Widening HE participation in the arts: Impacts of an access module on learner preparedness

Abstract

Despite the plethora of research on widening participation in the last 20 years, access to the arts and humanities has remained relatively under-explored, especially in relation to the preparedness of adult learners. This article reports a case study investigating the impact of an arts and languages Access module at the UK Open University. Findings from interviews with 37 Access students were analysed in relation to four themes: the need for Access preparation; generic studentship skills; discipline-specific skills; intrinsic enjoyment and interdisciplinary study. We conclude embedded generic skills enhance learner confidence and time management, while academic literacy skills relevant to the arts and humanities enhance cultural capital and enable disadvantaged learners to access challenging disciplines. The impact of a preparatory arts and humanities module extends into the lives of individual students, suggesting a counter-narrative to the prevailing, ‘economic value’ paradigms of higher education policymakers.

‘Still not scraping the bottom of the barrel’: ‘Rich points’, feedback, disadvantaged students, and solutions

“…Assessments are integral in this appraisal process, as they provide a clear opportunity for identifying the existing skills and knowledge of students in formal, systemic ways, and for offering feedback to students in structured, accessible language. Educator feedback can work in tandem with student feedback as a two-way communicative process (Billingham, 2009; Devlin, 2011; Devlin and McKay, 2014; Denny, 2021; Butcher and Clarke, 2021). This article reframes the two-way communicative process of student and educator feedback as responding to ‘rich points’, and we can seize on these moments of opportunity to correct a course’s direction, or to exploit a course direction which is working well.…”