A framework for raising and supporting the dreams of young people in regional and rural australia
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Young people in regional and rural areas of Australia are entering an ever-changing, highly technological and complex world after school. This challenging environment can limit their opportunities to successfully engage in the world of work. These significant disruptions have challenged the previously held notions of career preparedness for school students and reinforced geographical disadvantage experienced by those in regional and rural Australia. In taking a long-term outlook to future-proofing the career aspirations of the next generation, the CQUniversity Widening Participation Program designed a Learner Progression Framework for career development. The Framework supports students across upper primary and secondary school to understand challenges they face and use their increased awareness to navigate their path to the workforce. Through working in partnership with schools, programs were developed that were grounded in the four phases of the Learner Progression Framework; Introductory (Year 6 & 7), Personalised (Year 8-12), Transition (1st Year university) and Career (2nd- 4th Year university). This long-term immersive delivery of careers education programs to schools has resulted in building individual’s capacities for success in higher education. Fundamental to such careers education programs are raised aspirations and increased self-awareness. This authentic connection between the school and higher education sectors represents a genuine engagement to create a future that works for young people in regional and rural Australia through acknowledging young people’s voice and engendering confidence in their aspirations.
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A framework for raising and supporting the dreams of young people in regional and rural australia
- 1. A FRAMEWORK FOR RAISING AND SUPPORTING THE DREAMS OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN REGIONAL AND RURAL AUSTRALIA WES HEBERLEIN Widening Participation Officer CQUniversity Australia Connect with me on Twitter: @WesHeberlein
- 2. “A framework for raising and supporting the dreams of young people in regional and rural Australia” • How a long-term outlook can assist in future-proofing the career aspirations of the next generation? • How do we support students across upper primary and secondary school to understand the opportunities and challenges they face and navigate toward their path into the future? • Why we need an authentic connection and engagement between the schools and higher education institutions to create a future that works for young people in regional and rural Australia?
- 3. Widening Participation in HE in Australia Following the 2008 Bradley Review of Australian higher education, a target for the proportion of undergraduate students from low socioeconomic (low SES) backgrounds was set at 20%, to be achieved by 2020. Commonwealth of Australia (2008). Review of Higher Education: Final Report
- 4. “THE CHALLENGE” How do we build relationships with schools that meet their needs?
- 6. WHY A LEARNER PROGRESSION FRAMEWORK? Framing the Journey
- 7. Why a Learner Progression Framework? • As an organisational tool for the specific purpose of designing and delivering school outreach programs. • Tailored and sequenced activities. • Signify the journey we wish to partner with young people on.
- 8. Foundations 1. Respectful and reciprocal relationships with students and families 2. Partnerships with schools and communities 3. Strengths-based approach to student learning 4. Respect for diversity 5. Ongoing learning and reflective practice
- 9. Influence of the Practitioner Practitioners collaborate to construct curriculum and learning experiences relevant to the students’ local context. Practitioners’ use their professional judgment to deliver effective programs, innovating and adjusting where needed, by drawing on their: 1. Professional knowledge and skills; 2. Knowledge of school systems and processes, students, families and communities; 3. Awareness of how their beliefs and values impact on students’ learning; 4. Personal styles and past experiences
- 10. Student Outcomes 1. Students have a better understanding of the concept of choice and the impact their ‘choices’ have on their current situation and their future education and careers; 2. Students have improved self awareness to recognise personal attitudes, values, behaviours and the ability to set goals and progress towards chosen careers; 3. Students know how to access appropriate information and resources using appropriate key terms associated with HE to review learning/career goals and identify various pathways and qualifications to different types of occupations; 4. Increased engagement with study and/or learning
- 11. The ‘First’ Evolution Built around Aspirations, Accessibility and Awareness • Year 6-7: The Mobile Education Trailer (MET) • Year 8: Heroes Journey (Film making project) • Year 9: Career Match • Year 10: Uni Skills • Year 11: The Great Race • Year 12: Scholarships, Access & Support
- 15. Shifting Focus Mobility Aspiration Voice Availability Accessibility Achievement Aspiration NEW CAPACITIES FOR STUDENT EQUITY 4A Model Sellar & Gale (2011): Mobility, aspiration, voice: a new structure of feeling for student equity in higher education, Critical Studies in Education, 52:2, 115-134
- 16. Student in the Learning
- 17. Practitioner in the Learning
- 18. Introductory Phase My values are important in helping me make the right choices I can make the best decisions for my future by knowing who I am There are many possible career choices for me I will reach my dream career by planning and setting goals
- 19. Personalised Phase There is more than one way for me to reach my goals A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for my success. Talking to people who have experience in the job or career I want is important Lifelong learning means I have options at any stage
- 20. Transition Phase Connecting with new students pre- orientation Contact with current students in similar situations Peer contact that increases level of support felt by students Opportunity for seek advice in ways that suit them
- 21. Career Phase Ongoing professional development for ROC-Qers Collaborative planning, preparation & delivery opportunities ROC-Qers Opportunity for building networks across campuses Supporting skill development through mentoring
Editor's Notes
- Good morning everyone my name is Wes Heberlein and I am from CQUniversity based at one of our Rockhampton campuses in Central Queensland. I’d like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land upon which we meet (the Wurundjeri people) and pay my respects to their elders past, present and future. Today please feel free to jump in and ask questions or share opinions if you feel compelled. I’m happy for this to be a sort of show and share type discussion. What I will present here is by no means the blueprint for success but rather a framework of what we do with our communities which in large part are low SES among other disadvantages.
- During the session today my presentation on “A Framework for raising and supporting the dreams of young people in regional and rural Australia” will investigate our approach towards the long-term relationships that we develop with primary and secondary schools in our communities and importantly ensuring that these relationships are authentic examples of engagement which at CQU we define as reciprocal partnerships with mutual benefits The programs we develop at each phase that we utilise to deliver the messages that we feel will best support the individuals at each particular stage of the journey All our programs particularly in the earlier phases are built upon a foundation of aspirations and we encourage students begin looking forward toward their future early. Not making a final decision but rather building a level of understanding and awareness that helps to make informed career decisions.
- This session is an opportunity of sharing our view on how we have gone about developing a framework for engaging with communities in Central Queensland with a view to raising the aspirations toward higher education of people from the non-traditional backgrounds. Our program developed from the work done in the 2008 Bradley Review on Australian higher education where in particular one key finding indicated that only 16% of all higher education students in Australia were from a low SES background. As such the agenda for widening participation from those demographies with the target for 20% to be achieved by 2020. CQU decided to develop a program where a school outreach team would focus on widening participation in higher education from traditionally underrepresented groups such as those from low SES backgrounds, rural, remote and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Demographically, this makes up a significant proportion of communities in Central Queensland. The word future is a big part of why we are here today and the themes of the conference which are engagement, education, employment and entrepreneurship play a big role in the work that my team does. For me it raises a few questions: What does the future hold for our young people? How do we prepare young people for the future? How do we prepare them for a future workforce, where the jobs potentially have not yet been created? So the work that we do while yes there are hopes that more students from non traditional backgrounds would pursue post-school education it was more about reaching out into the community to young people in partnership with potentially the biggest influencers in their teenage lives school teachers and creating awareness of their post-school options, providing opportunities for knowledge transfer to help young people make informed decisions and open our doors to invite in young people to be part of our community.
- Question: Any Queenslanders in the room? *Hands up please. Who is noticing the cold like me So the challenge for us was how do we build relationships with schools that meet their needs and how they believe will best benefit their students. The map here shows the areas in Queensland where we run our programs. Initially in 2011 this began with Mackay in the north to Bundaberg in the south and west toward Longreach and Winton which is not actually on the map here. In 2015 we welcomed on the Cairns region. An advantage the we have some ways is that we actually have phsycial campus locations in most of those regions (excluding Longreach). . It is quite a large, vast geographic area heavily driven by the economic shifts in the resource, mining and agriculture sector. This can play into and enhance the disadvantages faced by those living in regional, rural and remote locations.
- As part of the Widening Participation agenda in 2011 a consortium of Queensland institutions was developed with identified regions that each institution would work with. As I’ve already identified we cover the large area in the centre of Queensland so our team primarily worked with those communities despite having campuses in other locations. The exception to rule however, we the Emerald and Gladstone regions which due to the heavy boom in the resource sector at the time were not eligible to be part of our program despite the young people from their facing many of the same uncertain challenges that come with boom or bust industries.
- CQU has since the mid-90s been doing some ad-hoc type school outreach work however, it was relaunched in 2011 with a more focused program developed around themes of self-awareness and self-empowerment towards building students’ aspirations towards higher education. This was achieved through partnering with local primary and secondary schools and encouraging participation from students’ identified from non-traditional backgrounds in on-campus programs. In fact the early programs were focused around the work of Anderson and other researchers from the early 80s who framed a model of university participation around the 4A’s (availability, accessibility, achievement and aspiration). There were many of those same synergies that the team drew at that time with the local community and so we developed a learner progression framework around those themes.
- A LPF was quite necessary as it is a great framing tool much like a school curriculum to provide direction, scaffolding and prioritise what it is that we wish to do and achieve. Our LPF was at its core a tool for organisation and sequencing of programs so that we could establish that level of professionalism and commitment with school leaders and teachers. Schools quite regularly these days participate in many adhoc programs and turn away quite a many more and we believe that having this LPF is not just a reflection of how we wish to run our programs but of the investment we see in educating young people early and encouraging them to pursue post-school education whatever that may be.
- Our LPF is built upon the foundation of these 5 principles of: Relationships with students and families Partnerships with schools and communities Focusing on strengths or enhancing capacities to succeed Respectfulness of the diverse communities that we work with in schools and that we hope students will become part of in the future in higher education A focus of lifelong learning and reflection These are not too dissimilar to the values of the university which are ECOLI (engagement, can-do approach, openness, leadership and inclusiveness). While the programs that we deliver have evolved which I will show you shortly the principles on which our LPF was developed have remained the same guiding light they were in the beginning. I believe that is the key to the longevity and depth of the relationships.
- Another important aspect in the LPF is that of the practitioner. The practitioner is not just the ‘teacher’ or deliverer of the program but they are also the face of the University. We are in an unique space in that we walk in both the world of the institution and that of the community. We act as conduit between both and quite often advocate on behalf of various programs at the university while at the same time being a face that is knowledge, open and has frank discussions with community members not just about CQU but about post-school education in general. Our knowledge and skills is a significant part of the requirement not in as much as we need to know the ins and outs of being a physio, chiro, engineer or business manager but in as much as we have all participated in higher education and we bring a range of professional skills and experiences to the job. We tell our story, our journey through education, as real as we can both the good and the bad, the benefits and the challenges and let the power of that narrative be a tool for educating and empowering. That touches on the awareness factor and how we can play a role in shaping beliefs and values of young people. The communities we work with can be quite diverse and while I do not and have not lived in western Queensland I still need to be cognisant of ‘their’ world, the different challenges they face compared to those in coastal Queensland centres, and knowledgeable to have those discussions show the appropriate amount of awareness and understanding. It is a deep relationship that the practitioner forms and we can almost embody that long-term focus our programs have, the long-term partnering that we see as valuable.
- At the end of the day the students are why we are there. In some areas that we visit it is unfortunately quite common that young people never speak to anyone who has studied at a university (other than their teachers of course). In some cases they may have but not have any knowledge that the individual studied a university degree. When a young person in regional, rural or remote location can connect with someone who is walking in those shoes it can shape and change their whole outlook on the value of their education and post-school education and employment opportunities. Therefore, we are committed to working with young people and helping them succeed in their future. Our programs focus on these four main outcomes: Better understanding of choice and the impact that their choices play now and in the future Enhanced self awareness; recognition of personal attitudes and values; recognition of behaviours; and an eye to their future through appropriate goal setting They are more informed and knowledge about the world of post-school education (HE and VET). Knowledgeable about the pathways whether that is early entry, post-Year 12 entry or alternate/late entry paths More focus on their school endeavours as they know the ‘end point’, they know where they want to go with their future and have the knowledge how they are going to get there. If plan A doesn’t work then they can work with plan B or C
- Year 6–7: MET. Mobile classroom with a program that encourages primary school aged children to reach for the stars and dream big. Year 8: Hero’s Journey. A school and campus-based film project to assist students identify and overcome challenges and/or barriers to accessing university. Year 9: My Career Match. Based in the classroom, students complete an online survey to discover their personality profile and career matches. They use this profile to research jobs of interest. Year 10: Uni Skills. Delivered at the university over two days, this program immerses students into the university culture and allows them to experience academic activities. It is aligned with the Senior Education and Training (SET) planning and subject selection dates. Year 11–12: The Great Race. A program loosely based on the TV show, The Amazing Race. Students race around the university for a day to learn more about university life. Year 12: Scholarships and Access. The scholarships and access module is a snappy 20 minute program delivered to students in the classroom. It provides an outline of scholarships and access services available to students when starting university.
- A combination of participating in a research project with Trevor Gale and also feedback from schools that the programs as they were constituted were not the best fit for schools or students resulted in a total redevelopment. While the concept of the LPF and the foundational principles did not change what was developed and delivered evolved significantly.
- The LPF that we used previously to guide our concept of long-term partnerships was further grown to fully encapsulate the entire journey beginning with our programs in Year 5/6 through to current university students who also serve as casual employees of the university and/or representatives from a mentor or advocacy standpoint. Our second evolution is much more comprehensive in the range of opportunities and types of programs we offer. The phases on the right show a long-term careers based approach built largely around the school-focused programs while a greater connection is then emphasised through the transition and career phase on how we transition our school students to becoming university students and from university students to university graduates with a greater level of professional development, experience and skill.
- The first evolution of the programs were designed with Anderson’s 4A model in mind however, with the second evolution of programming a shift in focus saw a move toward Trevor Gale’s research into new capacities for student equity. Gale’s research sought to address the changing dynamic that higher education is and highlight the outdated perceptions of Anderson’s model. HE is no longer something that is only accessible to a select few, nor is HE something that is aspired to by a few but rather it is now seen as a major post-school option. With this new landscape in mind Gale posited three capacities for student equity which were mobility, aspiration and voice. Mobility in the idea that now with globalised world that we live in mobility can enable easy participation either by technology bringing education to remote/rural areas or that students can now more easily be global and experience HE in different social contexts. The flipside of this mobility is the divide that can stress the inequity experienced by certain groups as their lack of mobility can inhibit their participation Aspiration relates to the concept that young people have aspirations for their future however, the HE landscape in the 4A model was extremely policy driven and inflexible. This is contrasted by today’s HE landscape which is more open, more flexible and more readily influenced by students’ aspirations Voice relates to the concept of the power of the narrative. That those experiencing HE are the most qualified to narrate the student experience, give feedback and use that voice to help inform decision making and policy development processes in HE.
- When considering the learning transaction it is important to consider two main factors. We only have a short amount of time with students and its important that we have the biggest impact possible. In most instances we have only briefly met students so we are a blimp in the memory. They sometimes recall that “oh yeah we did that CQU thing last year” but we are not afforded the same kind of day to day contact that teachers have. As indicated through student outcomes before we want students to understand choice and understand better who they are, what they are interested in, their attitudes, behaviours, etc. We aim to achieve this through having students become highly committed, highly capable, self-directed participants as they reach the culminating point of participation in our program.
- The practitioner in the learning transaction needs to reflect both supportive and directive behaviours. Practitioners need to be able to get a ‘feel’ for the students they are working with and adapt their behaviours appropriately. I’m not going to pretend that we are experts at that or that we do it masterfully however, it is just a type of standard to guide our behaviour as practitioners. Not all staff on the team are teachers in fact I am the only teacher everyone else comes from a variety of backgrounds including health, business, environmental science, and technical services. Much like by the culmination of the program we want learners to be self-directive we also want to be delegating in what we do. In essence we want the students we work with to be driving this session by discussing and reflecting upon what they learnt through the programs. As practitioners then we aim to be accessible and provide feedback. However, I’d have to say more often then not we are required to be direct, to coach and to support. Many of the young people we work with are in school situations where they are taught through explicit instruction and hence it is about setting tasks, monitoring the work, discussing why, addressing problems and sometimes doing it together.
- The introductory phase is the initial phase our LPF and so here we aim to introduce, to let students know that even though you are far away that post-school education exists. These programs are tailored to the 10-14 year old demographic. Our programs are designed around some key messages that practitioners emphasise throughout. We want students to: Understand who they are is important; there likes, dislikes, interests help shape their identity and will play a role in what they pursue as a career Know that having dreams and passions for your future is a good thing Develop capacities for goal setting, resilience, decision making, researching and investigating Programs: Who am I Self Awareness Occupation Awareness IYSP ATSISAP
- The personalised phase is where we introduce more information and experiences that help to address questions students have around the pathways available to them; how they access and interact with them; what support mechanisms are available; what challenges and opportunities will they have; what is the experience like. The key messages as you can see still have some correlation to the programs in the introductory phase as we revisit things like dreams however, we look at this through lens of self-image and possible selves (Hazel Markus, 1986) but we then build onto that with messages of talking to those with experience in the job/career I want is important and there is more than one way to reach my goals. Programs start with Navigating Pathways which provides a context for discussion of post-school pathways but also raises potential challenges and opportunities as points of discussion and learning. Students play a pathways board game and also look to the future a little through exploring social futures, changing job markets, occupations now and those not yet thought of. Finally students look at success and failure and how to define that. The program then leads onto our Uni Skills which is our on campus Uni and TAFE program Then as students enter Year 11 and 12 they participate in the ROC-Q program which is a program developed and delivered by current degree students ILSEP is our Indigenous land and sea program that helps to connect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth with career futures through a cultural and environmental science lens. Indigenous elders and traditional owners are engaged as part of this and the learning is very communal with the uni acting merely as a conduit for this rich cultural experience. The stories passed on by elders allow students to draw meaning and connection with their futures, the importance of goal setting/planning for their future SUN program is one program that has gained mainstream traction throughout the university and wider community as it our early entry program. School students in Year 10 (beginning in Uni term 3) can apply for entry to study first year university courses and begin working towards their goal by getting a head start on their peers. They study with Year 12 leavers and other normal uni students; given the same access just like normal students but with a little extra support
- The transition phase of the LPF is where we see or hope to see the school students we work with transition to post-school education studies. While we don’t in any of our early programs actively market our institution we do hope that through the relationship we develop that school students will choose our institution. A few programs that we offer to current degree students in this transition phase are: Student Mentor program which is our peer mentoring program with 2nd/3rd/4th year students able to mentor new and continuing students who feel like they could benefit from that extra support that can come from a peer who understands what you are experiencing and going through. The mentor program is delivered entirely online through our internal social networking platform UCROO where students can create groups for mentees to sign up to. They must post a bio of themselves and then throughout the term they engage through this online conversation with their mentees/mentors. Students can meet face-to-face and often they do but this doesn’t always happen as the groups are sometimes based around things other than geography like “parenting group” or “distance students” or “paramedics”. This is all managed by the mentor coordinator who gives guidance to the mentors. The student leadership program is also an online program offered through the university where students can choose to enrol in this free ‘extension’ type program involving modules of learning and capstone activities. The capstone activities are optional but they are based around engagement and social innovation. Students complete these kind of practical self-organised activities as a capstone. Our institution is the only one in Australia to be part of the Ashoka-U network of over 40 unis worldwide social invested in improving the communities they serve. The students are also able to participate in the annual student leadership conference.
- The final phase of our LPF is the career phase which is based around a notion of professional development. As many of the speakers have pointed out university degrees have become normative and so one way that we aim to provide that work experience is through professional development programs. The ROC-Q program as I mentioned before is our Year 11-12 program delivered by current degree students. The advantage for degree students is that this is paid casual work based around their studies. The benefit though is that they get access to regular and on-going professional development from full-time staff; a different level of access to academics and other university staff. The Student Mentor program aswell has this kind of professional development process to it. Mentoring is unpaid volunteering work however, the mentors are provided training and on-going support from the mentor coordinator. There is also a process for selection of mentor leaders who are act as another point of reference for mentors who may feel like they are unsure with how they should work with their mentees.