the Open University

module E845 Supporting Lifelong Learning. The participants were my colleagues in

other Scottish HEIs. As Academic Support Adviser for my Faculty and a member of

ScotELAS, the association of Effective Learning Advisers in Scottish HEIs, I am

concerned with the questions specified above on a daily basis. It is clear that more

individuals are participating in higher education at different times in their life, in

different ways and with differing aspirations than was formerly the case (Scottish

Executive, 2003). These learners are likely to be subject to a number of pressures

that require them to maximise their learning effectiveness. For example, they may be

returning to education after a prolonged absence, studying part-time while working,

attempting to build self-confidence in an unfamiliar environment, or lacking role

models as they strive to follow non-traditional learning paths. It seems likely that

ELAs have the potential to make a significant impact on the experience and

achievement of these students, although a search of the literature reveals a lack of

research in to their role.

Literature review

Defining lifelong learning

Lifelong learning is a contested concept, encompassing a range of aspirational,

descriptive and prescriptive meanings (Reeve et al ., 2002). It is defined by some in

broadly humanistic terms as a way of empowering people for active engagement with

important personal, social and global issues (European Commission, 2001). Others

take a more narrowly instrumental approach, prioritising the attainment of skills and

qualifications in order to improve economic competitiveness and productivity

(Department for Education and Skills, 2003).

Lifelong learning may be presented as a duty, placing the responsibility for learning

on individuals, exposing them to the social and economic risks of non-participation,

and expecting them to pay the cost themselves (Reeve et al ., 2002). Alternatively, it

may be viewed as a right, with the responsibility on the state to ensure equality of

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learning opportunity in order to promote social inclusion and equity (Scottish

Executive, 2003).

Definitions of lifelong learning often include those who follow educational

programmes within and outwith academic institutions, as well as those who learn

spontaneously, so including ‘lifewide’ as well as ‘lifelong’ learning (Tuijnman, 2002).

Policy context

ELAs were introduced in the context of widespread change in the Scottish Higher

Education sector. One change only will be explored here*/the perception that in the

UK we are undergoing a shift from state provision of education to individual

responsibility for learning, and that this shift is indicative of a more general move

away from welfarist to market-oriented policies (Griffin, 2002).

Such a change in focus from ‘provision’ to ‘learners’ can be understood and

experienced in very different ways. It may reflect Rogerian notions of empowerment

(Rogers, 2002), with individual learners valued for their uniqueness, creativity and

inherent capacity for development, and at the same time it may lead to an

overestimate of personal power, with individuals blamed if they fail to overcome

structural barriers by their own efforts. Elliott, as cited by Griffin (2002), suspects

that humanistic rhetoric is being used to obscure the withdrawal of government

funding from education, and Griffin (2002) sees this as just one part of the process of

dismantling the welfare state. These arguments are based on careful analysis of policy

statements about lifelong learning viewed in a historical context, and help us to look

beyond the current consensus so comprehensively attacked by Coffield (2002).

Organising learning

Wenger (2002) is concerned with constructing a theory to explain how learning

occurs in organisations, and the place of organisations in larger learning commu-

nities. His conceptual model provides one way of formulating questions about the

role of ELAs.

Wenger’s model incorporates concepts that allow familiar phenomena from

practice to be identified and named. If students are viewed as newcomers to a social

learning system (both the university and the wider academic community in which the

university participates), then a role appears for the ELA in facilitating their entry.

Wenger’s (2002) threefold categorisation of ways of belonging to a social learning

system*/engagement , imagination and alignment*/provides a way of conceptualising

the activities of the ELA. If students are to engage in the community, they will need

opportunities to interact with others, for example workshops and active learning sets.

In order for students to imagine themselves as a member of their community, the

ELA might facilitate reflection, individually or in groups. Alignment in particular

offers an alternative to the conceptualisation of the conventions of academic writing

as a set of rules that are simply to be obeyed. For example, the ELA could present

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conventional referencing as a way for students to be effective throughout the

academic community. Importantly, Wenger points out that alignment need not and

should not be a one-way process: learning involves transformation of both

community and individual, in which both established members and newcomers

actively participate.

The role for ELAs outlined above has some similarity with Wenger’s (2002)

concept of brokering*/working at the boundaries of a community. This is a ‘delicate’

role:

It requires enough legitimacy to be listened to and enough distance to bringsomething really new. Because brokers often do not fully belong anywhere and maynot contribute directly to any specific outcome, the value they bring can easily beoverlooked. Uprootedness, homelessness, marginalization, and organisationalinvisibility are all occupational hazards of brokering. (p. 170.)

Academic writing

The lack of explicit teaching of the conventions and meanings of academic writing

has been highlighted frequently as a significant barrier to participation in higher

education, particularly for non-traditional students (Rai, 2004), and ELAs are often

described as offering help that would seem to address this difficulty (Glasgow

University, 2005, Aberdeen University, 2005).

The research of Baynham (2002) shows nursing students struggling with the

disciplinary politics of their subject in the process of learning how to write. He asserts

that academic staff should make these conflicts and dissonances explicit, teaching not

only the writing conventions of the discipline, but also the meanings of the

conventions, so that students can make an informed choice about whether to follow

them or to flout them.

He outlines three perspectives on academic writing: the ‘skills-based’ approach

assumes a set of decontextualised skills that can be taught and then applied in

different subject areas. The ‘text-based’ approach is sensitive to the differences

between disciplines, but treats these as static and homogeneous, while ‘practice-

based’ approaches acknowledge their dynamic and political nature, for example the

conflicts and dissonances within new university disciplines or subjects. Baynham’s

categorisation corresponds broadly to the three models of Lea and Street (1998) of

student writing in higher education*/‘study skills’, ‘academic socialisation’ and

‘academic literacies’. They characterise the activities of staff within these approaches

as, respectively, solving students’ individual writing problems, socialising them in to

their chosen disciplines, and helping them to manage multiple and sometimes

conflicting expectations. These accounts provide me with a clear framework for

analysing the responses of ELAs in my investigation. However, I feel the spectrum

(see Table 1) should be extended to include the traditionalist view that university

students should not require support with academic writing.

In my experience it is not uncommon to hear some academic colleagues assert that

good academic writing skills should be a pre-requisite of university entrance, while

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others suggest that students with the required ability for higher education should be

able to ‘pick up’ such skills during the course of their studies. At the other end of the

spectrum, I would place a further category*/the social constructivist challenge to the

political basis on which academic literacies are defined and defended. Although

Baynham (2002) presents learning to write as the active taking up of a writing or

disciplinary position, involving the negotiation of meanings and the incorporation of

personal experience, nevertheless he seems to stop short at students challenging

disciplinary culture. Students, he says, should be helped to explore the positions that

are currently available to them.

Hamilton (2002), by contrast, calls for a more radical examination of the way

learning is defined, achieved and communicated. Like Baynham (2002), she

problematises student writing, claiming that literacy can be conceptualised as a set

of social practices*/a complex and dynamic interaction of activities, thoughts and

feelings imbued with individual and shared meanings. Unlike Baynham (2002), her

concern with the politics of learning goes beyond the academic institution. She

claims that it is differences in power between different groups in society that

determine which literacies become dominant, and which remain invisible or are

undermined. Hamilton’s approach is appealing in that it offers a way for the ELA to

open up a dialogue between students’ ‘vernacular literacies’ and the ‘institutional

literacies’ sanctioned by academic institutions.

Having reviewed the work of other researchers and commentators, I will now give

an account of how my own study was carried out, and some of the methodological

issues that arose.

Methodology

I worked with an opportunity sample of ELAs who were known to me and who were

available at the time of the investigation. The small group of interviewees comprised

two men and three women, three from an ‘ancient’ and two from a ‘new’ university,

and covered a broad geographical spread throughout rural and urban Scotland. Each

Table 1. Approaches to academic literacy

Traditionalist Skills-based/

study skills

Text-based/academic

socialisation

Practice-based/

academic literacies

Social

constructivist

Academic literacy

should be a

prerequisite of

university entrance

OR Students

should be able to

‘pick it up’ during

their course of

study

Students

should be

taught generic

study skills

that they can

apply in any

discipline

Students should be

helped to understand

the culture of their

discipline, including

writing conventions

and epistemological

assumptions

Students should

be introduced to

the debates and

contradictions

within their

discipline

The basis on

which

academic

literacy is

defined and

defended

should be

questioned

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participant took part in a face-to-face semi-structured interview for up to one hour.

The tapes were transcribed and analysed in the light of Griffin’s (2002) analysis of

the purposes behind the policy shift to lifelong learning, Wenger’s (2002)

conceptualisation of communities of practice and social learning systems and

Baynham’s (2002) typology of approaches to academic writing.

Data presentation and analysis

Lifelong learning

Interviewees offered a variety of accounts of what lifelong learning is or should be. It

was described as a universal process, as a goal to be achieved through promoting

social inclusion and as a politicised ‘label or badge’. It was associated with both

employment needs and personal development, and recognised as taking place

formally and informally, with implications for education providers. One of the

interviewees felt lifelong learning to be peripheral to her role: she referred to a

distinct group of lifelong learners who were primarily supported by a specific unit

within her institution, so that although she saw herself as a resource for these

students, she was not their first recourse for academic support. The other four

interviewees saw lifelong learning as central to their work:

. . . almost everything I do, one way or another is about [lifelong learning]

Of these, one was careful to distance himself from any specific group:

We would resist any link with a service that deals with a sub-set of students, and we

will remain being for all students.

The remaining three identified a particular responsibility to non-traditional students,

making a strong connection between lifelong learning and widening participation.

Interviewees described a range of strategies that they felt to be successful in

supporting lifelong learning. Activities with students included one-to-one sessions,

generic workshops and embedding support in courses. A distinction was made

between short-term work, which might involve reassuring a student in acute distress,

and long-term work, which for example helped students to think about learning or to

modify their view of themselves as learners. Activities with colleagues included acting

as a role model, observing and giving feedback to new lecturers, taking referrals and

contributing to courses. All five stressed the need to be tactful with colleagues. Four

of the five interviewees described themselves as working between staff and

students*/for example, helping students to understand the meaning of tasks set by

academics, and helping staff to understand students’ difficulties:

There’s a dislocation of perception between staff and students. We bridge the

gulf . . .

Their descriptions of their work were consistent with a student-centred approach:

I certainly think that we are part of the academic community that puts students at

the centre.

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Policy context

One interviewee felt that she didn’t keep abreast of policy issues:

I’ve not stayed that aware of that wider strategic context very well. I probably

should more than I actually do . . .

She was one of two interviewees who expressed suspicion that the policy rhetoric of

learner empowerment might be a cover for cutting costs. Student retention was cited

by all the ELAs as a major driver in the introduction and continuation of their posts,

although two expressed scepticism about there being a demonstrable link between

effective learning advice and a significant decrease in student withdrawals. Three

interviewees saw their posts as part of the Widening Participation agenda, whereas

two definitely did not.

Organisational and academic identity

ELAs described themselves as occupying a contested or ambiguous place in their

institutions. Three worked part-time as ELAs, and all fulfilled multiple roles within a

variety of formal structures and informal affiliations that were all subject to change

and realignment. They were variously associated with support services, academic

faculties and centralised units. They indicated a number of tensions in the way they

were perceived in their organisations*/for all students or for specific groups,

academic or academic-related, remedial or universal. Interviewees described the

difficulties of finding a ‘niche’, of feeling ‘torn’ between competing responsibilities

and two expressed anger that their role had been misunderstood or misrepresented.

However, they highlighted the autonomy of their role and the satisfaction of building

relationships and having input in different sectors and at different levels in the

institution. Credibility with colleagues was seen as important, and this was achieved

through collaborative working, perceived academic status and performance in

associated roles. Their place in the academic community was also presented as

complex, involving multiple ‘constituencies’ and split allegiances.

Academic writing

Interviewees assigned differing and at times inconsistent meanings to the term

‘academic writing’ that might be categorised as straightforward, ambiguous and

subtle. Sometimes they offered straightforward accounts characterising academic

writing as clear, concise, unemotional, logical and formal. From this perspective,

academic writing conventions were seen as a sensible approach to diversity:

. . . like a common parlance, or shared currency.

Sometimes they pointed out that the communicative function of academic writing

is often ambiguous*/ the intent may be to inform, to demonstrate understanding, to

impress, or even to ‘obfuscate ’.

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At other times interviewees took a subtle approach, acknowledging the tacit nature

of many writing conventions, and their entanglement with issues of identity:

. . . they say a lot of things about ‘I’m not in this piece of work’ or . . . ‘This kind of

writing isn’t me . . .’

None of the interviewees indicated support for the traditionalist view that students

in higher education should not require support with academic writing, and none

made explicit reference to the political dimension of academic literacy.

Discussion

The claim that lifelong learning is a contested concept (Reeve et al ., 2002) was

reflected in the varied and sometimes conflicting definitions and meanings suggested

by interviewees. Their descriptions of the role of the ELA in supporting lifelong

learning were also divergent, particularly in relation to their association with

widening participation. For example, those who viewed lifelong learning as a

naturally occurring, universal process stated it was important to work across the

institution, with all students, avoiding any danger of stigmatising their work by

associating with any group that had particular difficulties. By contrast, those who

defined lifelong learning as a goal which could only be achieved by removing barriers

and promoting social inclusion felt they had a particular responsibility to those

students who were at most risk of exclusion.

Griffin (2002) asserts the need to look beyond the language of individual

empowerment that is associated with lifelong learning and to place it in the context

of wider projects, such as the changing relationship between government and citizen

and ultimately the dismantling of the welfare state. Interviewees did not take the

rhetoric of lifelong learning at face value. They suggested that the arguments for

autonomous learning might conceal a requirement to cut costs, and expressed some

scepticism about the ways in which their role was linked to policy initiatives such as

student retention.

ELAs’ descriptions of their place in their organisations and communities embodied

Wenger’s (2002) concept of the ‘broker’, working on the boundaries: particularly

between students and staff, but also between teachers and supporters, subject

specialists and generalists. Their accounts highlighted both the privileges of this

position, and the risks. They spoke of autonomy and flexibility, but also of being

misunderstood and overlooked. It is notable that the interviewees did not suggest any

theoretical models to explain their work corresponding to Wenger’s (2002) processes

of ‘engaging’, ‘imagining’ and ‘aligning’. They described how they helped students to

adapt to the requirements of higher education, but there was little evidence of the

conventions being open to change by students, so that Hamilton’s (2002) notion of

vernacular literacies being supported and institutional literacies challenged was not

evident.

ELAs seemed to reveal some role uncertainty in relation to academic writing. The

range of straightforward, ambiguous and subtle approaches that they described had

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some similarities with Baynham’s (2002) categorisation of skills-based, text-based

and practice-based approaches. However, whereas Baynham emphasises the

importance of students being made aware of disciplinary politics in order to take

up a powerful writing position, the interviewees spoke of differences between subject

areas, but made no mention of debates within disciplines.

Conclusion

Four main findings have emerged from this study. First, the ELAs who were

interviewed see themselves as supporting lifelong learning. However, they hold very

different perceptions of the nature and purposes of lifelong learning, and have chosen

different strategies for supporting it. Second, their perceptions of the policy drivers

for the introduction and continuation of their posts also vary. In particular, some

identify strongly with the widening participation agenda, while others distance

themselves from it. Third, the place of ELAs in Scottish HEIs is difficult to define.

This is evidenced by the array of job titles attached to their posts and the variety of

formal structures and informal affiliations that are the context for their work. Finally,

the ways in which ELAs describe their approaches to teaching academic writing lie

along a spectrum. Some give straightforward accounts that stress the functional

nature of academic writing; others acknowledge ambiguities and artificiality; subtle

interpretations are sensitive to issues relating to student identity and the implicit

nature of conventions.

It could be argued that the lack of agreement concerning where ELAs belong in

their institutions, and where their posts fit in relation to policy might leave them in a

vulnerable position. They may work in part-time or split posts and are required to

establish credibility through informal networking and by reference to their status or

expertise in other roles. Their work is difficult to categorise, and open to different

interpretations. They express concern that their focus on individual empowerment

could be construed as part of a move to cut costs. They acknowledge that the

evidence base for their effectiveness is weak*/a significant impact on student

retention has not been established. Furthermore, neither academic literacy nor

lifelong learning is easily defined. Despite so much uncertainty, the ELAs

interviewed clearly perceive themselves to have a positive role in supporting lifelong

learning. They all expressed satisfaction in their work and gave examples of what they

saw as successful interventions with different groups of people at different levels in

their institutions. It is possible that the fluidity and autonomy of their role, along with

a firmly student-centred value base allows them to have a significant positive impact.

The implications for both learners and ELAs are serious. If it is indeed the case

that ELAs have a positive impact on the retention and progression of stu-

dents*/particularly those from non-traditional backgrounds*/then it is a cause for

concern that their position in HEIs seems to be weakened by a lack of clarity about

their organisational role, and lack of evidence of their effectiveness. It seems

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important to establish what impact ELAs have on students’ experience and success

in Higher Education.

This was a very small study that relied on a single interview with each of five ELAs.

From this limited investigation it is not possible to generalise about how ELAs

throughout the Scottish Higher Education system perceive their role in supporting

lifelong learning. Further research should be carried out in more depth with a larger

number of interviewees. More robust evidence could be produced with involvement

of more than one researcher in the systematic analysis of data. It would be

illuminating to widen the investigation to include observations of practice, interviews

with students and academic colleagues and analysis of relevant policy documents to

produce a fuller picture of the contribution of ELAs to lifelong learning. The study

has indicated two other questions for further investigation: How helpful are

‘straightforward’, ‘ambiguous’ and ‘subtle’ explanations of academic writing in

enabling students to participate and succeed in university-level study? To what extent

are students enabled to participate in and challenge the conventions of academic

culture?

Depending on the outcomes of this research, it will be important either to find

ways of strengthening the position of ELAs in their organisations, or to identify

alternative forms of support for lifelong learning.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for the support of Napier University, participation of the ELAs, and for

feedback from my tutor, Vince Mills.

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