The politics of open learning

A changing environment

Socio economic

Community groupings with special needs (which are often the result of the changes mentioned in the preceding paragraph) are being identified. Many are seen as experiencing disadvantage which must be overcome if they are not to become permanently separated from the mainstream.

There are two main themes in the federal government's response to changing internal and external conditions. The first is micro economic reform. This is aimed at creating frameworks within which industry, business and public services[1] become more efficient, productive and, consequently, more competitive. Part of micro economic reform is industry restructuring, which is the second response.

Industry restructuring involves significant changes to the way industries and individual enterprises organise themselves. If it is successful, it will affect decision making[2], work practices[3], sharing of returns, industrial relations generally and union arrangements specifically[4]. Award restructuring is a subset of industry restructuring[5]. Award restructuring seeks to provide career paths, and associated rewards, which reflect

• the knowledge and skills which workers bring, and apply, to their jobs;
• the training, in new knowledge and skills, in which they participate during their employment.

Government expectations

At one time governments in most countries displayed only lukewarm interest in distance education, if they displayed any at all. Interestingly enough, governments in third world countries were the first to look to distance education as a means of achieving their social, economic and political objectives, probably because the need was more urgent.

Governments in developed countries have now also seen the possibilities of alternatives to face to face teaching to develop, in their populations, the knowledge, attitudes and skills to which they attach high priority. This is a reflection of a change in governments' attitudes to education as a whole, from general support because it was a good thing, to quite specific demands that education support the implementation of government priorities.

As economic situations in all countries become less favourable, these demands increase and education is required to play its part in training workforces better able to contribute to economic improvement. If public education appears unable or unwilling to do so, various levels of encouragement are provided. Such encouragement is often linked to funding. This may be in the form of grants earmarked for special projects, the withdrawal of funds if government expectations are not met, directing government funds to educational activities conducted by organisations other than the traditional public educational institutions, and greater government encouragement for the community and the employment sector to contribute to meeting the cost of education and training.

Governments have begun to concentrate on distance education and other non traditional learning strategies as the appropriate means of meeting the educational needs of specifically identified groups. In a chapter prepared for Distance education and the mainstream (Foks, 1982) I described the Victorian government's attitude to open learning.

The Victorian government's social justice policy seeks to overcome disadvantage within the community and has two broad implications for education. It means that members of the community must be helped to overcome educational disadvantage and that education must be used to help them overcome social and/or vocational disadvantage. ... If those students are persons for whom traditional learning methods are inappropriate, then alternative methods will need to be provided. Adults with social and work commitments, geographically isolated persons, house bound women, physically or mentally disabled persons, Aborigines and the young unemployed are some groups for whom regular attendance at [educational institutions] at set times may well not be appropriate.

... governments look to [technical and further education] to contribute to their economic and labour market policies ... [technical and further education] is being asked to do more for less ... there are further efficiencies inherent in ... an ... approach which is not dependent upon ... the use of capital intensive buildings ... the provision of expensive and quickly out dated facilities .... having to cover the cost of travel and accommodation necessary for students to attend campus based classes [looking back on this extract, I would want to add the additional economy of providing statewide, even nation wide, resources at one go, without the need for local educational institutions to set up their own courses, staff structures and processes for developing learning resources].

... both state and federal governments are concerned with Australia's internal and international trading situation. The [learning] packages ... are considered to be marketable commodities.

... open learning is expected to be a significant way of providing flexible and relevant training to support the ... governments' manpower planning programmes, which range from training unemployed youth ... through to retraining adults, already in the workforce, whose skills have become outdated (Foks, 1987, p.86-88).

Privatisation of education

The first is increased industry based training. Often this is initiated by enterprises which have become impatient and dissatisfied with public education and training. There will also be added encouragement for employers to consider this option as they look for ways to spend the levy imposed on them by the training guarantee scheme[6].

The second is the emergence of private colleges and universities. Although Australia has a strong tradition of private primary and secondary education, post compulsory education has till now been dominated by public institutions. Whilst it may not be considered to be an overwhelming success[7], Bond University could be a sign of things to come.

Finally public education institutions and systems are being encouraged and, in some cases, directed to be more entrepreneurial. They will need to

• compete more strenuously for government funds, against each other and against private organisations;
• consider various entrepreneurial ventures which might have seemed slightly distasteful in the past;
• seek funds from sources other than ministries of education and government;
• enter into more cooperative ventures with each other, other educational bodies, and with the private sector.

Australia's traditional response

Goodies and baddies

Empires

Fanfares and slogans

It therefore becomes essential to establish boards of review, standing committees, working parties and task forces who will spend the first few years of their existence working on suitable definitions of their allotted slogans and labels, and the following few years on what structures, reporting lines, committee representation, and generally what balances of power, will gratify the people who have the most influence.

This means that a lot of highly paid and often talented people spend a lot of time on activities at the end of which there is very little to show in the way of the social, economic, industrial and educational objectives which were announced with so much fanfare at the start. Would it have worked better if changes had been introduced gently and gradually, without the use of slogans, with an emphasis on process rather than structure, and with announcements only made some time after the changes had been shown to have worked[9]?

Structure versus process

This is because they ignore informal networks which will operate in spite of formal structures. Even more importantly, they do not take account of process. All the changes to reporting lines, all the amalgamations in the world, will not improve things if processes are fundamentally flawed.

But changing processes is not easy. It is not much fun. Nor does it obviously demonstrate the extent of one's empire. So why bother, when playing around with organisation charts is easy, lots of fun and certainly all about empires?

Need for an open and flexible response

• design, development and delivery are based on educational objectives which reflect clients' needs;
• clients are provided with meaningful choice and control of the content, sequence, time, place, pace and means of learning;
• clients are provided with the means to negotiate and implement changes to any of these elements during their education and training;
• pace and pathways of individual programmes are adjusted to reflect knowledge and skills which learners bring to, or have developed by their education and training;
• credit is given for demonstrated knowledge and skills, regardless of where and how they were acquired.

• people's attitudes, skills and adaptability;
• resource pools;
• information and advice;
• technology systems, hardware and software.

If educational initiatives and responses are to be relevant, an open and flexible approach must be fundamental to mainstream activity. This does not mean that traditional methods will not be used. But it does mean that they should not be presupposed to be the natural or best way of doing things, but just some of the available options. Indeed, an open approach will combine traditional and nontraditional content, strategies, resources and support systems most appropriate to the learners' needs.

Politics of open learning

Politicians

• increased demand on public servants to account for their actions;
• increasing influence of ministers' advisers who form separate groupings and networks within the bureaucracies;
• increasing numbers of political appointments at middle as well as senior management levels in the public service;
• increasingly frightened and uncertain public servants who spend a lot of time trying to second guess their ministers, or their ministers' advisers.

There is just one catch. Politicians present themselves to their electorates every three or four years[13]. This necessarily imposes a short term perspective on the way they view the world, a perspective which

• does not sit comfortably with the long term strategies necessary for effective economic, social and educational planning;
• means that they are invariably more concerned with impressive announcements and immediate, visible achievements[14], than they are with subtle, behind the scenes evolution, or with notions such as open learning if they are too abstract, subtle or complex;
• apparently does not require them to demonstrate connections between stated long term objectives and short term actions[15].

Interstate, inter sectoral and inter institutional politics

There are two main reasons given for collaboration. These are especially relevant for distance education and other resource based learning.

• The associated economies (already mentioned above) are especially relevant for programmes whose most significant costs are associated with the development and production of study materials.

• The sharing of academic and instructional expertise is a logical consequence of the capacity to distribute or broadcast educational materials and programmes.

Collaboration can take many forms. It can be formal or informal, imposed or voluntary, based on tough business agreements or on altruistic principles of unconditional sharing. One thing is certain, however. The pressure on educational institutions and systems to manage with less and to generate income is increasing. As it does, so too will the need to go into collaborative arrangements with a clear understanding of the contributions each party will make, the benefits each party will receive and the conditions under which the collaboration will cease.

Weighed against this there is the reality of educational imperialism. It manifests itself in a number of ways which I have already touched upon earlier. Let me mention one more. The not developed here syndrome reflects a reluctance to use resources or ideas simply because they have been developed elsewhere. Our federal system, with its state based educational empires certainly reinforces this[17]; so too does the division of education into sectors[18]; and so does the competition which exists, and is in fact encouraged between institutions.

Industrial relations

Teachers' roles

Terms and conditions

• client liaison. Educators will need to develop the special skills required to liaise, consult and negotiate with individual and corporate clients; and to do so in ways which will ensure that clients have meaningful involvement in the design of programmes, strategies and resources, and in the implementation of programmes for individual students or cohorts of students;

• the design of learning programmes and learning resources;

• managing numbers of students working on individualised programmes;

• time spent tele conferencing;

• or time spent responding to student work submitted on paper, on audio and video tape, on stored telephone messages, or on computer.

Demarcation

However, students engaged in individualised learning programmes will interact with a number of reference points other than persons occupying formally identified teaching positions. They may perform practical work under the supervision of a laboratory technician; they may seek the advice of a librarian when selecting learning resources; they may participate in factory based projects overseen by senior factory staff.

As they do so, there will often be very fine lines to draw between the support given by these people and that which is given by teachers; and there will therefore be corresponding difficulties in determining their industrial status.

The politics of management and administration

Empires

This is at odds with the principles of open learning, the changing needs of the community, and demands of government and industry. If educational and training institutions are to be relevant, and to receive support from funding authorities and other clients, they must change to more flexible, client oriented arrangements.

Structure and process

Open learning, however, requires dynamic, flexible and responsive organisation. So whilst I would not argue that organisation charts should not exist, they should be combined with processes which allow staff to move in and out of various project oriented team arrangements.

Course approval and accreditation

• Modules which can be combined in a variety of ways.
• Broad study frameworks which allow for a range of possible internal arrangements.

Delivery design

Learning resource development

One possible way of doing this is to develop texts (or their nonprint equivalents) for use by all students studying particular topics, and to develop a range of separate study guides (or their nonprint equivalents) which will vary according to the learning needs of the students. So the same texts will be used by students who spend little or no time on campus and whose major method of assessment is the submission of assignments, by students whose method of study is based on supervised project work performed at their place of employment, and by students who attend face to face classes in an educational institution. In each case the students will use different study guides and interact in different ways with educators and other persons providing support.

It is also necessary to recognise the complexities of learning resource development. In particular, it is necessary to take account of the various types of expertise that need to be brought together, the time that it will take to develop anything which is worthwhile, and the associated costs. I will refer to this again when I consider the questions of funding. Credit

Granting of credit too often reflects a time serving approach to education and a belief that the only worthwhile time served is at one's own institution in one's own course of study. An open approach will grant credit for learning units if students can demonstrate that they already possess the knowledge, skills and attitudes which those units aim to develop.

This means that we would give credit as appropriate for studies in other programmes, for studies in other institutions and for life and work experience. Evidence on which to base the granting of credit will include institutional certification, declarations from employers and successful completion of challenge assessment tasks.

Funding

• resource allocation must allow for front end investment costs and recurrent costs which reflect a variety of approaches;

• investment is not just in buildings and equipment, but also in planning, design and development of strategies and resources;

• the cost benefits of investments will often not be realised until some time has elapsed;

• continuing costs of programmes, including special arrangements and support services, must be acknowledged at the start of programmes and met over their lifetimes.

Shifting resources and political courage

In the past open learning was seen as a peripheral activity, based on special projects which were specially funded. If open learning becomes the basis for all education and training, this can no longer be the case. Instead, resources will be allocated on the basis of the principles listed above.

We are now talking about very difficult political decisions. It will be necessary to move funds and other resources away from some existing activities and into other, more client oriented ones. This will mean reducing or removing the funding base for activities associated with the empires, status symbols and comforts of academics, managers, unions and politicians.

Performance measures

The effect of this is that measurement of success becomes more complicated than has previously been thought. It is no longer appropriate (if it ever was) to talk only of enrolment numbers, student contact hours, assignment return rates and course completion rates as the appropriate measures. It is also necessary to account for

• students who only wish to complete parts of courses;
• programmes which do not require class contact or assignment submission;
• students who do not wish to attend classes or submit assignments, but who nonetheless successfully sit for examinations;
• students who do not present for exams, but who are satisfied with what their studies have done for them;
• students who drop out of vocational programmes because the work which they have done has led to offers of employment;
• programmes whose aim is to improve employment prospects or to improve work performance.

Academic administration

Is there hope?

Now it is necessary to build on the points of agreement and on the many positive aspects of education and training which are already there. This must be accompanied by a realistic acceptance of the numerous political obstacles which have to be addressed in the process, and addressed in ways which maximise the capacity for all parties to emerge as winners.

We must recognise when pooling of resources and expertise is necessary to ensure high quality education and training which is relevant and timely. To do so, we should be prepared to enter into various collaborative arrangements with public and private organisations and to do so on the basis of sound business principles.

And finally, we must all be prepared to forego short term gratification in order to obtain long term benefits. This may be at odds with the natural tendencies of the hedonists and politicians amongst us. On the other hand, supporters of the human race claim that its ability to plan ahead and to make immediate sacrifices for a better future, are among its distinguishing and better features.

Endnotes

1. One part of the debate is whether public services and utilities can be made more efficient in themselves; another is whether they need to be privatised in part or completely in order to improve their performance or reduce the drain on the public purse.

2. The Scandinavian and Japanese models, on which Australia's approach is based, involve decision making on policy, planning and strategies, to which both management and workers contribute. Specific day to day operational decisions are taken as close to the action as possible, often by project teams.

3. In some industries, such as the metals and stevedoring industries, there have already been significant changes, in theory at least, away from unproductive and counter productive work practices which some employers and unions negotiated in more prosperous times. Equally importantly, there is a commitment by most employers and unions to the multiskilling of workers and the removal of redundant demarcation lines between trades and crafts identified many years ago.

4. There is general agreement that, along with broadbanding of workers' skills and jobs, there should be a reduction in the number of unions representing them.

5. One could be forgiven for thinking that it is in fact the same as industry restructuring. Most public statements from government and unions concentrate almost entirely on the rewards to be received once certain hoops have been jumped through.

6. From 1 July 1990 the Federal Government will require employers who spend $200,000 or more on salaries to spend at least 1% of their payroll on approved training. This will rise to 1.5% on 1 July 1991. The training may be either on or off the job.

7. Partly due to having played all the traditional institutional games of which Bond University's founders have been so critical.

8. Recent educational favourites include "access", "equity", "devolution", "traineeships", "decentralisation", "accountability", "amalgamation", "entrepreneurialism" and "open learning".

9. As is the practice of many major Japanese companies.

10. Once they have occurred, that is. They are not so good at predicting them.

11. Individual clients consist of students, learners and trainees. Corporate clients include government, community groups, industries, enterprises, and other educational institutions and sectors.

12. Although it must be said that in a number of gratifying episodes the political worm does turn.

13. Or less, if there are special political circumstances, or opportunities arise.

14. Such as new buildings, facilities, slogans, committees and reports.

15. For example, there is quite a logical leap between the installation of a TV studio in an educational institution and the goal of a better skilled workforce.

16. Barry Jones tells of the occasion when the then Labor shadow cabinet met to discuss its tactics for the next day of Parliament. He proposed that the important issue of conservation in the Antarctic be raised. Bob Hawke agreed that it was important, but that the Antarctic would always be there, whereas the immediate scandal of coalition ministers bringing colour television sets home from overseas would not last and must be seized upon at once. The shadow cabinet decided to raise the colour television issue immediately and come back to the Antarctic at a later date.

17. TAFE curriculum authorities have made an art form of developing different curricula for supposedly the same vocational qualifications.

18. "Articulation" is another slogan which, sadly, is not reflected in the recognition given by universities to TAFE programmes.

19. I'll say it won't. How will we measure whether a programme has improved the skills base of the Australian workforce? Certainly not by the number of enrolments in, or even the number of graduates from a course of study.

References

Foks, Jack (1988). Open learning in the Victorian State Training System. A report prepared for the General Managers of the State Training Board and Portfolio Resources Coordination Division. Melbourne: Ministry of Education.

Author: Mr Jack Guido Hermann Foks, BA (Melb.) TSTC (Hawthorn), is the Head of the Victorian TAFE Off-Campus Network (VTOCN), 143 Franklin Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia. The VTOCN is responsible for the development and delivery of TAFE (technical and further education) distance education in the state of Victoria. Please cite as: Foks, J. (1990). The politics of open learning. In R. Atkinson and C. McBeath (Eds.), Open Learning and New Technology: Conference proceedings, 28-42. Perth: Australian Society for Educational Technology WA Chapter. http://www.aset.org.au/confs/olnt90/a-plen-foks.html