Cultures of Learning in Further Education, 2001-2003

The Transforming Learning Cultures in Further Education (FE) project was a ground-breaking project designed to explore ways in which learning in FE is cultural and relational. The principal aims of the project were to deepen understanding of the complexities of learning; to identify, implement and evaluate strategies for the improvement of learning opportunities; and to set in place an enhanced and lasting capacity among practitioners for enquiry into FE practice. The project was part of the ESRC's Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP). Further information about this project can be found on the <a href="http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/esrcinfocentre/viewawardpage.aspx?awardnumber=L139251025" title="Transforming Learning Cultures in Further Education ">ESRC award</a> web page, and wider information about the research programme on the <a href="http://www.tlrp.org/" title="Teaching and Learning Research Programme">TLRP</a> web site.<br> <br> The objectives of the project were: to determine the nature of learning cultures and their impact upon students' and teachers' learning in FE; to establish a theoretical base for understanding the interrelationships between learning cultures, learning, and situational and motivational factors in FE; to identify principles of procedure for the enhancement of learning cultures in order to improve student and teacher learning and achievement; to determine the effectiveness, within prescribed limits, of different intervention strategies for the enhancement of learning cultures and the improvement of learning; to set in place an enhanced and lasting practitioner-based research capability in FE.<br> <br> The project collected qualitative data from (usually) six students in each of 16 learning sites in four FE colleges in England. It also collected quantitative data from all students in the same learning sites. The quantitative data (deposited at the UK Data Archive) enabled deeper qualitative analysis by exploring similarities and differences amongst learning sites, to locate the views of the interviewees amongst those of their peers in the sites, and to relate the sample as a whole to national norms. (The qualitative data could not be deposited without compromising the anonymity of colleges, tutors and students.)<br> <br> (A learning site is the course of study on which a student is engaged; the term recognises that in FE especially there are many different kinds of situation in which learners and tutors come together to support a student's learning.)<br> <br>