2022

Legacy learning and career development: Higher-education students as agents of change

June 17, 2022By Rachel So

By Hannah Celinski (Cannexus23 GSEP Award Winner)

Students are faced with a variety of daunting tasks. They navigate institutional expectations, manage time for their studies and homework, often while working multiple jobs and contributing to a household by way of care for others, duties around the house and balancing their budget. Further, they are subjected to a changing world full of environmental, economic and societal uncertainty. The “evolving future” has become as unpredictable as it is unstable, and within these challenges lies the importance of fostering “the lifelong process of managing learning, work, leisure, and transitions” (CERIC, n.d.).

I live in Abbotsford, BC. In 2021, we navigated the global pandemic, raging forest fires, a heat dome and a devastating flood. Our community remains shaken to the core by these unprecedented challenges. This is one town, in one province of our massive country. Our challenges are unique to Abbotsford, but the outlook is equally complex across Canada. During such challenging times, the importance of career influencers – “professionals [who] have the potential to influence students in their careers through their role and everyday practice” – is undeniable (Ho, 2019, p. 137). We need students to become agents of change, and career development is one path to hope for our people, communities and world.

My PhD research focuses on the role of legacy in pedagogy (Legacy Learning). I examine Plato’s theory of the loadstone (attracting students to you like a magnet and infusing them with your knowledge and ability to attract further students); Maxine Greene’s consideration of learning through sedimentation (information builds up as sediment and is passed along to the next person in a synthesized form) (Greene, 2013); the role of mirror neurons in learning (you neurologically “practise” what you observe and the effect can be strengthened through relationship) (Zardi et al., 2021); and Indigenous ways of teaching and learning, amplifying the work of Sarah Davidson and Robert Davidson in their book, Potlatch as Pedagogy: Learning Through Ceremony (2018). Davidson & Davidson point to the importance of process, with failure as an option and celebration of the journey as the focus as opposed to assessment.

I propose that legacy is a pathway to exponential growth, but our students are currently drowning in a tidal wave of information that flows over them through technology (Chan et al., 2015). Students are squeezed between the potency of exponentially growing knowledge they receive verbally, physically and affectively through their instructors, and the flow of information coming at them from their devices. To combat this evolving issue and turn the focus on successfully developing and producing agents of change, I propose including mindfulness and reflective practices as part of the higher-education curriculum in tandem with David Boud’s “feedback loop” – an ongoing conversation between the instructor and student to promote learning (Carless & Boud, 2018, p. 1318).

So, how does career development fit into this conversation? By framing curriculum within a Legacy Learning context, the evolution of a career is framed as a process achieved by considering students’ past experiences in relation to their current place in the process, and how that feeds their future evolution. Each journey is unique. There is no longer an arrival employment opportunity. Rather, future stops encourage community involvement by furthering equity, diversity and inclusion as a vital aspect of society’s future; averting ecological impacts of current and past practices; and actively engaging with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Each student has an important part to play in our future, but they will need our stories, support, guidance and encouragement to get there. As I said earlier, we need agents of change, and to get there, students will need everything we have to offer.

Hannah Celinski is an Assistant Professor and Department Head of Arts Studies at The University of the Fraser Valley. She began as a music theatre performer in Toronto, eventually opening Aerial Dance & Acro Academy in Abbotsford before returning to academia. Celinski is currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Theory and Practice: Curriculum and Pedagogy at Simon Fraser University. She has a Master of Arts in English from Simon Fraser University, a Bachelor of Arts in English (Honours) from The University of the Fraser Valley and a Music Theatre Performance Diploma from Sheridan College.

References

Boud, D. & Carless, D. (2018). The development of student feedback literacy: enabling uptake of feedback. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. 43(8), 1315-1325. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354

Chan, N., Walker, C., & Gleaves, A. (2015). An exploration of students’ lived experiences of using smartphones in diverse learning contexts using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Computers and Education, 82, 96-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.11.001

CERIC. (n.d.). Glossary of career development. https://ceric.ca/glossary-of-career-development

Davidson, S. & Davidson, R. (2018). Potlatch as pedagogy: Learning through ceremony. Portage & Main.

Greene, M. (2013). Curriculum and consciousness. In David Flinders (Ed.), Curriculum studies reader (2nd ed., pp. 134-147). Taylor and Francis.

Hagendoorn, I. (2004). Some speculative hypotheses about the nature and perception of dance and choreography. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 11(3-4), 79-110. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SU17_clyZ_l8m7SG98c8kjY2pN1AgqHM/view

Ho, C. (2019). Professionals in post-secondary education: Conceptions of career influence. (Doctoral dissertation, Simon Fraser University, Surrey, Canada). Retrieved from http://summit.sfu.ca/item/18827

Richter, D. (2007). The critical tradition: Classic texts and contemporary trends. Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Zardi, Andrea, Carlotti, Edoardo Giovanni, Pontremoli, Alessandro, & Morese, Rosalba. (2021). Dancing in Your Head: An Interdisciplinary Review. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 649121–649121. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.649121

Winning in an open relationship: A partnership in higher education with industry

June 17, 2022By Rachel So

By Sonja Johnston

The “skills gap” (e.g., Lapointe & Turner, 2020; Mishra et al., 2019; RBC, 2019), or the misalignment of graduate capability with employer expectations, comes back to higher education to renovate education outcomes to align to industry desires for skill competency. However, this moving target of desirable skills in a tumultuous landscape for employment makes hitting the target nearly impossible. The literature in this space has been growing for decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic brought the challenge centre stage, as economic recovery will be directly affected by the ability of the workforce to adapt and innovate.

Solutions to close the gap have focused on supporting students to acquire skills as directed by industry insights and hiring needs. What if the narrative was reframed to explore collaborative and generative learning experiences that are co-created by industry partners and soon-to-be graduates?

One such example features the open learning partnership with e-commerce software leader Shopify (Shopify Open Learning, n.d.). This multinational, publicly traded, Canadian firm “is a leading provider of essential internet infrastructure for commerce, offering trusted tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business of any size” (Shopify Company Info, n.d.). Shopify’s open learning partnership allows higher-education programs to implement authentic learning experiences in curriculum by allowing students to create fully functional Shopify stores. Approved courses can utilize access to rewarding Shopify-based activities and students can earn digital badges to recognize their achievements in addition to the course credit.

During the pandemic, businesses were affected by health restrictions and forced to consider how they engaged with customers. As the Shopify platform evolved, students were able to learn about business demands and pivots in real time. Graduates enter the workplace with an authentic and experiential view of store design and strategic customer experience considerations. Shopify gains client insights from the students and an educated base of graduates ready to hit the ground running as entrepreneurs and employees.

This open (platform) relationship is an exchange of insight, expertise, current operations, feedback and authentic learning with no financial obligation to higher education. This iterative feedback loop functions differently than industry just providing insights on skills that are desired. The use of platforms provides authentic and experiential learning with the value-added opportunity for micro credentialling (i.e. digital badges). The win for all involved stakeholders is visible, and can pivot as the environment requires. The invitation for industry leaders to consider open relationships with higher education is on the table for the taking!

Disclaimer: I am a graduate student in educational research examining models for graduate workplace readiness. As a post-secondary instructor, I use this open platform in an entrepreneurship course. I am not compensated in any way from Shopify. I wish to acknowledge credit for the pioneering of this Open Learning Platform to Pam Bovey Armstrong and Polina Buchan at St. Lawrence College in Ontario, Canada.

Sonja Johnston is a collaborative, multidisciplinary scholar with nearly a decade of experience in curriculum design and instruction in multiple post-secondary institutions. She is currently a PhD student in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, specializing in Learning Sciences. Sonja’s research focuses on higher education and workplace readiness.

References

Lapointe, S., & Turner, J. (2020). Leveraging the skills of social sciences and humanities graduates. Skills Next 2020. https://fsc-ccf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/UniversityGraduateSkillsGap-PPF-JAN2020-EN-FINAL.pdf 

Mishra, P. T., Mishra, A., & Chowhan, S. S. (2019). Role of higher education in bridging the skill gap. Universal Journal of Management, 7(4), 134-139. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujm.2019.070402

RBC. (2019, May). Bridging the gap: What Canadians told us about the skills revolution [report]. RBC Thought Leadership. https://www.rbc.com/dms/enterprise/futurelaunch/_assets-custom/pdf/RBC-19-002-SolutionsWanted-04172019-Digital.pdf 

Shopify. (n.d.). Company Info. https://news.shopify.com/company-info

Shopify. (n.d.). Open Learning. https://www.shopify.ca/open-learning

Do values matter? Exploring the factors that encourage employees to commit to physical activity during the COVID-19 in relation to their work performance

June 17, 2022By Rachel So

By Ahmed Mohamed

Government legislation enacted during COVID-19 constricted business to work remotely and students to learn from home. Such widespread restrictions on human activity stimulated an increase in scholarly research in the social sciences. Research productivity increased by 35% in the United States within 10 weeks of the start of COVID-19 lockdowns (Cui, Ding, and Zhu, 2020).

Still, little is being done to understand why regular engagement in physical activities declined for some and continued for others. We ground this qualitative research on conservation of resources theory (especially personal resources: cognitive, physical and affective) to determine whether previous experience in teleworking and personal and organizational resources might have motivated people to continue to engage in physical activities while working from home. Indeed, the unprecedented conditions of COVID-19 require people to utilize their personal resources as efficiently as possible to satisfy job and physical and mental health demands. Our research answer two questions.

First, does physical activity pre-pandemic provide non-experienced telecommuters with more resources and better work performance during pandemic? The second question asks, what specific factors motivate them to engage in physical activities during the pandemic? We interviewed 20 faculty and staff at York University in Canada. Participants who perceived physical activity as an intrinsic value before the pandemic practised physical activity during the pandemic, maintained their personal resources and coped with the pandemic demands. However, participants who are intrinsically motivated to practice physical activity, because of its known benefits from pre-pandemic experience, were less engaged in physical activities and lost personal resources due to family and work demands experienced during the pandemic.

We conclude that physical activity is indirectly predicting work performance through the mediation role of personal resources. We recommend extending this study to cover gender, financial stability and culture in two contrasting contexts, during and post-COVID-19.

Ahmed Mohamed is a Queen’s University business graduate, holding a Master of International Business degree with over 10 years of international experience in the business industry. Throughout his career, Mohamed helped multinational corporations in client servicing, sales, marketing and human resources. Mohamed is passionate about academic research, assisting professors and the research community in various research areas related to human resource management. Additionally, presenting research topics at different conferences and finding solutions to industry challenges is where Mohamed sees himself growing and developing. Currently, Mohamed is a third-year PhD candidate in Human Resource Management at York University.

References

Cui, R., Ding, H., & Zhu, F. (2020). Gender inequality in research productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic. arXiv preprint arXiv:2006.10194.