Teaching and Learning > DISCOURSE

Ethics, Enterprise and Employability

Author: Simon Robinson, Paul Dowson and Alison Price

Journal Title: Discourse

ISSN: 2040-3674

ISSN-L: 1741-4164

Volume: 7

Number: 2

Start page: 121

End page: 156

Return to vol. 7 no. 2 index page

This is a report from a project funded by the Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies.

Foreword by Professor Simon Robinson

On January 28th 1986 it took only 73 seconds for the Challenger Space Shuttle to explode in one of the most high profile disasters of the last century. Much has been written about this case history, precluding the need to develop all the details here (Robinson 2002, 108 ff.). The case, however, illustrates well the three areas of ethics, employability and enterprise. In particular it asks major questions about the definition of these three terms and shows how in practice the three operate side by side. The Challenger was a story involving a major organisation within key issues of ethics, enterprise and employability. Never before had there been such a programme of space flight, setting out hugely ambitious targets that would have political, social and scientific implications. Like any significant project, it involved collaboration and constraints; planning and delivery; co-operation and competition—in fact all the major skills of being enterprising—'having the idea and making things happen!'. Many different firms and government agencies worked together. At the same time there was increasing competition, not least from the European Space Agency. With that came increasing concern about the danger of losing contracts, and attendant financial constraints. All of this raised questions about the purpose, context and limits of being enterprising.

It was also a story about what it means to be employed, as an engineer or a manager, and what you might need for that employment. Is employability defined in terms of competencies and related skills? If so, then the definition of these was constantly being stretched for the engineers employed by Morton-Thiokol Industries. They identified the structural problems in the Challenger, and struggled between 1985 and 1986 to communicate the implications to the management. This case takes the meaning of employability beyond what is needed to be successful in getting a job.

Finally, it is a story about ethics—about the social context, the purpose and values of any action, about the ethical identity of a profession or a job, about how we negotiate and practice responsibility in the context of immense pressures. This in turn poses major questions about how we define and teach ethics.

Practice poses questions about the meaning of each of these terms, but it also shows how the three relate in practice. It is precisely when they are fragmented that problems begin to occur and significant meaning is lost. Perhaps the most chilling moment in the case was when, in the teleconference immediately before the launch, one of the mangers turned to an engineer and said 'take your engineering hat off and put on your management hat'. With such fragmentation came two things:

Whilst we rightly want to reflect on ethics, enterprise and employability as discrete areas, in practice they are together and have to be integrated.

Introduction

This report explores the challenge provided by the three core areas of employability, enterprise and ethics within the existing Higher Education curriculum. It details the work undertaken by Leeds Metropolitan University, in partnership with two HEFCE Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL)—the IDEA CETL (hosted at University of Leeds) and the Leeds Met CETL Institute for Enterprise—as part of a funded project for the Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies, part of the Higher Education Academy.

The project sought to bring together Ethics, Employability and Enterprise (EEE) in the curriculum and to identify some initial examples of teaching that involve two or more of these areas, in order to understand how current practice is developing student understanding. This report draws together the work from that event, which attracted over 40 academics, with the practice from over 19 HEIs across the UK.

It aims to provide both a reflection, and an active teaching resource for the academic practitioner to draw upon to support curriculum development, and, uniquely, also to add to, as resources are developed and this area expanded and supported by those working across disciplines to deepen student learning. Ultimately this report seeks to provide support and inspiration and then form a central part of an active and on-going project of curriculum development which will be housed on the web: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/enterprise.

The curriculum: the challenge

If these three areas are inextricably linked in practice, the question is how do we enable that linkage in the curriculum?

Within higher education, through the design of our courses and the structure of our support agencies, such as Careers Services, it could be argued that we are, on the face of it, in danger of taking quite the opposite route, and reinforcing 'silo' thinking, at policy as well as practice level.

At policy level, the development of the HEFCE national Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) initiative in the varied pedagogic areas is excellent and builds up profound and important practice and research, and it is true that each of the three areas explored here, have differences and can, and should, be studied separately at some point. However, in creating different areas to be championed, we run several dangers:

In the light of all these considerations, and of commitment in Leeds Met University and its associated Centres of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs) to develop ethics in the curriculum and integrate our thinking, we wanted to reflect on teaching practice to see how the three areas might relate and be developed together. This allowed us to draw upon the excellent benefits of policy levels change, such as the CETLs, to explore integrated approaches to curriculum change. The specific outcomes that we aimed for were:

The approach: workshop

Fortunately there are many practioners across higher education, teaching their disciplines, and blending in critical themes. However in accepting this approach, curriculum constraints set a new challenges for the effective practitioner:

The method determined to best explore the practice of curriculum development was a national event which sought to bring together examples of teaching involving two or more of the areas of enterprise, ethics or employability. In seeking support from the academic community, the delegates from this event were drawn from five key areas:

The outcome of this was to be a reflection and teaching resource, containing the examples of practice and discussions on different pedagogical approaches.

These examples were sought through a standard template (right) which attempted to draw together the experience of the delegates in advance of the event. This provided teaching materials to share and the development of collective knowledge.

Pre-workshop template:
We would like to invite you or another representative from your university to this day, to share your good practice.
Ethics, Employability and Enterprise in the Curriculum.
1. Considering the areas of Ethics, Employability and Enterprise, what connections has your institution made between any of these areas in learning and teaching, in the formal or informal curriculum?
2. Where are such connections being developed – employability, philosophy, theology, careers, others? Give a brief overview of those developments.
Could you describe in more detail one particular example in teaching and learning of how you or a colleague has developed connections between Ethics, Employability and Enterprise. It would be helpful for sharing if you could describe it under the following headings:
1. In the practice of your teaching what do we mean by these terms Ethics, Employability and Enterprise, please restrict to one sentence each.
2. Why is it important to make connections between these ideas?
3. Could you describe the teaching method?
4. Describe how it relates to the developments of skills and qualities, virtues, and any other outcomes.
5. What is innovative and creative about this approach?
6. What is the underlying vision of this example?
7. What are your criteria for best practice?

In preparation for a robust discussion at the event, three broad definitions were supplied in order to outline key areas to potential delegates. None of them is exhaustive as Ethics, Enterprise, and Employability (EEE) are all broad and ambiguous areas; even the terms can often lead to confusion, so to reduce this, we offered 'starter definitions' for the workshop, which were proposed as:

Workshop Programme:

09:00 – 09:30 Registration & refreshments
Introduction Welcome to Leeds Metropolitan University Professor Simon Robinson Professor of Ethics, School of Applied Global Ethics Leeds Metropolitan University
Workshop Session I Connections and student perspectives. Bob Gilworth Director of Careers Centre Leeds University
Presentation Session Reflective interactive process. Dr Peter Hawkins
Group Work Session I Sharing Practice Professor Simon Robinson Alison Price, Paul Dowson
Lunch
Group Work Session II Focusing in more detail on the template Professor Simon Robinson Alison Price, Paul Dowson
Plenary Drawing out criteria for good practice Professor Simon Robinson
Panel Discussion
4.00 Close

Overview:

Professor Simon Robinson hosted, chaired and led the day supported by Paul Dowson, outlining the challenges of the day, before presenting key speakers.

Bob Gilworth (Director Career Centre, University of Leeds) provided a careers perspective on the connections between the three areas and an analysis of changing student perspectives. As reflected in a recent University of Leeds event entitled 'Careers, Making a Difference' which attracted 1000 students and 37 exhibitors, students were increasingly aspiring to go beyond making money and looking to contribute in some way to society and the needs of others. Freedom, Bob argued, was a key student aspiration and included the freedom to express their values in their chosen line of work. Matching this student demand, the 'Post-Enron' employer is increasingly concerned with business ethics and promoting corporate social responsibility. Highlighting the interface between employability and enterprise, Bob added that all the signals from the graduate market (regardless of sector) made it clear that graduates increasingly required enterprising and entrepreneurial skills. In summary, all three areas were gaining significance together in Bob's view.

At the heart of the event, Dr Peter Hawkins, a renowned specialist in Career and Life Management, led a reflective and interactive process which presented a model of how to integrate the three areas in a teaching session or exercise. Peter's six-part Personal Development Planning exercise built around the central metaphor of the objects found in a children's playground involved the event participants in reflecting and sharing in the following areas:

The spectrum of responses to Peter's exercise was illustrative of how learners generally receive holistic approaches. On the one hand, many respond positively to the pedagogy on account of it being innovative, creative, engaging, personal and very much related to real-life. Others, on the other hand, distrust the approach and view it as being invasive or superficial from a disciplinary perspective or 'new-fangled'. The teacher must be prepared for a polarity of responses and given time, attempt to win over some whose initial response is less than encouraging.

Importantly, like other forms of learning, a holistic approach invites learners to take away the product of the teaching session and to work on it, as independent learners, in their own time. It also introduces them to a way of thinking they can, if they so wish, apply to different areas of their lives. If the approach hasn't impressed, however, it is doubtful that the learner will venture this far.

An important dimension of any pedagogical tool or approach is how it develops the skills of the learner or permits the surfacing and development of virtues. Peter's interactive reflective process enabled the event participants to plan for their personal and professional development; a process which called for reflection on the past and present, and envisioning a future. The interactive approach obviously also involved the participants in engaging with the facilitator and others. This is exactly how many of the core skills and qualities called for by employers and in every life context are practically developed, through interaction with others. It raises the following key questions: Am I able to hear another person's ideas? Can I feel or express empathy and understanding? Am I able to present my own ideas? Can I work with others?

Phase 2: Curriculum Sharing

Drawing together the collective experience of the delegates, three groups were identified, to share their different practice and different reasons for combining EEE elements. Using the pre-event template, and the teaching materials gathered, the task below was set for discussion in groups:

The group should select two examples from the templates in the group to examine more closely:
1) What are the values, skills and qualities/virtues that underlie EEE and how are these brought out in the teaching? Does the teaching help to clarify them? Does it enable awareness of ones own skills, qualities, and virtues? What virtues/qualities are addressed and practised in the teaching itself, e.g. does the teaching develop empathy? (Does empathy have any relevance to enterprise?)
2) How were they brought out through Peter's presentation?
3) Are there any value conflicts between Ethics, Enterprise and Employability and if so how are they handled in the teaching.
4) How does the teaching and the conversations so far affect the concepts of EEE? eg. enterprise and values – how would this be affected by Paul Jackson's value card sorting – where the student is encouraged to analyse the values of different companies and see how they relate to theirs.
5) Sum up what are the criteria for good practice in teaching in this area, e.g.
  • practice-centred
  • dialogic
  • developing awareness of complexity, plurality and ambiguity in all areas
  • connective/reflective.

Discussion

Firstly, it is essential to return to the question of definition, to provide an overview of the delegate discussions and focus, taking each in turn:

Ethics: The study of what is right or wrong in human conduct and how such conduct might be governed. Meta-ethics looks at underlying theories of the good, and Applied and Professional Ethics looks at how ethical meaning is embodied in particular contexts, such as business or medicine. Quite where ethics fits is not always clear. Some would argue that ethics is a discipline, or at least part of a discipline, philosophy. This is the position of the University of Leeds IDEA CETL. Others argue that Ethics is really about moral development and thus part of the discipline of psychology (Rest and Navarez, 1994). The Mendoza Business College in Notre Dame University, for instance, bases its curriculum work on this approach. Religious ethicists (Lovin 2005), on the other hand, remind us that the majority of the world's population base their ethics in religious or cultural belief systems that bear little resemblance to Western categories of philosophy or psychology. Given the global context of business this has increasingly practical implications.

Enterprise: is spotting opportunities, creating new ideas and having the confidence, skills and capabilities to turn these ideas into working realities. Enterprise involves the creation of innovative opportunities, inevitably involving risk. Enterprise capability then involves innovative and imaginative thinking, creativity, risk management, and a sense of drive. In all this enterprise is not only a discipline but is also an attitude and 'an inclusive concept which provides both the context in which subject disciplines can be explored as well as an approach to learning' (Price 2004).

The actual context for the development of enterprise is often the start-up of a new business, though other contexts exist. Intrapreneurship should be highlighted as the art of working within an organisation to effect change, by developing new ideas, procedures or products, by innovating practice and thereby enhancing the business; as should social entrepreneurship which involves using entrepreneurial skills for the public good rather than for private profit, that is using imagination to identify new opportunities and determination to bring them to fruition (Social Enterprise Action Plan: Scaling new heights. Cabinet Office 2006).

Employability: A set of skills, knowledge and personal attributes that make an individual more likely to secure and be successful in their chosen occupation(s) to the benefit of themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy. This definition takes one beyond a simplistic view of success applications to the social and moral context of the job or profession that has been chosen. Employability is not a discipline but is a way of looking at professions from all disciplines. If it has a home in higher education, it is in careers, but this further confuses the major question as to who actually defines the term. Some would argue that it is the employers, with a focus on skills rather than values of virtues.

Additionally it then possible to draw upon Enterprise Insight to determine how is employability distinguished from enterprise?
'Enterprise is in fact distinct in three fundamental ways. Enterprising qualities have similarities with employability, but enterprise requires a deeper quality that is more focused and action oriented. It has above all stronger resonance with notions of empowerment and a belief in one's own abilities – not simply the acquisition of a range of employment skills. Secondly, employability is about getting a job, and increasingly staying in work, rather than how you make a difference and achieve success in work.
Thirdly, if everyone is employable it benefits the economy but the currency gets devalued from an individual's perspective. Enterprise on the other hand is generated of future opportunities and different in that the realisation of ideas offers a level of protection through unique propositions and intellectual property rights.
The implications of promoting enterprise through education are quite different in some respects as well. Young people who choose to pursue enterprise as a career will look to education to fulfil that aspiration not only in terms of skills and know-how but wider support in becoming student entrepreneurs'.
(The Enterprise Report Making Ideas Happen, 2005, Enterprise Insight)

Connections

What is clear even from the brief descriptions proposed for the event, is that these areas do connect. What connects them is reflective practice and effective dialogue, and our aim is to help develop learning which facilitates both. It is also possible to see these three concepts as being conceptually quite distinct, but only if we are not focusing on practice. All the definitions are subject to dispute and ongoing debate, and in that practice-centred debate there are many overlaps between the concepts which affect the meaning of each.

The overlaps and connections are in four key areas: concepts, qualities and skills, process, and context.

Concepts

It is hard to always see the term enterprise as value neutral. To the lay reader, the concept presumes a social and moral context that is quite distinct from the idea of social enterprise, and that invites us to consider the purpose and responsibility of entrepreneurship. For example, enterprise, as innovative and creative work, is at the heart of engineering (Florman 1976), and engineering as a profession operates in the context of responsibility to a number of stakeholders (Robinson et al 2007). Once we move to the connected ideas of risk and the management of risk one moves into critical questions about how these relate to the responsibility of professions such as engineering and business. Risk-benefit analysis is a core part of enterprise and as Beauchamp and Childress (1989) note this occurs within a broader ethical framework. Business itself is increasingly debating the relationships between enterprise and ethics and in particular to the development of corporate social responsibility (Journal of Business Ethics 2005, 60, 3). This has led to the concept of 'corporate social entrepreneurship', something distinct from social entrepreneurship or intrapreneurship. Some religious social thinkers would go further and suggest the very ideas of creativity and creation are a moral imperative. Novak (1990), for instance, would see this as a core part of stewardship.

Employability also takes one into questions about purpose, value and responsibility. Once again it is very difficult to see how a civil engineer, for instance, would be employable if he or she did not attempt to fulfil responsibility to the client, the social and physical environment and in many cases to future generations (Armstrong et al. 1999). It is equally difficult to see how an accountant who did not have the courage to point out financial problems experienced by his clients would be employable. Like enterprise, employability assumes a social and moral context. It does not prescribe what that might be. Indeed, this is the subject of ongoing discussion in one form or another (Robinson et al 2007). As noted above this discussion is one that involves the employers as much as academics.

Applied and professional ethics focuses on enabling those within business and the professions to reflect on and develop ethical meaning. Working that meaning through into an ethical response can benefit from the attitude and practice of enterprise. Enterprise involves the kind of imaginative practice that can positively maximise opportunities. The leap to Riceour's idea of moral and social creativity (Riceour 2000) which see ethics as expressed in the social response, is not great. Such a view begins to broaden views of applied and professional ethics considerably. The Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (2004), for instance, looks to a holistic view of business ethics and CSR that stresses both personal development and global awareness. CSR has now become so broad that it can extend social responsibility to contributions to restorative justice, especially in countries experiencing social and political transition (Gregory and Tarfa 2004).

Three points should be made here:

Related skills and qualities

In the light of such conceptual overlap it is possible to argue for certain core virtues which apply to all the areas and which in turn affect how we practice in each of these areas. We would suggest from the various discussions that these are intellectual, affective and practical virtues:

Phronesis enables reflection on the meaning and value framework of any situation, role or relationship. Empathy enables awareness of the other—from the self, to other persons, organizations or the environment. It is traditionally seen as associated with compassion or care. However, it is important for a great deal of judgement in practice, such as diagnosis in medicine or assessment of stakeholder need in business. Enterprise as a virtue enables an awareness of possibilities for the future, and of ways in which those innovative possibilities can be brought to life.

These three virtues reflect the intellectual, affective and somatic (seen in terms of any embodiment of meaning in practice, process or physical/social environment) dimensions of any project. They add value to the practice of any profession, any ethical response, and any particular project enriching experience, value, meaning and possibilities.

They connect to many different skills and capabilities. Yorke and Knight (2004, 5) provide an important analysis of a more profound view of employability which clearly connects to these core virtues. This involves four interrelated components:

Employability, then, is a complex idea about how the four components above can influence life-long learning and life-long performance. It is evidenced in the 'application of a mixture of personal qualities and beliefs, understandings, skilful practices, and the ability to reflect productively on experience' (Yorke, 2004, 11).

Similarly the core virtues suggested above link to the skills of enterprise such as creativity, imagination, awareness of strengths and weaknesses, negotiation skills, awareness of opportunities, networking and team working capacities, awareness of customer interest and needs.

In all this, the focus is on enabling the development of agency, relationality, and responsibility. The three core virtues would also tie into the cardinal and theological virtues. The cardinal virtue of courage, for instance, is needed to effect creativity, or even to articulate and sustain any underlying view of the good. One aspect of the theological virtue of hope (Robinson 2001) is precisely the 'capacity to envision the future', and enterprise as virtue looks at ways in which the future can be envisioned, and then created.

A virtue that enables the three themes to work together, and indeed the core virtue, is integrity. Integrity involves several aspects:

Absolute integrity is impossible to attain. Hence, an important virtue is humility, the acceptance of limitations, of weakness as well as strengths (Robinson and Dixon, 1997, 341). Equally important therefore is the capacity to reflect, to evaluate practice, to be able to cope with criticism and to alter practice appropriately. This capacity to learn means that integrity should not be seen as simply maintaining values and ethical practice come what may, but as involving the reflective process, such that values can be tested in the light of practice and either appropriately maintained or developed.

None of these virtues actually generates moral meaning, though our use of these terms assumes a moral context. Hence, even the moral virtue of courage can be used to a bad end. Thus Bauman (1993) and others would look to an irreducible moral attitude of inclusive commitment to the other. More than respect this is summed up with concepts such as unconditional positive regard or agape (love). Such a concept sets out a commitment to the other, but it is clear that any such commitment has to be negotiated (Robinson 2001).

Such a care still requires imagination and negotiation if it is be embodied. However, it provides the core moral meaning. The discussion on the project day noted the importance of such an attitude not being used to impose service or to see care as purely altruistic, or purely unconditional. Hence, it was suggested that there also needed to be some eros, care based upon attraction (Robinson 2001), and which appreciated created goodness. It is precisely such care that can be seen as at the heart of enterprise, in the excitement and joy of creativity.

Reflective practice

Because all three areas are focused in practice then a central connection is the process of reflective practice. Schoen (1983) noted, through observation of a range of different professions, that in practice there was a response that led not to an imposition of knowledge but rather a 'reflective conversation with the situation'.

What emerged was a process like this:

In a sense Schoen is simply developing the idea of what it is to be a professional, building on the work of Ivan Illich. Illich (1977) questioned the role of the professional in society, not least in the way that society has become dependent upon professions such as doctors. Such dependence was negative, partly because it led to the individual not taking responsibility and partly because, through lack of awareness, it led to personal and public disasters. Perhaps just as important as that was the simple idea that the technical skill of the professional couldn't be exercised without taking into account the relational context.

Gibbs (see Jasper 2003) provides another simple framework which takes account of the emotions as well as ideas in reflection:

Schoen and Gibbs do not fully draw out the ethical dimensions of or values behind reflective practice, but it is possible to do so. The underlying values of reflective practice include:

Each of these can be seen as an ethical value. Awareness of limitations, for instance, can be seen in terms of humility, an important professional virtue. If a surgeon, for instance, operates unaware of a physical limitation, or limitations of experience, this could put lives at risk.

Such a spine of reflective practice is, of course, central to any idea of employability, partly defining what it is to be a professional. It is also at the heart of enterprise not least because it is a learning model.

Reflective practice is not precisely the same as any of the three areas. Ethics, for instance, involves moral reasoning, including an analysis and justification of underlying moral values. Nonetheless, reflective practice is at the heart of any professional project and as such connects all the areas. Equally, all three areas add something distinctive to the study and development of reflective practice, including value, meaning, identity and context.

Context

Examining Ethics, Enterprise and Employability together in the curriculum also provide a connection of context. Often ethics and employability can be seen as distant from practice, whilst enterprise could risk being seen as only practice.

The use of case studies provides focus for reflection but often these pay little attention to the purpose and context behind the case. The focus on enterprise locks ethics into values of creativity, imagination, collaboration and the realities of the market. As such it both keeps ethics practice-centred. At the same time adding ethics to that reflection can help to develop the concept of enterprise, be that through theologies/ philosophies of creation or shalom, virtue ethics or ethics of shared responsibility (Jonathan Sacks 2005, Bauman 1993). The focus on employability enables grounded and usable reflection on attributes and virtues and how they relate to professional competence and identity.

What then unites these areas?

In recognising the context and the need to reflect, the core that unifies these dimensions to further build learning and develops life-long cognitive skills to support a life time of decisions, must be identified. It is apparent that the underpinning to all three of these, apparently interlinked, apparently diverse, areas, is decision making. In exploring these themes, from a curriculum and subject based dimension, it is clear that outcomes, impacts and effects is the learning that needs to be understood. By inviting students to study disciplines in which they explore the enterprising, ethical and employability dimensions, we are seeking them enable reflection upon the outcome, recognise it and ensure it is professionally and personally compatible. The teaching of the EEE embedded within the curriculum is ultimately asking students to develop 'a strategic awareness, appreciation and management of the impacts and effects of decisions' (Price 1994). This is the impact of effective EEE teaching.

Towards method

The question now is, how can this be taught? Obviously such reflective, strategic thinking is only developed over the long-term, through the creation of connections, and within context.

In one sense the connections outlined above point to the teaching of these areas as interdisciplinary. This can be defined as a collaboration of several disciplines in which concepts, methodologies or epistemologies are explicitly exchanged and integrated, resulting in mutual enrichment. Business and other 'host disciplines', ethics (philosophical and theological), psychology, and others can combine in team teaching through multi-disciplinary exploration.

However, that approach can easily become discipline centred, with concerns primarily about how it affects the disciplines themselves. Hence, this field can be seen as transdisciplinary. This focuses more on practice as the starting point of collaboration and involves 'cooperation between different parts of society (including academia), in order to meet complex challenges of society. The prime focus here is about the empowerment of the student (cf. Barnett 1994).

Key Criteria

Exploration of the shared learning has identified three key findings, which will drive our identification of key criteria below:

Five key criteria for good practice began to emerge through the sharing of practice and discussion involved in the development in the student and the learning environment.

A process approach to learning

Where good practice was defined as being facilitative, not didactic, students learned through a process of engaging with meaningful activities. Such activities have value in themselves, but their principal value is how the learning can be applied to other areas of life. In this process approach the teacher plays a facilitative role foregoing the traditional role of 'expert' and adopting instead an emphasis on journeying with and guiding the learners along a path consisting of self-discovery, dialogue, interaction and experience. Holistic development is at the heart of such an approach—where the interaction of teachers, students and knowledge produces something more than can be anticipated or often even predicted. The challenge with this approach is felt by both the teacher and the student. For the teacher, they are called upon to relinquish control, kudos and any personal agenda. The challenge for the student is the sense that here is something new and something which places more emphasis on the encounter of learning, and calls them to participate.

Student-participation

The term student-centredness is associated with the idea of putting the student at the centre of any learning encounter. The learning is for them, and by implication the aim is to give the student the best learning experience possible. However, a learning experience which invites student participation is not always, from a student perspective, a welcomed one. Indeed, if we define learning as 'any relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience' (Robbins, 1998, emphasis added) one can easily discern that to learn we may need to accept that student comfort is not the highest aim of the teacher. Participation can be challenging both emotionally and intellectually for the student. It confronts the idea that learning is done for them, prepared for them like a sumptuous feast, where all the student must do is turn up and enjoy the efforts of the host. Remaining with the metaphor, participation counters this by emphasising that the (learning) event is made complete by their interacting and resulting discussion. Any holistic approach combined with an emphasis on student participation makes for a learning experience that will often be felt by the student as being 'personal'. Again this challenges another idea—that academic learning should not or will not affect the personhood of the learner. The student-centredness ideal serves to remind the teacher that at all times the learning process needs handling professionally with great awareness and sensitivity, with concern for the welfare of the student never straying from sight.

Encourage reflection

In learning encounters, learner reflection will always be present. Good practice seeks to make explicit what otherwise could so easily remain implicit; to help students develop an ability to be deliberate about engaging in reflection and even to enjoy it. Collaborative forms of reflection can awaken a student's regard for this key component of learning. Instead of asking the student to reflect alone as an individual the student is encouraged to reflect with others—to bring their ideas 'to the table' and to contribute to creating something (a collaborative reflection) that could not have possibly emerged from reflecting in isolation. This way of doing reflection adds a 'phenomenological' dimension to the reflective process. One student describes something they have learned or experienced. The next student may enter the discussion with the response 'me too'. An entity experienced by both students (and perhaps others) is identified and named.

Reflection leading to planning

Good practice is not just about sharing insights but converts thoughts into plans, which can in-turn can produce new actions. Personal development planning spans the gulf that can emerge between reflection and action. Without it we are either launching into action without sufficient thought, or remaining rooted in thought without practical outworking. Full cycles of reflection, planning and action are required for the individual or organisation to develop.

'Real-life' applications

A good practice theme that strongly emerged from the event was teaching that had a 'real-life' quality about it. This could take many forms. It could be strongly related to the learner's own life situation; or involve the learner in interacting with real-life clients; or require the learner to engage with a real-life scenario (as distinct from an imaginary or a fictitious one). From a teaching perspective this either transports the learning environment into real-life situations or transforms the teaching session by developing its real-world application. Either way, it can lead the learner to a sense of having made a difference, or to feeling confident about doing so in the future. This then provides the EEE practitioner with interlinked views and themes to embed within effective teaching (below).

Status Trans /Inter-disciplinarity
Core Decision-making
Shared Learning Situation
Shared Learning Meaning and Value Reflection and Planning
Connections Concepts Qualities and Skills Process Context
Key Criteria Student Participation Process Reflection Planning Real life

The complexity working across these fields—EEE—can be seen to have trans-disciplinarity at its heart, as a multi-layered site in which to explore the impact and outcomes of decision-making. Situation provides the meaning and values and demands reflection and planning.

Situations demand a student engages, outlining, and understanding the concepts, qualities/skills, and process within the context.

EEE learning can transform disciplines, the deeper the 'strategic awareness, appreciation and management of the impacts and effects of decisions' (Price 1994) for each learner.

Such interlinking between conceptualisations demonstrates how the key aspects of EEE teaching demand reflections upon real-life, driven by the students, employing their values and learning, to create effective decisions in their professional and personal life.

The criteria have helped establish what we are looking for. It is to the examples of teaching materials that we now turn.

Examples of pedagogy

Initial examples that we received of work in the curriculum showed several things:

It must be stressed that these are only initial examples and that we intend to widen our trawl through HE, across disciplines and within subjects. More research is needed and more practice needs to be developed. However we start with the findings of the dialogue amongst practitioners from sharing.

Detailed Example: LifePlan Short Course

Ethics, Employability and Enterprise in the Curriculum.
1. In the practice of your teaching what do we mean by these terms: Ethics, Employability and Enterprise, please restrict to one sentence each.
Ethics – Making good choices, looking beyond self and seeking out meaning.
Employability – Developing skills and qualities, in congruence with one's nature and individuality and finding expression for these in one's chosen career or work.
Enterprise – Taking creative responsibility, often transformative in nature.
2. Why is it important to make connections between these ideas?
The common thread to all is activating human potential, not just individually but through connection with others and in organisations.
3. Could you describe the teaching method?
The short-course in life and career planning entitled 'LifePlan' consists of 5 workshops meeting fortnightly over a 2 month period.
The group and its interactions are central to the teaching method, based on the premise that relational connection and interaction can produce new knowledge and growth. Where relational connection is achieved new voices will be heard, new perspectives will be formed and new ways of operating discovered.
Individual responsibility is stressed through the production of a personal development plan (PDP) that is developed over the duration of the course.
Intrinsic to the course is developing the participants' ability to reflect, both individually and collaboratively.
4. Describe how it relates to the developments of skills and qualities, virtues, and any other outcomes.
Participants complete a skills profile which helps them understand in what generic skills areas they are strongest and weakest. Added to this a strengths and weaknesses audit enables participants not only to self-assess their characteristics, but to compare their self-perceptions with how others perceive them.
Participants are also introduced to Aristotle's moral virtues and his doctrine of the mean. For each of the virtues this teaches the individual to exercise appropriate behaviour between the extremes of excess and deficiency.
5. What is innovative and creative about this approach?
The holistic emphasis, based upon the idea that it is the whole person who goes to work (employability), who makes decisions that have consequences for others (ethics) and who operates in a transformative manner (enterprise). Personal and professional development belong together in a holistic approach.
6. What is the underlying vision of this example?
a. That individuals discover and develop what could be described as their 'vital design' in the way they both live and work.
b. That they also develop the confidence and the ability to take responsibility for their own development, in connection with others.
7. What are your criteria for best practice?
a. Achieving relational connection in the group.
b. Facilitating reflection, both individually and collaboratively.
c. The production of a personal development plan the individual takes ownership of.
d. Developing an enlightening curriculum.
Paul Dowson
Leeds Metropolitan University

LifePlan is a short course in life and career planning developed by Paul Dowson (Leeds Metropolitan University) aimed at both graduates (through the Graduates Yorkshire LifePlan Course) and work-based learners. It was born out of a vision to assist adults in looking at both career and life planning issues together—a holistic approach based upon the idea that 'it is the whole person who goes to work'.

LifePlan emphasises course participants taking responsibility for their future development through committing to deliberate planning and producing a Personal Development Plan (PDP). This note of personal responsibility is balanced by the importance the course attaches to looking at life and career planning issues in a group context, where collaborative as well as individual reflection is encouraged.

The Course Tutor adopts a facilitator role in LifePlan groups to support and develop relational connection and interaction. Participant evaluations highlight how this approach produces new knowledge and growth. Truly collaborative approaches of this kind permit new voices to be heard, new perspectives to be formed and new ways of operating to be discovered.

LifePlan was piloted as consisting of five workshops meeting fortnightly over a two month period. The workshops introduce such areas as self-awareness; life-long/adult development; work-life balance; self-presentation; working collaboratively; and ethics in the workplace. The course is interdisciplinary in nature, drawing on elements from the disciplines of Business/Management; Psychology; and Philosophy; as well as from the core of Careers thinking. In the same way that it makes sense to challenge any 'dualism' inherent in examining one's career apart from one's life in general, it also makes perfect sense to integrate theory and thinking from across disciplines which can shed light on the complex issue of steering one's life and making important life decisions.

The three themes of enterprise, employability and ethics are present together in LifePlan, not as separate entities but as integral themes central to an individual's personal and professional development. Activation and realisation of human potential—what Jung referred to as 'individuation'—involves individuals in: pursuing transformative thinking and action (enterprise); identifying latent as well as obvious skills and qualities to be expressed in a work context (employ- ability); and making good choices for oneself and others (ethics).

Leeds Metropolitan University is looking to further develop the LifePlan concept by applying its holistic, person-centred approach to facilitating student personal development planning in its undergraduate and post-graduate programmes. It is also exploring the accreditation of the LifePlan courses. In terms of pedagogy, a model which links learner reflection (both individual and collaborative) with producing learner personal development plans in an effective way has been developed.

An example exercise: civil engineering scenario

The following scenario forms the nucleus of a single workshop (duration 120 minutes) within a programme of six workshops in Professional Ethics offered to MSc Engineering students. The teachers take a facilitator role.

Students are asked to read and consider a case at the workshop. They divide into groups no larger than six and work out a methodology of how to respond to the case (including how they would approach the ethics of the case). The groups feed back their methods which are discussed and developed as a class methodology.

The facilitators enable a discussion on method, tying it in to reflective practice. The method provides a framework for developing reflective practice and values, enterprise and reflection on professional capabilities, over the five subsequent sessions. The discussions in these subsequent sessions involve local professional engineers, ethicists, and other professions. The final session examines the identity, purpose and responsibility of the engineer and the engineering profession.

The case: A western civil engineering firm with links into a Colombian private university is asked by the Colombian government to lead a project with the aim of meeting the technological needs of a tribal village in the remote rain forest. After a long and difficult journey the engineers, with a number of students, reach the village and agree that the most urgent priority is an adequate supply of water. The nearest water supply is a large river, about half a mile from the village, and some 15 metres lower than it. The crops on which the villagers depend require a regular and large supply of water, which is not always easily available during the drier parts of the year—though the river does just continue to flow during these times. The journey to the river is not pleasant involving wading through swamp. The swamp area has been increasingly used as a latrine by the tribe. The swamp area is also infested with mosquitoes and is the cause of disease. Nonetheless, this area is an environment which includes major flora and fauna, including a rare alligator.

The village, of course, has no electricity supply, and there is only a rudimentary technology. Housing conditions, in huts made of timber and willows, are very poor. Illness and deformity are common, and the villagers have virtually no contact with the outside world. The culture, however, is an attractive one. Honesty is a key virtue, and the villagers are accustomed to working hard to keep together body and soul. The corporate spirit of the villagers is very strong, supported by a lively belief system and frequent community rituals. It seems unlikely that anyone will attempt to support or further assist the village once the project is completed.

Criteria: Reflective practice is at the heart of this Civil Engineering Scenario and here as in real-life situations, it is often undertaken in consultation with others or collaboratively. Professional ethics emerge from consideration of the case. The kinds of issues the engineers soon identify include:

Reflection on underlying issues is naturally sharpened by the provision of team inter-textual dialogue, and this exposes different and sometimes conflicting values.

Conclusions

It is now clear that there are linkages within EEE, and the examples of pedagogy provide some good examples of how these different areas can be connected, and of how the connections benefit each of them. The benefits to the learner have been explored and the deeper learning and development identified.

Whilst the challenges of EEE learning are not insignificant, for the student or the teacher, the enhancement is felt to be significant as a full awareness of the impact of decision-making and actions is determined. The methods required are developing, and whilst this project has aimed to explore and identify key criteria and interesting practice, it is clear that this work is not complete. Initial investigation has highlighted interesting and emerging work but more is needed, to further the learning of students, and to test the key criteria and thinking presented in this report. This report stands as the first step in crystallising the linkages and connections within these areas and developing our understanding, as academics, of the learning potential locked within a trans-disciplinary approach.

The next stage is to expose the outcomes of this workshop to a wider audience, add to our collective appreciation and understanding and continue to support the delineation of this area—and to further this, we seek your help. Be part of the project: please continue to send your examples of EEE teaching to the authors, or direct to enterprise@leedsmet.ac.uk

Further examples: taking the journey onwards

Further examples from the day can be found in summary in the Appendix, and we will continue to post new examples on the Institute for Enterprise website www.leedsmet.ac.uk/enterprise.There are also many different examples of approaches that have been developed separately in the different areas. In particular we recommend that you consult the websites below that refer to cases that can be easily adapted to include work on all three areas.

IDEA CETL. Many good examples of case studies, and of ways of developing ethical understanding: http://www.idea.leeds.ac.uk

CETL Institute for Enterprise: http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/enterprise

Higher Education Academy: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ in particular the enterprise materials: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ enterprise.htm

Royal Academy of Engineering. The RAE has developed an excellent ethics map and is working with the IDEA CETL on case studies around ethics. http://www.raeng.org.uk/policy/ethics/default.htm

Online Ethics Centre. This has a good selection of cases and writing on pedagogy around science and engineering: http://onlineethics.org/

Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. This showcases some important work on ethics and pedagogy. http://prs.heacademy.ac.uk

References:

Case Studies

 

CASE & CONTACT CASE DESCRIPTION
  KEY NOTE EXAMPLE
Playground Objects
Personal Development Exercise
Graduate Into Employment Unit
University of Liverpool
Peter Hawkins
lboulton@liverpool.ac.uk		 See Overview of Day

 

  SHORT COURSES & MODULES
LifePlan – Short Course in Life & Career Planning
Leeds Metropolitan University
Paul Dowson
p.a.dowson@leedsmet.ac.uk		 See Detailed Example
Personal Development & Career Planning Module
Leeds Metropolitan University
Jacqui Stevenson
j.stevenson@leedsmet.ac.uk		 Developed for refugees and asylum seekers, this module is delivered through ten weekly three-hour sessions. Aimed at facilitating access to the UK labour market and informing the learners in such areas as the culture and context of working in the UK the module is part of a wider work of research which seeks to be beneficent to these often exploited and marginalised people. Curriculum development of this current module and its predecessor module in Study Skills followed research into the barriers they had experienced to accessing employment and in pursuing their field of expertise or chosen profession here in the UK.
'Working as a Global Citizen' Module
Leeds Metropolitan University
Gwen Collins
r.g.collins@leedsmet.ac.uk		 This Masters level module seeks to meet Leeds Metropolitan University's mission stated in its 2004-2008 Corporate Plan, to introduce global perspectives into all aspects of the University's work and to broaden the horizons of home students through developing global perspectives. The overall aim of the module is to equip students to act as responsible global citizens at work and help them to make positive contributions to a more equitable and sustainable future in the work-place. Students report the particular value of the module's global footprint tool, that each student develops in relation to a workplace known to them. Assessments are rooted in such real life applications.
Landscape Architecture Community Design Programme
Leeds Metropolitan University
Debbie Samuel
d.samuel@leedsmet.ac.uk		 This module for 3rd year students adds community consultation and collaboration to the palette of skills used by landscape architects. Working in groups of typically five or six, students are responsible for a breadth of projects ranging from school grounds to community gardens. Contact with real clients and student consultation approaches are closely monitored by specialist staff at the University. Curriculum is determined by the demands of each project but will normally include problem evaluation; design development; client/community interaction; and project management. When the process works well an innovative design is produced from community consultation and the collaboration of the group.

 

  EXERCISES, TOOLS & OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS
Civil Engineering Scenario
Leeds Metropolitan University
Simon Robinson		 See Example Exercise
s.j.robinson@leedsmet.ac.uk
Save the Children – Making a Difference Group Exercise
University of Leeds
Pauline Kneale & Sam Aspinall
p.e.kneale @leeds.ac.uk		 Based upon a challenging real-life situation faced by a new graduate working as a Marketing Assistant at Save the Children, this exercise invites a group of students to face the same situation. Learners must deal with a complex case which has implications for the welfare of thousands of children and which requires them to make an ethical decision where taking personal responsibility cannot be avoided. The group present their proposal to academic staff and other learners who fulfil the role of the Save the Children Board of Directors. Added to this, a short press release is prepared outlining how the group proposal would be implemented.
Green Business Networking Case Study
University of Leeds
Pauline Kneale & Sam Aspinall
p.e.kneale@leeds.ac.uk		 The aim of this case study is to see where links with potential partners can be made through networking. It involves participants working in groups of around six people, where each group represents one of five example businesses. There are three main phases to the half-day case study: a briefing phase that introduces participants to networking; a networking phase where creative potential links between the organisations are explored and forged; and an output phase where participants present their findings to the rest of the group. Intrepreneurship skills are highlighted and developed illustrating how the endeavours of an individual can really make a difference to an organisation.
Guest Lectures on Sustainability
Leeds Metropolitan University
Mark Warner
m.warner@leedsmet.ac.uk		 Presentations are designed to stimulate student debate on sustainability, how it applies to their lives and what they can do to influence it. Each presentation is bespoke to the course and highlights how examples from other areas may be relevant. For example, how World War Two influenced the tourist industry. Topics include individual carbon rationing, carbon abatement, eco tourism and people who shaped our lives. The sessions are question orientated and purposely do not give any answers, just opinions. The outcome of the session to encourage further research on which ever aspect of sustainability takes their imagination. Each presentation closes with one question 'What will you do to change the world'?
Employability Card Sort
University of Leeds & University of Leicester
Paul Jackson
Pmj7@le.ac.uk		 This popular and effective tool involving working with value cards was developed in response to the fact that many graduates leave their first job after graduation not because of a skill mis-match, but because of the conflict of their personal values with that of the organisation. Students work with value cards to define and sort their personal and professional values. This enables them to reflect on the importance of this factor in choosing a job. An entertaining challenge is also provided by students attempting to match the mission statement to household name employers – an exercise that yields some interesting surprises.

Return to vol. 7 no. 2 index page

This page was originally on the website of The Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. It was transfered here following the closure of the Subject Centre at the end of 2011.

 

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The British Association for the Study of Religions
The Religious Studies Project