Paula Charbonneau-Gowdy and Jessica Chavez Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile
2. Theoretical framework
Despite the move by higher education institutions, at least at the discourse level, to move from traditional pedagogical practice to more engaged learning and innovative teaching approaches, progress has been slow (Andres, 2017). Declines in student performance and enrolment, passive learners and high dropout rates have been on the agendas of most universities and colleges worldwide over the last few years (OECD, 2013), including in Chile. The temptation to see BL as a method of moving away from purely face-to-face programs, with their stubbornly unchangeable information transfer-based teaching/learning practices, towards what appears to be a forum for active, engaged and creative both teaching and learning, has been an attractive alternative for many institutions, especially with an eye on the bottom line. While studies have demonstrated the apparent benefits of the BL mix, at the same time others have reported on clear resistance towards this mode of teaching/learning (Vaughan, 2007). Change management principles remind institutions that a) resistance to a top-down imposition of new modalities will most often lead to failed attempts to innovate (Kotter and Schlesinger, 2008), that b) strong leadership and support for bridging the gap between what exists and what is meant to change is critical (Charbonneau-Gowdy, 2018) and c) that change of any kind needs to be customized to contextual realities (Gibbert et al., 2011). It appears that these principles often have fallen on deaf ears.
Scholarship in e-learning has not remained silent in pointing to the problems that have occurred in BL settings from a lack of attention to key change principles on the part of institutions (Carbonell et al. 2013; Garrison and Vaughan, 2013). And more recent literature has discussed solutions. For example, solutions have included: a) adopting a bottom-up approach on the part of faculty and learners (Carbonell et al. 2013), b) moving away from reliance on institutionally controlled Learning Management Systems for the blended functionality and replacing them with shared practice of Personal Learning Environments (Dibbagh and Kitsansas, 2012) as well as c) adopting a flipped classroom paradigm approach (O’Flaherty and Phillips, 2015). What each of these recommendations for implementing successful BL programs share in common is recognition that learning, or change, is by its very nature a socially constructed activity. From a sociocultural perspective, these solutions are based on the premise that there are advantages to human development, or cognition, in the dialogic interaction with others in teaching and learning processes (Vygotsky, 1991, Wertsch, 1995). And in this age of emerging socially mediated technologies available to support such interactions, there are consequences when such opportunities are ignored.
Another advantage of the BL solutions suggested by many scholars is that there is an understanding embedded in each of the potential influence of technology on humans involved in their use. Scholarship (Hinkleman & Guba, 2012) helps us to understand the existence of three perspectives that have dominated most e-learning studies with regard to the influence on individuals through the use of technology. From a deterministic view, technology is considered to dominate and control human action. An instrumentalist view accepts that technology is a neutral tool. A third post modern perspective of technology use, a relational view, adopted by Feenberg (2008), and to which we adhere, suggests digital technologies are influenced by and influence both practices and individuals. In other words, we see technologies neither as inanimate objects nor as human inventions intended to dominate human beings, but rather having the potential, depending on their use and the context of their use, to evolve and to lead to human evolution. Thus seeking solutions to BL challenges involves, in our minds, necessarily shedding a spotlight not only on context but also on the identities of individuals that are being constructed within contexts of blended learning settings. By identity, we reference Fong et al. (2013), as a site of struggle, changing across time and space, and reproduced in social interaction. With few exceptions (Darvin and Norton, 2015;
Fong et al. 2016), there has been a paucity of literature with regard to identity issues when looking at the
Paula Charbonneau-Gowdy and Jessica Chavez
challenges and proposing solutions to BL in higher education. This gap seems particularly short-sighted given the importance that identity research has played in a broad spectrum of scholarship over the last two decades in the study of human practices – in business, psychology, sociology, general education and economics, to name a few. Further, we consider a focus on the sociocultural contexts of BL settings and the identities of the players in these settings as key to the basis of constructing a BL theory. In light of this paucity of research, we hold to our conviction that solutions, models and eventual theories of effective BL will come from a deeper understanding of the ways in which identities are being mediated by various contextual forces within these evolving practices, rather than in prescriptive “to do” lists. Our report of the longitudinal study we conducted in BL in the context of our institution in Chile, was guided by the following questions:
What are some of the important contextual factors at various levels that played a role in the BL programs offered in the institution?
How were identities of certain individuals at the different levels – student, teachers, administrators and program overseers, being mediated in this context?
How can this knowledge lead to greater understanding of successful BL approaches and theory building, if at all?
3. Methodology
The longitudinal study took place between 2016 and 2018 at a Chilean university - one of a corporate Network of private affiliated universities worldwide. Other than an initial Network BL pilot conducted across their universities in Latin America, the study focussed on an English Language BL program in one of the universities in the corporate Network – a large, private university in Chile. It is important to point out that the Chilean university functioned according to Network directives and much of the decision-making regarding the BL program offered in Chile was made at the Network level.
The longitudinal study consisted of the following five individual inquiries (see Figure 1):
A two-stage inquiry into the BL program offered at the Network level across South America (Charbonneau- Gowdy, 2017);
An inquiry into the coordinators’ perspectives and experiences in administering the Chilean private university BL program (Charbonneau-Gowdy & Cechova, 2017) across various campuses of the university;
An inquiry into the Director of the BL program and her efforts to incorporate a BL approach in her own teaching (Charbonneau-Gowdy & Frenzel, 2018);
A mini-study of BL teachers’ perspectives teaching in the same BL program reported here
A 6-month inquiry into the experiences of a small group of adult learners in the BL Chilean program (Chavez, 2018).
Figure 1: Overview of levels of inquiry in the longitudinal study
Paula Charbonneau-Gowdy and Jessica Chavez
Brief summaries of the first three initial inquiries in the overarching longitudinal study supply a backdrop and contextual details that add to an understanding of the latter two inquiries that we report here in more depth.
Extensive reports of the initial inquiries can be found in the earlier published articles referenced above. Our aim here is to show how all five inquiries are inextricably linked and are tied to the kinds of identity mediation that we uncovered at the lower BL teacher and learner level. At the same time, the findings of all five inquiries form the framework for the BL model that we propose as a first step in theory building at the end of this report.
3.1 Macro –level context
The original impetus to offer a English Language Learning (ELL) BL program in the Chilean university originated from above – from Network decision makers in the parent company office. In 2016, the Network Parent Institution decided to pilot a 10-week distance language-learning program across Latin America to over 500 employees and faculty working in their affiliated universities on the continent. Our first two-stage inquiry into the experiences and perspectives of both learners (Charbonneau-Gowdy, 2017), and subsequently teachers (Charbonneau-Gowdy, 2018), involved in the initial pilot program were instrumental in preparing for our follow- up Chilean-based inquiries for two reasons: 1) they provided macro –level insight into the goals and directives of head office decision makers regarding how they envisioned BL programs to operate across the institutions and 2) the findings offered a glimpse into the identity positions that teachers, learners and administrators were expected to take up in the BL programs at the institutional level, including in the Chilean one.
We concluded in our investigation of the Network, macro level BL pilot that the Network decision makers were well-intentioned trailblazers in offering such an innovative large-scale program in South America. For many who took part, the pilot program represented a unique opportunity to assume empowered positions as speakers of English and the personal and professional advantageous that accompanied that ability. On the other hand, elements of the program structure reflecting head-office decision-making detracted from exploiting this opportunity. Our study’s findings in both the learner inquiry (Table 1) and teacher inquiry (Table 2) uncovered examples of some questionable decision-making on the part of the Network. The results In terms of the repercussions for learner and teacher identities suggested reasons for the lackluster attainment of otherwise noble Program goals to provide quality 21st century learning opportunities through BL. Indeed, although attitudes remained positive about BL, learning results were generally disappointing.
Table 1: Findings and results of macro level inquiry – learners
Disturbing Findings Results
Pre-set one-size fits all platform with materials based on
traditional pedagogy;
Many learners prevented from exploiting the professional development opportunity and from adopting 21st century skills
Many participants revert to traditional learning practices
Failure to promote identity empowerment instead learners display a lack of confidence and hesitancy to be interactive social learners Less than effective testing
materials – considered « a joke » by some BL teachers (Interview,
January, 2017) Lack of technological infrastructure support offered to
learners from some universities (ex. in Chile)
Traditional teaching practices assumed by some pilot teachers
in the program.
Table 2: Findings and results of macro level inquiry - teachers
Findings – mixed messages Results
Strong support from administrators to provide open communication and involvement
of faculty
Willingness and openness to try to new approaches –active promoters of e- learning practices.
Destabilizing of many instructors in terms of their confidence and in their openness to adopting social learning practices
Feelings of being appreciated by administration: “I know that I have that backup” (Interview,
February 2017)
Paula Charbonneau-Gowdy and Jessica Chavez
Findings – mixed messages Results
Teachers “allowed” little control over testing and program materials – for example, the ILMS
learning platform & traditional testing materials
Conformism and decision to disregard task-based constructivist teaching approaches that rest on deductive learning, agentive learners and social
interaction and revert to traditional practices
Disempowered instructor identities, forced to ‘settle for less’ and forgo principles and goals as effective 21st century educators Lack of faith on the part of faculty
in the restricting, restrictive and traditional nature of course
materials
3.2 Meso-level context
The second and third inquiries in Figure 1, (Charbonneau-Gowdy & Cechova, 2017; Charbonneau-Gowdy &
Frenzel, 2018), that form a further backdrop for this report involve the meso level context of the program administration – both the coordinators and Director of the BL program in Chile. In both inquiries, conducted between August 2016 and January 2018, based on a qualitative Action Research approach to data collection, similar findings were uncovered (see Table 3), this time with data from interviews, field notes and observations collected over the overlapping inquiry periods.
Table 3: Findings and results of meso level inquiry – coordinators and director
Findings Results
No one had experience with that, nobody, nobody who was in charge, no
teachers, no managers. I even think nobody in Lawrence [a pseudonym for Network) (Interview, January 30, 2018).
Director and coordinator ill-prepared and ill-equipped for assuming the roles as leaders in a BL program
Assuming disadvantaged and uncomfortable positions in terms of mentoring others and taking on an “expert guide” role
Adopting identities as “less-valued” and accepting lack of control over positive changes to learning results
Disempowered in their working lives
Displayed Identities as “unconvinced doubters” rather than embracers of a BL modality.
Administrators struggling with “letting go” of traditional practices and adopting
more learner-centred, dialogic teaching practices in their own classrooms I try to do my best. I spend so much time
but I don’t feel valued (Interview, October, 2016)
Evidence of high stress levels stress- levels in teaching and administering of
their daily professional practice
Despite the directive from above to put courses online, these administrators found themselves in the unenviable position of leading a BL program to which they felt little in terms of conviction that it would be successful. To carefully guide other teachers to adopt these practices in a BL setting was seen by each of these meso level administrators, somewhat beyond their present capabilities. In this disadvantaged and uncomfortable position, the Director and coordinators candidly shared that they had misgivings about the success of the BL approach to learning. It is little surprise that learning and teaching at the micro level was fraught with problems, both technical and pedagogical.
3.3 Micro-level context
With this backdrop to our report, we now turn to the micro-level context in which both authors’ individually conducted overlapping inquires – one designed for teachers, the other that looked at a group of learners in the BL program. At this level, it is important to explain that the Chilean university in which these inquiries took place is a private one and thus generally students and their families assume a significant financial burden to attend the university. Indeed, many students are full time students, and simultaneously, full or part-time employees of local businesses. Students enrolled in the university are registered in majors, or “schools”, in which English Language Learning courses (ELL) are a prerequisite for graduation and for many, an unwanted one.
Professors in the university, especially in the ELL BL program, are primarily part-time, who scramble for teaching positions in the cities in which they are located, sometimes even among several universities, in order to make a
Paula Charbonneau-Gowdy and Jessica Chavez
decent living wage. Their jobs in the university hinge on their availability to accept to teach courses with sometimes little advance knowledge and/ or planning, and generally with no employee benefits, and in some cases a lower than acceptable wage. Many spend exceptionally long hours in the classroom - up to 40 hours a week, which defies finding time for preparation and or reflection, let alone professional development.
The academic culture, as in most institutions in the country, is reflective of the Chilean culture at large – heavily divided socio-economically, a stubborn resilience to maintaining the status quo in the face of change and an inordinate reliance on standards and testing as an indication of academic success and self-worth.
3.4 Research design: Micro - level inquiries
In the teacher inquiry, a qualitative case study was conducted between August 2017 and January 2018. Seventy- seven instructors were asked to participate in our qualitative study. Anonymity was assured and strict ethical guidelines were adhered to in an effort to encourage transparency on the part of the participants. Forty-two teachers completed the questionnaire; nineteen attended online individual 35-45 minute individual interviews, totalling 11 hours approximately.
In the meantime, the inquiry into learner perceptions of the BL program took place between August and November 2017 (Chavez, 2018). It was conducted with nine students enrolled in one of the BL courses for evening students – in other words, fully employed individuals. Of the initial nine students who responded to the questionnaire, four participated in either focus or individual interviews. One of the co-authors, a part-time teacher herself in the BL program, collected the insights of the participants in the context of her Master’s study.
Primary data sources included: observations, field notes, a questionnaire, and focus group and individual interviews. Her stance as an insider in the inquiry, with several years of experience as a BL teacher in the program, as well as being a teacher of the participants, offered an advantageous perspective in analyzing the data that emerged.
3.5 Data analysis: Micro-level inquiries
In both the teacher and learner inquiry, results of the respective questionnaires were tabulated and analyzed for general themes. These themes formed the basis for the topics of the follow-up discussions in either the focus group and/or individual interviews in the respective inquiries as well as providing cross-referencing and greater reliability to the findings. The extensive data generated from the transcribed interviews in both inquiries were coded and analyzed using standard qualitative methods for uncovering salient themes and patterns. Given space limitations, in this paper we report on two of these themes that surfaced, one from each inquiry that resonate with the thesis from the longitudinal study. More detailed information will be reported elsewhere.
Representative excerpts from the interview data sets are used to support the following analysis and conclusions.