Engaging practice-based learners: Yorkshire and Humberside Circles of Support and Accountability Volunteers Andrew Fowler Aileen Watson and Jacky Burrows
1. Engaging practice-based learners: Yorkshire and Humberside
Circles of Support and Accountability Volunteers Andrew Fowler
Aileen Watson and Jacky Burrows
2. context Penal Voluntary Organisations are charitable, self-
defined voluntary agencies working with prisoners and offenders in
custody and the community (Corcoran 2011: 33) Offender Management
Act (2007) opened up criminal justice market for service providers
from voluntary, commercial and statutory sectors Transforming
Rehabilitation: A Strategy for Reform (MoJ, 2010) increasing role
for penal voluntary organisations
3. The project Joint project between SHU and YHCOSA Stand alone
academic module Aimed at volunteers working with sex offenders in
the community Heavy focus on 'practice', skills, and reflection 30
credits, level 4 Blended learning delivered jointly
4. The students 11 started, 8 finished 1 withdrew for serious
health reasons 2 withdrew for personal reasons Completers were all
female All students had previous experience undergraduate level All
had completed at least one 'circle'
5. The module MODULE AIM To enable COSA volunteers to develop
skills and knowledge that will underpin their professional
development and enhance their practice in working with offenders
within the community. MODULE LEARNING OUTCOMES By engaging
successfully with this module a student will be able to:
articulate, discuss and apply conceptual and theoretical frameworks
that underpin community based support, rehabilitation and
re-integration of sex offenders develop and demonstrate core skills
that support the community reintegration of sex offenders recognise
and apply the multi-agency context of volunteering within COSA,
taking account of diverse roles, responsibilities, partnerships and
accountabilities discuss and respond appropriately to issues of
diversity and difference within the context of voluntary work
within COSA
6. Blended learning Blended learning Volunteering with sex
offenders module 1 SHU face to face session 12 SHU online lectures
4 face to face COSA sessions (more skills based) interim and final
assignment
7. Online component Three blocks of four sessions: Effective
engagement Risks, rights and responsibilities Rehabilitation and
reintegration Mixture of written information, exercises, video
excerpts, case studies and prompts for reflection.
8. Andragogy Knowles (1980 (cited in Chametzky (2014)
Volunteering with sex offenders module Models of assumptions: 1)
self management of learning 2) empowerment of learners to increase
motivation 3) reliance on learners own life experience to aid
learning 4) objectives of learners for taking the course 5) the
practical real-world solutions to problem encountered on the course
1) in on-line environment more active in knowledge acquisition 2)
by being self directed learners feel empowered - learn anytime
anywhere - flexible learners 3) In Circles - this experience
provides the figurative hooks 4) Our brief - learners ideas 5)
opportunity to address real- world situations in andragogic
learning environment
9. Social Constructivism learning theory Volunteering with sex
offenders module Constructed by learners as they attempt to make
sense of their experiences. Learners, therefore, are not empty
vessels waiting to be filled, but rather active organisms seeking
meaning (Driscoll, 2005, p. 387) students question existing
knowledge, beliefs to problem solve in highly fluid situations
(Cooner 2005) emails with tutor BB for debate simulation - real
world problems Using existing experience as a basis for learning
Critically reflective practice - course identity reflection -
lectures - assessment
11. Meaningfulness and engagement needs to be worthwhile -
working more independently - needs to enhance their own practice
when meaningful - engaged with course materials / peers - stronger
vested interest in learning more likely to attain skills in upper
levels of Bloom's taxonomy (Tsai 2009) resolution of real-life
problems than memorizing information (Pollock 2013)
12. Student perspective Initial evaluation Final evaluation
High levels of confidence Highly motivated Key areas for learning:
Sex offender rehabilitation Academic research around COSA
Challenging offending behaviour Understanding risk Diversity Mixed
response Generally positive about quality of materials but less of
a 'professional' focus More connection between online and face to
face input More face to face contact with tutors
13. What did we learn? Blended learning needed to be more
unified - not two separate components We needed greater clarity of
purpose and course identity We needed to make more effective use of
VLE to provide clearer hooks and increase motivation We could have
incorporated student experience into the learning materials more
creatively to enhance engagement and make the module as a whole
more meaningful to the students.
14. Conclusions and recommendations Use of multi-media, for
example, podcast, skype Enquiry-based Blended Learning - Community
of Enquiry Framework for Enquiry based learning Continuing the
action learning sets in the VLE Developing sense of course
identity
15. References Driscoll, M. P. (2005) Psychology of learning
for instruction (3rd Ed.) Boston: Allyn and Bacon Chametzky, B.
(2014) Andragogy and Engagement in Online Learning: Tenets and
Solutions. Creative Education, 5, 813-821.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ce.2014.510095 Cooner, Tarsem Singh
(2011). Learning to Create Enquiry-based Blended Learning Designs:
Resources to Develop Interdisciplinary Education. [online]. Social
work education, 30 (3), 312-330 Corcoran, M. (2011) Dilemmas of
institutionalization in the penal voluntary sector. Critical Social
Policy 31 (1): 30-52. Higher Education Academy (2015). Flexible
Learning [online].
https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/workstreams-research/themes/flexible-learning
Ministry of Justice (2007) Offender Management Act.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/21/pdfs/ukpga_20070021_en.pdf
Ministry of Justice (2010) Transforming Rehabilitation: A Strategy
for Reform.
https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/transforming-
rehabilitation/results/transforming-rehabilitation-response.pdf
Pollock, D. (2013) Designing and Teaching Online Courses
http://fsweb.bainbridge.edu/QEP/Docs/DesigningandTeachingOnlineCourses.pdf
Tsai, M. J. (2009) The Model of Strategic E-Learning: Understanding
and Evaluating Student E-Learning from Metacognitive perspectives.
Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 12, 34-48.
http://www.ifets.info