Talking ourselves up: reframing learning development to reflect our expertise

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi32.1413

Keywords:

value, frame theory, student engagement, learning development

Abstract

The way universities frame Learning Development (LD) has profound implications for the field’s pedagogy, status, autonomy and evolution. These variables affect the value that LD releases to staff and students. Framing involves ‘foregrounding certain perspectives and ruling out others’ to characterise a phenomenon (Jones, 2010, p.242). Learning developers’ ‘palpable reluctance’ to advocate for their expertise (Webster, 2022, p.181) contributes to the field often being framed externally. This session guided attendees on how to constructively challenge and redefine the framings at university level, using my doctoral data (Johnson, 2023). It included analysis of framing discourse about LD on UK universities’ websites, of the value of LD to students and staff in one university, and of how the two related.

LD can be framed as a combination of skills development, human development and subject-embedded instruction (Hallett, 2010). The university website discourse lacked quantity and detail about the embedded framing, while strongly representing the skills framing. The skills framing correlated with stakeholders perceiving LD as delivering functional (financial) value, while the humanistic framing added social and emotional value. Only the embedded framing encouraged perceptions of LD as adding knowledge – a.k.a. epistemic value (terminology from Sheth et al., 1991, adapted for higher education [HE] by LeBlanc and Nguyen, 1999).

I therefore argued LD teams should advocate for a reframing of their work which better calibrates and explains all three discourses. As the stakeholder data illustrated, this enhanced perception increases students’ and staff’s inclination to engage with LD (conditional value), leading to greater value release.

Author Biography

Ian Johnson, University of Portsmouth, UK.

Ian Johnson has been a Learning Developer at the University of Portsmouth since 2015 and is now a teaching fellow in LD. Ian recently completed his professional doctorate on the framing and value of LD in British higher education, and has research interests in how embedded and individualised LD practices contribute to students’ learning. He has led ALDinHE’s Research and Scholarship Development working group since August 2023, having previously established and led the Research Community of Practice from 2020-2023. He is also an ALDinHE Steering Group member.

References

Hallett, F. (2010) ‘The postgraduate student experience of study support: a phenomenographic analysis’, Studies in Higher Education, 35(2), pp.225-238. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070903134234

Johnson, I. (2023) The framing and value of learning development work in British higher education: an illuminative evaluation of professional practice. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Portsmouth. Available at: https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/the-framing-and-value-of-learning-development-work-in-british-hig (Accessed: 11 October 2024).

Johnson, I. (2024) ‘Talking ourselves up: reframing Learning Development to reflect our expertise’, ALDcon24 (Online). 7 June. Available at: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1H0pwiXdJyEa6hd9wE3HVtbejCGGiiDS9/edit

Johnson, I. and Bishopp-Martin, S. (2024) ‘Conceptual foundations of learning development’, in A. Syska and C. Buckley (eds) How to be a Learning Developer in Higher Education: Critical Perspectives, Community and Practice. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.15-24.

Jones, A. (2010) Examining the public face of academic development, International Journal for Academic Development, 15(3), pp.241-251. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2010.497689

LeBlanc, G. and Nguyen, N. (1999) ‘Listening to the customers’ voice: examining perceived service value among business college students’, International Journal of Education Management, 13(4), pp.187-198. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/09513549910278106

Sheth, J., Newman, B. and Gross, B. (1991) ‘Why we buy what we buy: a theory of consumption values’, Journal of Business Research, 22(2), pp.159-170. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-2963(91)90050-8

Webster, H. (2022) Supporting the development, recognition and impact of third-space professionals, in E. McIntosh and D. Nutt (eds) The Impact of the Integrated Practitioner in Higher Education: Studies in Third Space Professionalism. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.178-187.

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Published

31-10-2024

How to Cite

Johnson, I. (2024) “Talking ourselves up: reframing learning development to reflect our expertise ”, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (32). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.vi32.1413.

Issue

No. 32 (2024): Special Edition, ALDinHE Conference Proceedings and Reflections

Section

Conference Proceedings

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