Literacies for employability (L4E): A framework for developing workplace literacy through the disciplinesLiteracies for employability

(L4E): A framework for developing workplace

literacy through the disciplines

Amanda FrenchEmma FlintAlex KendallPhil Taylor

• To synthesise social practice concepts from literacy studies with practical approaches to workplace learning, to construct a framework for developing students’ workplace literacies that can be embedded across disciplines and institutions to support students’ (and teachers) understanding and acquisition of the key workplace skills.

Project ObjectivesProject aims

Students to:• understand employability as a dynamic, lifelong

concept;• investigate, analyse and describe the literacy practices

of workplaces;• practice workplace literacies in structured contexts;• make contributions that add value to employers.Tutors to:• co-investigate workplace literacies with their students;• provide a meta-narrative of workplace literacies;• embed overt instruction of workplace literacies into

curriculum design.

The project has enabled…

• An interactive framework tool and user guidance.• Multi-media case studies of using the framework tool

that draw on the experience of teachers and students at three institutions and in at least two disciplines.

• A theoretical account of the value and purpose of the tool and an expanded definition of employability grounded in students’ investigative experiences of the workplace.

• Sustainable stakeholder e-community.

Project ObjectivesProject outcomes

• Piloted at BCU with student researchers from ELSS in 2013

• Feedback resulted in rewriting the grid • Trialled in BCU with EY and Law students

Project pilot

• University of Worcester • BEd students /Foundation Early Years• Solihull College • Foundation Early Years • Nottingham Trent University • History BA

Project roll-outin partner institutions

• Does not treat literacy as one self-evident set of skills which allows people to engage in reading and writing.

• Maintains that people use many literacies (different kinds of reading and writing) in their everyday lives.

Literacies as social practice

• Embodies and constructs knowledge

• Is always situated or located in specific contexts

• Involves social and institutional relationships and constraints

• Is associated with issues of identity.

Literacies in the workplace

Risk, flexibility and constraints In terms of your example:

o Why here?o Why now?o Why like this?

To what extent do communications in this example have to be done like this?

Is this the only way this could have been done? Why – who decides?

What are the opportunities for doing this differently?

What is the risk involved for doing it differently?

Purpose of work-based communication In your example what is the purpose of

the communication? What is the nature of your example and

what is it trying to achieve? Is it individual? Is it institutional? Is it information gathering?

Audience(s) for work based information In your example, who is saying what & to

whom?o Service user - Employeeo Customer – Employeeo Manager – Employee

What are the dynamics of the relationship in your example?

How is power exercised through forms of communication in your workplace example?

Corporate Styles Do you wear a uniform as part of your

role in your example? How are corporate logos or branding

used in your example?o Typefaceo Prompto Use of colour

What does your example tell you about business custom and practice in your workplace?

PHOTO EXAMPLE OF LITERACY

EVENT/ARTEFACT

Issues & Identities Who has originated your example and in

what role does this happen? What values and priorities do they bring

to your example? Do your values and priorities comply or

contrast with those priorities?

Means and modes of communication What type of communication is your

example illustrating? Is the communication multi-modal:

o Paper?o Digital?

Is it to be read in linear or non-linear way?

Is the communication face-to-face? Who is the communication by?

Professional Practices What does your example tell you about

professional practices in you workplace? What aspect of professional practice is

your example a part of? What is your example trying to achieve? Is there a protective element underlying

the professional practice in question?

Work-based social relationships What does your example suggest to you

about social relationships in your workplace?

o Interaction?o Collaboration?o Power relations?

Employability Literacies Framework

Creating storyboards for discussion

Critical Reflection Actions for change?What issues has working through the grid raised for you in terms of: your values? your workplace role?

o how do you develop your role?

o how can you do your role differently?

literacies in the workplace?

What are the implications for you?What are the implications for the workplace?What are the implications for your future career plans?

Evaluation

• Embedding the l4e App/grid in a range of subject specific modules across BCU and partner institutions

• Established l4e network • Dissemination at a range of conferences• Publication about the project in a range of

publications

Legacy of the project