Browsing by Author "Fletcher, Colin"
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Item Open Access The experience of college undergraduates : degrees of transformation(Cranfield University, 1997-04) French, A. A.; Fletcher, ColinFollowing discussions with staff (7), successive and progressive individual interviews were held throughout their course with a small group of undergraduates (8) taking a combined studies degree in a college of higher education. Data were not confined to the course but took a broad view, including their formal and informal lives and the interplay between them. What the informants faced and how they changed are all clearly illustrated. The students' experiences are described and analysed using a concept of transformation as achievement and process. This concept is compared with other theories of transformation in the educational literature. It is argued that the students faced three phases of exposure: social exposure, the need to be accepted in a new setting; academic exposure, having to take seriously the formal judgements of tutors and sustain the will to study; and the 'final' phase of personal exposure, self- awareness and letting go of dependence. Commitment, routine and support were central to success. Although the concept of education which informs it must reflect the values of the writer, the argument is firmly grounded in the data. To obtain an authentic portrayal, the critical incident technique was deployed in an extended way, through a form of questioning, which, it is suggested, could itself have a part to play in the tutorial role. The study contributes to a fuller understanding of students' college careers by offering an holistic perspective and filling a gap in higher education research. It was based on data from a few informants in a small distinctive college at a particular time, but its possible wider relevance for theory and practice are discussed.Item Open Access The inter-relationships of managers' work time and personal time(1993) Fletcher, ColinItem Open Access Processes of identity in female police officers(Cranfield University, 1993-07) Prince, Jane; Fletcher, ColinAlmost all studies of policewomen are concerned with strong and specific strains on the identity. The literature reviewed reveals both two social divides and two occupational divides. Theories of identity are also reviewed and these similarly separate into those concerned with socialisation and others which focus on struggles, on conflicts. Both draw attention to the social contexts and to coping strategies. From these literature based accounts a methodology is derived which brings together the quantitative and the qualitative through the use of the survey, the interview and participant observation. There were 152 respondents, 24 interview subjects and three periods of observation. The key link is to be found in the Theory of Type. There is a policewomen personality which extraverts 'sensing'; external world patterns and facts are preferred to abstract relationships. This type is in balance with the background characteristics identified. Family members encouraged joining, educational levels are higher than average and the women joined especially for job security and pay along with a value of public service. Their dislikes spread across their treatment by both men and the management structure. Their likes are for the variety and unpredictability of the work itself. The critical incident interviews deepen the understanding of the conflicts experienced, five major conflicts being identified. The responses include confrontation, a strategy previously unidentified as having the same degree of Significance as others in managing conflicts of identity. Passing and denial are much less frequently used. The longer serving and the promoted women are more likely to be confrontational in their responses to contradictions. The distinction between policewomen and policewomen was not identifiable in this sample. The greatest preference for managing contradictions and conflict was through assertion and confrontation. These data lead to the conclusion that gender identity can be a synthesis rather than a segmentation. Furthermore this synthesis may be both personal and stable and an aspect of policewomen whether on or off duty.Item Open Access The retention of teachers(Cranfield University, 1995-10) Clayton, Patricia Ann; Fletcher, ColinIn the late 1980s, in Britain, teacher retention was an important issue in public education, with inner city schools suffering most from teachers' unwillingness to be retained. Most labour market studies, even those written about teachers, concentrate on the 'demand side' : there are few empirical studies of the supply side. Those researched from the perspective of the employees themselves are rare. A literature search yielded three main categories of supply side job satisfactions : groupings of 0 intrinsic, extrinsic and contextual factors. A research approach was developed to establish the significance and stability of such factors in teaching. The method was one of refinement from qualitative exploration to quantitative explanation. The field work began with an analysis of student writings about their most valued experiences in informal educational settings, continued with interviews with four head teachers and tested the abstracted satisfaction characteristics with two populations : trainee teachers and established teachers. The retention factors identified were adequate resources, colleagues, community support and the feeling of doing a worthwhile job allowing for personal and professional development, in the 0 context of stable educational policy. Results were obtained by correlation and principal components analysis. A contrast is drawn between quit factors and stay factors. This analysis focuses on the collegiate nature of schools and teaching. Experienced tea6hers concur, extending this collegiality towards 00 relationships with the community through parents and governing bodies. Gender is found to be a b consistent correlate. The conclusion discusses retention and motivation in the light of the findings. Retention policies are found to omit the professional concerns of teachers. In effect, evidence of vocationalism challenges the dependence of retention on extrinsic as distinct from intrinsic and contextual factors. Gender seems to be systematically ignored by employers, particularly in attempts to proletarianise teaching, despite the statistical evidence that it is a ferninised occupation.Item Open Access Youth work research: initiatives in the study of young people, youth work and youth services.(1995-10) Atkinson, Isobel; Fletcher, ColinThis study is the product of a two year action research project with the Norfolk Youth and Community Service from 1989 to 1991. The research ideas were developed with the Wakefield Youth Service from 1992 to 1993. The climate in the Youth Service was one of review and change. The field-work took place concurrent with an emerging body of literature, which the curriculum debate stimulated. There are three themes: creating access within research for young people; developing youth work practice through research; and developing policy in the Youth Service. The main activities were a census of youth workers' views, a series of projects involving young people and a sample survey of young people, employing young people as interviewers and, later, engaging with young people during the interpretation stage. The study makes tentative steps towards the development of research which is meaningful to young people themselves. The findings are grouped around youth work content, process, the youth work relationship and the nature of youth provision. The study makes a contribution to understanding of three particular youth work modes - association, responding to young people's interests and dealing with anxieties. It enhances comprehension of young people's informal learning experiences, of the importance of young people to one another and of the young person-adult relationship, which have broad youth work implications. The conclusion holds that youth work is a craft, rather than a process or a method. It is comprised of tasks to be undertaken, techniques to be employed and tensions to be managed with the integrity of the practitioner. An argument is presented for youth work research which is compatible with youth work itself.