======= Date Modified 26 Oct 2012 09:50:12 =======
I am here to pick your brains seeing as you lot
have all submitted successful proposals. I am exploring co-production and systemic
thinking in educational contexts.  My focus is student and educational
management interaction/engagement. I've been searching the literature but can't
seem to find any studies on student/management interaction or relationships. Am
I missing something or has it really not been covered?  I don't want to be
missing a trick and find that it has been covered and there's a piece of seminal
work that's key. Anyone know of anything/can point me in the right direction?
Also the importance and study of student/teacher, teacher/teacher, and
teacher/management interaction/engagement is almost a given, due to the amount
of literature on it.  Do I just say it's a given and why or should I reference
with examples of studies, bearing in mind this is a proposal to accompany a Phd
studentship application and I'm not on a Phd yet? it's difficult as the
proposal only allows 1500 words and I'm struggling to keep it factual,
interesting and concise. Thanks in advance Kelly

======= Date Modified 29 Oct 2012 14:37:32 =======
============= Edited by a Moderator =============
*bump* does anyone have advice for Kellyp1?

hey kelly,

did a quick search on google and found these two articles.
http://www.innovation.cc/scholarly-style/sperlich11final1draft.pdf
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/new/Privatizing%20Education%20In%20Philadelphia.pdf

perhaps u can elaborate further on how u intend to explore co-production and systemic thinking in the educational context.

are you looking for ...
a model that explains the systemic interaction of student and management in co-production?
a specific measure of interaction through empirical research?
a framework on how the components within the system of student - teacher/lecturer - management can successfully synergize?

as most management people would say "clarity is key" :)

Thanks, that's been really useful. I have a specific educational organisation in mind. I want to observe how senior management do or rather don't interact or engage with the students (as they currently don't and will have to adopt co-production as part of the programme from September 2013), how they can do so more effectively and why they should do so. An emirical measure would be helpful.

Thanks again

Kelly

Hi Kelly, This may not be in the right field, but Philip Riley in Monash University has written a lot on the student-staff relationship. His focus is mainly attachments - so it sounds like it will be directly "opposed" to your approach, which may make it worth a read xxx

hey kelly,

can u give me a specific example to concretize the notion that u have in mind?

i could cite a hypothetical example, just to see whether it is at sync with ur expectation.

supposed that the senior management is concerned of improving the learning environment at the university. as such, they include student representatives in monthly meetings to keep themselves abreast with the progress. this would also allow a greater rapport to be built between the two, which is rather crucial when the students leave. to note, these students will become future alumni whose degree of contribution greatly depends upon their perception of the institution. if they perceive the institution as an entity that cares about their progress, they will contribute. else, they won't. as such, the mechanism of co-production not only enables current benefits but future ones as well.

now, does this generally reflect what u had in mind?

Hi Pikirkool, I'm looking at my own practice context of a work based learning provider. WBL is often (as is my case) run by a not for profit company who have bid for the contract. Most commonly, manager and senior management are not, nor have ever been teaching practitioners, yet they are expected to understand what the students want and need. They are based at a head office and have no human contact with students. 'Student voice'is mainly through statistical analysis of a questionnaire asking about student stisfaction. Students have 'centre meetings' but it's a sounding board to compain about specifc centre issues like the kitchen being dirty, going over rules and what trip they want to go on, not to shape wider policy or services.

In the UK we have a provison for students below L2 (5 good GCSE's A-C), this is the provision I work in. These students usually have some form of learning or behavioural difficulty,poor attainment and attendance and experienced difficulties in relationships with adults (recent studies have found that students poor relationships with adults, particularly teachers far outweigh any other risk factor for disengagement with education and aquired behavioural difficulties).

From my MA study I've found when students in my context have been involved in 'limited' co-production they are suspicious, reticent, feel inadequate and are adamant adults don't listen properly to what they have to say. Poor literacy and thoughts that adults don't care about their points of view often results in student voice questionnaires being inadequately completed because questions are complicated, they can't read it don't think answers will be taken seriously.

New policy in WBL states that co-production is necessary yet it is clear that in this practice context (which is fairly representative of most Entry level WBL providers) that lack of human contact between senior management and students is a major barrier to achieveving anything like co-production and systemic work practices despite the benefits of greater understanding of student need by management and increased self esteem and belief for students, being plainly obvious (well to me anyway) and this is what I will argue (with evidence, lol).

My secondary concern is that with raising the participation age to 17 (then 18) co-production in educational policy will follow paternalistic and infantilising tendancies seen in compulsory education with students gatekeepers (parents and guardians) constructed as the clients to undertake co-production with not the students themselves.

Kel :-)