Teaching and transitions: understanding classroom practices that support higher education progression in England

ABSTRACT

Teachers are often portrayed as the recipients of information about widening access initiatives and cast in the role of encouraging their students to engage in these activities. However, recent research has corroborated what might constitute an expected association, given the time pupils spend at school: teachers can have a significant impact on the higher education [HE] intentions of young people. Yet, few studies have considered the classroom practices that may account for this. This study seeks to do this by drawing on the insights and experiences of students and teaching professionals based in two schools and a post-16 college. All three institutions have catchments that encompass educationally deprived neighbourhoods. What this investigation reveals is that certain practices can make a significant difference to educational ambitions. Prominent are those that nurture subject interest, link the school curriculum to HE options, and introduce learners to higher-level study skills. In turn, the effectiveness of these practices is influenced by the ability of teaching professionals to build rapport with their students, most prominently by sharing their own learner journeys. The paper concludes by arguing for the wider recognition of these practices since they have the potential to open up HE to more young people from backgrounds that are underrepresented in HE.

KEYWORDS:

• Classroom practices
• widening access
• HE progression

Acknowledgement

Thank you to all the students who participated in the focus groups conducted for this study, and whose insights were integral to this project. Thank you also to the teaching professionals for their time and expertise. Finally, many thanks to members of the Higher Horizons+ Steering Group for supporting this supplementary study and especially to Ant Sutcliffe, the Network’s Head, Dr Hannah Merry, the Project Manager, and Katie Coombe-Boxall, the Data and Research Manager, for all their guidance, and to Libby Tozer for all her support in conducting the focus groups.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This paper is based on a unpublished report written by the author, and supported and funded by the Higher Horizons+ Uni Connect partnership. Raven (2019a).

Additional information

Funding

The research for the study was funded by the National Collaborative Outreach Programme, which is now known as Uni Connect. Dr Neil Raven is an independent researcher specialising in widening participation. He is also visiting lecturer and senior associate teacher in the School of Education, University of Bristol.

Notes on contributors

Neil Raven

Dr Neil Raven runs his own educational consultancy and is an active researcher in the field of widening participation and fair access. He is also visiting lecturer and senior associate teacher in the School of Education, University of Bristol and has published a range of articles on aspects of fair access, evaluation and professional practice.