"The university didn't actually tell us this is what you have to do": Social inclusion through embedding of academic skills in first year professional courses

Abstract

The widening participation agenda means that students will be entering degree courses with increasingly diverse needs, particularly with respect to the academic skills necessary for successful tertiary study in Australia. This paper presents findings from a mixed methods project investigating first year social work students' perceived role in academic skills and their development. Students expressed the perception that academic skill requirements and how they would be assessed should be made explicit, and identified a stigma associated with accessing study support services. The paper concludes that an intentional design strategy, such as embedding academic skills into the curriculum, helps bridge the different expectations between academics and students in the teaching and learning of academic skills, and hence constitutes a socially inclusive strategy to teaching professional courses such as social work, within higher education. Recommendations to enhance the success and sustainability of such an initiative in the current higher education environment are offered.

Innovating in First Year Pre-service Teacher Education: “Buddy Up”

“…The focus group with the most positive views about the buddy system was the international focus group. International students, particularly those from non-Western backgrounds, face significant challenges that can impede their successful transition to their new university environment (Goldingay et al, 2014). Teacher education students can struggle with communication issues, cultural differences, financial burdens, heavy workloads and difficulty in developing relationships with local students.…”

When the Personal Enables the Independent: Taking the Library to the Students

“…There is some consensus on the topic of transitioning students into the first year of university which argues that many first-year students are generally underprepared for the literacy demands of university study (Dobozy & Gross, 2010;Goldingay et al, 2014;Hockings, Cooke, & Bowl, 2007;Horstmanshof & Brownie, 2013). The esoteric nature of many university subjects, the literacy demands of Academic English, and various other unfamiliar 'norms and characteristics of the university environment' (Hockings et al, 2007, p. 722), combine to present first-year students with learning hurdles.…”

Transforming roles to support student development of academic literacies: a reflection on one team’s experience

“…A small number of studies have specifically considered the experience of social work academics in embedding academic literacies in social work (Goldingay et al, 2014;Grace et al, 2011;Kaighin & Croft, 2013). Although interdisciplinary and interprofessional approaches have been identified as critical in social work policy and practice (Crawford, 2012), and social work education (McAuliffe, 2014), the process of social work academics working collaboratively with language and learning Advisers (llAs) has not been explored in detail.…”

“…in response to increasing diversity in student cohorts, there has been a move away from a deficit approach to students' skill development (Kimmins & Stagg, 2009) and towards pedagogies and curricula which support the development of students' academic literacies within disciplines and by subject specialists (lea, 2004). This new approach is seen as more socially inclusive, as it helps bridge the different expectations between academics and students without stigma (Goldingay et al, 2014).…”

“…The first stage involved defining a central academic literacy in social work on which to focus. This process was partly facilitated by work on a previous project undertaken by the team (Goldingay et al 2014), which had identified the academic literacies particularly relevant to social work education. We decided on 'Reflectivity/Reflexivity' , as this is both an academic literacy and a key learning outcome of the Bachelor of Social Work.…”