Designing mixed settings learning programmes
What is mixed settings secondary-tertiary learning for students?
Mixed settings programmes are an option for schools that want to help their students achieve NCEA Level 2 and 3 qualifications while working towards a tertiary or industry qualification. Current secondary and tertiary education policy settings and funding streams allow for enrolment across multiple settings for secondary students.
Secondary-Tertiary Programmes/Trades Academies are formal arrangements that enable students to experience learning across secondary and tertiary education. However, mixed settings programmes can be delivered in a variety of ways to help achieve educational success and make smoother transitions from school.
Designing mixed settings learning programmes
Strong partnerships are essential in enabling students to successfully combine school-based NCEA learning with part-time tertiary or workplace-based learning. When these programmes work well, they help students to gain the knowledge, skills and competencies that enable them to experience success at school and in further education and employment.
Building partnerships between secondary, tertiary and ITOs
The following questions can help educators to design mixed settings learning programmes:
- What are our students’ needs? What evidence do we have to inform us? How can we use it?
- How will students’ progress and needs be monitored and shared across settings? How will any new initiatives for students be tracked and monitored?
- Who do we currently have relationships with? How could partnerships be strengthened?
- What possible new partnerships could be formed? Who else do we need to include to deliver the programme effectively? How would new partnerships create benefits for our students?
- How as partners can we alter our business models or share resources to effect changes that will benefit students?
What is required for this learning to be effective?
Mixed settings programmes are most effective when they are well established and collaborative. Schools and tertiary education organisations should develop agreements that acknowledge different roles and responsibilities by all parties. Mixed settings programme learning may range from informal to well-defined arrangements. Although formal agreements are not mandatory, they can help maximise programme coherence for the learner.
Mixed settings secondary-tertiary learning agreement guide
Good practice includes planning the overall programme together, providing coordinated quality assurance approaches and ensuring high quality communication to educators across settings, students, families and whanau. Students should have good information on the work required to be successful across settings.
How can mixed programmes work in a school or tertiary setting?
Partners in mixed settings programmes should develop learning that is composed of school subjects and learning outside of school. Schools need to consider how the learning will be split across blocks of time, and the proportion of time students will spend in each setting. Partners also need to ensure the learning across both settings is cohesive for students.
A common approach is for students to attend school three days a week, and a tertiary training provider two days a week. For example, if a student is doing an engineering qualification as well as NCEA, they may do mathematics with calculus and physics, plus another subject of their choice. The remaining two days can be spent at a polytechnic doing mechanical engineering.
Essential components for designing an effective learning programme
|
FIRST LEVEL OF PLANNING |
|
|
Students |
Students are engaged in learning and evidence is used to identify all student needs, interests, and future directions. |
|
Current learning programmes |
Partners review current programmes and assess the extent to which programmes are meeting the needs of the students, including those at risk of disengaging and those currently not achieving. |
|
Community and industry |
Collaboration with the community, strengthening of partnerships, and establishment of new partnerships to influence learning programme development. Resources may be reviewed as part of this process. |
|
Resourcing |
Partners assess current resourcing and explore possible new options with community input. Educator and other expertise (eg industry), is explored, identified, and sourced, including the need for particular expertise to support or extend students. The requirements for specialist facilities, equipment, materials, and tools are scoped. |
|
SECOND LEVEL OF PLANNING |
|
|
Programme design |
Programmes incorporate relevant industry content and from learning areas in The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, and focus on essential knowledge and skills and key competencies, with opportunities for progression to further education and employment. |
|
Teaching and learning delivery approaches |
Educators use evidence of teaching approaches that have a positive impact on their students. A reflective approach is used by all educators and students (see table: Teaching and delivery approaches). |
|
Location of learning |
Partners identify and utilise the most appropriate locations for learning. |
|
Connections |
Connections with workplace, community, and industry are actively maintained. |
|
Assessment approaches |
Assessment delivery caters for individual student needs. Quality Assurance processes exist and are monitored. |
Teaching and delivery approaches
Research tells us that students learn best when educators:
- create a supportive learning environment
- encourage reflective thought and action
- enhance the relevance of new learning
- consistently make connections between learning and the world of employment
- facilitate shared learning
- make connections to prior learning and experience
- provide students with sufficient opportunities to learn
- inquire into the teaching-learning relationship (The New Zealand Curriculum, p.33).
- Successful integration of e-learning into programmes of learning also supports and motivates students to achieve.
The table below outlines a number of other teaching and delivery approaches that could be considered (but it is by no means exhaustive).
|
Contextualised learning |
- real life and industry-related contexts - cultural contexts - building products or providing services for actual clients. |
|
Problem solving |
- using problem-based scenarios - using actual situations in real time - using virtual simulations. |
|
Skills development |
- introducing a wide range of foundational skills and competencies - regularly teaching and practising skills in a variety of situations. |
|
Work-integrated learning experiences |
- visiting a range of relevant industry sites - meeting a range of industry employees across levels of the industry - using available funding mechanisms to support work-integrated learning experiences (for example, Gateway and Secondary-Tertiary Alignment Resource [STAR]). |
|
Relationship building |
- affirming the identity, language, and culture of all students - engaging students’ interests and cultural perspectives in their learning - seeking out students’ achievements, attitudes, personal backgrounds, and interests. |
|
Learning support and inclusive education |
- modifying teaching environments to include all students - providing appropriate support for students’ additional learning needs and positive behaviour. |
|
Health and Safety |
- meeting health and safety obligations, and the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. |
|
Learning and assessment feedback |
- providing formative feedback that is regular, on time, and in manageable chunks, and clearly identifying next steps - identifying next steps in all summative feedback and setting achievable challenges and goals. |
|
Reflective practice |
- constantly reflecting on what is going well and not so well and regularly making adjustments - encouraging students to do the same. |
An example framework for planning
The following example provides a possible framework for developing a mixed setting learning programme, and some starters for joint planning between secondary, tertiary, and ITO providers. Partners need to work together to make sure all the areas below are adequately covered.
Graduate profileIdentify the attributes of learners exiting from the mixed setting learning programme. |
|
Broad learning outcomes Identify knowledge, skills, and capabilities valued by the sector students are interested in. |
|
Planning categories Plan for each of the learning outcomes using these categories: |
|
1. Industry-specific content Identify the skills, capabilities, and knowledge that are valued. |
|
2. Curriculum content Identify relevant content from The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa that supports development of valued knowledge, skills, and capabilities. |
|
3. Key competencies and graduate capabilities Consider how the learners will develop the key competencies, core capabilities, and soft skills valued in your sector. |
|
4. Delivery arrangements and flexible resourcing Consider appropriate resourcing to meet the needs for learners, for example, STAR, or Gateway, or shared delivery arrangements between schools and tertiary providers (secondary-tertiary programme). Identify learner interests and available industry, and work placement opportunities. |
|
5. Assessment Use an appropriate balance of recommended and sector-related achievement and unit standards to enable learners to achieve NCEA level 2 with a Vocational Pathway Award. |
|
Progression Can the learner progress to further qualifications and/or employment from this learning programme? |
Questions for self-review
These questions may help you to plan and implement your programmes:
- What are you currently doing that is working well for students?
- How do you identify those students who are not doing so well? Analyse why this may be the case?
- To what extent are your programmes meeting the needs of all your learners including Pasifika, Māori, and students with additional educational needs?
- How do you currently allocate funding for off-site learning?
- How could funding from partner organisations be used differently to support the partnership approach?
- What may need to be done differently?
- How do you know what needs to be done differently?
- What can you do today?
- What can you do in the longer term?
- Who has consent to assess the assessment standards?
- Can this consent be developed across tertiary and secondary providers?
- How do you ensure you meet the requirements of The New Zealand Curriculum, and of industry, for 15–19 year olds?
Can I get help creating mixed programmes for students?
The content of the programme should be developed by the various partners, and they should liaise with each other to form a coherent programme.
In addition, we have a Secondary Transitions Principal Advisors in regional offices at the Ministry of Education who are available to help with designing potential programmes. For more information please contact us by email at vocational.pathways@education.govt.nz