Heutagogy: spirals of reflection to empower learners in higher education

Abstract

This paper is informed by narrative research undertaken as part of continuous reflection on our individual practice. It is based on student responses to experience of study and professional development as part of collaborative reviews and discussion forums. This is informal research, based on qualitative approaches. The paper considers how students are facilitated to take control of their own learning and engage in reflective practice through a paradigm of heutagogy, which explores the processes involved as student’s start to engage in self‐directed study. As course programme leaders it is necessary alongside this that we enable course teams to become conscious of the processes of reflection and to be critical of their own practice, values and attitudes towards learners. This collaborative paper therefore represents a spiral of reflection on our experiences, as we explore the implementation of theory and practice – in terms of reflection on learning and teaching.

Keywords:

• heutagogy
• spirals of reflection
• early years practice
• transformative learning
• emotional literacy
• foundation degrees