Oops! It's OUTSIDE the Box: Perspectives on The WIT Buddy Programme 2000-2009
Nuala Lennon (Waterford Institute of Technology)
Abstract
This presentation examines some of the institutional challenges which present when Teaching & Learning doesn’t fit into the BOX. The material presented is drawn from the WIT Buddy programme which was set up as a Community/HE partnership and has spanned ten years from 2000-2009.
The historical context and the operational framework of the programme is outlined. The transformational potential of the Skills Training which is provided as part of this programme is highlighted.
Student volunteers are required to participate in skills-training modules to enable them to partake in the development and delivery of discipline specific 3rd level ACCESS programmes which are targeted at young people, aged 9-17 years, in the local community. These modules are characterised by innovative models of delivery, the use of non-traditional methodologies as well as traditional teaching and learning styles. Quality learning is the ultimate aim of this programme, thus the processes, methodologies and models used are being continually reviewed and developed to address the differing needs of participating volunteers.
Structured feedback over the ten year duration of the Buddy Programme attests to the very positive impact on the personal and professional development of the volunteers in the ‘soft skills’ areas as well as areas such as project management, leadership skills, strategy development and reflective practice techniques. Equally, the learning does not stop with the volunteers, all partners benefit from the ‘learning model’ on which this Community/HE partnership is based.
But how far does this learning penetrate into the ‘mainstream’ of institutional practices, policies, systems? Is this learning appropriate only to the ‘feel-good’ programmes run on the fringes of the partner institutions? Is this learning valid learning within the Higher Education context? Is it adaptable to academic structures, accreditation frameworks or vice versa?
Formal recognition of this learning is the key to the long term viability of the WIT 3rd level ACCESS programmes and of the associated Community/HE partnerships. Ten years on, and in a changing economic climate questions of sustainability come into sharp focus. Re-evaluation of the traditional Teaching & Learning paradigm in Higher Education is currently being hotly debated, authentic Community/HE partnerships are the current buzz – is the climate right for radical change? Can the fundamental principles of learning developed through this programme, and extensive scholarly enquiry be incorporated into the ‘mainstream’ in a way that genuinely bridges the dissonance between theory and practice in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education.
