Learning to be Professional Conference, SCEPTrE, University of Surrey

At the Learning to be Professional conference at the University of Surrey.  No web connection for the first day, which was a pity since I'd like to have blogged the interesting presentations — see conference wiki here.  I was invited by Norman Jackson to present on our work at GGSL (draft paper & slides up soon).  

Am currently attending paper by Ursula Lucas — fine work on reflection, particularly with regard to accountancy education.  She spoke of her work on the Reflections on Learning Inventory (ROLI), and Experience of Learning Accounting (ELAcc).  It's based on a phenomenographic methodology, and in the context of developing a reflective capacity, she combines that with the 'ways of knowing' approach that describes the moves that students make as being through absolute, transitional, to independent and contextual.  

Ursula took up Magolda's notion of self-authorship — cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal, each of them coming together in the concept of voice (Belenky etc).  She presented work she'd done on reflection and cognitive, intrapersonal and interpersonal skills on work placement.  Too complex to summarise here but Ursula's work can be seen at the link above and here.  

Ursula pointed up Magolda's work on constructive-developmental pedagogies, situationg learning the students' own experience, and taking learning as mutually-constructing meaning.  Pegagogy as reflective inquiry, constantly deferred, constantly remade.  But also teaching as creating moments of surprise and possibility — improvisation in teaching as being important for her.  Eg the spur of the moment contrasts at a lecture she made between a Valentine's Day card and an Audit Report (who's written it, do they really mean it?  what does love actually mean, etc).  Great session, very well presented — as one might expect of a Senior Fellow of HEA.