ATHE Annual Conference 2005 The Future of Tourism in Higher Education 30th November – 2nd December 2005 Leasowe Castle Hotel and Conference Centre, Wirral, Merseyside PROCEED I NGS The conference is sponsored by: 1 CONTENTS EVALUATING THE APPROACHES TO LEARNING OF FIRST-YEAR HOSPITALITY STUDENTS Benny Chan and Winnie Tang 2 CURRICULUM INNOVATION IN TOURISM TEACHER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN BRAZIL Cecília Gaeta and Marcos Masetto 13 CREATIVITY IN TOURISM AND TOURIST EDUCATION Norman Jackson and Lyn Bibbings 20 IS TOURISM HIGHER EDUCATION MEETING VOCATIONAL NEEDS OF TODAY? David Leslie 42 EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SKILLS AND PART TIME WORK OF INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY. Emma Martin and Scott McCabe 52 AN ANALYSIS OF FIRST YEAR TOURISM STUDENTS’ GROUP WORK BEHAVIOUR Nicole Mitsche and Dan Knox 61 DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION: THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM CURRICULUM Derek Robbins 69 INTEGRATING PDP WITH THE CURRICULUM AND PERSONAL TUTORING Nancy Stevenson 80 THE BIG DECISION: FACTORS INFLUENCING THE FOUNDATION DEGREE STUDENT’S CHOICE WHETHER OR NOT TO PROGRESS TO AN HONOURS DEGREE Chris Stone 87 SURPRISE AND SENSE-MAKING: PLACEMENT EXPERIENCES IN SMES Andreas Walmsley, Stephanie Jameson and Rhodri Thomas 99 LESSONS FOR EDUCATORS OF SMTES: THE CASE OF FUCHSIA BRANDS Megan Woods 109 2 EVALUATING THE APPROACHES TO LEARNING OF FIRST-YEAR HOSPITALITY STUDENTS Benny Chan School of Hotel and Tourism Management The Hong Kong Polytechnic University hmbenny@polyu.edu.hk Winnie Tang Educational Development Centre The Hong Kong Polytechnic University etwtang@polyu.edu.hk ABSTRACT The central theme of this study is the improvement of the quality of student learning through the understanding of the ways in which university students experience their learning. The study investigates whether there is a change in students’ approaches to learning as they progress through their programmes of study, and the reasons for any change or the lack of change. Data were collected on student approaches to learning at two points: initial entry to their programmes and the beginning of their second year of those same programmes. The study is a longitudinal one. It is hoped that assessing and analyzing students’ learning approaches and the direction of any change will allow feedback to be provided to department, course teams, and teachers about how they are affecting the way their students approaches learning and thereby assist them to work towards continued improvement and enhancement of learning and teaching. Keywords: hospitality student, approaches to learning, university teaching INTRODUCTION Teaching staff in universities are always faced with the question of how to improve the quality of student learning. The aim of this study was to evaluate contextual influences on student learning, and to show how teaching staff and departments might establish the learning situation so that it may develop students’ deeper learning. Teaching staff need to take into account the different approaches to learning that students may adopt. Approaches to learning The phrase ‘approaches to learning’ refers to the process adopted prior to the outcome of learning, which is the sense in which it is used originally by Marton and Saljo (1976) in their identification of surface and deep approaches in case studies of tertiary students. It is also used to refer to a predisposition to adopt particular processes, which is what is meant when students are asked how they usually go about learning (Biggs, 1987). The relevant research on student learning in higher education in the past 20 years describes students as approaching their learning in two qualitatively different ways (Biggs, 1987; Ramsden, 1992; Marton et al., 1997). In one approach (the deep approach), students aim to understand ideas and seek meaning, with students having an intrinsic interest in the task. In the other approach (the surface approach), students see tasks as external impositions, with students being instrumentally motivated and seeking to meet the demands of the task with minimal effort. Students typically display a bias towards one of these two approaches; however, these approaches are also sensitive to teaching contexts. Many studies have shown that the outcomes of students’ learning are associated with the approaches they use (Biggs, 1989; Gibbs, 1992; Marton & Saljo, 1997). Furthermore, a constructivist view of learning holds that knowledge is something that is constructed by students, and not transmitted by the teacher (Shuell, 1986). Constructivism is not a theory as much as a perspective on learning (Biggs and Watkins, 1993). The guidance, according to social constructivists, is not the usual dominating teacher talk but should be 3 through ‘instructional conversation’ which means learners conversing and interacting with more capable personnel in situations like assisted discovery, scaffolding, reciprocal teaching, collaborated group problem solving etc. (Woolfolk, 1995). Social construction of knowledge emphasizes the importance and roles of student interactions in promoting learning experience. As students interact, the collaborative processes of articulation, conflict and meaning negotiating provide scaffolding effects to foster students’ deep understanding (Brown et al., 1989). The success of education depends crucially on how the learner proceeds with their learning (Resnick, 1989). The influence of a social approach to knowledge construction through social interaction is also evident in an increasing call for peer learning, collaborative group learning and situated learning in authentic real situations (Resnick, 1989; Shuell, 1993; Parashevas and Sigala, 2003). Communities of learners (Brown, 1997) and collaborative knowledge building in computersupported intentional learning environments (Scardamalia and Bereiter, 1994) have been advocated since, as students work together, they acquire the practices of a learning community as they help each other pursue deep understanding. It is recognized that approaches which are learner-centred, exploratory and interactive are more conducive to vigorous construction of meaning by the students themselves. As individual students have their own learning styles, Paraskevas and Sigala (2003) this encourages lecturers to develop the student-lecturer interaction so as to enhance student’s intellectual growth. This understanding calls for a shift in focus from transmission of information by the teacher to facilitating student learning. In higher education, the call for this shift has echoed throughout the literature in this decade (Bowden, 1988; Biggs, 1989; Gibbs, 1992; Ramsden, 1992). When teaching staff want to improve student learning, it is very important that they know and understand how students learn. They need to assess students’ approaches to learning and to create a situation that leads students to adopt or change to those learning approaches that produce the most appropriate and effective outcomes. Ramsden and Entwistle (1981) obtained evidence that students’ academic progress relates strongly to organized study methods and positive attitudes to studying. In addition, Gordon (1999) developed the “Approaches to Learning Statistics Questionnaire,” modified from the Study Process Questionnaire, (Biggs, 1987) that also found that students would adopt surface approaches to learning for those less interesting subjects such as statistics. Students who are willing to study tend to adopt deep approaches. There was a clear indication that the department rated high in good teaching and freedom in learning had students with higher deep approaches in learning. Furthermore, Biggs (1999) introduced the 3P model of teaching and learning showing approaches to learning occupy a central place in student learning. They result from student characteristics interacting with the teaching environment, and have a large say in the quality of the product or outcome of learning. In such, the teaching context includes what is intended to be taught the ‘curriculum’ and how it will be taught and assessed, the ‘climate’ of the classroom and the institution itself. In order to increase knowledge for first year students, the curriculum planners are likely to promote low levels of student activity in year one subject outcomes. This may lead to encouraging student surface learning (de Vries & Downie, 2000). Furthermore, there is different approach to teaching between secondary schools and universities, Barron (2002) suggested the universities should give assistance to the first-year hospitality students so as to adjust their learning style. The review of the research literature has shown that there is a growing consensus among researchers in their accounts of students’ approaches to learning, with the terms surface approach and deep approach being the most commonly used (Biggs, 1987; Ramsden, 1992; Marton et al., 1997). The most important aspect of the distinction between these approaches lies in the student’s intention – or the absence of such intention – to understand (Biggs, 1987; Entwistle, 1987; Richardson, 1994). Rote learning, a mechanical act without any thought given 4 to the meaning of what is being learnt, is by definition part of a surface approach because there is no intention to seek meaning. However, students may also memorize and rehearse with the intention of seeking meaning (Gordon, 1999). Purpose of the study Differences in approaches adopted by students are related to the differences in the learning situation experienced by them (Gibbs, 1992). A surface approach is more likely if students lack interest or if the teaching context encourages that approach through reproductive methods of assessment, formal teaching, a focus on transmitting information, or an excessive workload. Students who employed a deep approach searched for the meaning of the article by examining the author’s arguments (Marton and Saljo, 1976). The purpose of this study is to examine the issue of different approaches to learning and how these relate to the teaching and learning environment, specifically to assess and evaluate the impact of teaching on the approaches to learning taken by the hospitality students in a university in Hong Kong. In detail, the study aims to i. provide a comprehensive understanding of how the hospitality students learn and develop their approaches to learning during their programme of study; ii. develop an understanding of the impact of university teaching on the approaches to learning adopted by the hospitality students; and iii. make recommendations which can be used by the university to improve the quality of student learning. METHODOLOGY To accomplish the broad aims and specific objectives of the study, its research design incorporates both quantitative and qualitative techniques. In the first stage of the study, questionnaires will be used to discover the pattern of learning approaches employed by the hospitality students and their changes in learning approaches as they progress through their course of study. Since students’ learning approaches are influenced by their learning contexts, in the second stage of the study, interviews to collect qualitative data will be employed to understand the contextual variables present in the students’ learning environments from their points of view, and to find out the reasons for any changes in their learning approaches. a. Questionnaire The questionnaires used in the first stage comprised the Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) developed by Biggs (1992). The SPQ was used in a ‘repeated measures’ design to determine changes in learning approaches after one year. Student interviews were employed in the second stage to determine the factors related to the approaches to learning adopted by the students. The SPQ is an empirically-derived instrument which aims to examine the quality of learning by students; in particular, it assesses students’ approaches to learning. The SPQ Hong Kong version (Biggs, 1992) used in the present study was based on the 42 items of Biggs’ SPQ (1987), translated into Chinese by a research team at the Hong Kong University led by Biggs. Scores are obtained for each student on ‘deep’, ‘surface’ and ‘achieving’ approach scales. The Hong Kong version of the SPQ with Chinese translations (Biggs, 1992) was tested for a variety of aspects to establish its reliability. A great deal of research in Hong Kong (Davies, et al, 1994; Biggs, 1992) has demonstrated several relationships between SPQ scores and other variables that confirm the construct validity of the scales and the theory on which they are based. 5 b. Interview In order to understand the students’ adoption of different approaches to learning and the teaching environments in the school, interview data were gathered by semi-structured interviews with fourteen students from the school. All students involved in the interviews had participated in two rounds of questionnaire data collection. The interviews would start with some guided questions, followed by open-ended questions. The guided questions developed on the basis of the literature review (Biggs, 1987; Gibbs, 1992; Ramsden, 1992; Marton et al., 1997) regarding the factors that encourage students to adopt either a surface or a deep approach to learning. All interviews were conducted by the researcher and audio-taped. The total number of tapes was 14 in Cantonese. All the Cantonese audio tapes were transcribed and translated into English by the researcher. Research sample The students who took part in this study are from the one of the universities in Hong Kong. The degree programme offered by its hotel and tourism school is professionally oriented. The programme consists of some practical subjects and has been ranked in the top five in the ‘Popularity list in the university’ in the last four years 2000 – 2004 (Admission Statistics 2003-4, the Hong Kong PolyU, 2004). The school was the only one in Asia Pacific rated among the world's top 15 academic institutions in hospitality and tourism based on research and scholarly activities (http://www.polyu.edu.hk). Due to the need to limit the scope of the study, and the practicalities involved in the collection of longitudinal data on individual students over an extended period of time, the study will only look at changes in first-year hospitality students, since the first year at university is considered one of the crucial years in students’ lives (Gibbs, 1992). The administration of the first round of the SPQ to students was undertaken during scheduled classroom sessions in early September, 2003. There were fifty nine hospitality students participated in the study. The second round of the SPQ was administered to the same group of students in the next year in scheduled classes. Selection of students for interviews On the basis of the decile scaled scores (Biggs, 1992), students were classified as ‘surface biased’, ‘deep biased’ or ‘no bias’. This classification had been used in Lai and Biggs (1994) study as follows: (i) Surface bias: Surface decile scaled score greater than deep decile scaled by at least two deciles (ii) Deep bias: Deep decile scaled score greater than surface decile scaled by at least two deciles (iii) No bias: Remaining students From of the two results of an individual student’s first and second SPQ scores (total 37 students completed in both SPQ) we can tell whether they had or had not changed over the course of the year. Six groups of students were arrived at on the basis of the results for individual students (Table 1). The rationale behind the selection of students for interview from each group was to have students representing each category. Purposive sampling was being used in this study. The number of students invited was more than originally planned because the researcher wanted to hear from more students who had different stories to tell as the interviews proceeded. 6 Table 1 Number of students interviewed Students’ approaches to learning Change: Surface bias to Deep/No bias Deep bias to Surface/No bias No bias to Surface/Deep bias No Change: Surface bias to surface bias Deep bias to Deep bias No bias to No bias Total No. of students interviewed Total No. of students in the group 3 3 2 5 3 7 2 2 2 14 17 2 3 37 Data analysis Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) (Release 10.0). SPQ scores of the approaches to learning by individual students are calculated by summing scores on the respective strategy and motive sub-scales. The deep approach (DA) main scale, for example, is the sum of the deep motive and deep strategy. It was a 5-point scale where 1 is very dissatisfied and 5 is very satisfied. Analysis yielded scores for the approaches to learning in the first and second rounds for an individual student, and mean scores for the approaches to learning (surface, deep and achieving scores) for the students as a group two time points. Means of the approaches to learning of students for the pre- and post-SPQ were compared by paired t-test to determine whether there were differences in their learning approaches over one year. The t-test was also used to compare the approaches to learning followed by students as a group in the beginning of their first and second years of the same students. Findings Stage 1: Quantitative findings from questionnaires The number of students enrolled in the programme was 59 at the beginning of the first semester. The questionnaires were administered to the students individually in their normal class periods by arrangement between the researcher and the subject lecturers. The number of responses to the SPQ obtained in the first round, referred to hereafter as Pre-SPQ, was 43, and the number of responses obtained in the second round, referred to hereafter as Post-SPQ, was 37. The lower number of responses in the second round is due to any student who failed to provide a usable value for the Pre-SPQ was not asked to fill out a questionnaire in the second round, i.e. a Post-SPQ. Only paired questionnaires were analyzed. The number of valid cases available for analysis was 37 out of 59 possible ones in the school (63%). Comparison of Pre- and Post-SPQ scores Mean scores of the students in their Pre-and Post-SPQ were compared by t-test to determine whether there were changes in their approaches to learning over an interval of one year. Scores are obtained from each student on ‘deep’, ‘surface’ and ‘achieving’ approach scales. A deep approach to learning is utilized when the student is interested in the task and therefore strives for understanding. The surface approach is based on a motive to minimize effort and also to minimize the consequences resulting from low effort, in other words, it is outcomeoriented. The achieving approach is described by Biggs (1987) as being based on extrinsic motivation, such as gaining high grades. A student adopting an achieving approach is neat and systemic, and plans ahead, allocating time to tasks in proportion to their grade earning potential. 7 Table 2 Comparison of Pre- and Post-SPQ scores of 37 HTM students Mean SD Significance 45.57 6.23 0.022* 42.54 6.39 0.416 41.56 8.05 0.382 40.17 6.36 Surface Pre Post 43.32 Deep 41.49 Achieving 5.35 Pre Post 5.92 Pre Post * Level of significance 5% (2-tailed) Table 2 shows that there was a significant drop (p = 0.022) in the students’ surface approach after one year, but no significant changes in their deep or achieving approaches. In addition, by applying the classification in Lai and Biggs (1994) study, table 3 showed that 59% of SHTM students were surface bias; 14% were deep bias at the beginning of their first year; and the proportions of students in each classification of bias has no significantly different after one year. Table 3 Number of students in three classifications of learning bias Surface bias Deep bias No bias SHTM Pre-SPQ 22 (59%) 5 (14%) 10 (27%) 37 Post-SPQ 24 (64%) 5 (14%) 8 (22%) 37 Regarding the change or no change in the learning approaches, out of the 37 respondents that showed in table 1, 15 (40.5%) students changed their learning approaches. Five of them changed from surface bias to deep/no bias. Three of them changed from deep bias to surface/no bias and 7 students changed from no bias to surface/deep bias. On the other hand, 22 (59.5%) students have no changed on their learning approaches after one year. The quantitative findings provided useful data and background knowledge about the approaches to learning adopted by the hospitality students. However, the findings need to be interpreted with some caution because of the small sample size. Stage 2: Qualitative findings from student interviews In Stage 2 interviews were used to probe the contextual factors that might influence students’ approaches to learning. Students were interviewed in order to discover their conceptions of teaching, their learning practices, and their views of the subjects. All students interviewed had participated in both rounds of the questionnaire data collection. Students expected the hospitality programme to be very practical because it was designed to serve as professional training for entry level managers in the field. However, two students found that the programme was not practical enough. One student felt very disappointed after her job placement at the end of first year, in which she realized that what she had learned at university could hardly be applied to the reality of the job. 8 Workload In year one, students had to take about twelve subjects. Students found their workload acceptable and they did not have any difficulty in meeting deadlines. They said that they had sufficient time to read through the core material and even extra readings throughout the semester. Most students found the programme was easy to follow. However, a few students started to find out that their workload was getting heavier as they proceeded to the second year of their study. Assessment First, it was found in the interviews that students were less concerned about grades. In some subjects there were no exams and the students were mainly assessed by their performance in operational skills such as Food and Beverage. Six (43%) students expressed their view that passing exams was not the main focus of their learning, and two (14%) students stated that the final exams failed to assess what they had learned in the subjects. None of the students interviewed complained that they had too many assignments and exams. Perception of good teaching and good teachers Students tended to favor the teaching style of teachers who made the class interactive and interesting. They also appreciated it very much if the teachers shared their previous working experience in industry and related that to the lecture materials. Relationship with teaching staff Three (21%) students observed that the relationship between students and the teaching staff of their programme was pretty good. They commented that the teaching staff was nice and willing to answer their queries. Change in students’ learning approaches over one year When asked whether they changed the way they studied after one year’s studying at the university, seven (50%) students said yes. Three students found that they started to think more deeply about their subjects, and said that this had been inspired by some of the teaching staff. Of these students, most said that they were encouraged by their teachers to think more widely and deeply about their subjects. Most students noticed that they became more active in learning in terms of searching for information. Most students said they had changed their conception of learning after one year’s studying at the university. Suggestions from students Curriculum (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) The programme should be more ‘specific’; it should have more subjects related to hotel management instead of general business management. (two students) Some management topics are repeated in some subjects again and again, such as Organizational Theories. (three students) Objectives of the subjects and topics should be explained clearly at the beginning of the semester; students did not understand the reason for studying the subjects / topics. (two students) The programme should teach more about critical thinking and analytical skills. (one student) Teaching (i) There should be more interactive lessons. (two students) 9 (ii) Lecturer xyz (named) should do something during his lecture to find out whether the students understand what he is talking about. (four students) (iii) Some lectures can be replaced by project work; student thinks that he/she can learn more by doing projects than by attending lectures. (one student) Assessment (i) Final exams can be replaced by group projects. (three students) (ii) Projects can truly assess the ability of students. (two students) (iii) Group projects are better than individual projects since they allow more exchange of ideas and provide another channel for learning essential skills such as leadership skills, teamwork, communication and cooperation skills. (two students) DISCUSSION Since the students took the pre-SPQ in the first month of their university studies, the pre-SPQ scores should reflect their learning approaches before the impact of university teaching. It showed that the scores were high in its surface approach to learning. One reason for this could be that school attracted more surface bias students due to the nature of the industry, which appears to be professional oriented and not too theoretical. The hospitality students exhibited a significantly higher score in their surface approach when they started their study. Statistical analysis showed that there was a significant drop in the surface score of students after one year. The analysis of the interviews with students showed that many facets of good teaching in school had probably contributed to the drop in their surface approach to learning, with a significant impact on the quality of student learning. The insignificant change in deep approaches for students can be considered the result of the good job done by the school. Kember and Gow (1990) found that the deep and achieving approaches of the students in their Hong Kong sample declined consistently from first to final year. They concluded that any innovation which shows an increase in the use of the deep approach has, therefore, achieved something quite significant. They said that it would be some sort of achievement in higher education if deep approach scores do not decline. This phenomenon of a decline in deep approach from first year onward is not confined to Hong Kong; the same has been found in Australian tertiary institutions. Watkins (1982) and Watkins and Hattie (1985) showed that most Australian students dropped in their deep scores after their first year of study at university. They argued that such a decline was due to undesirable contextual factors that prevail in most higher education institutions, including work pressures, assessment pressures, surface demands of lectures, etc. It has been recognized by many researchers that the workload of courses has an impact on the learning approach adopted by students, and it has been suggested that heavy workload is associated with students taking a surface approach to learning (Stokes et al., 1989; Gibbs, 1992; Ramsden, 1992; Kember et al., 1995). From the students’ comment, besides using a variety of teaching methods, in lectures and tutorials, school teachers tried often to relate the teaching material to the work environment and recent developments in the industry. They adopted a student-centered approach and encouraged an active-learning attitude in students. Many of their activities aimed at changing students’ conceptions or understanding of not just their industry but also the outside world. Hotel and tourism school gave its students some independence in choosing what to study and how to study. It offered elective subjects to their first-year students, and many of the subjects allowed students to work independently by doing project work or written assignments. It was found in the interviews that students were enthusiastic about their learning and their course. Hospitality students were clear about why they were doing the programme. Many subjects involved students in searching for meaning and in making sense of the subject matter through relating and applying ideas. The learning and teaching activities encouraged them to learn from real-life experiences. After one year study, student was required to take 10 week industrial 10 placement in the hospitality industry. Such job placement allowed students to learn to deal with real problems in a work setting and reflect on the discrepancies in university vs. workplace. A number of students commented that they had become more intrinsically motivated and had adopted a more deep approach to learning compared with their studies prior to entering university. RECOMMENDATION The analysis of the data shows in many places that there are facets of the programme in hotel and tourism school which encourage different learning approaches. Gibbs (1992) and Biggs (1999) have both described four broad categories of characteristics that research has associated with a deep approach to learning, namely motivational context, learner activity, interaction with others, and well-structured knowledge base. The positive replies given in the interviews by the majority of students seem to support these categories. Throughout the process of analyzing the research data and consulting the research literature, one overarching concept emerged. This was the important concept of ‘interactive studentcentered learning’, considered a vital element for quality learning and teaching. The concept is part of the framework of an ‘active classroom’, which aims at promoting deep learning approaches in higher education. The drop in the surface approaches must be considered the result of the ‘active studentcentered learning’ environment created by the teachers. The quality teaching had a significant impact on the quality of student learning, and this in turn has strongly related to the conception of teaching held by the teachers. Teachers adopted a student-centered teaching approach, and motivated students to engage in their own learning processes with the aim of changing their students’ conceptions of learning. Furthermore, students’ approaches to learning are influenced by many contextual factors (Biggs, 1992): Active learning encourages a deep approach, i.e. students learn better when they are actively engaged in their learning rather than when they are passive recipients of knowledge transmitted to them. The programme design that emphasizes a process of engaging students in learning encourages deep learning. Assessment methods emphasizing reproduction rather than understanding encourage a surface approach. In sufficient time and heavy workloads encourage a surface approach. Excess material in the curriculum encourages a surface approach. In addition, assessment dominates most students’ thinking to a considerable extent. Students have clear views as to how to pass their courses and what they have to do in order to gain good marks. When assessment systems reward a surface approach, students will adopt a surface approach to learning. All in all, learning has been considered an active process in which students construct their own knowledge and understanding, while teaching is considered to provide the context in which learning can take place in order to achieve desirable learning outcomes. The concept of ‘active classroom’ provides a framework for programme design, teaching activities and assessment to assist teachers in considering their teaching process. REFERENCES Barron, P. (2002), Providing a more Successful Education Experience for Asian Hospitality Management Students Studying in Australia: A Focus on Teaching & Learning Styles, Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, 2(2), 63-88. Biggs, J. (1987), Student Approaches to Learning and Studying, Melbourne, Australian Council for Educational Research. 11 Biggs, J. (1987), The Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ): Manual, Hawthorn, Australian Council for Educational Research. Biggs, J. (1989), Approaches to the enhancement of tertiary teaching, Higher Education Research and Development, 8(1), 7-25. Biggs, J. (1992), Why and How Do Hong Kong Students Learn? Using the Learning and Studying Process Questionnaires, Education Paper 14, Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong. Biggs, J. 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(1995), Educational Psychology (6th ed.), Needham Heights, MA, Allyn & Bacon. 13 CURRICULUM INNOVATION IN TOURISM TEACHER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN BRAZIL Cecília Gaeta Senac University Center ceciliagaeta@uol.com.br Marcos Masetto São Paulo Catholic University mmasetto@ajato.com.br ABSTRACT From the moment Brazil decided to boost tourism as part of the country development strategy, several kinds of investment were mobilized towards planning, infrastructure, broadcasting and manpower capacity building. The professional qualification of human resources has become an essential strategic element, with a wider offer of courses and capacity building programs, at various levels. The fast-paced and intensive growth of the offer has demanded the establishment of regulation criteria, definition of curriculum guidelines, as well as pointing out the need for a qualified teaching staff. From all those requirements, a question is posed: are professors adequately prepared to meet the specific demands regarding the development of the new tourism professionals of the country? Our experience shows that most of the tourism teachers in São Paulo, Brazil are professionals of the segment, who present serious didactic gaps. How, then, can they upgrade their skills and act as professors, thus overcoming the common situation of people who dedicate some hours of their day to “give some classes at the college?” Joint reflections and debates among education and tourism professionals led to an innovative proposal of continuing studies: a course which enables professors to update, develop or improve competences, considering cognitive, pedagogical and political dimensions, besides respecting the context and idiosyncrasies of the tourism segment. Results have been rewarding. Since 2002, 70 students have finished the course and 30 are taking it in 2005. Testimonials have shown that there was an actual awareness rising towards a new profile, both of the students and staff members. Besides, it has brought a privileged forum for the debate on the professional development of faculty members. Keywords: tourism teacher professional development, curriculum, continuing studies, tourism in Brazil. CONTEXTUALIZATION Until 1980 the development of tourism in Brazil was very slow and modest, mainly when compared to other countries in Europe or North America. Many facts may be pointed out as root causes, such as: uneven distribution of wealth and reduction of nominal wages caused by successive economical crises, leading to a joint survival effort (no time, availability or financial resources for leisure and tourism); numerous political and environmental crises; deforestation; urban violence and human rights violation, which tarnished our image abroad. One might say that for a long time Brazil had been considered as a great wasted potential. “(...its shoreline extends for 7,400 km, with huge beaches of white sand, with 34 national parks, many state parks and biological reserves, 70 historical cities. Its weather, mainly tropical, shelters rainforests, mangroves, and Mato Grosso Wetlands (Pantanal). Its extensive shoreline, bathed by the Brazilian maritime current, has warm and crystal-clear waters. On north of Rio de Janeiro one can go to the beach as often as 12 months a year”. (Trigo, 1999: 21). From the 90s on, the tourism industry has been considered as of utmost importance for the country, due to its economical potential, as an alternative for the sustainable development of environmental protected areas, in order to promote the reduction of regional inequalities as well as generate employment and income. According to the Brazilian tourism department (EMBRATUR-1999), this fact can be proven through the following indicators: tourist activities in 14 Brazil generate about 8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), representing today the employment of 10 million employees, with 1.8 million from this total corresponding to temporary jobs, which salary range is 6.1% above the average Brazilian salary. Since then, governmental subsidies, international partnerships and entrepreneurial initiatives have promoted systematic investments in basic infrastructure, safety in tourist areas, exploitation of new routes and international broadcasting of a favourable tourist image of Brazil. Between 1995 and 2000, about $ 10 billion were invested by the federal and state government, in basic infrastructure works to meet demands from tourist regions: build and upgrade seven airports, pave 400km of highways, implement 17 sanitation projects and recover circa 23,000 m2 of historical heritage in the Northeast. From 2001 on, $ 1.6 billion were invested in infrastructure in the Wetlands (Pantanal), Amazonia, Northeast and South of Brazil. Within the context of an intensive and rapid growth, more job offers are provided in all segments of the productive tourist chain, and the need for a diagnosis on the specialization gaps is posed: the study of segments, competences and skills required for the performance of each job. Human resources professionalism and development are considered as key strategic elements. From then on, there was an intensive offer of courses and programmes aligned with different capacity building objectives at various teaching levels: from the most basic ones, aimed at specific training, updating and improvement needs, to technical and graduation courses, as well as post-graduation programmes (master’s and doctor’s degrees), or continuing studies (specialization and improvement). From the beginning of the 2000s, the situation that characterizes the teaching of tourism and related areas is one of a broad offer of courses. In São Paulo there are 63 courses of tourism, 9 of hospitality industry, 2 of recreation and 9 of hotel management which correspond to 41.9% of the number of courses in the tourism/hospitality industry countrywide (Ansarah, 1999). For quality maintenance of this tourism educational system, new problems are posed: improvement of offer, setting of curricular guidelines for each teaching level and qualified staff to develop the programmes proposed. In this article, we focused on reflections on professors, their professional work and expertise, particularly in university education of tourism. Distribution of tourism / hospitality courses in Brazil State Tourism Hospitality Recreation Leisure Amazonas Pará Maranhão Ceará Rio Grande Norte Pernambuco Paraíba Sergipe Bahia Distrito Federal Goiás Mato Grosso Mato Grosso Sul Minas Gerais Espírito Santo Rio de Janeiro São Paulo Paraná Santa Catarina Rio Grande do Sul Total Ansarah (1999) 3 1 1 2 3 4 2 2 9 2 4 2 5 10 2 8 63 10 6 5 144 Management Hospitality and Tourism 1 1 1 1 5 5 1 1 4 1 10 1 6 2 28 15 2 9 1 3 3 23 Total Qty % 3 1 2 3 4 5 2 2 19 2 5 2 5 15 2 9 83 11 16 7 198 1.5 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 1.0 1.0 9.6 1.0 2.5 1.0 2.5 7.6 1.0 4.5 41.9 5.6 8.1 3.5 100.0 TOURISM PROFESSORS, INTRODUCING THE THEME Considering that Brazil is a brand new subject matter, where can you find qualified professors? Ten years of experience working for an institution specialized in tourism teaching enable us to say that professors teaching at these courses are, mostly, recruited among successful professionals in this industry: hotel managers, travel agent executives, trade entrepreneurs, etc, who present serious didactic gaps. A survey 1 conducted in 2001 on the diagnosis of the performance of tourism professors presented the following characteristics: Professor characteristics 64% are between 30 and 50 years old 33.3% do not have a degree 52% migrate from other study areas 57.7% work in specific areas of tourism/hospitality 51% do not have a specialization course in the area they teach 20% are masters or doctors in tourism or hospitality 71.1% do not have pedagogical specialization 77.8% are professors with less than six years of teaching experience 82.2% teach for more than one educational institution 88.4% teach specific subject matters of tourism hospitality curriculum 77% teach in more than one course Gaeta 2001 Expertise in tourism/hospitality. Teaching expertise. Expert 27% Master to be 11% 11% 13% Master 51% 7% Master 7% 71% Doctor Master to be Expert None 2% None Gaeta 2001 Gaeta 2001 The survey also shows that these professionals at university level do not feel prepared to face the challenges of a performance adequate to the new educational paradigms nor the demands of the tourist trade. According to Gaeta (2001), the personal and professional conflicts and anxieties derived from the management of an educational process override, to a large extent, the potential or “vocation” for the function that takes them to an academic career and turn their performance less than adequate. Difficulties in the teaching area, from the professor standpoint - Difficulties in teaching practice: - Choice of contents (comprehensive or specific) - Methodologies and techniques - Student rapport Difficulties in teaching planning: Team rapport 36.8% 12.5% 15.6% 71.9% 19.5% 23.5% 1 Diagnosis of the performance of university professors in tourism and hospitality industry (GAETA, 2001). 16 Relationship between company and university Elaboration of didactic material Finding adequate bibliography 23.5% 17.7% 35.3% Difficulties in the partnership with educational institutions: Crowded classroom Little availability of didactic resources Excessive number of class hours Outdated salaries Time wasted while commuting between universities 27.6% 20.8% 25.0% 16.7% 33.3% 4.2% Difficulties in personal development: Time for qualification Lack of incentive by the educational institutions Compatibility between teaching and other professional activity 16.1% 78.6% 7.1% 14.3% When guided by the principle of “the one who knows how to do, know how to teach” one disregards the complexities of the teaching-learning process, which requires a more qualified performance from the professors and, thus, a specific formation process. Qualification is not limited to a specific professional expertise, it reaches multiple directions, it presumes the knowledge of several codes and languages that favour a broad and flexible intellectual performance, as well as a solid ground for the continuous appropriation of specific and generic vision of the world, besides the ability to work and interact with groups of various backgrounds and objectives. The professor expertise comprises an intertwining of knowledge according to the analyses by several authors. Tardif et al (1991, p. 218) says that the teaching competence “is formed by the more or less coherent blend of knowledge derived from professional education, subject matters, syllabuses and experience”. Zabalza (2004) approaches the importance of the balance between the many aspects of education: personal development, enhanced knowledge of subjects specific to their major study field, graduation courses aimed at teaching-oriented research, pedagogical skills focused not only on teaching but also on learning, because one can only teach if he knows how to learn. Masetto (2003) points out many abilities implied in the teaching practice that include class organization, class rapport, choice of activities, syllabus construction and practice, up to the knowledge of learning and development theories. Alarcão (1998) adds one more competence to the 10 listed by Perrenoud (2000): comprehension of his professional affiliation that involves awareness of his own value, potential and social role, beyond the dynamics of the construction of a teaching professionalism. These are different interpretations of the same question: the complexity of the professor development as a professional and the overcoming of a formation process based solely on the domain and transmission of specific contents. It was clear for us, then, the need to rethink the qualification of teachers: how to effectively prepare Tourism professors to perform their teaching with professionalism, overcoming the situation, quite common among these professionals, of dedicating some hours of their day to “give some classes at the university?” The mature reflection and the support of the institution led to the proposal of the new continuing education program named: “tourism teacher development”. Having an overview of all the complexity of the professor’s development process and knowing the idiosyncrasies of tourism and related areas, it would not be possible for us to restrain to a course of partial comprehension or specific applicability. The supply of an isolated bibliography, the sharing of modern teaching techniques, or the fostering of updating efforts by means of participating in congresses or related activities, for instance, without any link to all the problem frame previously referred to, would be ephemeral as well as innocuous. In this sense, we should find a differential on an innovative proposal to enable the professor to update, develop or enhance competences in his role as learning mediator, in these dimensions: cognitive (domain of specific knowledge of a certain area); pedagogical (understanding of the teachinglearning process and practice coherent to its principles); reflective (the ability to research on his own practice supported by theoretical references); and political (development of the 17 professional identity of the professor), besides respecting the specific context, idiosyncrasies and meanders of the tourism area. The proposal of the course was to develop competences for teaching tourism in university under new paradigms, so, how to organize the curriculum to actually meet this demand? TOURISM TEACHER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 2 We started from the principle that it was essential to have all teaching staff aligned, involved and committed to the course syllabus and therefore we created a work group, involving teachers from the areas of tourism and education. Together, we discussed the paradigms with which we intended to work: curriculum integration of interdisciplinary knowledge; acceptance of an adult relationship of course participants, sharing responsibilities in the learning process; pedagogical mediation attitude by the professor who searches for new ways of rapport with students so as to enable and motivate learning. It was a complex step, considering that many concepts were not part of the traditional teaching praxis of most professors, but it enabled the creation of a partnership as well as co-responsibility in the proposition of the course. We set as objectives of the course to offer all students opportunity for reflection and analysis of the teaching performance from tourism point of view, intensively debate professional experiences and experiment in presence and virtual educational practices, adequate to university teaching. We organized the course in modules, which would privilege: 1. Education: great emphasis on teaching knowledge adequate to university level. Fundamentals and history of higher education in Brazil, understanding of the adult learning process based on mediation, partnership, co-responsibility and continuous feedback, besides tools for the management and conduction of the process as planning (that respects the principles and idiosyncrasies of tourism), methodology (adequate to university teaching), and formative assessment 2. Research: includes research activities and projects, both traditional and interdisciplinary, on specific tourism themes, searching development and valuation of research as well as the ability of building it in the perspective of the professor-researcher who reflects on his own praxis. Not a research merely “on” or “about” education, but “in” and “for” education (Pereira, 2002). 3. Tourism: the specific tourism-contents areas also required a treatment that would be different from traditional praxis. Tourism is an extremely dynamic, practical and multidisciplinary area, according to Trigo (1999), likewise all areas related to the rendering of services. We chose to establish, in this course, as core areas: Tourism, Hospitality Industry, Gastronomy, Leisure, Events and Environment, focusing on their intertwining, interactions and integrations in daily practices, not only among themselves but also with the education area. 4. Personal and professional development: the review of the professor’s role as for identity, social representations, professionalism, rapport with peers, students and institutions, as well as issues on the teaching career, continuous education, employability, political and cultural involvement. We adopted as methodological proposal the continuous interaction and integration among all course activities evidencing aspects of different areas that enable dialog or link and provide the development of interdisciplinary and networking knowledge. We are always careful in the sense of not letting core tourism areas be organized independently or in parallel with education, research and professional development areas, nor vice-versa. With this purpose, our strategy was to choose the elaboration of a “professor development plan”, individual and interdisciplinary, which the student builds up along the course. We started the process by introducing and inter-relating essential principles and concepts of each module (education, tourism, research and professional development). From this contextualization, previous experiences and expectations on conclusion, the students select one theme from the tourism area (adequate to syllabus guidelines) on which he intends to gain expertise and become a 2 Lato sensu specialization course for the teaching of tourism at university level, offered by Centro Universitário Senac São Paulo 18 professor. This theme is now transversal to all works foreseen along the course, composing the specific contents of: updating and deeper knowledge research; elaboration of scientific article, planning of an interdisciplinary activity and a technical visit, development of a teaching plan (that includes a lesson plan and the corresponding practice), elaboration of an e-learning activity, and symposia, seminars, mini-classes, among others. The way we found was such that, while participating in the activities, students would play two roles: (i) as students, elaborating and experiencing their learning and, (ii) as future professors, planning and developing their actions from their transversal theme. The teaching praxis creates implicit, personal and non-systematic knowledge which is acquired through the contact with the practice. Alarcão (1999) tells us of the importance of the double relationship between theory and practice. The first one provides meaning to the knowledge of an object and the latter is the one that is exclusive of the teaching profession. At the end of the course, the student elaborates a term paper with double meaning: (i) selfassessment of the professor development plan, reflecting, from his portfolio, on the contributions of the course for his personal and professional development (ii) among these contributions, an explanation about an educational aspect that provided special meaning and its relationship with tourism education at university level. Examples: the advantage of distance learning in tourism teaching, evaluation processes, and use of portfolio, among others related to the review of the curriculum of any tourism graduation course and insertion/exclusion/proposition of disciplines. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS At the very beginning we pointed out the concern for the introduction of a course that would enable the specialization of future professors of tourism at university level considering the new paradigms. The “Tourism teacher development programme” brings some positive aspects together: • • • • • The course has in its favour the typical characteristics of a continuing education: it is dynamic, agile and flexible to meet market demands. It allows the development, multiplication and best application of talents outside the academy in a continuous education process and opens interesting perspectives for teaching by offering conditions to treat the professor capacity building not only by means of titles and researches, but also of updating, of continuous improvement, of the ongoing review of his praxis, of information exchange with his peers. It is developed in a process that respects the specificity of contexts in which the professor will perform his teaching in such a way that, by knowing the meanders of the area, he may methodologically adapt to them, integrating knowledge in a multi, inter and transdisciplinary manner. For staff members it represents an instigating challenge: to exercise teaching through an interdisciplinary process that requires ongoing reflection on its practice and continuous improvement of previous experiences. Upon each group developed and meeting held we observe the evolution of the team, which characterizes a parallel process of professional development for professors. Results obtained with students have been rewarding. In the interviews with students we got testimonials that conclude: “it was a unique opportunity for professional development by promoting a deep integration with the object of teaching, in this case, tourism”; “it provided a reflection on the teaching process completely different from my previous experiences”, “it challenged me to want to be a new professor, I try to incorporate what I learned into my praxis!” “It adds value to the professor’s resume, bringing a competitive differential that is extremely welcome in these days of tough competition”, “it made me think and change my praxis”. 3 We are now teaching our fourth group. 70 students have already graduated and 30 are still taking the course in 2005. 3 Testimonials from students of groups 03 and 04 in a survey: Contributions of the Teaching course for tourism teaching at university level, carried out in 2005 at the Tourist Research Nucleus of Centro Universitário Senac. 19 Despite the signs that the proposal of this course has met our objective as well as fulfilled the level of innovation in the development of tourism professors that we initially expected, we are convinced that this is a curriculum under construction. We constantly evaluate activities, review processes, correct routes and incorporate new ideas. In this sense, it has become a privileged forum for the debate on the continuous formation of tourism professors at university level. REFERENCES Alarcão, I. (1999) Reflexão crítica sobre o pensamento de D. Schön e os programas de formação de professores (Critical reflection on D.Schon’s ideas and the programs for teacher’s graduation), apostila da disciplina Formaçao de Professores, PUC-SP Ansarah, Marília Gomes. (1995) Educação e Formação do Bacharel em Turismo (Education and Graduation of the Tourism Professional). In: Turismo e Análise, ECA-USP, São Paulo, 1(6), p. 44-64 Gaeta, Cecilia. (2001) Diagnóstico da atuação docente dos professores universitários em turismo (Diagnosis of the professors’ performance in tourism). Dissertação apresentada à Pontifícia Universidade Católica. Programa de pós-graduação em educação e currículo. Imbernón, Francisco. (2000) Formação docente profissional, formar-se para a mudança e incerteza (Professional graduation, preparing for change and uncertainty). São Paulo: Cortez Masetto, Marcos. (2003) Competências pedagógicas do professor universitario (Pedagogical competences of the university professor). São Paulo: Summus ________________ (1998) Pós-graduação rastreando o caminho percorrido (Post-graduation tracking back the road taken). In SERBINO, Raquel Volpato. (org) Formação de professores. São Paulo: UNESP. Pereira, Julio E. D. (2002) A pesquisa dos educadores com estratégia para construção de modelos críticos de formação docente (Educators’ research on the construction of critical models for the graduation of faculty members), capítulo I in A pesquisa na formação e no trabalho docente. Belo Horizonte: Autêntica. Perrenoud, P. (2000) Dez competências para Ensinar (Ten Teaching Competences). Porto Alegre: Artmed Sul. Tardif, M. (2004) Saberes Docentes e Formação Profissional (Professors’ Knowledge and Professional Graduation). SP: Vozes. Trigo, Luiz Gonzaga Godoi. (1999) Turismo básico (Basic Tourism). São Paulo: Apontamentos. Zabalza, Miguel A. (2004) O ensino Universitário, seus cenários e seus protagonistas (University graduation, scenarios and actors). Porto Alegre: Artmed. 20 CREATIVITY IN TOURISM AND TOURIST EDUCATION: DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ON CREATIVITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION Norman Jackson The Higher Education Academy Lyn Bibbings Oxford Brookes University Acknowledgements: This paper was produced with the help and contributions of the following tutors and lecturers – Stephen Page, Neil Robinson, Andrew Martin, John Tribe, David Botterill, David Airey, Nicole Mitsche, Sarah Graves, Benny Chan, Keith Wilkes, Andreas Walmsley, Robert Maitland, Megan Woods, Nancy Stevenson, Peter M. Burns, Noelle O'Connor, Brian Wheeller, Annette Pritchard, Fiona Jordan, Sheela Agarwal, Andy Lyon, Irene Ateljevic BACKGROUND This survey of the views of higher education tourism teachers/lecturers on creativity has been produced to inform discussions at the 2005 Association for Tourism in Higher Education Annual Conference on the theme of ‘The Future of Tourism in Higher Education’. It is part of a programme of disciplinary surveys being undertaken by the Higher Education Academy Imaginative Curriculum Network which is trying to encourage higher education teachers and subject communities to consider the role of creativity in students’ learning and their experiences of learning. Six subject-based surveys have been completed and a preliminary synthesis has been produced 4 . Underlying the study are the assumptions that: • • • Being creative is present in all disciplinary learning contexts, although we rarely use words like creativity to describe such things. We all need to be creative (inventive/adaptive) in a world that is constantly changing: a world that also requires us to change/adapt. Apart from these disciplines that explicitly recognise creativity as a central feature of their identity (like the performing arts and design), creativity is largely implicit in discussions about teaching and learning. However, teachers do value creativity, originality, flair and imagination in their students’ learning. Indeed, creativity as one of the hallmarks of excellence in higher education learning and performance. This survey is intended to test the proposition that creativity is an integral part of tourism as a business and tourism as a field in higher education. This paper is intended to promote discussion and to evolve as deeper insights are gained and further concrete examples of teaching and assessing for creativity in Tourism education are identified. Please send additional contributions to Lyn Bibbings ljbibbings@brookes.ac.uk Questions used to prompt discussion: Q1. How are professionals who work in the tourism industry creative? What sorts of things do they do that are creative? Q2. What is it about the subject of tourism that stimulates and encourages teachers and students to be creative? Q3. How do teachers of tourism help/enable students to be creative? What forms of teaching 4 http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/creativity.htm 21 encourage/enable students to be creative? What contexts/conditions for learning encourage/enable students to be creative? Q4. How do teachers of tourism evaluate students' creativity? How do they assess/reward creativity in tourism education? What criteria are used to evaluate creativity? Q5 What factors inhibit students' creativity in tourism education? Q6 How important a place do you feel creativity currently occupies in the tourism curriculum? Do you feel it is adequately valued? A Tourism Perspective on Creativity In this section a commentary is developed on the nature of creativity based on the responses of participants to the survey (see appendix 1 for complete set of responses). Participants’ voices are shown in single quotation marks. Fuzzy concept No respondent contested the idea of creativity outright suggesting that within this self-selected community creativity as a human enterprise in teaching and learning and in the professional field is widely recognized. But the fuzzy nature of the concept was indicated in a number of responses. This one highlights the complex relationship between the individual and the roles they play, the diversity of the business field and the evolution of need through time. ‘creativity is such a subjective concept that it manifests itself in many different ways depending on one's perspective and profession. It seems to me one of those relatively intangible qualities which we automatically perceive as valuable and desirable but have difficulty in actually characterising meaningfully. This definitional challenge is exacerbated in the context of tourism, itself a multi-faceted industry demanding diverse skills and attributes on the part of its staff. The various types of creativity required on the part of tourism professionals also change over time to reflect the industry's inter-relationship with technology.’ Everyday creativity As in other subject surveys there is a sense that creativity is required for a range of activities and challenges that are encountered everyday in the professional working environment. ‘Similar to professionals in all industries, tourism professionals need to exercise creative approaches on a daily basis in motivating staff, problem-solving and across all general management activities’. There is also a recognition that tourism professionals take on a range of roles some of which are creative and some are administrative and by implication do not require so much creativity. Originality, invention, re-invention The main, but not the only focus, for creative enterprise is on making the business more successful. There is a recognition that tourism professionals are involved in ‘innovation, originality [and] avoidance of serial reproduction’ in order to achieve business success. ‘They must think creative about new products, or variations on older products which are likely to appeal to their target markets.’ Focus for invention/reinvention ‘Tourism professionals may be called upon to utilise many types of creativity in their roles. Examples might include: creativity in representing tourism destinations both in text and pictures; creativity in selling holidays over the counter through verbal description and 22 reassurance; creativity in advertising to appeal to different groups of consumers; the creative design of holiday itineraries to meet specific needs, whether this be tailor-made or pre-designed package holidays; creative approaches to dealing with the complaints of dissatisfied customers and trying to repair the damage caused by poor tourism experiences; creativity on the part of holiday reps trying to sell their package tours to enhance their commission.’ ‘Tourism is about inspiring people’s dreams’ Originality, invention and re-invention seems to manifest itself in a number of ways: 1) The invention / reinvention of products. This may involve the imagination to see something that others can’t yet see and turning the idea into reality by acting as a broker to connect and packages concepts, destinations, accommodation, transportation etc and persuade and negotiate with different interests and participants. 2) Finding or creating markets for the products e.g. ‘stimulating leisure break demand through innovative promotions’, and persuading the market that this is the product for them – creativity in advertising, writing in brochures, artistic qualities in interpretation, brochure design, face to face selling. Perhaps the idea of story telling is relevant here. Do tourism professionals create stories of holiday possibilities that people want to be part of. Do they tell stories in ways that people can see themselves in the story? 3) At the strategic level, ‘creativity on the part of strategic managers trying to invent the future by predicting future holiday patterns and ensure that their capacity is filled.’ This brings in both the imagination (intuition and interpretation in the face of uncertainty) and the more analytical/synthesis skills. 4) The fourth area of invention and the most challenging is when tourism professionals have to cope with disaster and uncertainty. Tourism is a volatile industry and in order to survive in a business sense tourism professionals have to be imaginative and resourceful in order to tackle emergent issues like for example bird flu, tsunamis and hurricanes that have huge impacts in a very short space of time. ‘generally one might say creativity is used almost on a daily basis when dealing with unforeseen and challenging circumstances for which there is no set procedure’. Creativity and collaboration Creativity emerges from cooperation, collaboration and partnership ‘creative activities would include working in creative teams to develop destinations, to create images and to market and sell those destinations, developing new products etc but there is also creativity in setting up new partnerships to deliver tourism services, setting up structures to enable collaborative working, to enable projects to be delivered on time etc.’ Creativity within the professional role also involves allowing/enabling ‘others to develop creative solutions and initiatives’. Ethical considerations The ethical dimensions of creativity were raised by a number of respondents. ‘Maybe some creative advertising....and they are often creative ( economical) with the truth when it comes to giving reasons for, and estimating length of, delays at airports.’ ‘Tourism provides an excellent contemporary context in which to challenge students with ethical dilemmas (for instance those relating to 'dark' tourism or sex tourism or human rights’). 23 Sources of stimulation for students and teachers 'It is a big world' - we can't know everything about everywhere and finding interesting and stimulating ways to deal with the heterogeneous subject involves creative thinking.’ As in all the disciplines surveyed the subject itself is intrinsically interesting and a source of stimulation for professionals, teachers and students. For professionals the possibilities afforded for more successful business and ultimately profit, combined with challenges of winning the business and dealing with uncertainty provide sources of stimulation. There are many features about the subject which excite curiosity and passion for the subject. Here are some examples highlighted by respondents. • • • • • • • • • the newness and rapidly evolving nature of the subject the dynamic nature of the subject the fluidity and fuzziness of subject boundaries the space, opportunity and need to explore ideas from multidisciplinary perspectives few rules about how we should do things a sense of freedom that is engendered through leisure mobility the breadth, depth, complexity etc of the subject (potentially) provides sufficient scope for the imaginative mind the need to demonstrate both the tangible and the intangible nature of tourism the way the subject stimulates people’s imaginations: 'holidays' involve 'dreaming'. Tourism as a field of study is made up of many other subjects and it requires an interdisciplinary way of thinking about problems. Being a successful and effective practitioner perhaps depends on being open to new ideas and not simply relying on routine responses. Within the discipline there is a rich ‘diversity of disciplines, topics, issues and problems embraced by tourism and diversity of methodological approaches available to solve tourism puzzles.’ Contexts are a particularly important source of stimulation in tourism education the key contexts are: • Place • People and place • Events / time • History • Culture And related to this, tourism is ‘a fascinating social phenomenon, [it] impacts on many lives and communities worldwide.’ There is both an immediacy and an evolving sense of participation in the subject that lends itself to creative engagement. ‘The subject of tourism is closely linked with current world events as well as social history and a range of other subjects. The study of tourism occurs in a continuously changing environment which is subject to political, social, economic, technological and environmental developments in conjunction with relatively recent theory developments’. ‘As there are many things happening everyday, teachers and students should look at things in different directions and cannot only rely on one single set of information and book. To be creative, some of the silly suggestions may be considered and there should not be a set or model answer for each issues’. At the heart of the idea of creativity is a willingness to explore the unknown and there is a sense of exploring the unknown and perhaps the experience of exploration at the heart of the idea of tourism. ‘Sense of exploration in visitor experience (mind warping).’ Furthermore, these 24 experiences engage with people’s emotions, ‘the need to recognise intangibles are a key factor in the success of tourism experience, memories, emotions etc etc’ The sense of exploration is also manifest in the idea that tourism often involves the mixing of cultures within experience and how this dimension may stimulate different ways of thinking, ‘the notion of the meeting of different cultures which may stimulate thinking outside accepted frameworks’. Finally, we should not forget that tourism ‘is also fun, which helps creativity!’ The tourism curriculum provides great scope for the development of a wide range of creative skills on the part of students and encourages innovative approaches to teaching, learning and assessment on the part of staff. [there are] potentially numerous opportunities to express creativity whether visually, textually, verbally or managerially’. Forms of teaching that encourage/enable students to be creative Negative views of the idea that creativity can be taught are based on transmission models of teaching where teachers’ attempt to transfer their own knowledge and sense making to students through lecture dominated teaching, where students’ engagements in learning are predominantly based on information transfer, and are heavily prescribed and controlled by the teacher. Such conditions are less likely to foster students’ creativity than models of the teacher as a stimulator, facilitator, resource provider, guide or coach, where students are given the space and freedom to make decisions about their own learning process and outcomes, and where their reasoned and imaginative arguments and solutions are valued. The responses of participants in the creativity in tourism survey recognise these conditions and the role played by the teacher in stimulating and motivating students. ‘Creativity is encouraged by lecture sessions being more two-way then one-way - where students are regularly questioned and asked to comment on points and examples, and encouraged to debate with class members’. ‘it is the drive, enthusiasm and commitment of teachers to their subject that motives students and therefore can play a significant role in unlocking creative potential’ Characteristics of teaching that is more likely to promote students’ creativity: • Encourage students o to take risks in the knowledge that they will not be penalised for making mistakes o to participate in class discussions and are supportive in the expression of student ideas. o to think outside the ways they normally think (‘outside the box’) o to engage with real world problems and find and define their own problems o seek solutions to complex problems; problems without single solutions o to appreciate that there are different approaches [rather than one correct approach] to solving problems o to engage in open ended enquiry o to work collaboratively and engage in group working, group projects o to engage with global issues, current events and live (emergent) case studies o to develop a disciplined understanding and engage in analysis from which innovative ideas can flow and feasible ideas be developed. That – • Stimulate curiosity • Value independent thinking and support autonomy and build self-confidence and selfefficacy • Give students the freedom to choose a topic/case study for assessment in an area which interests and stimulates them. • Use humour as one way of engaging students (doing it through funny examples) 25 • • • Present problems and issues created by tourism that typically involve the need to take a broad approach to subjects and require multiple perspectives to be brought to bear on an issue. Challenge beliefs and values And make good use of new learning technologies, computers, case-studies, blended/flexed learning delivery. It follows that creativity is more likely to be expected and required in learning environments that actively engage students. For example environments • • • • • • • That promote discussion through workshops or seminars. Involve students working in small discursive groups that permit involvement in discussion of all participants That stimulate enquiry / questioning (‘problem or inquiry-based teaching encourages students to be creative both in their approaches to researching a topic and in their presentation and communication of information’) That involve collaborative working, That require oral group presentations of results of group working ….’encourage creativity, as it includes the whole process of group work, brainstorming and bouncing around of ideas’. Where students have to be resourceful. That enable students to interact with guest speakers from industry who can provide insights gained from experiential learning Examples of teaching and learning situations in tourism education that encourage students to be creative include: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Introducing students to successful examples of creativity in the context of tourism worldwide Field Trips / Site visits Industry based projects. Dissertations and projects Industry based assignments: briefings on real life Tourism situations that demand application of theory and learning to live situations. Involvement of industry speakers in the programme. International placement opportunities / overseas exchange. Student directed case studies Role-plays (‘We have worked with the drama dept. on role playing activities’). Integrated assignments Applied problem solving - problem based learning case studies. Analytically based work - e.g. critique of tsm policy, company strategy - can provide excellent opportunities for creativity re how shd be improved. Assignments that encourage experimentation i.e. formative assignments that are peer reviewed A team building, ice-breaking (unmarked) creative exercise (unrelated to any modules) right at the beginning of the semester encourages creativity Poster presentations which require - design qualities and verbal defense Evaluation and assessment of creativity Of all the aspects of creativity the one that poses the greatest challenge to teachers is how to assess / evaluate it. Creativity is a contested and it is perhaps most contested in the area of assessment. While many teachers believe that it is possible to help students use their creative abilities to better effect, far fewer think it is possible to assess these capabilities reliably and even fewer are prepared to try and do it. Yet evaluation is critical to the very idea of creativity. These difficulties are recognised in a number of responses: 26 ‘I am not convinced that we create / encourage creativity in assessment, creativity I often feel is not really addressed. As long as the students engages academically we are happy to reward, how often do we reward student presentations that offer something new or present in an alternative / non traditional format. I once saw a student present using his guitar (cosmic).’ ‘I don't think they do. Caught in a system that rewards conformity rather than creativity. How often do we get marks in the 70's or 80's for creativity. Is original thought, personal (unsupported by references) ever valued?’ Some responses reflect a philosophical and principled stance against trying to assess creativity directly. The question ….assumes we need to evaluate such matters. If it has to be done, which I would regret, it could be through portfolios of work. We do not assess creative work In contrast to these more qualified and tentative positions, some respondents believe that creativity can be assessed. ‘Creativity can be assessed through peer evaluation or lecturer evaluation’, and a number of specific contexts are identified where students have been assessed for their creativity. • • • Peer assessment by students. Team work on case studies based on Field Studies Self select teams that undertake case study research, then present in PowerPoint their findings. Notes section submitted. In the absence of comments to the contrary, there is a sense that creativity does not often feature in assessment criteria. ‘Not explicit in assessment criteria it seems to me more an outcome of intellectual engagement.’ There is also a sense that creativity is expected but it is implicit in existing criteria, ‘creativity shows indirectly in the project, as it is getting further than expected and it criticises available ones.’ There is also a sense that guidance on this matter would be welcomed, ‘I am waiting for your FDTL 5 Project to tell me!’ A small number of respondents claimed that such criteria were used. ‘Transparent and published marking grid (scale of 1 - 6),’ and ‘It forms part of our assessment criteria - originality of work and a creative approach to problem solving. Several respondents offered views on the sorts of framework within which creativity might be evaluated for example: • • • • • Evaluation of creativity could take place in assignments that are not unduly restrictive with regards outcomes Use of diverse assessment strategy's… good evidence which encompass...portfolios, video diary, presentations, on-site presentations, case-studies linked to employer concerns /problems. Ability to take a broad view of problems and issues Unmarked presentations since this allowed for greater 'risk- taking' and innovation. The teacher should be well experienced in judging the ideas from the students but not using one way to mark the students….the teacher should be open-minded and willing to accept new changes. There is also a suggestion that the place where learning and assessment come together is where real creativity resides. ‘a colleague set an assessment for final year post-placement students that involved them staging a careers fair in which they represented, at stalls in an exhibition space, particular sectors of the industry’. ‘in a Level Two module, students put together an exhibition depicting visually, textually, through self-designed brochures and on websites, particular tourism destinations. Whilst 27 such activities may not be unique to tourism programmes they illustrate how tourism lends itself to such creative approaches’. Factors inhibiting creativity in higher education Most respondents felt that there were things in higher education that inhibited students’ and teachers’ creativity. Factors can be categorized into: Cultural • Negative influence in press, from parents and careers advisors. • A low trust culture that requires most activities to be approved and monitored mechanistically discourages experimentation that falls outside agreed frameworks, and inhibits creativity; creativity and low trust don't go together. Course-related • Philosophy of the course / industry expectations • Programme aims that are narrow typically too exclusively vocational but could be too exclusively "alternative" • Tourism confined to consideration from only one disciplinary context Student-related • Students • Students with a more result oriented mind set • Deficiencies in skills for creativity e.g. poorer graphical, photographic, design etc capabilities. • Inability to see beyond the a, b c’s of a certain topic, • Decisions based on avoiding risk in case it affects their overall degree classification, • Limited awareness of creative thinking Teacher/teaching related factors • Teachers • Timetable constraints • Things like tutors having to specify model answers ...really kill off student creativity • Over-reliance on purely written forms of assessment • Too much emphasis on standardization and simplistic forms of assessment as this makes life easier for the marker • Lack of clarity in coursework requirements • Learning environment that does not stimulate students’ minds and a lack of engagement with wider issues which may impact on tourism. • Large class size • Design of the assessment and assessment criteria. • Staff not encouraging students, • Too little time allowed in assessments, • Lack of feedback from staff, Institutional or systemic factors • Educational structures • Trend in T and L to prescribe curriculum content and standardize modules and learning outcomes. Not much room for a tutor to introduce off script approaches to t and l. • Making learning outcomes explicit in assessment criteria emphasises that there is one way to get it right. • Open assessments that invite different and novel approaches to answers seem too risky in face of QA regimes - shame. • Mechanistic, target driven approach that now dominates education inhibits creativity by students and staff alike • Regimes of supposed quality checks are stifling creativity for teachers and students. 28 Other • Industry image Importance of creativity to tourism education and tourism Opinions are divided between those who believe that creativity is explicitly valued within the curriculum and recognized within assessment, (‘Creativity is very much part of our tourism curriculum, not as a study, but as a practice’, ‘It is a central part of all of our assessment.’), those who think that creativity is valued indirectly and tacitly, (‘Creativity plays an important but implicit part in the tourism curriculum. [It] is generally asked for in any projects, as this is what makes projects better’), and those who do not believe that it is valued sufficiently in the higher education curriculum (‘It is hardly a part of any curriculum that I am aware of,’ ‘creativity is not really valued’). Other respondents felt that while it was valued ‘perhaps [it is] not discussed often enough - I am not aware of published "good practice" info aimed at engendering creativity’, and while ‘ccreativity is certainly not a new phenomenon…its potential use has not been maximised ….within the tourism discipline. Several respondents suggested that there was a need for more explicit recognition of creativity in students’ development. [creativity] should be an important aspect of the tourism curriculum not only to stimulate student interest and development but also to better prepare them for careers in tourism and tourism-related organisations. ‘tourism needs creativity to help shape and meet demand from an ever more fractious and discontented consumer living life on the post modern edge!’ ‘Student creativity is crucial in developing innovative travel and tourism personnel of the future but this cant be developed unless they are given the support and guidance to do so. Without creativity the travel and tourism industry will struggle to compete against other industries in this extremely competitive environment’. But there is also a view that promoting creativity has to be counterbalanced with the need to develop students in other ways... ‘Creativity [is] important but so is literacy and numeracy’. One respondent commented that while creativity could be pushed up the agenda teachers ‘would have to loose control over the students learning and that would do the QA mob's heads-in!!!’ Contextual influences How students are taught , what they are taught and how they learn is heavily influenced also by the context in which this takes place - the school, the department, the individual lecturer, and there are a number of issues for tourism (and hospitality) caused by these contexts. Within the tourism subject area there are two distinct approaches which are causing tension the tourism management approach and the tourism studies approach. These are not mutually exclusive, and management degrees may also explicitly investigate and challenge the social science disciplines that provide theoretical underpinning and different perspectives for investigating tourism (e.g. social anthropology, sociology, geography, psychology, economics). However, management degrees are more practical and vocationally relevant. The tension is increasing, both in tourism and in hospitality, as, increasingly, tourism and hospitality departments are moved into business schools. This tension is also exacerbated by the fact that tourism does not have its own unit of assessment in the RAE - and submissions are scattered across several units - but primarily in Business and Management and Sports Related Studies. These two units have a very different approach in their terms of reference, the choice of which unit to submit to, is influenced by the schools that host the subject area. If 29 this is a business school then the submission may be more likely to the Business and Management unit of assessment, and that staff may be encouraged ,if they want to be included in the RAE submission, to publish in generic business journals that have recognition within that unit. Thus the context in which the teaching takes place is changing, and there is a feeling of discomfort for some lecturers about this change and how it impacts on their own research and teaching within a more vocational business environment. The benchmarks don't really help here either. The statement recognises these different approaches in the preamble but in the statement for tourism it translates to a description which may not reflect the student centred constructivist paradigm that some lecturers adopt. There are a number of discussions about the multidisciplinary nature of tourism, and how important it is that this is not lost in the drive towards management. In particular, many departments are made up of lecturers whose own disciplines are geography, anthropology, sociology etc. and not management. Their expertise is then applied within the context of management. Appendix Participants Responses Q1. How are professionals who work in the tourism industry creative? What sorts of things do they do that are creative? SP I work with Scottish Enterprise who fund my chair and sit on the Tourism Innovation Group of the Scottish Tourism Forum NR = interesting, I suppose technology plays a key role in creating innovation and creativity. Product development in the form of product distribution is possibly an example of creativity which is of particular interest to me. AM - Can be creative in: • Marketing • Stimulating leisure break demand through innovative promotions. • Space utilisation - ensuring each part of operation is revenue generating • Handling Operations • Embracing new technology, telephone and computer systems. • Refurbishments in the contemporary style. JT Putting together packages. Orchestrating performances DB Problem solving, working with limited resources, creating images and identities of products DA Creative product development; creative marketing; creative pricing; creative ways of dealing with issues of e.g. overcrowding, queuing, congestion, visitor management SG Professionals employed within the tourism industry require creativity when undertaking branding activities, selling ideas and destinations, undertaking marketing activities and engaging in strategy development. Similar to professionals in all industries, tourism professionals need to exercise creative approaches on a daily basis in motivating staff, problem-solving and across all general management activities. BC First of all, we need to define what is "creativity". It is for the attitude, the work or others. To answer your question, for professionals need to develop new tourism products, i.e. not just the package but the image and attractions of a destination. In addition, a professional (as a manager) needs to be creative to tackle contemporary issues e.g. Bird flu, so as to survive in the keen competition. Tourism planning also need certain degree of creativity when trying to balance out the benefits of all stakeholders. KW events, holiday products where the emphasis is on experience rather than a simple combination things - need for the value-added, memorable etc. Creative writing in brochures. Artistic qualities in interpretation, brochure design, marketing and PR. The interpretation unit at 30 OBU brings out creativity in a variety of forms AW Creativity may manifest itself in the products offered, particularly in how they are differentiated. For example creativity in the composition of tour packages, or the design of menus etc. Creativity could also be beneficial to a business' marketing strategy and more generally one might say creativity is used almost on a daily basis when dealing with unforeseen and challenging circumstances for which there is no set procedure. RM Innovation, originality, avoidance of serial reproduction in cities. Allowing others to develop creative solutions and initiatives. Supporting creative class activities - amenity etc NS Tourism professionals take on a whole range of roles some of which are creative and some are administrative. The creative activities would include working in creative teams to develop destinations, to create images and to market and sell those destinations, developing new products etc but there is also creativity in setting up new partnerships to deliver tourism services, setting up structures to enable collaborative working, to enable projects to be delivered on time etc. PB The term ‘tourism industry’ is problematic in that it implies a cohesiveness which simply doesn’t exist. This is import when answering this question because the ‘creative’ bits of tourism (such as advertising and media) could lie outside of the immediate concept of tourism and into the creative industries themselves. I find the ‘industry’ generally uncreative and there is a definitional muddle between ‘creativity’ and product development. I suppose BA’s automatic check in is a creative solution to the problem of airport overcrowding. But the airport overcrowding ‘problem’ could be the result of the creative thinking that led to airports becoming focused on food, beverage and retails outlets which take space precedence over customer service facilities. NOC • They are continuing with their education through online learning, distance learning and part time courses, as they are aware of the importance of constantly updating their professional skills. • They are encouraging staff creativity through continued staff development both professionally and educationally. • They are attending more academic conferences and industry based workshops to keep up to date with both academic and industry trends, issues and challenges. • They are listening to their staff and making changes to encourage staff creativity. • The Internet has introduced the travel professional to creativity as they are developing innovative websites to remain competitive. • The media is also being used by the industry to show how creative an industry it is with the growth in independent travel. BS • • • • • Prepared to take risks Prepare exciting materials for learners Consult widely Work in interdisciplinary teams Engage with colleagues from other organisations BW Not really in a position to judge except as layperson....Maybe some creative advertising.... and they are often creative (economical) with the truth when it comes to giving reasons for, and estimating length of, delays at airports AP Practitioners - creative in all sorts of ways in marketing (esp. communications), product development, developing market research. Academics - creative through the creation of knowledge, creative in innovative teaching practices and approaches to research design FJ I think it might be useful to provide some sort of definition of what might constitute 'creativity' (which I imagine you will do in the paper itself). To me creativity is such a subjective concept 31 that it manifests itself in many different ways depending on one's perspective and profession. It seems to me one of those relatively intangible qualities which we automatically perceive as valuable and desirable but have difficulty in actually characterising meaningfully. This definitional challenge is exacerbated in the context of tourism, itself a multi-faceted industry demanding diverse skills and attributes on the part of its staff. The various types of creativity required on the part of tourism professionals also change over time to reflect the industry's inter-relationship with technology. Tourism professionals may be called upon to utilise many types of creativity in their roles. Examples might include: creativity in representing tourism destinations both in text and pictures; creativity in selling holidays over the counter through verbal description and reassurance; creativity in advertising to appeal to different groups of consumers; the creative design of holiday itineraries to meet specific needs, whether this be tailor-made or pre-designed package holidays; creative approaches to dealing with the complaints of dissatisfied customers and trying to repair the damage caused by poor tourism experiences; creativity on the part of holiday reps trying to sell their package tours to enhance their commission; creativity on the part of strategic managers trying to determine future holiday patterns and ensure that their capacity is filled; creative approaches to website design to ensure that sites are user-friendly and attractive. SA Professionals who work in the tourism industry are creative in a number of ways. They must keep abreast with changes in consumer needs and demands and in order to gain competitive advantage, they must think creative about new products, or variations on older products which are likely to appeal to their target markets. Marketing of tourism products also requires much creativity as it is imperative to capture the 'essence' of the product in a way that is most likely to appeal to target markets. AL Creativity comes in many forms - intellectual leadership, originality, ingenuity, sensitivity to problems, unusualness, appropriateness etc. Tourism professionals, often working with people have to be able to think on their feet. One I know says no 2 days are ever the same, throwing up numerous problem solving scenarios. The guest that is ill, lost their passport in the middle of nowhere, all require a degree of creativity to solve problems. At the higher end of the professional spectrum, managers face similar creative issues as those in other industries, but the inseparability and intangibility of the tourism product throw in many other challenges. Q2. What is it about the subject of tourism that stimulates and encourages teachers and students to be creative? SP The dynamic nature of the subject which is the lifeblood of tourism NR I would disagree with the general style of this question. I often feel very frustrated / unable to be really creative due to lack of support / financial restrictions and student perceptions. AM The dynamic nature of Tourism. Pride of being part of the world's largest industry. International element of Tourism. Working in and with our Centre for Tourism! JT Its context: People and place and its fluid boundaries as a subject DB Sense of exploration in visitor experience (mind warping), tourism representations are often visual and creative output, human encounters in tourism can lead to thinking out of the box DA Diversity of disciplines, topics, issues and problems embraced by tourism and diversity of methodological approaches available to solve tourism puzzles 32 NM personally I think each subject is as stimulating for anyone who likes it there is nothing special for tourism SG The subject of tourism is closely linked with current world events as well as social history and a range of other subjects. The study of tourism occurs in a continuously changing environment which is subject to political, social, economic, technological and environmental developments in conjunction with relatively recent theory developments. In addition study can focus specifically on engaging branding activities, addresses interesting destinations and is ripe for the application and study of interesting live case studies. BC For tourism subjects, it should be more focus on the current issues. As there are many things happening everyday, teachers and students should look at things in different directions and cannot only rely on one single set of information and book. To be creative, some of the silly suggestions may be considered and there should not be a set or model answer for each issues. KW] the need to recognise intangibles are a key factor in the success of tourism experience. Memories, emotions etc etc AW The only thing that springs to mind in the broadest sense is the notion of the meeting of different cultures which may stimulate thinking outside accepted frameworks. Also, if we are speaking of forms of tourism related to creativity (Art Galleries, Literary Tourism etc) there might possibly be a knock-on effect. RM Their interest in it. One can be creative at anything that engages one, even temporarily. Hence media and advertising 'creatives'. That said, rapid change in tsm and its increasingly important role in consumption in rich countries encourages creativity / originality / innovation in meeting demands of [some] visitors. Overlap with demands of other city users is crucial here. NS The boundaries of tourism are less definite than many other subject areas which means that there is more space to explore ideas from multidisciplinary perspectives. The youth of the subject area also means that there are less rules about how we should do things which gives us opportunities to be creative in our conceptions of tourism ideas and draw from a wide range of influences. PB There is a sense of freedom that is engendered through leisure mobility which excites. However, I am not convinced that this is regularly transferred to teaching and learning where much of the curriculum seems to be concerned with replicating outmoded forms of production and accepting business norms. NOC • Its changeability and futuristic nature. • The diversity of the industry. • The importance of keeping up with creativity trends worldwide. BS • Academic colleagues have a passion for their subject, new technologies bring a wide variety of resources to the keypad and screen • Many colleagues combine academic work with ongoing engagement with their particular industrial sector • Opportunities for colleagues to engage with different institutions through project funding, conferences and subject Communities of Practice • Because of the size and scope of tourism it impinges on so many sectors, hence the variety of pathways that our particular college offer through UoP • Many individuals may not be educated or trained in touristic activities will find themselves within the industry • More ever than before the programmes that become validated/approved with require colleagues that form a cross disciplinary community of practice 33 • • • • Many areas of the industry, particularly destination, resort and general areas of touristic marketing appeal to students In Cornwall new exciting developments through Objective One funding, through the proposal for a Cornwall & West Devon Industrial Heritage Site (June 2006) New developments in the coastal zones of Cornwall Its people industry BW Assuming we/they are....possibly it’s because the breadth, depth, complexity etc of the subject (potentially) provides sufficient scope for the imaginative mind. And 'holidays' involve 'dreaming' AP tourism is a fascinating social phenomenon, impacts on many lives & communities worldwide; it is also fun, which helps creativity! FJ Tourism is a colourful and diverse subject. There are thus potentially numerous opportunities to express creativity whether visually, textually, verbally or managerially. The tourism curriculum provides great scope for the development of a wide range of creative skills on the part of students and encourages innovative approaches to teaching, learning and assessment on the part of staff. SA It is because it is such a dynamic subject area that inspires creativity. Also, demonstrating the tangible and the intangible nature of tourism, demands creativity. AL As one Chinese students once said - 'It is a big world' - we can't know everything about everywhere and finding interesting and stimulating ways to deal with the heterogeneous subject involves creative thinking. Students are often not at the top of the entry points tariffs on t'm programmes, and many have come form non-standard entry routes, therefore finding ways to stimulate and encourage them in the subject involves creativity. Q3. How do teachers of tourism help/enable students to be creative? What forms of teaching encourage/enable students to be creative? What contexts/conditions for learning encourage/enable students to be creative? Examples of courses/teaching to promote students creativity are welcomed SP We have Scottish enterprise and business consultants work with students on developing their own business idea into a fundable business plan - this represents a case of good practice as some students have considered launching the plan after graduation NR - the philosophy of the course often dictates creativity, hence tourism and performing arts by definition emphasises the role of performance. We are possibly too prescriptive in educating student within tourism and possibly lack the passion of other subjects. Where i have seen it done well relates to subjects studies within partner faculties (we have a management module running in a faculty of creativity). AM - Best Practice Field Trips Industry based projects. Examples of courses/teaching to promote students creativity are welcomed Industry based assignments: briefings on real life Tourism situations that demand application of theory and learning to live situations. Industry speakers in the programme. International placement opportunities Overseas exchange. Student directed case studies JT By encouraging the finding of solutions to complex problems 34 DB Invitations to read and think, applied problem solving, assignments that encourage experimentation i.e. formative assignments that are peer reviewed DA By presenting problems and issues created by tourism that typically involve the need to take a broad approach to subjects. Dissertations and projects typically allow creativity but also case study work and other assignments can be designed to allow this. Students need to work in an environment where different approaches are permitted and encouraged NM telling them - think outside the box doing it through funny examples creative teaching more open environment, workshops, discussions SG Teachers of tourism can move from purely written forms of assessment and encourage students to engage with global issues, current events and live case studies. In addition, the use of fieldtrips is likely to stimulate increased awareness and creativity within students. BC I think there should be more interactive between the teacher and student. Teacher should lead the student to think and find out the solution from different sources such as textbook, internet or journals. Group discussion or short case study more be appropriated. More important, the subject objectives should be clearly stated and small group size are preferred. A detail planning for the curriculum are also needed. There should be integration between other subjects but not overlapping. A clear progression may help both students and teacher in planning out the subject. KW Any visual presentation requires thoughts of design as well as content - being a Luddite flash design should not obscure c... poor content!! AW If one is able to awake an interest and stimulate confidence there is the increased likelihood that students will be creative. This potential would then need to find an outlet in activities that permit some form of creative expression. RM Real creativity depends on disciplined understanding / analysis from which innovative and feasible ideas can develop. Thus must be a focus on understanding and analysis from which creative solutions can flow. Analytically based work - e.g. critique of tsm policy, company strategy can provide excellent opportunities for creativity re how shd be improved. Project based work on particular place ditto KW Any unit requiring poster presentation - verbal defense and design qualities important MW Oral group presentations are felt to encourage creativity, as it includes the whole process of group work, brainstorming and bouncing around of ideas. One student mentioned that unmarked presentations were particularly effective since this allowed for greater 'risktaking' and innovation. In my experience a team building, ice-breaking (unmarked) creative exercise (unrelated to any modules) right at the beginning of the semester encourages creativity. This then sets the standard, so to speak, for the rest of the term and for exercises directly related to specific modules. I feel it plays an important role in breaking down barriers to creativity right at the beginning. Creativity is encouraged by lecture sessions being more two-way then one-way - where students are regularly questioned and asked to comment on points and examples, and encouraged to debate with class members. Leaving the choice of topic/case study for assessment to the students often encourages creativity as it gives them the freedom to choose an area which interests and stimulates them. 35 NS Case studies research is an example of teaching which requires students to apply their theoretical knowledge in a practical context and devise creative solutions to problems. PB This is a tough question because much of the answer lies in the uncomfortable area of teacher personality: it is the drive, enthusiasm and commitment of teachers to their subject that motives students and therefore can play a significant role in unlocking creative potential NOC • They assist in their learning by introducing them to successful creative examples worldwide. • Student led learning encourages students to be creative through problems based learning case studies. • Students are encouraged to participate in class discussions and lecturers are more supportive in the expression of student ideas. • The practical methods of student led teaching that are now used support creativity i.e. roleplays, integrated assignments and most importantly student placements. BS • Being exciting, current and taking risks • Allow them to make mistakes, create autonomous learners • Engage with working professionals, involve learners • Encourage group working, group projects • Involve those on the periphery of sector • Well designed materials and lecture material • Use of new learning technologies, computers, case-studies, blended/flexed learning delivery • Well designed case-study that amp to Programme Intended learning outcomes and Module Intended Learning Outcomes • Site visits and field trips with well designed outcomes • Professional visiting lectures/guest speakers BW By relating the subject matter to (some, would say, tangential) subjects the students might be interested in....film/music/literature (as if) etc And also the teachers own interests....but not to overdo this. And being enthusiastic themselves. BY HUMOUR. And, therefore, by using Wallace and Gromit FJ I think that the example of assessments I refer to below may be equally apposite here. My opinion is that often problem or inquiry-based teaching encourages students to be creative both in their approaches to researching a topic and in their presentation and communication of information. In particular, tourism provides an excellent contemporary context in which to challenge students with ethical dilemmas (for instance those relating to 'dark' tourism or sex tourism or human rights). Students tend to engage with these issues and are encouraged to use their skills and knowledge creatively to address the problems. Legal and environmental issues relating to the impact of tourism also provide fertile ground for students to examine creatively the various arguments which may be put forward by stake-holders. The intense media interest in tourism is a valuable asset when thinking about creative approaches to teaching the subject. I have an extensive catalogue of videos, often of TV programmes concerning the excesses of tourists or disastrous holidays, that can be used to stimulate discussion or for students to critique certain issues. Brochures and other visual tourism media such as guidebooks can also be used to develop in students an ability to deconstruct and decode imagery and undertake content analysis, creative research skills which may be more difficult to stimulate in (some) other subjects. FJ by being creative in lectures and tutorials. Group work and presentations in particular aids creativity, particularly if you set a piece of work that is current and which has a prize attached to it. 36 Tourism marketing is a good example - the design of a poster that markets a product of their choice. Tourism business development - the production of a business plan. Specific examples of courses/teaching to promote students creativity KW OBU Landscape Interpretation. MW One assignment which has inspired creativity in the module Policy and planning debates in tourism is a role play debate, where each student takes on a different role such as developer, tourist, resident, environmentalist, tourist provider, etc. and pleads their case as a mock consultation meeting. PB ‘Anthropology at Home” where students are asked to critically examine their social surrounding of familiar places (the shopping mall, their favorite café etc.) in the way an anthropologist might; the use of fine art history as a way of introducing students to critical viewing and visual literacy; critical appraisal of tour brochures and marketing media with (say) a postcolonial eye http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=6215See BW Wallace & Gromit (see above) AP I teach a module called branding & advertising in tourism where the students work in groups to develop, test and execute an advertising campaign for a tourism brand of their own choice. Sometimes they even create new products to advertise - they mimic the activities of an advertising agency - and the best are highly creative. AL Problem solving, case studies, presentations, in-class exercises, role plays all contribute to creative thinking. Use of video, slides, internet based teaching all help in this process. We have worked with the drama dept. on role playing activities. Q4. How do teachers of tourism evaluate students' creativity? How do they assess/reward creativity in tourism education? What criteria are used to evaluate creativity? Examples of assessment methods/criteria are welcomed SP It is assessed by external bodies who deal with this on a day to day basis in the tourism industry in terms of what would work and why. NR I am not convinced that we create / encourage creativity in assessment, creativity I often feel is not really addressed. As long as the students engages academically we are happy to reward, how often do we reward student presentations that offer something new or present in an alternative / non traditional format. I once saw a student present using his guitar (cosmic) AM - Peer assessment by students. Transparent and published marking grid (scale of 1 - 6) Examples of assessment methods/criteria are welcomed Team work on case studies based on Field Studies Self select teams that undertake case study research, then present in PowerPoint their findings. Notes section submitted with references and justification. JT With difficulty DB Not explicit in assessment criteria it seem to me more an outcome of intellectual engagement DA Selection and use of appropriate methodological approaches 37 Ability to take a broad view of problems and issues NM creativity shows indirectly in the project, as it is getting further than expected and it criticises available ones SG I would speculate this is challenging to achieve effectively. There clearly needs to be a link between assessment criteria and the level of creativity encouraged. BC To evaluate students' creativity is quite difficult and maybe subjective. There should be some guidelines for the teacher and students in marking the project or assignment. Even though creative maybe come from nowhere, student should base on certain degree of knowledge to build up their creative. To put it simple, evaluation should be looked at the student's originality and practicality of the suggestions. KW I am waiting for your FDTL 5 Project to tell me! Difficult in terms of reliability and subjectivity with issues of design once you move away from structural aspects - beginning, middle, end etc. Photographs can be used and misused in a variety of contexts. I used to teach landscape evaluation issues and used two slides from the top of Snowdon> one with superb panorama another of 500+ people taking a photo of the view. Silly example but illustrates the problem of assessing artifacts - similar to nice song shame about the video! AW Evaluation of creativity could take place in assignments that are not unduly restrictive with regards outcomes. That is guidelines leave scope for creativity. PB The question is interesting because it assumes we need to evaluate such matters. If it has to be done, which I would regret, it could be through portfolios of work. We do not assess creative work NOC • Creativity can be assessed through peer evaluation or lecturer evaluation. • Travel and tourism professionals evaluate students in various ways but the key to success is to make this more geared to allowing the student to be creative and supporting that. • The criteria used to evaluate creativity depends a great deal on the level of education been delivered i.e. Postgraduate v.’s Undergraduate. BS • Use of diverse assessment strategy's… good evidence which encompass...portfolios, video diary, presentations, on-site presentations, and case-studies linked to employer concerns /problems... • Promote good assessment through publication on line through module programme VLE… • Learners share their learners through peer review/presentation/stakeholders/ employers • Good formative/summative assessment and feedback • Use of MLE's/VLE's • Well constructed cross disciplinary case-studies • We are currently working with tourism students/multi-media students and journalism students on a project called CAVA http://www.cava-studies.org/cornishbraids.html there are working to collect an aural history of Cornwall • We are working with the mineral tramways project http://www.chycor.co.uk/mineraltramways/index.htm, http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=12238 using objective one funding to benchmark visitor footfall along footpaths which links into Research Methods, designing education and interpretation materials for primary and secondary schools, producing web-based interpretation materials for a module on Education and Interpretation of Touristic Sites & Cornish Tourism • The above links into personal and professional development and work engagement • Working with colleagues from different department and institutions ie. Cultural studies and education & interpretation…using visual image 38 BW I don't think they do. Caught in a system that rewards conformity rather than creativity. How often do we get marks in the 70's or 80's for creativity. Is original thought, personal (unsupported by references) ever valued? AP [In a module called branding & advertising in tourism...students work in groups to develop, test and execute an advertising campaign for a tourism brand of their own choice.] they write a reflexive account of group working and then submit a group project which includes visuals and results of market research. FJ Two examples that spring to mind are from a previous institution in which I worked, where a colleague set an assessment for final year post-placement students that involved them staging a careers fair in which they represented, at stalls in an exhibition space, particular sectors of the industry. On one occasion students also produced CD ROMs to advertise their sectors. Similarly in a Level Two module, students put together an exhibition depicting visually, textually, through self-designed brochures and on websites particular tourism destinations. Whilst such activities may not be unique to tourism programmes they illustrate how tourism lends itself to such creative approaches. AL It forms part of our assessment criteria - originality of work and a creative approach to problem solving. Presentations and assessed seminars are useful tools for this. We also do inclass design sessions whereby students can design resorts, t'm sites etc. allowing them to express themselves while also thinking about the issues involved. Q5 What factors inhibit students' creativity in tourism education? SP None - they are required to engage in this as part of the degree NR = that's easy, other students and the philosophy of the course / industry expectations. The tourism industry possibly needs to engage more with the notion of creativity and presentation, lets get John Tribe to embrace this at the next ATHE meeting in December (possible use of a rap / mime/ face painting & stand up). ;-) AM Higher Education timetable constraints Industry image Negative influence in Press, from parents and careers advisors. But it's changing! JT Students, teachers, educational structures DB Trend in T and L to prescribe curriculum content and standardize modules and learning outcomes. Not much room for a tutor to introduce off script approaches to t and l. All that (Brookes inspired? ….) stuff about making learning outcomes explicit in assessment criteria emphasises that there is one way to get it right. Loose creativity. Open assessments that invite different and novel approaches to answers seem too risky in face of QA regimes - shame. Things like tutors having to specify model answers ...really kill off student creativity DA Tourism confined to consideration from only one disciplinary context. Programme aims that are narrow typically too exclusively vocational but could be too exclusively "alternative" SG I would speculate that factors inhibiting students’ creativity include an over-reliance on purely written forms of assessment; a lack of clarity in coursework requirements; a learning environment that does not stimulate students’ minds and a lack of engagement with wider issues which may impact on tourism. BC In Hong Kong situation, students are more result oriented mind set, so it inhibit students creativity in tourism education. In addition, the large class size (normal 30 students for a group in the university) will also affect the student's contribution. 39 KW Expertise - in theory all possess written skills (!!!!!) but may have poorer graphical, photographic, design etc capabilities. AW Following from above, any form of assessment that leaves little scope for expression of individuality, prime example being multiple choice exams. RM The mechanistic, target driven approach that now dominates education inhibits creativity by students and staff alike. This might be seen as a worthwhile trade off for measurability, consistency, control etc but should be acknowledged. A low trust culture that requires most activities to be approved and monitored mechanistically discourages experimentation that falls outside agreed frameworks, and inhibits creativity. This is a general point, and not specific to /tourism/ education. Many of us try to work round this and some areas with a strong professional ./ disciplinary commitment to creativity do so pretty well - e.g. architecture. But creativity and low trust don't go together. NS Lack of confidence in their ability, lack of familiarity with subject, style of teaching, style of assessment (multi choice tests etc.) PB Poor art education at school; fear of failure; obsession with assessment NOC Students need to be given the support and encouragement that allows for creativity. This can be shown through resource allocation and lecturer support without this creativity will be inhibited. BS Boring, didactic lectures, non-engagement BW Caught in the grip ( gripe) of conformity, there is a lack of confidence on part of both students and staff to pursue 'creativity'. Assessment practice that is geared against 'originality'..... Group work tends towards averaging.... AP Taking risks, they can be quite conservative when choosing modules/ideas - worried about stepping outside the box. They need reassurance that's okay to be different - to zig when everyone else is zagging. FJ Not all students are creative. Again this comes back to definitions. Is creativity something that is inherent or learnt or both? Some people would regard themselves as 'creative', often associating this with an artistic approach to studies. Others, who might label themselves as more scientific, may feel less confident in expressing themselves 'creatively'. For these people a lack of confidence may be the greatest inhibitor. There is also the question of how to effectively assess 'creativity' which may be deemed by its nature to be subjective and thus problematic to translate into consistently understood assessment criteria that may be equitably applied. Possibly the greatest overall challenge to creativity in tourism programmes may be posed by their increasing location within business schools which I (maybe unfairly and unjustly) perceive as potentially less creative environments (please note that I make this observation purely from a personal point of view and confidentially). SA There are a number of factors which include their inability to see beyond the as, bs and cs of a certain topic, the decision not to take a risk in case it affects their overall degree classification, the design of the assessment and assessment criteria. AL Staff not encouraging students, time allowed in assessments, lack of feedback from staff, student's awareness of creative thinking. Q6 How important a place do you feel creativity currently occupies in the tourism curriculum? Do you feel it is adequately valued? SP - It is a central part of all of our assessment but especially at the upper levels of the course 40 NR = not at all, creativity is not really valued, lets develop it more. AM Creativity is very much part of our tourism curriculum, not as a study, but as a practice. Adequately valued, yes. It's what industry tell us is important. JT - Low, no DB Inherent rather than explicit. Could push it up the agenda but ...would have to loose control over the students learning and that would do the QA mob's heads-in!!! NM creativity is generally asked for in any projects, as this is what makes projects better - i assume it is more indirectly available than directly ... SG While I couldn’t comment on this from a truly informed perspective, I feel creativity should be an important aspect of the tourism curriculum not only to stimulate student interest and development but also to better prepare them for careers in tourism and tourism-related organisations. BC I don't feel creativity currently occupies in the tourism curriculum due to the time constraint and the size of class. Furthermore, teacher should be well experienced in judging the ideas from the students but not using one way to mark the students. My suggestion is the teacher should be open-minded and willing to accept new changes. KW Creativity in the wider sense is valued - the imaginative/different essay/exam answer stands out from the crowd as does the creative presentation - and may receive disproportionate reward from a bored marker!. Other forms less so - photographic, video, sound etc. Creativity important but so is literacy and numeracy. AW I think there is scope for creativity in the tourism curriculum but I don't think it is valued enough. There is too much emphasis on standardization and simplistic forms of assessment as this makes life easier for the marker. After all, and partially in response to question 5, assessing creativity is not as easy as checking whether a box has been ticked or not. RM In the context of #5 above ,there are practical limits to how far it can be valued NS Creativity plays an important but implicit part in the tourism curriculum. I think it is valued but perhaps not discussed often enough - I am not aware of published "good practice" info aimed at engendering creativity. PB It is hardly a part of any curriculum that I am aware of, so it has at present very little value. This is a shame as tourism needs creativity to help shape and meet demand from an ever more fractious and discontented consumer living life on the post modern edge! NOC • Student creativity is crucial in developing innovative travel and tourism personnel of the future but this cant be developed unless they are given the support and guidance to do so • Without creativity the travel and tourism industry will struggle to compete against other industries in this extremely competitive environment. • By encouraging creativity the industry will also get the best out of their staff but without it staff may become stale and productive individual development will be restricted. • Creativity is certainly not a new phenomenon but its potential use has not been maximised upon within the tourism discipline. • The idea of creativity is quite new to the tourism curriculum and something that really needs to be invested in more but as tourism itself is still trying to develop as a separate discipline within the education sector. Until this is more advanced, successful creativity will be restricted. 41 BS • Demonstrated through course reviews, development of new modules/subjects, responding to the need of external stakeholders, new learners • Creativity brings entrepreneurship, new products, different ways of subject delivery • New (blood) academics bring youth and excitement to subject delivery, they engage with learners, view the industry through a different set of perspectives BW It doesn't really feature. Certainly not. AP Not enough, not highly valued enough either. Regimes of supposed quality checks are stifling creativity for teachers and students. Too narrow a focus. FW I tend to think of tourism programmes as inherently creative in their approach to TLA. My impression is that it is adequately valued in the programmes of which I have had experience. SA Creativity should be central to the tourism curriculum. It is valued although it is difficult to incorporate into assessments as implementing standard criteria whereby pieces of work can be assessed against each other is problematic. AL In some respects it is valued, in that the subject is very diverse and students need to be able to see across a broad spectrum of subject areas to be able to appreciate the subject. It is often not directly incorporated into definitive documents in tourism. 42 IS TOURISM HIGHER EDUCATION MEETING VOCATIONAL NEEDS OF TODAY? David Leslie Glasgow Caledonian University D.Leslie@gcal.ac.uk ABSTRACT Today few would doubt the apparently inexorable rise in tourism and the demand for international travel. Destinations expand and new destinations emerge as this growth continues, further fuelled by emerging economies across the world. This globalisation of tourist movements makes for an increasingly competitive marketplace within which established destinations will need to work harder not only to seek to maintain traditional markets but also to develop new ones. The possibility to develop currently limited markets with potential for expansion is therefore of prime importance. In the case of the U.K. such potential markets exist across Europe, particularly countries such as Spain and Italy. However, it is argued, such markets are under exploited due to a failing in tourism promotion to recognise the value of the development of foreign language skills amongst employees. As the findings presented here of longitudinal research into foreign language skills and tourism attest, this failing is evident across the spectrum of those involved in tourism. The Government, national and regional tourist organisations and tourism enterprises are not promoting and seeking these skills yet the benefits attributed to foreign language capabilities are extensive. This weakness is further reinforced by tourism higher education which gives too little attention to the importance and development of foreign language skills. The ongoing myopia to address this need, and the needs of employers, will become more significant in time as the U.K. gradually loses market share to other destinations more attentive to the needs of potential source markets. Keywords: tourism promotion, employers' needs, foreign language skills, competition, vocational education INTRODUCTION Today, few commentators would doubt the apparently inexorable rise of tourism and demand for international travel. Destinations expand and new destinations emerge as this growth continues, further fuelled by emerging economies across the world. This globalisation of tourist movements makes for an increasingly competitive marketplace within which established destinations need to work harder not only to maintain traditional markets but also to develop new ones. The possibility to develop currently limited markets with potential for expansion is therefore of prime importance. Not surprisingly, given its close proximity to the British Isles and shared European heritage, the mainland of Europe has traditionally been the main source of overseas visitors to the UK. Visitor numbers have increased over the past decade, the majority of whom are from Europe (Leslie et al, 2004). Many factors have contributed to this increased flow of European visitors to Britain, in particular the proliferation of low cost flights which have made it cheaper and easier for the mainland European tourist to visit the British Isles [and vice-versa!]. Europe thus remains the most important source of foreign visitors to the UK and within which area there are markets that are currently underdeveloped, particularly countries such as Spain and Italy, which are `.... key overseas markets where little or no English is spoken.' (Leslie et al, 2004). Furthermore, as a survey, commissioned by the European Commission, found in the recently enlarged EU only: `.... 47% of Europeans claim to speak any English....' and that includes the populations of Ireland and the UK (www.Europa.eu.int 2004); a finding which directly contradicts the: `.... widely held perception [in the UK] that "they all speak English".' (Anon, 2001:4). This is a complacent attitude towards communication with and the needs of foreign nationals which directly influences the service offered to actual and potential visitors from other European countries and brings into question the competitiveness of "Tourism U.K." in the global marketplace. Furthermore, and in a similar vein, Monod argued: `The knowledge not only of languages but also of the culture of different European nations, ...., in short, a knowledge of others, is an absolute must.' (1992:15); a 43 view more recently affirmed by the UK Secretary of State for Education and Employment, emphasising the importance of foreign language learning: `There is no doubt that, despite the dominance of English as a world language, the ability to speak another language – or several languages – is increasingly important in our competitive and global economy.' (Blunkett, 1998:1). Thus, whether within the UK or abroad, skills in a foreign language are invaluable in the delivery of tourism services if the sector is: `.... to achieve a world class workforce to rival other international destinations...' (Watson, 1992:4). In other words, as Van Ek argued: `.... a knowledge of foreign language is an indispensable skill in the modern world.' (cited in Cocoa and Turner, 1997:25). These arguments have since been reinforced, as Graves (2001) noted from discussions with the French and German Ambassadors that they all agreed that foreign languages skills are `The key to a cross-cultural dimension of learning.' Furthermore, that a requisite of international business skills is the ability to communicate in a foreign language and that forging business links with foreign organisations can not be effectively achieved without the ability to understand and partake in the foreign organisation's different cultures and traditions. Views manifest in the designation of 2001 as the European Year of Languages by the Council of Europe; a commemoration of Europe’s linguists which aimed to promote the learning of foreign languages and language skills as well as increasing the awareness of foreign languages and their advantages. As the E.C mission statement for this programme stated: “Learning languages opens doors, and everyone can do it!” (www.europa.eu.int) Significantly, the Council of Europe [2000] outlined the need for foreign languages within the UK thus; - foreign language skills are desired amongst international markets; a large number of businesses demand foreign language skills more so than before; it is well documented that a large proportion of businesses lose contracts due to language and cultural barriers. From the foregoing discussion, and related sources, it is evident that the benefits attributable to FL skills, as illustrated in table 1, are extensive. Table 1: Benefits of Foreign Language competence to businesses * * * * * * * * * * * Whilst employees may have qualifications in foreign languages from school this does not equip them with enough skills to be able to communicate in a business environment and hence the value of study at undergraduate or post graduate levels; Better interpersonal relationships between home base and foreign colleagues; Flexibility e.g. new positions for staff in another country; Better communication with overseas customers / contacts resulting in better understanding of overseas business; enhance/improve customer service; Business clients - including customers - prefer to converse in their mother tongue - in the absence of such abilities companies are at a disadvantage as they can not communicate as efficiently and effectively with foreign markets; Organisations need to have available foreign language skills in order to promote better interrelationships between organisations based in different countries; Potential competitive advantages: for example - the value of knowing cultural variances in protocol; knowledge of the local language and thus greater awareness of culture and cultural norms will be influential - for example, if negotiating contracts; may lose contracts due to language and cultural barriers; Forging business links with foreign organisations will be more effectively achieved if there is an understanding of, and ability to partake in, a foreign organisation's different cultures and traditions; Enhanced image overseas; Strengthens ability not only to maintain external markets but also expand into new markets; Language learning broadens the mind and shrinks the world. and particularly in tourism context: - more effective and efficient communications 44 - more attractive to potential visitors increase potential of foreign visits and thus related expenditure be able to greet clients in their own language In a nutshell:Language learning broadens minds, opens up new horizons and facilitates understanding between people in any situation. Derived from: Schroder, 1981; Freundenstein et al, 1981; Embleton and Hagen 1992; BTA, 1991; Parker, 1992; Woodcock, 1992; Hillage, 1993; Lucas & Perrin, 1994; Taylor, 1996; Hagen, 1998; Leslie et al, 2002; Foreign Language Skills and the visitor/host interface. Over a decade ago the British Tourist Authority (1990, 1991) argued that the key to success in tourism lies not only in the attractions and facilities available but in creating a good relationship between the customer and the service provider. Good relationships cannot be developed without good quality communication between visitor and host, particularly verbal communication which, in tourism, as Devereux argues, has `.... a built-in aspect of coming face to face with a completely different national or regional culture.' (Devereux, 1998:33) Some language in common is a prerequisite for such communication, as Hillage argued: `.... providing a service in the language of the visitor is one way that tourism companies can gain an edge over their competitors.' (Hillage, 1993:1) This demonstrates a willingness to help and visitors appreciate the fact that someone has made the effort to learn their language, whatever their level of fluency. Such an attitude and the correlating development of foreign language skills is very much a part of what Devereux describes as "cross cultural service competence" (1998:33) in the delivery of tourism service. Undoubtedly this will influence visitor perceptions of the overall quality of the service, which does: .... directly influence visitors' future destination selections intentions,...( Cole and Crompton, 2003:77); and also influences visitor spending (Chen and Hsu, 2000). As one hotel manager put it: `Communicating with visitors who have very little knowledge of their host country's language puts them at ease. We have found clients are more likely to book if one speaks their language.' (cited in Leslie et al, 2004). But, as Ducasse argued, `....English people are notoriously poor at languages.' (1992:188) and goes on to say that they just do not see the need of acquiring further linguistic ability yet the rest of Europe have for a long time considered it necessary to learn a foreign language. In effect, competence in a foreign language is viewed as an essential element of success and not as an optional extra as it is in the UK (BTA 1990:22). This was comparatively recently reaffirmed, suggesting scant evidence of progress as a selection of newspaper headlines reveals:* "Europe tells UK: improve teaching of our languages." * "The Ambassadors are right: the British approach to languages is hopeless." * "Hotels fall at the language barrier." * "It's time we started talking their language." * "Take languages more seriously" says German envoy. (Leslie et al, 2004) In light of the foregoing discussion and attributable benefits to FL skills one might expect the study of FL to be an integral element of tourism management programmes, an expectation recognised in the outcome of a survey of delegates at a Tourism and Hospitality Education Conference (Go, 1998:24), which found that approximately 70 per cent of the delegates considered that emphasis should be placed on the development of `foreign language skills' in tourism curricula. This emphasis on FL skills was supported by Lickorish (Richards: 1992:7) and by the EU (Leslie, 1993:107); the latter suggesting that more than one language should be studied to a basic level as opposed to depth in the study of one (Richards, 1995:4). 45 RESEARCHING INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGE SKILLS AND NEEDS In recognising the substantial advocacy of the value of foreign language skills for tourism graduates, tourism enterprises and to a country, and the paucity of attention which they have received, a research project was designed to investigate the provision and opportunities for foreign language study in Tourism Management programmes. The project primarily aimed to investigate students' attitudes and perceptions of foreign language study in undergraduate Tourism Management courses in the UK - in other words, courses that are specifically vocationally orientated to a management career in the tourism sector (Leslie et al, 2002). The findings of this research raised a range of concerns, particularly with regard to attitudes towards foreign language skills in tourism education and led to questions as to whether these were just applicable to the UK. Thus further research into FL studies in tourism programmes, and the attitudes of students, on mainland Europe was undertaken using a methodology closely based on the approach used for the U.K. study, which identified a range of substantive differences between UK and non-UK students. Complementary to this research, a study to establish the views of employers in the UK was undertaken. This involved an extensive postal survey of tourism enterprises and organisations representative of a broad cross section of the tourism sector drawn from throughout the UK. In total 1000 businesses were identified and invited to participate in the study, the primary aims of which were to identify the needs of tourism sector employers as regards foreign language skills and the potential influence of foreign language skills on recruitment and training. It is not the aim here to present in detail the findings of these three projects but rather to highlight key outcomes, predominantly illustrated and enlivened through the use of quotes [presented in italics] from those students and employers who participated in this research. Tourism Management Programmes and FL The review of Tourism Management courses identified that the study of FL in the UK is not mandatory; there being a “50:50” divide between compulsory and optional (Leslie et al, 2002). In contrast, the tourism programmes in mainland Europe included mandatory provision and also optional opportunities, to study foreign languages. These students, in contrast to their UK counterparts, were by far more supportive of mandatory provision within their course programme whilst UK students were divided between the majority who see foreign language skills as essential or very important and a minority who see them merely as possibly useful or even dispensable. Secondly, the continental students may have three years in full language immersion compared with the U.K. wherein students may possibly study one foreign language for just one semester. Furthermore, the continental students supported all aspects of the development of FL skills and are more likely to use such skills than their UK counterparts. UK students may well be increasing their travel abroad but this has been found to be more to north America and Australia/New Zealand [Clare, 2004a] and not to countries with a different language. The contrast between UK and continental Europe students is well illustrated by the following comments drawn from the responses to the question on whether their course should include compulsory language study and provide further and informative insights into their views on the study of foreign languages. UK students:* * * * * It is very arrogant to expect other people to learn English if we in the international tourism industry are not prepared to learn other languages In the tourism industry it is essential for communication People from non-English speaking countries appreciate the effort Foreign languages give an added bonus to the degrees It's better to know a foreign language if wanting to work abroad 46 Non UK students: * * * * * In Tourism Management you should know at least two languages and a optional third language would be good too It is an essential skill - employers strongly require it from graduates Employers are looking for trainee managers that speak at least one foreign language It is very important to speak more than two languages when working in the tourism sector In the tourism industry languages are an essential part. The more languages the better Conversely and only in the case of UK students:* * * * Foreign languages should only be compulsory in the first and second years English is the most important language. I feel if you know English it is not necessary to learn a foreign language Not everyone may want to study a language Foreign language is important but should be a choice Some UK responses attempted to justify avoiding language study altogether: `Shouldn't be compulsory' and `Some people are not gifted in languages and there are jobs in the field that don't require a language.' Evidently the situation in the UK reflects more ambivalent attitudes of commitment and enthusiasm on the one hand, evidenced by awareness of the importance of FL skills for the tourism sector and enjoyment of foreign language learning and apprehension on the other, with concern that the perceived degree of difficulty in language learning might affect overall grades. A view reinforced by the decline in the number of U.K. pupils taking French and German at senior school level (Clare, 2004b); which is partly attributed to selection based on grade performance outcomes. The vocational orientation of these degrees further reinforces the weakness inherent in this situation since a key benefit to the student lies in increasing job opportunities and employment prospects. The importance of these factors should not be understated given that the students rated as ‘most important’ the improvement of their future employment opportunities as a result of the study of foreign languages. Furthermore, "employability" of graduates is a criterion of Quality Assurance procedures for Higher Education in the UK. Of least importance to the students was the study of a language in order to understand the culture of other countries. This rather narrow view, arguably, reflects the increasingly short term and utilitarian orientation of students and more widely the ‘what’s in it for me?’ syndrome increasingly prevalent in society today. Employers in the tourism sector The research into the needs and attitudes of employers towards FL skills in the workplace were found to vary across a range of categories of tourism enterprises and organisations. For example, three quarters of tour operators compared with one third of visitor attractions indicated that their employees are required to speak a foreign language. Variances were also found within any one category, notably so in the case of Tourist Boards; witness the following comments:* * * * Very few of the core staff have any foreign language skills.... overseas markets are not among our key segments In the TIC we do not find it necessary for employees to speak a foreign language We encourage foreign language speakers to use their skill as often as possible It is a pre-requisite for tourist information staff Approximately half of the employers indicated that they require some employees at least to be able to communicate in a foreign language, preferably two; with approximately one in ten 47 indicating it is essential. However, such requirements are not without problems as well illustrated by the following comments:* * * * We would ideally prefer everyone we employ to speak six different languages, but find that language skills are not wide-spread in this country . . . . Due to our geographical location recruiting staff is difficult and languages are favoured but not essential We are fully aware of the desirability of having multilingual staff. However, they do not exist in the numbers required nor at the salary levels we offer We cannot make foreign languages an essential recruitment criteria as we would be limiting ourselves to less than 5% of potential employees Foreign language skills would only be part of the criteria if there was a good response to a position of employment Clearly there is considerable disparity between the language skills which tourism employers would like their employees to have and those which it is realistic to seek. A situation affirmed by the number of employers [approximately 50%] who indicated finding it was difficult to recruit staff with the requisite FL skills and furthermore, who also forecast a shortage of potential recruits with the necessary FL skills. One company indicated they overcome the problem by recruiting foreign nationals. Even so, given this shortage the majority of employers do not offer training opportunities citing reasons such as the small size of the business, cost or seasonality. But, it is not just some businesses which constrain development; to quote one respondent: * It is notoriously difficult to motivate staff to spend a large proportion of their time in language training, either through local college, night school or distance learning A number of organisations did indicate that they do provide opportunities for staff to develop such skills; notably, such opportunities are more likely to be provided by Tour Operators and Tourist Boards. These opportunities are more often orientated to promoting improved skills in a language. Furthermore, it was established that staff who already have such skills progress better in developing additional FL skills; for example, * * Any staff wishing to learn a language or improve skills have fees paid by the company’ Foreign languages need constant nurturing and development. We are keen to invest in formal and informal language training’. Overall, the overwhelming majority of employers prefer to recruit staff with ready made skills. It is thus perhaps surprising that the majority did not advocate FL skill development as an integral part of the curriculum for tourism management programmes. This partly supports Evans's point that: "Employers emphasise practical skills and general transferable skills whereas educators are developing more conceptual and tourism-specific materials." (2001:106) Such views were reflected by a number of respondents: * * * People skills are more important than language skills Ability to deal with or help people is important Personality and various other communication and organising skills would be more important. Such skills are undoubtedly very important but all the more valuable if complemented by FL skills! If the customer cannot understand the employees, and vice-versa, then the effectiveness of their people skills will be greatly reduced, as will their ability to deal with the situation or help the customer. In essence, these findings are encapsulated in the following contrary views: * It is vital that anyone seriously considering a career in Scottish tourism arm themselves with a good working knowledge of at least one major European language 48 * * The foreign language situation in Northern Ireland is at best embarrassing and at worst an obstacle for sustainable tourism in the country Not all people in the tourism industry have contact with tourists To an extent, this dichotomy arises due to the difference in functions performed by their respective employees. Tour operators carry out a more complex role vis à vis the visitor for which a corresponding level of foreign language competence is essential. At a visitor centre, however, it is possible for staff to hide behind a smile and an information board, serve coffee and sell a souvenir without engaging in conversation. This masks the fact that the experience of the foreign visitor could have been greatly enhanced by being able to ask questions and converse with the visitor attraction staff – and sales in the restaurant and shop would probably have been enhanced too! CONCLUSION The question posed at the start of this paper was: Is Tourism Higher Education meeting vocational needs of today let alone tomorrow? The vocational needs we have focused on are those of FL skills commencing with discussion of the value of such skills in the tourism sector which established the following key points. * * * The added value that skills in foreign languages bring to business in general and arguably more so to the tourism sector. The importance, and the role within of FL skills, of communications per se - the first contact invariably influences the customer experience - particularly in promotional campaigns and at the host/guest interface. The comparative paucity of attention to the value of and need for FL skills in the tourism sector. Subsequent development of this theme drawing on the outcomes of research into the position of FL studies in Tourism Management programmes and the attitudes of students, both in the UK and continental Europe, established that the majority of U.K. students, and all continental students, recognised the value of having FL skills and particularly so in terms of increasing their employment prospects; an outcome which correlates with the view of the majority of the employers; as illustrated in Table 2. Table 2: The Need for Foreign Language Skills Reasons cited by students Reasons cited by Employers It is an extra asset Always an extra advantage. Proves to the employer that the student has a genuine interest in tourism. A language education is often indicative of an organised individual with a good eye for detail and presentation. Helps communication with foreign visitors. Fluency in a foreign language often translates into fluency in English. It is a requirement by some companies. More job opportunities. However, research also established that whilst FL study is an integral element of Tourism Programmes in continenetal Europe this is not the case in the U.K. wherein approximately 50% of the programmes do not require study of FL. This comparative failing to recognise the value of these skills in UK tourism degrees is an inherent weakness, especially given their vocational nature and the importance attached to FL skills by employers. This key factor has received little 49 attention, which is all the more significant in the light of the current accent in the U.K. on higher education to address the employability skills of students. Quite why this is the case is beyond the understanding of the researchers involved in these studies and especially so in the case of those institutions which have subsequently dropped mandatory FL study from their programme. Certainly there are influential factors such as resources, costs and also student recruitment, perceived level of comparative academic difficulty and retention issues. All of which will play a part. A further contributory factor is the reported view of the "National Liaison Group" for Tourism Education: `The case for compulsory foreign languages within tourism core curriculum was examined, but delegates supported this only for those programmes clearly identified as being international in scope...' (Holloway, 1995:3) Evidently, this lack of emphasis on the need for FL skills has continued and in some tourism management programmes further diluted. In contrast the research found that an overwhelming majority of both students and tourism employers were of the opinion that foreign languages should be an essential component of a Tourism Management degree; an outcome similar to Davies's (1999). However, the outcomes of the study into employer's needs portray an attitude to the need for FL skills on the part of many UK tourism employers where denial and excuse making often prevail; for example:- ‘All foreign guests can speak English’ or we do ‘not have many foreign guests’ or that ‘foreign clients wish to practice their English’. A tourism enterprise or organisation which can claim that it does not have many foreign customers raises the question as to why this is so and hints at significant areas of missed and/or lost opportunities - for example, new markets and repeat visitors. Comments, as illustrated above, are used to justify what could well be described as the ostrich factor. ‘We are beginning to see the necessity for being able to communicate with our overseas visitors more effectively, but still remain head-in-sand unfortunately’ as one Heritage Centre Manager put it. Employers' attitudes which lead to speculation that a lack of the provision of FL skills may have contributed to a corresponding lack of growth in non English speaking markets and generated a correspondingly pessimistic outlook for the future. It may well be seen as helpful to give foreign clients the opportunity to practice their English if they wish, but many are forced to attempt to do so because they have no choice! This is arguably the case for many potential and actual visitors from continental Europe wherein millions of people do not speak English. It is inescapable that if foreign language skills were more prevalent in the UK tourism sector more non-English speaking visitors may come. As one hotel manager in Scotland expressed it: The UK as a whole has such poor level of foreign language skills . . . . very few tourists who do not speak English are brave enough to venture over here. The foregoing attitudes of denial are in stark contrast to that of many fellow tourism employers who have taken on board the need for their employees to offer foreign language skills, even though they may be unable to recruit sufficient staff who possess them. The evident shortage echoes Swarbrooke's statement, a decade ago, that: Many students at UK colleges are still not developing the language skills that will allow them to function effectively as managers in an industry which is by definition, international.(1994:22) Overall, it emerges that the Government, national and regional tourist organisations and tourism enterprises are not promoting and seeking these skills yet the benefits attributed to foreign language capabilities are extensive. This weakness is further reinforced by tourism higher education which gives too little attention to the importance and development of foreign language skills. The ongoing myopia to address this need, and the needs of employers, will become more significant in time as the U.K. gradually loses market share to other destinations more attentive to the needs of potential source markets. In total, the lack of recognition of these benefits, it is argued, goes some way to explaining why mainland markets of Europe are under exploited due to a failing in tourism promotion and service delivery to recognise the value of FL skills amongst employees. This is placing `Tourism U.K.' at an overall disadvantage at a time when the marketplace is all the more competitive. The effects of failure to recognise the value of these skills and their lack of development in education in the U.K. will be manifest in those channels of distribution which aim to reach foreign markets, notably in other European countries and will be exacerbated by communication difficulties between potential and actual customers and the service providers. There is little room in today's competitive environment for poor attention to customer service. The quest is for excellence in all areas. Quintessentially this will not be 50 achieved until the value of FL skills is recognised as an integral element of all Tourism Management programmes. REFERENCES Anon (2001) News from Europe. UK Newsletter of the European Year of Languages. CILT, Issue 5. May, London, 2001 p4. Blunkett, D (1998) Foreword. Modern Foreign Languages. A response by the Department of Education and Employment to the final report and recommendations of the Nuffield Languages Inquiry. Department of Education and Employment. London 1998. p.1 BTA (1990) Lost for Words: Language Skills in the British Tourism Industry, British Tourist Authority, London, BTA (1991) Winning Words: Foreign Language Initiatives in the Tourism Industry, Career Concepts, Report for the British Tourist Authority, London, Chen, J.S. and Hsu, C.H.U. (2000) Measurement of Korean Tourists' Perceived images of overseas destinations. Journal of Travel Research, 38, 411-416 Clare, J. (2004a) Students opt for easy life abroad. London, The Daily Telegraph. 7 August p2. Clare, J. (2004b) A-level pass rate continues to rise and hits a new record of 98pc. London, The Daily Telegraph 19 August, p1 Cocoa, M. and Turner, K. (eds) (1997) Needs and expectations of ab initio learners of Spanish in British Universities’. Vida Hispanica – The Journal for Teachers and Learners, 15, 23–26. Devereux. C. (1998) More than `Have a Nice Day': cross cultural service competence and the Tourist industry. in Richards, G. (ed) Developments in the European Tourism Curriculum. ATLAS, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Ducasse, M. (1992) English People – Poor at Languages? Training Journal, 1992. p188. Embleton, D. & Hagen, S. (1992) `Languages in International Business: A practical guide` Hodder & Stoughton, London Evans, N. (2001) Tourism Higher Education Revisited: A Business Management Based Framework, in Robinson, M. Evans, N. Long ,P. Sharpley & Swarbrooke, J (eds) Management, Marketing and the Political Economy of Travel and Tourism. University of Northumbria, Newcastle Freundenstein, R., Beneke, J. and Pönisch, H. (1981) Language in Corporations: Teaching Foreign Languages in Industry Pergamon Press, Oxford Go. F. (1998) Globalization and Emerging Tourism Education Issues. University of Westminster, London, January. Graves, D. (2001) The British Need to be Multilingual, say envoys. Glasgow, The Daily Record, 16 February. Hagen, S. (1988) Languages in British Business: An analysis of current need` Newcastle Upon Tyne Polytechnic Products Ltd. Newcastle Hillage, J. (1993) Foreign Language provision in the UK Tourism Industry. Insights, English Tourist Board, pp 1–10. Holloway, C. (1995) Towards a Core Curriculum for Tourism: A Discussion paper. NLG, London. The Tourism Society. Leslie, D. (1993) Higher Education for Hospitality and Tourism: A European Dimension. International Journal of Hospitality Management 12(1),107–110. Leslie, D. (1995) Education and Training Needs: Survey of Members of Institute of Travel and Tourism, Glasgow Caledonian University/Institute of Travel and Tourism Leslie, D., Russell, H. & Forbes, A. (2002) Foreign Language Skills and Tourism Management Courses in the UK. Journal of Industry and Higher Education 16(6), 403-414 Leslie, D, Russell, H. & Govan, P. (2004) Foreign language skills and the needs of the UK tourism sector. Journal of Industry and Higher Education 18(4), 255-267 Lucas, R. & Perrin, A. (1994) The Importance of Languages to Foreign Tourism: a comparative study of Britain and France, with particular reference to hotels in Seaton, A. V. (ed) Tourism: the State of the Art. pp606-615 51 Monod (1992) cited in Embleton, D & Hagen, S. (1992) Languages in International Business: A practical guide Hodder & Stoughton, London Parker (1992) cited in Embleton, D & Hagen, S. (1992) Languages in International Business: A practical guide Hodder & Stoughton, London Richards, G. (ed) (1992) What are we teaching tomorrow's professionals. Proceedings of a Tourism Society conference. London. The Tourism Society, May Richards, G. (ed) (1995) European Tourism and Leisure Education: Trends and Prospects’, Tilburg University Press, Tilburg, 1995. Russell, H. & Leslie, D. (2002) Foreign Language Skills for Tourism in the UK. Presentation at "Changing Perspectives in Language Research", Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, (SCILT) Conference. June Russell, H. & Leslie, D. (2004) Foreign Languages and the Health of UK Tourism. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 16(2),136-138 Schröder (1981) cited in Freundenstein, R. Beneke, J. and Pönisch, H. (1981) `Language in Corporations: Teaching Foreign Languages in Industry` Pergamon Press, Oxford. Swarbrooke, J. (1994) `The Future Of Tourism Education`. Insights. English Tourist Board. p2128 Taylor (1996) cited in Freundenstein, R. Beneke, J. and Pönisch, H. (1981) Language in Corporations: Teaching Foreign Languages in Industry Pergamon Press, Oxford. Tain-Cole, S. and Crompton, J.L. (2003) A conceptualisation of the relationships between service quality and visitor satisfaction, and their links to destination selection. Leisure Studies 22, 65-80 Watson, J. (1992) Developing Tourism Managers Insights, English Tourist Board, London, September, p3 Woodcock, C. (1992) In Any Language the Art of Communication is Crucial. London, The Guardian, 27 February. 52 EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SKILLS AND PART TIME WORK OF INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY. Emma Martin Centre for International Hospitality Management Research Sheffield Hallam University e.martin@shu.ac.uk Scott McCabe Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change, Sheffield Hallam University s.mccabe@shu.ac.uk ABSTRACT Increasingly, students enrolled at UK universities are turning to part time paid employment to help fund them through their studies. This is often thought of as a win-win situation, where employers benefit from a flexible, cheap and intelligent pool of labour, and students are able to reduce the level of financial hardship incurred during their studies. A number of recent studies have sought to: understand the nature of the employment relationship (Curtis and Lucas: 2001); assess the strategic logic behind companies choice of hiring part time student workers in the hospitality industry (Lucas and Ralston: 1996); and within Sheffield Hallam University, to report on the employment patterns and effects of employment on Masters’ students study patterns (Martin: 2003). However, despite the Dearing report into higher Education in the UK pointing out the need to process students work experiences into the curriculum (Harvey et al: 1998), there is little known about the nature of students part time work experiences in relation to skills acquisition and future employability. Similarly, there is a need to understand the possible relationships that exist in the skills attained and/or developed in the workplace compared to those attained through students curriculum, to work out how better to match industry skill requirements to the higher education curricula. This problem becomes exacerbated when the example is chosen of Masters degree programmes, where increasingly a large majority of students are from overseas backgrounds, and perhaps are forced to take employment in very low skilled positions (for a variety of reasons). In this paper we present results of a survey of international tourism and hospitality management students to explore their opinions of the range of skills developed through their part time work and the relationship of these skills to those built into their curriculum and their future career aspirations. Key words: part-time work, skills, postgraduates, employability Increasingly, students enrolled at UK universities are turning to part time paid employment to help fund them through their studies. This is often thought of as a win-win situation, where employers benefit from a flexible, cheap and intelligent pool of labour, and students are able to reduce the level of financial hardship incurred during their studies. A number of recent studies have sought to: understand the nature of the employment relationship (Curtis and Lucas: 2001); assess the strategic logic behind companies choice of hiring part time student workers in the hospitality industry (Lucas and Ralston: 1996); and within Sheffield Hallam University, to report on the employment patterns and effects of employment on Masters’ students study patterns (Martin: 2003). However, despite the Dearing report into higher Education in the UK pointing out the need to process students work experiences into the curriculum (Harvey et al: 1998), there is little known about the nature of students part time work experiences in relation to skills acquisition and future employability. Similarly, there is a need to understand the possible relationships that exist in the skills attained and/or developed in the workplace compared to those attained through students curriculum, to work out how better to match industry skill requirements to the higher education curricula. This problem becomes exacerbated when the example is chosen of Masters degree programmes, where increasingly a large majority of students are from overseas backgrounds, and perhaps are forced to take employment in very low skilled positions (for a variety of reasons). In this paper we present results of a survey of international tourism and hospitality management students to explore their 53 opinions of the range of skills developed through their part time work and the relationship of these skills to those built into their curriculum and their future career aspirations. Keyword: Part-time work, skills, postgraduates, employability Introduction. Increasingly, students enrolled at UK universities are turning to part time paid employment to help fund them through their studies. This is often thought of as a win-win situation, where employers benefit from a flexible, cheap and intelligent pool of labour, and students are able to work to help finance their studies. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the majority of the part time jobs available to students are broadly classifiable as within the service sector, including the hotels, hospitality and catering, other (i.e. fast) food and beverage outlets, retailing, and in the summer months tourism and visitor attractions, sporting venues and leisure events. The seasonal fluctuations of many businesses within the sport, leisure, tourism and hospitality and events sector would appear to make the sector ripe for part time student employment opportunities. There are in many cases the added benefits which such employment opportunities confer on young people such as the opportunity to socialise and obtain discounts to leisure and entertainment events or travel opportunities. A number of recent studies have sought to: understand the nature of the employment relationship (Curtis and Lucas: 2001); assess the strategic logic behind companies choice of hiring part time student workers in the hospitality industry (Lucas and Ralston: 1996); and within Sheffield Hallam University internal reports on the employment patterns and effects of employment on Masters’ students study patterns (Martin: 2003). However, despite the Dearing report into higher Education in the UK pointing out the need to process students work experiences into the curriculum (Harvey et al: 1998), there is little known about the nature of students part time work experiences in relation to skills acquisition. Similarly, there is a need to understand the possible relationships that exist in the skills attained and/or developed in the workplace compared to those attained through students curriculum in order to understand how better to match industry skill requirements to the higher education curriculum. The skills issue becomes problematic in the case of Masters degree programmes, whose intakes are increasingly a majority from overseas, and therefore the range and levels of skills vary greatly. Little is known of their expectations of skills acquisition or of their experiences of part time employment during their study in the UK. There are a number of reasons which might explain this lack of knowledge. International students may be reticent to discuss their working patterns and relationships with tutor or academic researchers if they are worried about their visa rights and obligations or their situation with regards to taxation. Language and cultural barriers might also prevent some groups of overseas students from talking about their employment circumstances and situations within the academic and/or pastoral context. A number of possible propositions could be identified: perhaps overseas students are forced to take employment in very low skilled positions (for a variety of reasons including language barriers). In this situation we might hypothesise that the skills developed through their curricula do not match in any way, those utilised in their working environment. The need to take up part time work might be driven by simple economic necessity – in that students seek to part-finance their studies through work and therefore the nature of the work might be incidental to the types of career management and development skills they aim to develop during their course of study. Thirdly, there is a need to understand the impact of part time work experiences on student’s perceptions of the work/business environment in the UK and how these perceptions are incorporated into their general knowledge of UK culture, business environment as well as a need to understand how important are these impressions and experiences in shaping and determining student’s future career pathways. This paper seeks to research the experiences of students undertaking part time work in the UK to address the following research aims: 54 1. Determine the incidence of part time work amongst the target group, the nature of the work undertaken and the amount of hours spent working. What types of work do the target group do, how often do they spend at work, how much do they earn, what proportions of the target group undertake part time work? 2. Analyse the skills attained through work and ascertain whether/to what extent these skills relate to their curriculum. Do the target group learn different skills in the two spheres of their lives? 3. Assess how students work experiences relate to their future careers, the benefits gained through work, and the problems that exist for the target group. What do the target group learn from their work experiences in the UK, and how does this relate to their future working lives? In order to undertake this research a group of MSc students enrolled onto an International Hospitality and Tourism Management programme at Sheffield Hallam University were offered this topic as part of a simulated consultancy project module. One group of students took on the project and were responsible for the design and implementation and analysis of the research project under guidance from the tutor authors of this paper. The project module was initiated in February 2004 and the research was undertaken during the Easter break in 2004. The group completed their report in April 2004 and the data collected has been re-analysed and is presented here. However the first section details an evaluation of the available literature in this field of research. The paid work/study relationship Despite the fact that employment-related skills are deeply important in the design of curricula in hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism field, there appears to be little research available which addresses the employability skills developed by postgraduate students either during their course or in their extramural activities. With an increased focus on employability and career opportunities after education in recent years the relationship between work experience and undergraduate study has been developed. Reports such as The Dearing report (1997) highlighted the importance of key skills in the areas of communication, numeracy, Information Technology and learning techniques which was reinforced by Harvey et al, (1997) who identified that: “The need for developing a range of personal and intellectual attributes beyond specific expertise in a disciplinary field is becoming increasingly important and is likely to be more pressing in the working world of the 21st Century” (1997: 5). This research showed that employers require adaptive and flexible recruits who can rapidly integrate in the company and exhibit a range of interpersonal and social skills alongside their educational attainments. Perhaps due to the youthfulness of the subject area, curricula have emphasised the development of employability skills in their programmes and QAA benchmark guidelines for these skills feature prominently. However, research in the area of hospitality and tourism has tended to focus either on the needs of industry: discussing whether the employers approach to the recruitment of student labour is a strategic decision or a pragmatic response as employers are aware of student’s flexibility, needs and availability for work (such as Lucas and Ralston: 1996, and Head and Lucas: 2003); or on the identification of employers and students needs along with the advantages and disadvantages for both parties in these type of working arrangements (e.g. Curtis and Lucas: 1999). Interestingly these articles highlight that the demand for part time student labour comes from the students themselves, not necessarily the employers and as higher education becomes even more expensive in the UK this demand is not set to abate. 55 The changing nature of skills. Alongside the lack of understanding of the skills developed by students through part time work during their study is a wider debate on the changing nature of skills in the 21st century. In the context of the tourism and hospitality industry, these skills debates are particularly important. Grugulis et al ( 2004) identify the changing nature of skills thus: “One of the fundamental changes that has taken place in the last two decades has been the growing tendency to label what in earlier times would have been seen by most as personal characteristics, attitudes, character traits or predispositions as skills” (2004: 6) This was also the findings of recent research into the skills required by the hospitality industry. Warhurst et al (2004) noted that corporate image and brand are of increasing importance and that employers are increasingly placing an emphasis on a wholly different range and types of skill required from their employees. Studying the Glasgow hospitality industry their research highlighted that: • • • 83% of employers attached some importance to employees dress sense/style 78% of employers attached some importance to employees to voice/accent 70% of employers attached some importance to employees to physical looks. These ‘soft’ skills, with an emphasis on the social and aesthetic, were seen as the most important to employers. With the interaction between staff and customers as an essential aspect of the product offering, the skills employers require are changing and whilst technical skills can be taught, the ‘right kind of attitude and appearance’ are skills which are less easy to ‘manipulate’ or embed within a higher degree curriculum. While the emphasis so far here has been on the employers and the recruitment of skilled workers, within the higher education academy there is a need to address how these ‘soft skills’ or generic skills related to employability fit into programmes. Perhaps these skills are best learnt through the experience of seeking, obtaining and utilizing part time or full time employment and not to be incorporated into the curriculum at all? A great deal is still to be learnt in this area, for instance, how academic courses link into these workplace learned skills is important especially as not all students take a period of intense work placement. Utilising and reflecting on part time work experience or summer jobs has been suggested, and indeed proved beneficial in some areas for undergraduate students (see for example Davies: 2000), and indeed in relation to postgraduate students where most Hospitality and Tourism students are international and have little opportunity for full time work, this seems the best arena to explore. The above studies have been useful in identifying questions and aspects to focus on for this project and similarly, a study on the MSc students employment and study patterns which had been commissioned by the Faculty of Organisation and Management at Sheffield Hallam University (Martin 2004; 2005) proved valuable in identifying a number of key issues and questions. Method. Using the project brief and the available literature a survey was devised which consisted of questions to identify: the incidence of part time work amongst the respondent group; the nature of the work undertaken and the length of time spent in paid work; the study also sought to ascertain how students found out about available jobs and which method was most useful in helping them find appropriate work. The questionnaire then sought to identify which skills respondents perceived they attained during the course of their work experience and the relationship between them and the skills embedded in their curricula. Finally the survey asked the respondents about the benefits and disadvantages they encountered in their part time working experience in relation to their course experience. 56 Research design. The questionnaire consisted of both closed and open response questions (a sample of the finalised survey is included as appendix 1). A number of working hypotheses were developed in a focus group style discussion between the project tutors and the student working group. These hypotheses were as follows: 1. A majority of part time jobs are hospitality and service sector related 2. The general purposes of taking a part time job would be to earn money to contribute towards living costs whilst in the UK, to develop working experience in an international context, to increase interpersonal and English language skills. 3. Skills developed in work do not relate to skills developed in the course. 4. Paid employment impacts negatively on student’s study and module grades. 5. Students who have work experience are less likely to take part time jobs in the UK. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. The experience and opinions of EU students will be different from ‘overseas’ students. Considerable numbers of students have more than one part time job. Students change jobs for better salary/chance to attain better skills. Opinions of working students are different to those without part time jobs. Working students spend less time on study than non-working students. The survey consisted of 26 questions in three parts: standard questions for all respondents; questions for those with part time jobs and; questions for those without part time jobs. The standard questions included aspects of the respondent’s personal backgrounds including mode of study, course title, nationality and gender. The second part consisted of questions related to the part time jobs such as type of organisation, length of service, job title, wage rate, benefits and drawbacks of working in a part time job. The final section focused on attitudes towards skills and study which was completed by all respondents, not only those in part time jobs. Research implementation and sample issues. Due to the timing of the module and the organisation of the consultancy project, the survey was not ready to be administered until the Easter break in 2004. The students were then forced to widen their search for students to complete the survey and chose to distribute the questionnaire both electronically as well as undertaking face to face delivery and by telephone survey methods. Students enrolled on Masters programmes at Sheffield University were also sought to ensure a decent response rate. At the end of the period allocated for data collection, the group had a total of 91 completed and usable surveys returned. Of these 91, 31 were completed by students as they worked in the SHU Learning Centre, 25 were completed by SHU students enrolled on MSc programmes in hospitality, Leisure and Tourism courses, 9 were completed by students at Sheffield University and a further 14 from students enrolled at other universities in the UK outside of Sheffield, 5 digital surveys were returned, and the remaining completed returns were conducted by face to face interviewing within SHU. Although the sample size was fairly small and the sampling technique based on a convenience type of sampling approach, the survey yielded some valuable and relevant data which has provided the researchers with some key issues which can be addressed through further and more systematic research at a later date. Basic findings. { { { { 81 out of the 91 were full time students, the remaining 10 were part time students. 73% were students at Sheffield Hallam University 37 students were enrolled on courses related to the Hospitality sector. Over 50% of the sample was aged between 21-25 years. 57 { { Equal numbers of respondents were men/women 52 out of 91 were from mainland China, with a further 15 from Taiwan, 5 from the UK, 3 from EU countries, and 16 from other countries. { 62 out of 91 have had or were currently working part time. { Of these 62, 24 were working in hospitality related jobs, with 38 in non-hospitality work. { { { { 25% of the 62 held more than one part time job, meaning that a total of 87 jobs were held by the 62 working respondents. 36 out of 62 worked between 11 and 20 hours per week however a further 12 worked between 6 and 10 hours per week, with much smaller numbers of people working above 20 hours per week. It must be noted that in accordance with UK visa regulations overseas full time students are not entitled to work over 20 hours per week. Average rates of pay were quite disappointing with over half of those working earning between £4.85 and £5.30 per hour. (During this period the UK national minimum wage was £4.85 for those aged 22 and over.) 55% (i.e. 48 out of a total of 87 jobs held by the cohort) were broadly classifiable as being within the hospitality and tourism sector with 24% (21 jobs out of a total of 87 jobs) of those jobs in the fast food restaurant sector and a similar amount in bars, pubs and cafes. This does support the hypothesis that the majority of work found or available or most suitable to students interviewed. A series of questions were posed asking student respondents to rate their reasons for taking a part time job Answer where 1=no importa To what extent do the following statements match important reasons for taking a part time job? to earn money to contribute to living costs earn money to contribute to course fee costs earn money to have a social life 5 28 7 8 4 12 7 22 personal development related to the course personal development not related to the course adding to my experiences of life in the UK meeting new friends killing time 5 9 9 8 1 5 9 9 8 1 The key response from this question was that only “earn money to contribute to living costs” scored really highly with over 45% (out of a total of 61) ticking very important (5). Also ranking quite high was “earn money for a social life” where 38% of a total of 57 rated as important the need for part time work to contribute to social activities during their study. All other issues were not seen as important to students, and yet clearly other benefits were gained. Exploring FT Postgraduate student’s part time work experience: The first interesting point to note about the data is the demographic and experiential backgrounds of the sample. 81 were full time students aged 21 to 35 years of whom 63% were under 25. However, 55% of the sample had never held a full time job. This perhaps represents a continuing trend amongst the core international markets as well as home markets for Master’s level courses from HEI’s in the UK, whereby students are opting to continue on with higher education before embarking on their long term career choices. The convention in UK HEIs used 58 to be that higher degree programmes were often the choice for professionals who chose a higher course as part of a career development programme or for those who sought to retrain into another professional route. Even in recent years, the emphasis has been to expect that a significant amount of Masters programme students would have some full time professional work experience, however, it seems that these certainties cannot be relied upon. This may impact upon the types and nature of career development/employability skills that are incorporated into the design of higher education programmes in hospitality and tourism management subjects. Of those in the sample who had held FT positions the length of service ranged from 1 to 12 years with the average being 2 years (47% male 53% female). It would be wrong to interpret these results as showing that the majority of students enrolled onto Masters programmes do not have any work experience at all. Many students do demonstrate that they have much extra-curricula and work experience in temporary or part time positions. However, the type and nature of the work experience gained could be significantly different than would have been expectable previously. There is similarly a need to reconcile and understand the differences in skills needs between those students with work experience and those without substantial work experience as course expectations may vary significantly. A total of 32% of the sample were not working part time. These respondents were spread equally between those who have held FT jobs before coming onto their course and those who did not (though it must be noted that a quarter of these indicated they are currently looking for PT work). Of the 68% currently in part time work, the most popular job is front line hospitality work (bars, fast food, hotels/restaurants). What is not clear from the responses and which could be emphasised in future studies are the underlying causes for this high proportion. For example, it is not known whether students actually made a positive choice for hospitality work because the working patterns, type and nature of work would best ‘fit’ in with their study programme, or whether these types of jobs were the most prevalent at the time, or these types of jobs were easiest for the students to get. A further interesting aspect for future research would entail a focus on whether cultural background is a less or more important factor in this industry sector. For those students who had previous FT work experience these positions were of lower responsibility (examples of past work experience cited by the respondents included: teachers; tour guides; finance officers; banking; hotel management level positions). It is interesting to note that the attitudes towards the skills developed through the part time work experience is inversely proportional according to the type of course studied. Those students who were enrolled on hospitality and tourism management programmes felt that their work experiences in the UK impacted positively on their skills development, whereas those students not enrolled on hospitality and tourism management programmes felt that they did not gain any skills which were relevant to their studies. This was in spite of the fact that when asked to rate the importance of a number of possible benefits derived from their work experience the most important – in order were: 1) Language skills, 2) Interpersonal Skills, 3) Job related skills, 4) Self confidence, 5) skills related to your course. Therefore even though students identified that their work experience developed many transferable and important skills, they could not see the direct benefit that the development of these skills would have upon their study programmes. A further question asked about the existence and level of training provided within the workplace. Only 55% of working students underwent some form of training. Of those, the most popular form of training related to job roles and responsibilities along with using equipment correctly, within an induction training type capacity. However 80% of those who underwent some form of training said the training contributed positively to their skill set – this figure included both those who had no previous work experience and those who had worked FT before. In terms of the technical aspects of their part time work experiences, the average length of PT service is 3 to 6 months in one job working an average of 16 to 20 per week and pay around 59 the £5 per hour mark. As previously discussed the main reason cited was to earn money to contribute towards living costs and also importantly to contribute towards social activities. However, also considered an important factor is that the part time work experience is seen to add value to the whole experience of life in the UK and enables students to make new friends. This important wider social role in the part time work experience is something that cannot be easily replicated within the programme/course structure in today’s competitive and highly pressured educational environment. In terms of the impact of the work on their studies, 37% felt PT work impacted negatively on their studies – the main reasons for this where a) Too tired to study b) Hours for self study reduced c) Work impacted on mood to study Not including lectures and Seminars this group of students studied an average of 17 hours per week. Interestingly those students who did not hold a PT job studied 18 hours on average a week outside of lectures and seminars. This finding is backed up by previous studies undertaken within SHU over the last two years. One interpretation of this data could be that students who undertake part time work during there course also develop better time management and self management skills but that these skills are not made explicit by them as recognisable and beneficial skills. One interesting future research possibility would be to try to correlate the student’s achievement and progression statistics with students part time work experiences. It is not at all clear that there is a simple correlation between higher fail and/or withdrawal rates and a student’s part time work experience indeed it could be hypothesised that the opposite might be more apparent. Concluding comments This study aimed to explore the incidence of paid employment amongst students engaged in Master’s degree studies in the UK. Although a number of criticisms could be raised about the validity of the results and the interpretability of the evidence, this study did highlight a number of important issues which could be developed into a broader and more systematic enquiry into this aspect of student’s extra-mural experiences in the UK. A number of issues have been identified. Although we did not find out whether students felt ‘forced’ to take largely hospitalitybased jobs due to lack of other alternatives or because these type of jobs integrated better into their study commitments. What we did uncover was that all students developed key transferable skills through their work experiences, they valued those skills developed and particularly for hospitality and tourism students, the skills were relevant to their studies. This provides us with the opportunity to explore what types of skills complement those deployed and developed in our programmes and courses and affords us an opportunity to review skills development and professional development within a part time work environment during study in the UK as potentially mutually reinforcing. Further, it was identified that the benefits of undertaking part time work experience included transferable skills which might impact positively on student’s academic performance through language skills development, interpersonal skills and communication skills, time management and confidence building. Some of the ‘softer skills’ identified as being important new areas of skills earlier on in the paper seem to have been developed through students experiences of part time work. There was evidence within the data that students did not work all the way through their study programme but worked during part of the course and then actively chose to stop working to concentrate on studies, showing active planning and time management skills. This was further highlighted by the discovery that the students working part time studied no less than those not working. The ways in which these skills can be made more explicit within the skills development portfolio and how these skills can be linked to lifelong learning is an area in which as course developers we might concentrate on in future. A further issue is raised here in relation to study hours. The research highlights a study expectations gap between the academy and learners on master programmes. A second issue raised was the level of prior work experience achieved by the sample. We feel this to be diminishing as – largely overseas – students seek to continue on their education immediately following on from their undergraduate programmes and this might impact upon the 60 types and levels of skills development deployed within the current higher degree programme structures. A further issue raised was the important financial contribution made to the UK higher education experience afforded by the opportunity to work part time. Without this financial opportunity, many student’s experiences of life in the UK would be different and although many students felt that the part time job impacted negatively on their ability and time to study, overall it was felt to be a valuable part of the entire study abroad experience References. Curtis, S. and Lucas, R. (2001) A coincidence of needs? Employers and full time students, Employee Relations, 23(1), 38-54 Davies, L. (2000) Why kick the “L” out of “Learning”? The development of students’ employability skills through part time working Education and Training, 42(8), 436-444. Dearing, R (1997) Report of National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, DfEE, London. Grugulis, I. Warhurst, C and Keep, E. (2004) What's happening to skill? in Warhurst, C. Keep, E and Grugulis, I (eds) (2004) The skills that matter. Palgrave, pp 288-314. Harvey, L. Moon, S. and Geall, V. (1997), Graduates Work: Organisational Change and Students Attributes, Centre for Research into Quality, Birmingham. Lucas, R. and Ralston, L. (1996) Part time student labour: strategic choice or pragmatic response? International Journal for Contemporary Hospitality Management, 8(2), 21-24. Warhurst, C., Nickson, D. and Dutton, E. (2004) What every employer wants? Skills, attitudes and appearance in Glasgow service jobs, Scottish Centre for Employment Research. 61 AN ANALYSIS OF FIRST YEAR TOURISM STUDENTS’ GROUP WORK BEHAVIOUR Nicole Mitsche Nicole.mitsche@sunderland.ac.uk Tourism, School of Arts, Design, Media and Culture University of Sunderland Dan Knox Dan.knox@sunderland.ac.uk Tourism, School of Arts, Design, Media and Culture University of Sunderland , ABSTRACT Group work and communication skills are essential in the tourism sector throughout the whole work process. This is reflected in many group exercises tourism students are facing during their study at the University, where they work together - collecting, analysing and presenting information. But the working together is regularly affected by troubles, which are mainly related to insufficient and irregular communication. These problems can effect the actual assignments. “Simply putting students in groups to work on assignments is not a sufficient condition for achieving the benefits of group works” (Oakley et al 2004). Therefore guidance to develop such skills needs to be given at the beginning in an effective and lasting way for their future progress. This paper examines the students’ behaviour during a guided group work, taken place within one general skill module in their first year at the university. The students were given a presentation task which they had to prepare within 3 months. Additionally they were given some guidance on group work, and the compulsory use of meeting minutes and a personal diary. The final assessment was based on the presentation quality, partly including their group work as well. The data used in the analysis consist of the students’ meeting time tables, their meeting minutes, their personal diaries and a variety of evaluation forms, where they evaluated group behaviour besides group members and their own input. The analysis results are set in relationship to their output and marks. Additional material collected during the class is also considered. Conclusions are drawn for possible guidance strategies for further group work. Key words: group work skills, communication skills, analysis of group work behaviour. INTRODUCTION Group work and communication skills are essential in the tourism sector throughout the whole work process. This is reflected in many group exercises tourism students are facing during their study at the University, where they work together - collecting, analysing and presenting information. But the working together is regularly affected by troubles, which are mainly related to insufficient and irregular communication. These problems can effect the actual assignments. “Simply putting students in groups to work on assignments is not a sufficient condition for achieving the benefits of group works” (Oakley et al 2004). Therefore guidance to develop such skills needs to be given at the beginning in an effective and lasting way for their future progress. The perspective teaching group work and presentation skills as part of a level 1 module “Working with Tourism Information and PDP” offered a welcomed opportunity to investigate this further, as well as coming up with possible and easy to implement solutions for the tourism team in their general teaching. The general question in the background at the beginning of this research was to investigate what effects group work skills had on the outcome of the group project, and a key aim to evaluate an improvement of students’ group work skills. Out of this question and the aim to lower group works conflicts for the future, the following study was developed which focused on group work skills and re-occurring group problems. The literature review gives an overview of related topics and illustrates that, although, peer assessment in group work is widely 62 researched, research into how teaching group skills affects group work is a gap in the Learning and Teaching literature. LITERATURE REVIEW “You are not born with group skills, nor do they magically appear when you need them. You have to learn them.” (Johnson & Johnson 1987 in: Connery and Vohs 2005). The most basic principle behind successful group work is communication. Good groups communicate with each other, they are supportive, they share understandings and commitment to common aims, and they share ideas by asserting their own ideas without ignoring or insulting those of others (Connery and Vohs 2005). Group work skills are important for a variety of reasons, but predominantly as a collaborative learning experience and in the development of transferable skills. The benefits of collaborative learning (Oakley et al, 2004, Kaufman and Felder 2000) through small-groups present students with the opportunity to achieve higher grades, to learn at a deeper level and consequently retain information for a longer period of time (Oakley et al, 2004). Additionally, there are retention benefits in that students with such positive learning experiences are less likely to withdraw from programmes, and gain a better understanding of the environment compared to students taught in a traditional manner (Oakley et al, 2004). The greater communication and teamwork skills that students gain from groupworking and collaborative learning feed into the second key apprehension of transferable skills. Increasingly, those skills required in group work are something that potential employers are looking for in graduate employees (Ravenscroft 1997 in: Brooks and Ammons 2003, Rossin and Hyland 2003). An important criticism often levelled at universities is that group work in Higher Education rarely mirrors team work in the workplace (Kaufman and Felder 2000). Universities tend to have a simple and relaxed approach on group work – students are put together any which way, abandoned to organise and motivate themselves, before submitting the fruits of their labours to be assessed independently of which student did which elements of the work. The problems re-occurring as a result of this laissez-faire approach to core skills are well-known, as are the excuses and answers used to defend such a casual approach. Assessing group work The free-rider problem is one of the most common problems arising during group work. Conscientious group members have to deal with an additional work load as the result of a nonparticipating peer, while the free-rider ultimately is awarded the same mark as the others. This might be known to the lecturer, but not how to handle it or how to prevent in. Compared to relaxed university environments, free-riders suffer consequences for not contributing to team projects in workplace settings (Kaufman and Felder, 2000). Research has demonstrated (Brooks and Ammons, 2003; Lawrence and Li 2001) that by incorporating peer assessment into the overall assessment, free-rider problems can be mitigated. The potential evaluation of individual contributions to group work has an effect in ensuring that all group members are aware that each of them has to do a fair share of the work (Karau and Williams, 1993 in: Brooks and Ammons 2003) and thus helps or encourages them to work better together (Druskat and Wolff, 1999). The integration of the peer-rating into the final mark is often criticised by both practising teachers and by students. Kaufman and Felder (2000, p2) tell us that “common concerns are that individuals will inflate their self-ratings, team members will agree to give everyone identical ratings to avoid conflict, gender or racial bias and personal dislikes might influence ratings”. Other concerns are that group work slows down the learning process, impacts on other work, places extra demands on student time, and that the variability of group composition unfairly affects one group over another (Livingstone and Lynch 2000). A study conducted by Kaufman and Felder (2000) shows that these are mainly prejudices with little relation to reality. The researchers could not find any significant differences between selfratings and peer-ratings for individual group members. Only two of the 39 teams in their study submitted identical marks. It might seem more reasonable to conclude that this was due to good team work, rather than because of a general agreement. Furthermore, it was discovered that students who prepared for their team sessions and contributed actively to the team process tended to do better in the course. Thus, members scoring highly on Kaufman and 63 Felder’s (2000) ‘team citizenship‘ construct tended to achieve higher grades. The instrument itself effectively discovered free-riders and kept them from unfairly achieving the mark assigned to the rest of their groups. A similar relationship was found by Livingstone and Lynch (2000), while Brooks and Ammons (2003) also established the effectiveness of such instruments in discovering free-riders, while additionally demonstrating that students’ perceptions of groups and group projects were also improved. Later and more detailed research by de Vita (2002) showed that the group mark is most likely to reflect the ability of the most able group member and that multicultural group working environments most commonly had a more positive than negative effect on the individual marks of the students in the final assessment. The above mentioned research shows that by introducing peer-assessment many common group work concerns can be tackled. However, it must be asserted that if group projects are not carefully designed and executed some of the recurring problems might re-appear (Livingstone and Lynch 2000). Furthermore, the body of research suggests that there is much of value to be gained by teaching team skills to students before they are required to use them (see Blair 1991 cited in Livingstone and Lynch 2000) or, at least, providing information about group work expectations, practices and assessments in advance (Livingstone and Lynch 2000, Bourner et al 2001). A clear structure and a process of assigning roles and tasks are not only helpful, but essential for succeeding in achieving group aims. METHODOLOGY The University of Sunderland module”Working with Tourism Information and Personal Development Planning“focuses in general on different core learning skills needed by level 1 tourism students, relating them to examples and providing the opportunity to develop them in a supportive environment. Group work skills are part of the timetable in the second half of the module, which is taught in a long and thin (i.e. two semester or 30 week) format, and there are a total of three assignments. The first one is an essay, the second one a group presentation and the last is related to the progress files that form the Personal Development Planning element of the module. The group presentation is assessed on its quality. Effective teaching of group work skills cannot be done in what was the allotted time of only one two-hour lecture. To further assist the students, and provide a more effective structure, as well as a self reflection, two adjustments where made. Main guidance for this process was extracted from Oakley et al (2004). Oakley et al’s (2004) work provided a useful source for the process of guiding the students, suggested a possible framework for evaluating the final group work and provided some interesting ideas for the final research question of this study. All forms were adapted from Oakley et al (2004) with the benefit of reflection on other examples (Web evaluation forms 2005) and by relating them to the overall aims of both the module and this study. Additional questions were added about the weekly and daily percentage time investment in the group work with the opportunity to compare distributions between overall group investment and individual student’s own personal investment. A further focus was to investigate which elements of the material and structure helped the students and improved their group work experience. Research question The main research question for this study was to examine if teaching group work skills and providing students with an instrument to structure and record their group work efforts affects the final outcome of group work, and keeps the work free of free-riders and major communication problems. Study design Phase Aims 1. o Getting to know each other o Team building Team work skills Forms o Getting to know each other Good and bad group work experiences o Meeting calendar Additional Material Team building exercise Lecture and background literature about teamwork skills (Connery and Vohs 2005, Levin 2005) o Start writing personal diary o Start writing meeting o o 64 When First lecture o 2. o o 3 o 4 o Provision of a structure Identification of group problems Team binding Quality of group work Evaluation minutes o o o o o o Group evaluation Self evaluation Group members evaluation Questioning team members in PDP meetings Keeping same groups for different tasks Presentation Continuously Penultimate lecture Last lecture Table 1. Study phases Phase 1 Eighteen students from the module “Working with Tourism Information” were randomly assigned groups. Although studies suggest putting students together by learning styles, or similar criteria (Huxham 2000, Hinds et al 2000), the random approach was selected due to simplicity and, fortuitously, led to a balanced distribution of international students. Each group was assigned a playful and amusing group name such as ‘Flying Mice’, ‘Red Tigers’, ‘Blue Unicorns’ or ‘Green Cats’. The names and logos of these groups were used to encourage a stronger identification of the individuals with their groups and thus promote cooperation. To further assist teams in becoming more intimate and relaxed, a team building exercise was conducted at the outset of the project. The exercise was designed to be fun, as well as competitive and to strengthen group members’ bonds. The aim of the exercise was to build a bridge out of newspaper and tape in such a way that it would be able to hold the weight of a pack of sugar that would also be able to pass underneath it. As communication and especially getting in touch with each other is one of the most common group work problems, students were provided with a form (Getting to Know Each Other) that facilitated the exchange of telephone numbers, email addresses, and timetables of availability to the extent that each was comfortable with doing so. A lecture on team skills and the potential problems of group work was also delivered and supplementary background literature provided. In order to improve the structuring of the group work, and to encourage and enable careful planning the students were required to keep minutes of meetings, record them in a meeting calendar and write a personal diary about their experiences. Phase 2 The same groups were maintained throughout the module. This was independent of the relevance of individual tasks to the group presentation and was done with the aim of further binding groups together. Regular checks were made on individual students to track their progress and to identify any potential conflicts and problems. Phases 3 and 4 The outcome of the group work was presented one week before the last lecture. Other learnt skills such as presentation techniques were demonstrated and the quality of the presentation was essential to the final mark. In the last session the students had to reflect on their work evaluating the overall group work, the work of their group members and their own work. Data analysis To analyse the available data both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Qualitative analysis was used to evaluate the diary and the open questions on the evaluation forms. The quantitative methods are based on the evaluation forms, using frequencies and descriptive statistics to portray the sample. As a result of the small sample size, Chi-square tests and Wilcoxon tests were appropriate for discovering relationships within the data by using the exact calculation of them. 65 RESULTS The marks of the students were generally high, ranging from 58% to 76%. The mark given to each student differed slightly from the group marks, as presentation technique, and completeness of the assessed material were taken into account as well. As most of the students were British and the bulk was female no further analysis was possible to investigate gender or cultural differences. Group evaluation Most of the students felt that they had worked well as teams (13, 81.3%), with only one rating their effectiveness poorly and 2 as excellent. Two of the students, both members of different groups, admitted that their group did not plan in advance. A common symptom of internal group problems was erratic timekeeping. Individual members being late to team meetings was quite common with nearly half of the sample reporting that their meetings always started late (43.8%) or that some team members arrived late and/or left early regularly (31.3%). Team members regularly stuck to their selected roles (40%) although, interestingly, only 20% hardly ever stuck to these roles. Further problems that only occurred sometimes included team meeting postponement sometimes due to personal reasons (56.3%), poorly prepared team members at meetings (50%) and those that had not done the necessary background checks (43.8%). Interestingly only a few of the variables correlate with the group membership. One of these significant relationships is related to group members who sometimes had not done what they were expected to do. In 2 groups nearly all of their members stated that members sometimes had not done what they were expected to do, classic characteristics of the free-rider or group dropouts. In relation to the final marks achieved, it is difficult to observe a direct relationship although the groups with these problems were the weaker groups. 35 30 25 % 20 15 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Week Figure 1: Weekly average % of time investment in the group work The distribution of the work load tends to be during the last two weeks (see figure 1). The more detailed distribution of the last two weeks shows peaks in the days 2 weeks before, 1 week before and the day before the actual presentation (figure 2). These peaks are related to the team meetings. 66 10 9 8 7 % 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Day Figure 2: Daily average % of time investment in the group work during the last 2 weeks. In general all the material and practices were helpful but particularly regular meetings, meeting minutes (87.5%), the meeting calendar, the “getting to know each other” form (80%) and the evaluation (81.5%) were rated as very helpful to helpful. Self and group member evaluation As it was mentioned before teams did not stick to changing the roles of the coordinator and recorder each meeting. A rating of these roles is therefore only partly valid. The overall mark given to other group members ranged from excellent to no show, whereby the overall mark from the self evaluation ranged from excellent to superficial. Testing the relationship between them was insignificant although the mean of the self rating (2.3) is slightly better than the one from the group members rating (2.7). Looking at the results of the ratings in more detail students gave a significantly higher self-rating on their contribution to their teams (p=0.002), listening to team mates (p=0.019) and following directions from others (p=0.036) (see table 2). Self evaluation Group members evaluation Scale: 1 never to 5 always Mean Std. Dev. Mean Std. Dev. Contribution to team 4.71 0.77 4.28 0.94 meetings Listening to team mates 4.82 0.39 4.39 0.85 Following directions of 4.41 0.62 4.01 0.75 others Table 2. Significant differences between self and group members evaluation These results contradict partly the results of their own perception of their skills. The best developed skills were communication (mentioned 7 times), team work (6 times) and presentations (4 times). Skills to improve in the future were presentations (7 times), confidence (6 times), time-keeping (5 times), time management and communication (4 times). Diary As well as the questionnaire, the students’ diaries have been analysed. The most important result was that the group work was not conflict free. This is despite their being only one identifiable free-rider, who did not contribute to the group work until the day of the presentation as a result of personal reasons. Communication remained a problem in the weakest group. In comparing diaries, meeting calendars and evaluation forms we begin to wonder about the veracity or authenticity of some of the entries, particularly where they give conflicting interpretations of the same events. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 67 Comparing the results of this and previous research is difficult because of the different focus of the studies and the relatively small sample size. Correlating the marks with different evaluation results appeared to be difficult, but as this study was not using the evaluation as an assessment criteria, more truthful accounts of the group work process were expected as well as higher ratings for fellow students. Surprisingly, the opposite happened, self-ratings were higher in the students’ contribution to team meetings, in their perception of listening to team mates and in following their directions. This contradicts their assessment of their best developed skills which are communication skills and team work skills. By teaching group work skills and developing them during the module it was expected that the students might have planned their group work better and would not leave a lot of the work until the end. As the distributions of the weekly investment and the daily investment during the last two weeks show most of the work was done quite late in the process. A comparison between the distribution of the group and the students’ own effort distribution was not possible as both distributions were mostly, if not completely, similar. This might be explained either by a similar point of view on groups investment and personal investment or that it was just simpler to copy the first distribution for the self evaluation. The form “Getting to know each other”, the team building exercise and the structuring of the group work was imagined to prevent major group problems, but it did not. Possible solutions for future handling should be the introduction of peer-assessment into the group work (which requires a change of the module assessment) and an additional evaluation in the middle of the group work task. As the original evaluation instrument (forms) was used much earlier, they did this. (Oakley 2004) but due to the research of this study it was adapted and moved to a later point. An additional short formal assessment might be better than the informal checks which seem to have failed. As a general positive point it needs to be mentioned that the quality of the group work was high. Although problems still occurred, the marks of the group work have been good, and there was a general sense of satisfaction was amongst the students. Since this was a study conducted with a small sample size the results have to be interpreted with care. This is simply one of the main weaknesses of the study. Additionally, the fact that this was the first time teaching this particular module might have had an influence on the results as well. Collecting more data in the next year with the same instrument would be valuable as a way to re-check these results, especially as some of the suggested changes cannot be introduced without a board decision. Overall some main points can be concluded on the results of this study. Teaching group work seemed to have a generally positive influence on group work. Further effort should be made on teaching communication and team work skills, making clear that these skills are never learnt within one lecture or one group work project, and that although individual perception might be sufficient, others might have a different perspective. Planning the group work is essential for success, and focusing more on the development on an action plan and regular team meetings to balance the work load over the term. This and establishing an additional formal peer assessment at the half-way point of the group work should also help in tackling group conflicts. Introducing peer assessment should overall provide fairer marks for the individuals and punish free-riders (Brooks and Ammons, 2003; Lawrence and Li 2001). 68 REFERENCES Web evaluation forms (2005) • http://eprentice.sdsu.edu/J03/ebondoc/greeks/PeerEval.htm [last viewed: 04 Feb 2005]: Peer Work Evaluation Form • http://www.meredith.edu/rpa/sourceboo/groupworkeval.htm [last viewed: 04 Feb 2005] Sample group work evaluation Form • http://studentphilau.edu/percacc2/Word%=Docs/GroupWorkSelf.doc [last viewed: 04 Feb 2005] Group work: self evaluation form • http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/c/1/clc920/labs/lab07/evalform.html [last viewed: 04 Feb 2005] Self and Team Evaluation. Bourner, J., Hughes, M., Bourner, T. (2001). First year undergraduate experiences of group work projects. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 26 (1), 19-39 Brooks, C., Ammons, C. (2003) Free riding in group projects and the effects of timing, frequency, and specificity of criteria in peer assessments. Journal of Education for Business May/June, 268-272 Connery, B., Vohs, J. (2005) Group work and collaborative writing (http://wwwhonors.ucdavis.edu/vohs/index.html) [last viewed: 02 May 2005] De Vita, G. (2002) Does assessed multicultural group work really put UK students’ average down? Evaluation in Higher Education 27(2), 154-161 Druskat, V., Wolff, S. (1999) Effects and timing of developmental peer appraisals in selfmanaging groups: Journal of Applied Psychology 84(1), 58-74 Hinds, K., Krackhardt, D., Wholey, D. (2000) Choosing work group members: balancing similarity, competence, and familiarity. Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes 81(2), 226-251 Huxham, M. (2000) Assigning students in group work projects. Can we do better than random? Innovation in Education and Training International 37(1), 17-22 Karau, S.J., Williams, K.D. (1993) Social loafing: A meta-analytic review and theoretical integrations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol 65(4) pp.681-706 in: Brooks, C., Ammons, C. (2003) Free riding in group projects and the effects of timing, frequency, and specificity of criteria in peer assessments. Journal of Education for Business May/June, 268272 Kaufman, D., Felder, R. (2000) Accounting for individual effort in cooperative learning teams. Journal of Engineering Education 89(2), 133-140 Lawrence, K, Li, Y. (2001) Some refinements on peer assessment of group projects. Assessment & Education in Higher Education 26(1), 5-18 Levin, P. (2005) Successful teamwork! Open University Book. Livingston, D., Lynch, K. (2002) Group project work and student-centred active learning: two different experiences. Journal of Geography in Higher Education Vol 26(2) pp217-237, reprinted from Studies in Higher Education (2000) Vol 25 (3) pp325-345 McKernan, J. (1994) Teaching educational action research: a tale of three cities. Educational Action Research 2(1), 95-112 Oakley, B., Felder, R.M, Brent, R., Elhaij, I. (2004) Turning Student Groups into Effective Teams. Journal of Student Centred Learning 2(1), New Forums Press. Ravenscroft, S.P. (1997) In support of cooperative learning. Issues in Accounting Education 17(2) pp.187-190 in: Brooks, C., Ammons, C. (2003) Free riding in group projects and the effects of timing, frequency, and specificity of criteria in peer assessments. Journal of Education for Business May/June, 268-272 Rossin, D., Hyland, T. (2003) Group work-based learning within higher education: an integral ingredient for the personal and social development of students. Mentoring and Tutoring 11(2), 154-162 69 DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION: THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM CURRICULUM Derek Robbins School of Services Management Bournemouth University drobbins@bournemouth.ac.uk Introduction There is increasing pressure and perhaps a growing consensus for the inclusion of ‘sustainable development’ in curricula at undergraduate level in HE within the UK, as reflected in a variety of consultations and policy documents (AUT & DEA, 1999; DfES, 2003; Eber, 2002a). The Higher Education Funding Council for England - Hefce (2005) describes ‘sustainable development as a desirable component of higher education courses’ and is committed to persuading employers, professional bodies and students of its value (p13). The Department for Education and Science (DfES) argues the principle motivation for its inclusion is to prepare and equip ‘young people and adults for life in a global society and work in a global economy’ (DfES 2003: p6). What then is ‘sustainable development’ and how do we deliver it in a tourism context? The acknowledgement of sustainable development as a desirable component does not in itself mean its delivery can or should be universal across all courses or indeed disciplines. If one accepts that sustainability relates to the physical environment then surely there must be epistemological limitations as to what is appropriate and relevant for inclusion in the curricula (Barnett, 2005). Tourism would require and justify significantly more volume and more detailed content than many other disciplines and courses (as would conservation sciences when contrasted to say languages). Definitions of Sustainable Development Brundtland. The working definition the author has used over many years in a tourism context was developed in 1987 at the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), commonly referred to as the Brundtland report, which describes it as: ‘development that meets the need of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. The underlying philosophy is clear, this definition reflects what might be summed up as a ‘stewardship approach’, where we see ourselves as ‘life tenants of the planet’ taking responsibility to utilise it’s natural resources in a responsible way that does not exhaust them for the generations that follow. However, it is perhaps too vague as a basis for the development of practical policies. For instance development that uses the finite resources of fossil fuels must compromise future generations and yet is required to meet present development needs. Clearly the concept of sustainable development is a question of balance. It requires that these resources are used up at a slower rate, and that alternative renewable sources of energy are developed to provide an increasing share of energy requirements. Nevertheless it is open to considerable debate as to what actually constitutes an acceptable level of consumption. The debate is further complicated in that the impacts of fossil fuel consumption compromises future generations far more greatly through ‘rapid climate change, ozone depreciation, acidification, toxic pollution’ than it does through ‘the depletion of nonrenewable resources’ (Hefce 2005 : p6) of which transport is becoming a key if not dominant contributor. 70 Holistic Definitions Since Brundtland, thinking as to what constitutes sustainable development has progressed and developed with a significant ethical emphasis added (Hefce, 2005). Whilst the principles established by Brundtland make specific reference to the fairness of development opportunities between different countries (and continents), the moral and ethical dimension linking principles of global citizenship to sustainable development so explicitly is a more recent development. Therefore the evolving curricula for sustainable development have several streams: • • • A global perspective. An understanding of the interdependence of different countries and societies. ‘One cannot truly educate young people …without the international dimension being a very significant and real part of their learning experience’ (DfES 2005: p1). Preparing students for the world of work, providing them with the necessary skills to live and work in a global economy. Establishing the values and ethics that develop an understanding of citizenship and its role in sustainable development. The greatest contribution of HE to sustainable development is ‘enabling students to develop new values, skills and knowledge’ predominantly through developments in curricula and pedagogy (Hefce 2005: p13) and using them to ‘influence and shape the changes in the global economy, environment and society’ (DfES 2005: p1). Students gain an ‘awareness of the world in which they live; an understanding of how complex economic, social and environmental processes interact’ (Hefce 2005 p7) thus empowering, at least in theory, graduates to contribute to future social and economic development in a sustainable way. Key values incorporated include social justice, cultural diversity and human rights. However is there a danger of the wider definitions of sustainable development confusing curricula content on sustainability with pedagogy (global citizenship)? (Barnett 2005). Whilst they are clearly related are they a single concept or topic? Sustainable Development in the Travel and Tourism Curriculum Traditionally sustainability has been mainly taught in HE within the framework of degrees in development, geography and environmental studies (Eber, 2002a). By the very nature of its subject matter tourism should be a leader and innovator in the delivery of sustainability curricula. It has always had an international or global element. The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) defines tourism as ‘the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes’ (Cooper et al. 2004: p13). Although the study of tourism includes domestic as well as international journeys, international tourism is clearly a key element of virtually all degree programmes. Tourism degrees are predominantly vocational and therefore seek to prepare the students for the world of work in an industry we have already established is essentially global. Tourists impact on the destinations they visit in economic, social and environmental ways and all these have formed legitimate areas of study over many years as has the interaction between them (Mathieson & Wall, 1982, Cooper et.al. 2004). This is reflected in the National Benchmarks for content on Tourism degrees which states that Degrees in tourism typically involve an analysis of tourism in the communities and environments that it affects’ (QAA 2000: para 2.5) Tourists must travel both to and from the tourist destination, and some tourism programmes have developed specialist transport units, which is the author’s field of expertise and research. Transport is a large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions so this element of tourist activity has 71 great relevance to overall sustainability. Sustainable Development and Sustainable Tourism Critics argue that the study of sustainability on tourism degree programmes to date has focused on the impacts of tourism, in particular on the environment, rather than the more comprehensive and holistic approach proposed above. Eber (2002a; 2002b) for instance makes a distinction between the sustainability of the business of tourism and the more limited topic of ‘sustainable tourism’. The broader agenda demonstrates how sustainable development can ‘operate on and through tourism’ requiring students to understand the basic principles and contexts of sustainability in business in general and then apply them to a tourism context (Mowforth and Munt 1998), whereas traditionally the curricula has focused on narrower issues such as the protection of the natural environment (biodiversity), man made environment (heritage) and preservation of the essential ecological processes - in short ‘sustainable tourism’ (WCED 1987; Cooper et al 2004 : p261). In reality, despite the long established subject area of sustainable tourism which supports a well respected refereed journal, its place in the tourism curricula appears more marginal than one might have expected and desired. Airey and Johnson (1998) report that only 19% of prospectuses for tourism courses specifically refer to sustainable tourism. Experience at Bournemouth University suggests that recruitment to both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes with an emphasis on sustainable tourism and environmental issues is low compared to other tourism programmes with a business or management focus. Whilst many tourism courses have optional business ethics and sustainability modules, which by definition not all students take; many tourism students can graduate with only a superficial coverage of sustainability. The desirable holistic and multidisciplinary approach is described by the ATHFE guidelines as a ‘triple-bottom-line’ – the interactions between the economic, environmental and social (including cultural and political) spheres’ (Eber 2002: p8). The broad range of disciplines incorporated into such an approach include ‘aspects of economics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, natural science, politics as well as business and/or management’ (Eber 2002: p8). Objectives This discussion paper sets out to explore how sustainable development can best be incorporated into travel and tourism courses. It raises a number of questions and concerns of the author. • What is the difference between sustainable (tourism) development and sustainable tourism? A number of authors refer to it, and section 3 above attempts to summarise the main distinctions yet these sources do not spell out in simple terms what it entails for curriculum content and delivery at the chalk face. • Can sustainable tourism development be studied in a comprehensive way predominantly by focusing on tourism impacts? If not, why not? Whilst there is superficial tendency to equate ‘sustainable tourism’ and a number of associated terms (green tourism, eco tourism, environmental tourism, rural tourism) solely with environmental impacts, a comprehensive study of the impacts of tourism will require students to balance environmental, economic and social effects and balance the positive against the negative. 72 • Is the balanced academic study of sustainable tourism confined by the inclusion of values and ethics? The evaluation of tourism and transport policies and their various impacts could lose a degree of objectivity if constrained by what is considered morally acceptable. The case studies below will investigate the degree to which preconceptions influence evaluation of policy. • Are ethics a constituent element of sustainable development or should they be treated as a separate albeit closely related topic? The Delivery of Sustainability in Tourism and Transport. Level for the Study of Sustainable Development. How then can sustainability best be delivered in tourism courses? One criticism identified in research by Eber (2000a; 2000b) is that it is introduced too late in the curriculum, generally in the final year, and that earlier introduction would allow students to explore the issues more fully in the final year. Eber goes on to propose a model for integration of sustainable development with a unit in all three years of a taught degree programme. The first level module (‘Business and Society’) introduces the basic issues, which are built on at Levels 2 and 3. Whilst the appeal of integrating a sustainable development theme into all 3 Levels of a degree programme is obvious, this approach may have fundamental flaws in the author’s view. Details of the proposed indicative content are relatively brief in the ATHE guidelines, but the complexity and multidisciplinary nature of the subject make the author question the value of the proposed model for a Year 1 module (Table 1) which attempts to introduce economic, environmental, cultural, social and political elements. Surely a meaningful study of the triple-bottom-line requires a sound grounding in the appropriate disciplines (economics, environmental science, sociology of tourism etc.) and can only take place at Level 2 or more probably Level 3. Level 1 should provide the necessary underpinning in the form single subject modules. Development through Tourism v Impacts of Tourism Development. As stated above authors have argued that ‘sustainable development’ involves a broader agenda than sustainable tourism and focuses on using tourism to bring about sustainable development. However they do not illustrate precisely what they mean by ‘operating development through tourism’. Realistically the use of tourism as a planning tool to bring about sustainable development surely must have some theoretical or predictive framework as to the outcome of such policies – in short application of existing knowledge of the impacts of tourism, even if used as a predictive tool. Ethics and Values The author detects a conflicting message regarding the broad sustainable development curriculum. On the one hand it is argued that it does not aim ‘to push any politically correct line’ (Eber 2000a: p6) but merely aims to encourage engagement with the issues. Hefce (2005) also stresses there is not a single one fits all approach to sustainable development and that the role of HE is to facilitate ‘an open debate about the tensions inherent trying to manage economic, social, ethical and environmental objectives’ (p10). On the other hand the very mention of ‘values’, (Hefce 2005 : p2; DfES 2005 : p6) ‘responsible global citizens’, ‘social justice’ (DfES 2005 : p6) and ‘well rounded graduates’ (Eber 2002a : p6) at least implies a widely accepted moral framework A consensus of accepted norms as to what constitutes acceptable or desirable development feels like a form of political correctness. At one level this approach seems fine. Within this room there is likely to be broad agreement as to what these values and ethical judgements are, although there will be greater disparity when it comes to adherence to these values via personal actions. The debates and protests surrounding the July 2005 G8 summit in Scotland (chaired by the UK) stressed the moral and 73 ethical issues and demonstrated how national policies, international trade rules and trade barriers can constrain development opportunities, in this case with a particular focus on Africa. This imbalance of power and influence that obliges developing countries to abide by rules entirely set by the developed world and follow policies dictated to them, has recently been thrown into a sharp focus by the evolving crises in the Niger. The deregulation of the food distribution system, instigated as a condition attached to World Bank loans, is now accepted by some analysts to have worsened the position and reduced or even removed what was already a very limited ability for the Government to react (PM, Radio 4 04/08/2005). Sustainable tourism development has its own set of ethical issues. Hotels or accommodation maybe locally owned or part of an international chain, which will impact on the revenue retained in the local economy as opposed to that leaking out of the local economy. Even if not locally owned, a large hotel can bring differing effects to the local economy depending on the degree to which it is sourced with local produce, particularly food and beverages, uses local service industries, employs local labour and, very critically produces training and promotion opportunities to fill more skilled and more senior higher paid posts with local labour. Ignoring current inequalities in economic development is not an option for the HE curricula. However, the author’s concern is to what degree debate is coloured or biased by these accepted norms? Students who are encouraged to demonstrate concern about overconsumption, environmental degradation and resource depletion (McKenzie 2000) will surely assess aviation policy (see below) in a subjective rather than objective light Transport and Tourism. The author, a transport planner by training, delivers a Transport planning module as a final year option on the BA (Hons) Tourism Management programme and also a Transport option on the MSc Tourism Management programmes. These courses have included a significant sustainable component from their inception in 1990, and indeed the concept of sustainable transport itself has been a fast growing area of academic study. The modules clearly focus on the impacts of tourism transport on sustainability and the most significant relationship between transport and sustainable development is environmental. There is no escaping that surface transport contributes around 20% of UK CO2 emissions and that globally air transport emissions are set to explode out of control. So is this focusing a function of the subject material or does it also reflect too narrow an approach to the study of sustainability in this module? The author would argue that the two case studies below demonstrate that a wide ranging ‘triple-bottom-line analysis is indeed achieved by this approach, in a structured and objective framework and that it is far from a narrow approach. Case Studies Car Dependency Travel for domestic tourism in all developed countries is dominated by the car. The UK is no exception with around 80% of all domestic holiday trips made by car (UKTS 2003). However the growth of road traffic over the last 50 years has been dramatic. Car now accounts for 85% of all passenger kilometres, compared to around 35% in 1955 and has increased over eight fold from 83 billion passenger kames in 1955 to 690 billion passenger kms in 2002 (DfT 2004). The Government has clearly accepted continued growth at these rates is not sustainable: ‘ the forecast growth in road traffic is clearly unacceptable because of its economic and environmental effects’ (DETR 1997 : p4) and future policy direction to reduce dependency on the car was initially formulated in the 1998 White Paper A New Deal for Transport (DETR 1998) with additional detail fleshed out in a 10 year plan (DLTR 2000). The predominant focus on sustainable development is therefore an analysis of the impacts of 74 traffic growth. Surface transport contributes around 20% of UK Carbon emissions (RCEP 1994) (RAC 2002) and congestion is estimated to cost in excess of £15 billion per annum (DETR 1998). To be fair Government targets have been vague, moved or amended. The White Paper specifically set itself the aim to reduce the rate of road traffic growth, but this was either amended or misinterpreted in subsequent speeches to reduce traffic levels. The 10 year plan set a more specific target ‘to reduce congestion on the inter-urban trunk road network and in large urban areas in England to below 2000 levels by 2010 (CfIT 2003: p23) thus revising the objective away from traffic levels to one of ‘reducing congestion’. Nevertheless progress to date has been slow and targets missed. The growing consensus appears to be emerging for a national road pricing scheme following the perceived success of the congestion charge in London, the M6 toll and other small road pricing systems (such as Durham). However a national scheme is at least 15 years away and in the meantime policies to meet the desired objective to reduce such dependency include further local road pricing schemes, high fuel taxes, reduced parking capacities or even a reduced road building/road expansion programme. Given the strength of the consensus against unrestrained road traffic growth, it is difficult and perhaps inappropriate for my students to challenge the overall objective. However they will have to critically evaluate the potential conflict between the UK governments transport strategy of suppressing future road traffic growth with a growth strategy for tourism (DCMS 1999). Tourism growth and reduced traffic levels can be compatible of course if there is a significant modal shift away from car use, but how realistic is this? The car has many advantages for tourist and leisure day trips (price, flexibility – see Cooper et al 2004 : 475) and many tourist attractions are in remote rural areas poorly served by public transport. On the other hand what is the future for some scenic rural tourist destinations (National Parks) if their attractiveness is lost due to unsustainable levels of traffic entering them? Although the focus is solely on the impacts of car use, students are exposed to the complexities of the ‘triple-bottom-line’. UK Aviation Policy. UK aviation policy, particularly for London and the Southeast can be summed up as ‘predict and build’. ‘The wish to meet the demand for air travel where and when it arises remains at the centre of Government policy’ (ODPM 2001 para 16). Growth of air traffic has been dramatic over the last 30 years having increased five-fold (DfT 2003) and official forecasts predict continued rapid growth to between two and three times current levels by 2030 (Dft 2000; 2003). Around 40% of this demand is in the London and South East and this is where airports are operating close to capacity. Terminal 5 is now under construction following the longest planning Inquiry in UK history and will bring extra capacity on stream by 2008. However it is clear that this alone will not provide sufficient capacity to meet the forecast levels of demand beyond 2015 and to that extent the Government has now published a White Paper to set out the development of airport capacity over the next 30 years. Amazingly, given the rapid growth of air transport this is the first aviation White Paper since 1985. The White Paper makes all the right noises about ‘sustainable development’. ‘The Government recognises the benefits that the expansion in air travel has brought to people’s lives and to the economy of this country. . ..But we have to balance those benefits against the environmental impacts f air travel, in particular the growing contribution of aircraft emissions to climate change and the significant impact that airports can have on those living nearby.’ (DfT 2003: p9) It goes on to state: 75 ‘The Government believes that simply building more and more capacity to meet demand is not a sustainable way forward. Instead, a balanced approach is required’ (Dft 2003: p9). However it is difficult to see how this is balanced approach is reflected in the White Paper’s policy proposals – provision for two new runways in the South East by 2030. The first, at Stinted by 2011 /12 and more controversially the other at Heathrow as soon as possible (but between 2015 – 2020) ‘if stringent environmental limits can be met’ (Dft 2003: p 14). First, one must ask what concessions this attempt to meet unconstrained growth has made to aviation’s growing contribution to climate change. The aviation industry can make a contribution to emissions through fuel efficiency gains arising from fleet replacement. However CO2 emissions are significantly (perhaps 2 – 4 times) more damaging at altitude (RCEP 2002) and Carbon emissions from UK aviation is forecast to rise to 16 -18 million tonnes by 2030, or approximately 25% of the UK’s contribution to global warming (DfT 2003 : p39) The White Paper argues that the ‘the best way of ensuring that aviation contributes to the goal of climate stabilisation would be through a well designed emissions trading regime’ and as a first step is pressing for the inclusion of aviation in the forthcoming EU emissions trading scheme by 2008 (DfT 2003: p40). Whilst emissions trading may well internalise the costs of pollution and the price paid for additional carbon emission levels may well increase the cost of air travel, and one could argue higher prices will reduce these rates of air traffic growth, but this seems relatively little constraint on an industry whose global contribution of CO2 emissions will rise from 3% to 20% by the middle of the century and as environmentalists are quick to point out aviation kerosene is not taxed, in stark contrast with Government policy on fuel tax for road vehicles. Secondly, critics would argue that based on previous experience stringent environmental limits to protect residents in the Heathrow area are a moveable feast to which little more than lip service is paid. For example the 1978 Public Inquiry into the building of Terminal 4 was ‘strongly of the opinion that all possible steps should be taken to satisfy those living around Heathrow that this is the last major expansion at the airport’ (ODPM 2001: Para 6) It also proposed a limit of 275,000 Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) per annum. In reality this was exceeded shortly after the opening of Terminal 4 and at the time of the Terminal 5 Inquiry was 438,000. There may well be good and valid reasons for these policies to have changed. Technological developments have meant that planes have got quieter thus reducing the noise impacts perhaps justifying more ATMs. They have also got larger and therefore on average the number of passengers per ATM has increased increasing the demand for terminal capacity without any increase in runway capacity (in summary the case for T5). However history appears to have rapidly repeated itself. When approving Terminal 5 the Inspector argued for a strictly controlled number of ATMs (480,000 per annum) and went on to say ‘If these controls are not imposed the balance would, in my view, tilt against Terminal 5’ (ODPM 2001: para 97). The Inspector was also well aware that his approval for Terminal 5 would increase the pressure for further growth by creating ‘demands for the introduction of more intensive use of the runways or even the construction of a third main runway’. (ODPM 2001: para 75). 76 However, the Inspector was unequivocal in his recommendations. ‘a third main runway at Heathrow would have such severe and widespread impacts on the environment as to be totally unacceptable’ (ODPM 2001: para 98). The short time-span between the publication of the T5 Inquiry (20 November 2001) and the Aviation White Paper (December 2003) make the reversal of the Inspector’s recommendations regarding future growth seems hard to justify on the grounds of changing circumstances! Thirdly the expansion of Heathrow produces significant additional environmental problems regarding surface access, not only of passengers and meeters and greeters but also of staff. BAA has encouraged green transport policies including the financing of the construction of the rail link, subsidised bus services, limited car parking spaces for staff employed at the airport and incentives for employees to travel to work on public transport. Nevertheless access is an issue and road congestion has grown hand in hand with airport growth. Needless to say the author believes that unconstrained growth of UK aviation and in particular the continued growth of Heathrow fails to meet the requirements of sustainable development? But is that view coloured by my interpretation of sustainable values? How do I introduce the topic in a balanced way to enable students to evaluate the Government’s proposals objectively? After all there are economic benefits of continued growth of UK aviation and isn’t the Government view that these outweigh and override environmental costs one the students should consider? In reality the most objective approach is to analyse and balance the impacts of continued growth (and I do not mean only the environmental impacts), to produce at least a framework for students to balance the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits. There are of course wider arguments that can be introduced. Over 60% of terminal passengers are UK residents making outbound journeys and so any constraint of growth in UK aviation could potentially disadvantage developing countries that attract UK residents. On the other hand an analysis of the destinations of the majority of UK passengers suggests a high % are flying to developed countries and of course the fastest growing sector, the no frills low cost carriers predominantly fly to and therefore benefit short-haul European destinations. Conclusion Upon reflection in this subject area an approach that is predominantly re-active rather than proactive, that focuses on the impacts of travel and tourism, most notably on the environment but also incorporating economic and social impacts, is appropriate. Re-active analysis does in itself subsequently lead to a broader analysis and a more holistic approach. Using the case study of car dependency, it is clear that a desired objective to reduce such dependency leads the student to evaluate alternative policies aimed at reducing car dependency such as road pricing, high fuel taxes, even reduced parking capacities or even a reduced road building/road expansion programme. Such evaluation moves analysis of car dependency beyond the effect it has on the environmental, to the more holistic ‘triple-bottom-line’ approach desired by ATHE (Eber 2002a). Students will have to balance the environmental benefits of reduced traffic against the economic impact of reduced car trips and reduced visitor numbers. Likewise a study of UK airport policy will stretch beyond analysis of: • • The environment costs of an additional runway at Stansted followed by a third runway at Heathrow (land take, noise, pollution, congestion for surface access) The increased contribution of sustained air traffic growth to greenhouse gasses to consider the implications of not developing L&SE airports. Outbound traffic from UK airports exceeds inbound traffic and leisure and tourism traffic is the fastest growing sector. Whilst the policy of trying to meet unrestrained air traffic growth clearly seems ‘unsustainable 77 development’ in environmental terms, what are the economic implications for developing countries if outbound tourism from the UK stagnates (even declines) due to a lack of capacity ? The difficult questions of balance between economic and environmental pressures are asked. The issues of sustainable development and global citizenship are clearly related, it would be foolhardy not to acknowledge this. Nevertheless I am convinced that they are separate albeit related topics and I am not convinced that the merger of the two into a single topic generically termed ‘sustainable development’ is always the right approach, and isn’t particularly helpful for travel and tourism studies. A narrower focus on the ‘sustainable transport’ and ‘sustainable tourism’ with a strong environmental underpinning remains an attractive approach and provides an ideal framework for a multi disciplinary analysis incorporating the social and economic impacts alongside the environmental, with greater scope for an objective analysis away from an accepted politically correct norm. Value judgements cloud this. Whilst it is valid for tourism programmes to deliver some aspects of sustainability through specialist options, the principles of sustainable development should be embedded across several core modules of the tourism programme (in our case most notably Tourism Destinations at Level 3) and other appropriate optional modules such as transport. The programme at Bournemouth does work. It gives at our students an opportunity to understand of the complex economic, social and environmental processes and some can even go on to influence and shape the future global economy (DfES 2005). I recently met with a graduate from the early 1990s, now a senior manager in one of the UKs largest providers of package holidays, who during his career had earned the nickname Eco-Warier. Why? Because he was always challenging colleagues (initially more senior colleagues) over the actions and activities of their suppliers, such as ‘arguing to use accommodation provider A because they employ more local labour than provider B’. That was a proud but humbling moment and furthermore his career has progressed well. The HE academy for the subject area has identified a wealth of resources on tourism and sustainability including over 20 detailed websites, suggesting real scope for a much stronger knowledge base for our current graduates... REFERENCES Airey. D & Johnson. S., (1998) The Profile of Tourism Degree Courses in 1997/98 – Guideline no. 7. The National Liaison Group for Higher Education in (NLG) Association of University Teachers and Development Education Association (1999) Globalisation and Higher Education - Guidance on ethical issues arising from international academic activities, AUT London. Barnett. R. (2005) Sustainability as a universal theme, Education for Sustainable Development: Graduates as Global Citizens Conference, Bournemouth University, September. Commission for Integrated Transport (2003) 10 Year Plan – Second Assessment Report, CfIT, London. Cooper. C., Fletcher. J. Fyall. A. Gilbert. D. & Wanhill. S. (2004) 3rd ed. Tourism Principles & Practice, Prentice Hall, Harlow Department for Culture, Media and Sport. (1999), Tomorrow’s Tourism - A growth industry for the new Millennium, The Stationary Office, London. Dept for Education and Skills (DfES) (2003) Putting the World into World-Class Education, The Stationary Office, London. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. (1997), Developing an Integrated Transport Policy – An invitation to Contribute, The Stationary Office, London. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. (1998), A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone, (Cmnd 3950) The Stationary Office, London. Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (2000) Transport Ten Year Plan, The Stationary Office, London. Department for Transport (2000), Air Traffic Forecasts for the United Kingdom 2000, Stationary Office, London. Department for Transport (2003), The Future of Air Transport, (Cmnd 6046) Stationary Office, London. Department for Transport (2004), Transport Statistic: Great Britain, Stationary Office, London. 78 Eber, S (2002a) ‘Guidelines for Integrating Sustainability into the Undergraduate Curriculum: Leisure & Tourism’ Guideline 10, Association for Tourism in Higher Education. Eber. S. (2002b), Resources Guide in Integrating Sustainability into the Undergraduate Tourism Curriculum http://www.hlst.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/sustainability.html. (accessed 06/0/04) Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) (2005) Sustainable development in higher education – Consultation on a support strategy and action plan, Mathieson, A and Wall, G (1982) Tourism- economic, physical and social impact, Longman, Harlow. Mowforth. M and Munt. I (1998) Tourism and Sustainability: new tourism in the Third World, Routledge, London. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) (2001), The Heathrow Terminal Five and Associated Public Inquiries – Summary Report, Stationary Office, London. QAA (2000) Subject Benchmark Statements: Unit 25 - Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Gloucester. RAC Foundation (2002) Motoring towards 2050, RAC Foundation for Motoring, London. Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (1994) Transport and the Environment, Eighteenth Report (Cmnd 2674) HMSO, London Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (2002) Aviation and the Environment, The Stationary Office, London WCED (1987) Our Common Future, World Commission on Environment and Development, Oxford University Press, Oxford. 79 TABLE 1 PROPOSED MODELS TO A 13 WEEK (one semester) COUSRSE TO INTRODUCE SUSTAINABILITY AT LEVEL 1. Modal A • • • • • • • • • • • • • bases and background to sustainability sustainability and business sustainability principles ‘triple-bottom-line’ framework sustainability principles and business environmental aspects environment and business economic aspects economics and business social/cultural/political aspects society and business culture and business politics and business overview: triple-bottom-line and business Model B • • • • • • • • • • • • • introducing sustainability sustainability contexts sustainability principles the business case for sustainability global and local business sustainable change in business social justice and equity in business citizenship – individual and corporate diversity and international business human rights & representation in business ethical investment & accounting ethical marketing overview. Source: Eber 2002a. 80 INTEGRATING PDP WITH THE CURRICULUM AND PERSONAL TUTORING Nancy Stevenson University of Westminster, stevenn@wmin.ac.uk ABSTRACT Much of the research into Personal Development Planning (PDP) has been focussed upon its application as a mechanism to reflect upon and improve student learning and performance. PDP has much wider possibilities if it is integrated into other aspects of course delivery and is supported through personal tutoring. The PDP process can improve communication between lecturers and students, and can be used to support and enhance skill development and learning. Universities have adopted a variety of approaches to devising and implementing PDP. Some favour an explicit link between PDP and an aspect of the curriculum, some develop PDP through professional support services such as the careers service and some have integrated PDP with the role of the personal tutor. In the Centre for Tourism in the University of Westminster a system has been devised which is integrated with the curriculum and personal tutoring. The system aims to enable students to reflect on their learning and plan for their educational and career development and has a wider objective to enhance the support to students by improving communication between tutors and students. This paper will identify the key aspects of this system and will evaluate the experience of delivering and supporting PDP through personal tutoring. It will reflect upon the positive impacts of the current system and some of the dilemmas faced in using the personal tutoring systems to deliver PDP. Keywords: integrating, PDP, curriculum. Introduction The paper explains the Personal Development Planning (PDP) system operated by the Centre for Tourism in the University of Westminster. It evaluates the experience of delivering and supporting PDP through the curriculum, identifying some of the issues faced in implementing the system and some of its strengths. It then reports on improvements to ensure that PDP is integrated with the curriculum and personal tutoring; strengthening tutors links and involving them in delivering PDP in the curriculum. Developing a PDP system In the late 1990’s there was considerable discussion and research into PDP stimulated by the Dearing Report in 1997. PDP is defined as “a structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and career development.” (www.hlst.hea.academy 2005) PDP has the objective of improving the capacity of individuals to understand and review their learning and to enable them to develop plans for their education and careers. The HEA guidelines for higher education progress files provide detailed advice on the role of PDP. The guidelines identify a range of intended outcomes for students that include improving their general skills for study and career management, understanding their learning in a wider context, articulating goals, reflecting upon and evaluating their performance and encouraging a positive attitude to learning. (HEA, 2002) 81 At the University of Westminster a PDP system was developed to provide a clear structure for students to reflect upon their learning and actively plan for their academic and career development. It was formally introduced in 1997 and was integrated into the curriculum through a new 15-credit core module for first year students called Tourism Skills and Techniques. The key features of this module included; 1. Lectures, seminars, discussions and workshops around specific skills including essay writing, report writing, exam techniques, time-management and work, programming, group working, negotiation, presentation techniques, research methods, referencing, assignment preparation 2. Presentations and discussions to develop knowledge about University systems, services, and procedures including the role of the personal tutor, the rules about plagiarism and the careers service 3. A set of pro-formas and a guidance booklet to assist with developing an assessed PDP. This aimed to encourage students to be reflective about their performance, develop strategies to overcome weaknesses and set targets for their future. Implementation of PDP Implementation of the PDP for first year students was relatively simple. The PDP process was supported by lectures and formative feedback was provided to students through seminars. Personal tutors were brought into the process formally when they assessed the PDP’s at the end of the module and then met students to discuss their progress generally across the Semester. These tutorial meetings offered opportunities to discuss performance, targets and any other issues that emerged through the self assessment i.e. conflicts between paid work and study commitments, the impact on family commitments on study, visa and immigration problems, insecurity about the HE environment, work groups etc. Students were asked to fill out short PDP updates at the beginning of year two and then once per Semester. These were intended to form a framework for on-going tutorial support and to encourage and support students to reflect upon their performance and set targets each semester. For the first few years PDP was tutored by staff who had been involved in setting up the system and over 90% of students chose to continue to develop their PDP’s. Strengths of the system The PDP system was considered to be a positive aspect of our undergraduate course. It had been commended by external examiners, by the QAA inspection team and was considered to be an example of “best practice” within the institution. PDP developed student’s ability to reflect upon their performance and develop realistic plans for their future and had the additional benefit that it provided a focus for interactions between the tutor and tutee. PDP provided a structure and rationale for tutors and students to interact with a clear place and value within the curriculum. The system improved communication between students and their tutors as the majority of students chose to present a broader and more thoughtful picture of themselves in their PDP’s that than they could or would in a short tutorial meeting. The structure of the PDP’s encouraged students to draw from a range of experiences and identify the positive and negative aspects of those experiences. This meant that personal tutors had better information and were more able to provide advice to students and to be proactive in supporting their personal development. Issues Initially the system worked very effectively but in the past few years some students have opted out of the process. Whilst it has continued to be relatively simple to operate PDP in year 1 when it is integrated within the curriculum there have been difficulties in implementing this approach for continuing students. 82 There was reluctance in the tourism team to integrate PDP further into the curriculum by developing formal assessment in years 2 and 3. Staff considered that it would not be appropriate to devote a heavier weighting to the PDP process and that it should be embedded in Tourism Skills and Techniques, then informally brought into other modules through discussion about academic and career planning. The team considered that the system should be delivered through personal tutoring as the students progressed through the course. Initially attempts were made to improve informal links between selected modules throughout the course and the PDP process, in particular to develop career objectives in year 3. Also an alternative approach to updating the PDP was developed and students were given the option of completing very short pro-formas prior to their meetings with tutors. These approaches improved participation overall but several tutors still reported that students were not engaging with the system. Improving the system Feedback from students National surveys of final year students on hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism degree courses in 2002-2004 indicate that they consider personal development of prime importance. (HEA, 2005) Students on the undergraduate tourism courses at Westminster reflected this view when they were surveyed in 2005 about positive and negative aspects of their courses. Almost all students considered that the personal tutoring system was effective in supporting their personal development, especially when it was clearly supported by the PDP in Year 1. Some students requested more formal opportunities to meet with their tutors and receive formative feedback prior to handing in the PDP. Students reported that several tutors were not making the links between personal tutoring and PDP in year 2 and 3 and considered that the quality of their tutoring declined in these cases. A focus group was convened with existing students to evaluate the PDP system and it emerged that they made clear links with PDP and their personal development and welcomed a system that enabled them to see tutors routinely without “problems”. They actively participated in the system where they felt that it was well supported by their tutor but where tutors appeared not to understand or encourage the system tutees perceived little value in participating. Feedback from staff Tourism staff were supportive of PDP in principle but in practice some had not engaged with the process. All tutors engaged with the process when it was formally assessed but some did not actively support the system in years 2 and 3. All tutors distributed the pro-formas but some failed to use them as a basis to discuss performance or develop targets. It appeared that low take-up of PDP was “localised” around several tutors and some consideration was then given to ways of bringing them into the PDP process and improving the support available to students. Integrating personal tutoring, PDP and the curriculum If PDP is to be effective it needs to be clearly integrated with other aspects of the students’ learning experience whilst they are at University. PDP is concerned with understanding and improving learning in a holistic way and requires the student to connect learning experiences with one another and understand them within their context. The HEA guidance makes it clear that PDP does not operate effectively on its own and is a process that requires “guidance and support” (HEA, 2002). It was clear when evaluating the implementation of PDP that the delivery of the system developed in 1997 was effective in many respects but sometimes faltered around the support provided by personal tutors. In order to improve the system it was necessary to consider a way of developing reflective personal tutors and ensuring that they understood and supported the PDP system. 83 Clarifying the role of personal tutors and approaches to delivering tutorials In order to improve the integration of PDP with the student support system it was necessary to involve personal tutors in discussions about their perceptions of their roles as personal tutors. Wheeler and Birtle (1993) identify 5 key areas of responsibility for personal tutors: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. facilitating the personal development of their tutees monitoring their progress providing a link between the student and the university authorities intervening with the university authorities on behalf of their tutees. being a person with whom the student can confide Tutors were asked to consider these responsibilities in the context of previous experience in order to clarify and agree the role of personal tutors. During these discussions it became clear they had very different experience and expectations of the responsibilities of the personal tutor. All tutors agreed that their role included areas 2, 3, 4 and 5 but their interpretations of their role in respect of facilitating personal development differed. Some considered that they could only have a direct involvement in the personal development of their tutees when they were formally assessing and giving feedback on the assessed element of the PDP. They considered that the assessed PDP had the role of developing a structured process and after that the implementation of the PDP was largely up to the student. This discussion highlighted the need to bring tutors further into the PDP process and to communicate the benefits to them as personal tutors. The benefits of the system, when it worked effectively, were outlined by a number of staff. They included the sense of satisfaction as students became more independent and more able to plan for their future and the advantages connected to seeing students when they were not experiencing problems and thus having a more positive attitude towards tutoring. Consideration was then given to the most appropriate approach to delivering personal tutoring. Research by Owen (2002) based on earlier work by Earwaker identified 3 models of support systems 1. The pastoral model – the tutor supports tutees throughout their study on “personal and moral issues as well as personal support” 2. The professional model – students referred immediately to professional counsellors. 3. The curriculum model – where “learning skills, information about the operation of the university and the allocation of a personal tutor, are incorporated into an accredited course/module.”(P10) Tutors had experienced personal tutorial support systems around different mixes of these three models. All had some experience of the curriculum model whilst they had been at Westminster, but those that were not directly involved in the part of the curriculum that set out the rules of the personal tutoring system and PDP did not fully understand or “buy-in” to the process. Tutors discussed each method in terms of its advantages and disadvantages and how it applied to their experience at the University of Westminster. The curriculum model operated in year 1 supported by PDP and provided a clear structure for tutor/tutee contact that was integrated into the curriculum. The development of a structured system had the advantage that it was less open to varied interpretation by new members of teaching staff. In years 2 and 3 the approach to delivering personal tutoring was uneven with some students receiving support based on the system set up through the curriculum and others receiving support which was more closely akin to the pastoral and professional models. The pastoral model worked for students who were taught by their tutors and chose to select just “tourism” modules. However this system did not offer effective support for the majority of tourism students who selected a range of business, language and environment modules. The professional model was considered to be unacceptable and fell below the minimum standards operated by the University. 84 From the initial discussions with tutors it was clear that they were supportive of the curriculum model as a means of delivering personal tutoring system as it identified the roles and responsibilities of students and personal tutors and was clearly integrated with teaching and learning. Learning from other projects The HEA advise that PDP is likely to be most effective when it is a mainstream academic activity and linked to the learning objectives of the programme. In order to be effective PDP needs to be undertaken regularly and supported by staff and the institutions. Staff need to be provided with opportunities to be actively involved and participate in PDP so that they can perceive the benefits of helping students to achieve a holistic and integrative approach to their studies. (HEA, 2002) Case study research identifies varied approaches that integrate PDP into the curriculum and with the personal tutoring system. Research by Solomonides and Swannell (1996) and (Nixon and Vickerman, 2005) and (McPherson, 2005) highlights the need to integrate academic learning, personal development and support systems. Where new systems or approaches sit outside the curriculum or are not supported across the curriculum they are easily “unlearned” or abandoned. This research is useful but does not give any explicit examples to illustrate how PDP has been integrated into personal tutoring systems. Dunne (2005) and Strivens (2005) reported on initiatives to integrate personal tutoring with PDP and highlighted a number of problems they had experienced in engaging academic staff in the delivery of PDP. There was a similarity between the problems they identified and the problems faced by the tourism team. However these studies provided little practical advice to resolve the problem of engaging personal tutors in PDP. The most useful source of information came from the project leader of a new tutorial scheme in Biosciences at the University of Westminster. This scheme developed a proactive system for personal tutoring through a series of tutorials that were delivered to students in tutor groups. This project had been successful in highlighting the importance of developing regular tutorials to support and encourage interaction between personal tutors and their tutees. The scheme had been successful in gaining the commitment of personal tutors. The project leader was keen to disseminate information, and support material to assist in developing a similar system in another part of the University. (Luck, 2005) A new system to integrate PDP and personal tutoring Whilst the previous system explicitly included the personal tutor in giving feedback on the PDP process they were not formally involved in any of the discussions leading to the preparation of the plan. The new system has the role of providing detailed advice and training for new tutors and opportunities for feedback and discussion to ensure that PDP is delivered consistently across the course. The new system has been designed around a series of group tutorials that aim to intensify and enhance interaction between students and their tutors in the first Semester. This has been achieved by creating tutor groups and developing tutorials as a part of the Tourism Skills and Techniques lectures. The group tutorials are structured around tasks that relate to the development of the PDP, which ensures that all personal tutors are formally involved, and actively engage in the delivery of PDP. Through this process students regularly meet their tutor and develop knowledge about the boundaries and nature of the relationship. Students feel more able to approach their tutor and the tutor is able to be more proactive in providing support and guidance. The new approach takes forward the best elements of the system that was originally developed in 1997. It offers lectures, tutor group meetings, and workshops around specific areas of the PDP. Efforts have been made to involve personal tutors in the delivery of skills lectures and tutor group meetings take the place of seminars to facilitate discussion and feedback. Six tutor 85 group meetings are arranged during the Semester each with a defined task and opportunities for discussion. The tutors are given clear guidance on setting tasks in these meetings and providing feedback in connection with developing the PDP. The interaction between staff teaching and tutoring on the module has been improved with more staff directly involved in teaching and opportunities for discussion and review of the system. Other service providers such as counselling and advice and the careers service have been brought further into the module to enable students to make connections between their broader experiences and their learning at the University. The set of pro-formas and guidance notes have been updated with the assistance of students and have been made available on Blackboard (the virtual learning environment). The system has been developed so that it is integrated into the induction week and students have their first group tutorial within the first two days of arriving at the University. The advantages of the new system Improving the integration of PDP with the personal tutoring system has clarified the role and responsibilities of the tutor and ensures that the student has frequent and formal opportunities to meet and discuss issues with their tutor. The advantages of this system for tutors are that it enables them to provide academic guidance based upon a holistic view of their students. It does this by collecting information at an early stage from the students about their achievements (from their perspective) and developing an awareness of their personal objectives and priorities. The advantages of PDP for students are that it enables them to articulate, communicate and celebrate their achievements. It does this by making students aware that there are benefits to communicating achievements and abilities to other people (tutors & employers) and building an evidence base to support their achievements. Conclusions The study shows that PDP can be developed to improve student support if it is embedded within the curriculum and integrated with the personal tutorial system. It can enable tutors to take a broader view and provide better advice and support to their students. Personal tutoring can be more effectively where it is supported by PDP and conversely PDP can be more effective when personal tutoring supports it. REFERENCES Dunne (2005) Structured personal tutorials for personal development planning. Conference paper delivered at Perspective on Personal Tutoring in Mass Higher Education: Supporting Diverse Students University of Westminster Luck C (2005) BATS: Reaching all students. Example of a tutorial programme for Bio-sciences students Conference paper delivered at Perspective on Personal Tutoring in Mass Higher Education: Supporting Diverse Students University of Westminster Owen M (2002) Sometimes you feel you’re in niche time: The personal tutor system, a case study Active Learning in Higher Education ILT Sage Publications London Solomonides I and Swannell M Encouraging Students Making the Passive Active at Nottingham Trent University in Whisker G and Brown S Eds (1996) Enabling Student Learning: Systems and Strategies Kogan Page Wheeler S and Birtle J (1993) A Handbook for Personal Tutors Society for Research into Higher Education HEA (2005) The Student Course Experience Survey: A National Survey of Final-year Students on Hospitality, leisure, Sport and Tourism Degree Courses Link 12 HEA HEA (2002) Guidelines for HE Progress Files Strivens (2005) Transforming personal tutors into personal development tutors Conference paper delivered at Perspective on Personal Tutoring in Mass Higher Education: Supporting Diverse Students University of Westminster 86 www.hlst.hea.academy.ac.uk/resources/cases/case24html Nixon S and Vickerman P Finding and Following the Dream: Introducing Students to Personal Learning and Development HEA Academy Accessed on 9/03/2005 www.hlst.hea.academy.ac.uk/resources/cases/case24html McPherson G (2005) Introduction to Career Development Planning HEA Academy Access on 9/03/2005 87 THE BIG DECISION: FACTORS INFLUENCING THE FOUNDATION DEGREE STUDENT’S CHOICE WHETHER OR NOT TO PROGRESS TO AN HONOURS DEGREE Chris Stone The Manchester Metropolitan University Faculty of Food, Clothing & Hospitality Management chris.stone@mmu.ac.uk ABSTRACT This research investigates the factors influencing the decision taken by Foundation degree students at the end of their programmes – should they progress to an Honours year, or should they take their FD to find employment? The research, of direct relevance to student recruitment, examines a critical decision point for students, the institutions involved, and indeed government higher education policy: the 2003 White Paper The future of higher education indicated that the bulk of HE expansion will come through new types of qualifications such as foundation degrees. FDs constitute an essential part of a coherent ladder of progression offering students enhanced choice and an element of certainty about their next steps, as part of the broader Widening Participation agenda. But little or no research has been published on students’ choice processes, and this pilot study aims to examine, inter alia, interest in and knowledge about the progression path, attitudes towards the qualifications involved, key factors influencing the decision whether to progress or not, and the extent to which potential Honours students feel confident about undertaking a programme of study at university after their FE experience. It also seeks to determine whether the provision of Foundation degrees has made what is typically a non-traditional student constituency more interested in the idea of tertiary study in general terms. The method of working involves a questionnaire survey administered to students presently studying for tourism Foundation degrees delivered by FE college partners of the University of Sunderland. The study will address recommendations for measures to promote progression to the FE and the HE sectors, and also to government. Proposals will be made for further studies. Keywords: Foundation degree, progression, higher education policy, widening participation. This research investigates the factors influencing the decision taken by Foundation degree students upon successful completion of their programmes: should they progress to an honours year, or should they take their Foundation degree qualification to find employment? The research, of direct relevance to university student recruitment objectives, examines a critical decision point for students, the institutions involved, and indeed government higher education policy: the 2003 White Paper The future of higher education indicated that the bulk of HE expansion will come through new types of qualifications such as Foundation degrees (FDs). FDs constitute an essential part of a coherent ladder of progression offering students enhanced choice and an element of certainty about their next steps, as part of the broader Widening Participation agenda. But little research has been published on students’ choice processes, and this study sought to examine, inter alia, key factors influencing the decision whether or not to progress; interest in and knowledge about the progression path; attitudes towards the qualifications involved; and the extent to which potential honours students feel confident about undertaking a programme of study at university after their FE experience. The methodology involved a questionnaire survey administered to students studying for Foundation degrees delivered by FE college partners of the University of Sunderland. The study addresses recommendations for measures to promote progression to the FE and the HE sectors, and also to government. Proposals are made for further studies. Key words: Foundation degree; progression; higher education policy; widening participation; tourism 88 INTRODUCTION This research investigates factors influencing decisions taken by Foundation degree students upon successful completion of their programmes: whether to progress to an honours year, or to take their Foundation degree qualification and find employment. The research, of direct relevance to university student recruitment objectives, examines a critical decision point for students, the educational institutions involved, and indeed government higher education policy: the 2003 White Paper The future of higher education indicated that the bulk of HE expansion will come through new types of qualifications such as Foundation degrees (FDs). FDs now constitute an essential part of a coherent ladder of post-compulsory educational progression, offering students enhanced choice and an element of certainty about their next steps. The qualification can be viewed as being linked to the government’s Widening Participation agenda, and as part of a wider effort to strengthen links between further and higher education, create better pathways for progression, and encourage more flexibility in courses (Department for Education and Skills, 2003). But little research has been published on students’ choice processes, and this study sought to examine, inter alia, key factors influencing the decision whether or not to progress; interest in and knowledge about the progression path; attitudes towards the qualifications involved; and the extent to which potential honours students feel confident about undertaking a programme of study at university after their FE experience. The method of working involved a questionnaire survey administered to a sample of students studying for Foundation degrees delivered by FE college partners of the University of Sunderland. The study addresses recommendations for measures to promote progression to the FE and the HE sectors, and also to government. Proposals are made for further studies. THE FOUNDATION DEGREE Higher education in the UK has expanded dramatically since the publication of the Robbins report in 1963, and the bulk of the additional expansion planned for the early years of the twenty-first century will be achieved through new qualifications including the Foundation degree (Department for Education and Skills, 2003). Announced in 2000, the two-year Foundation degree was one of the then still-new Labour government’s two key HE initiatives, and was to be ‘better tailored to the needs of students and the economy’. The second major project, the ‘UK e-University’, was aimed at recreating the success of the British Open University on a global scale, but the initiative was terminated in 2004, reportedly due to low levels of demand for such online learning provision. The Foundation degree was to provide ‘a new intermediate level qualification that integrates work-based learning and academic studies’ (HEFCE, 2000). Loosely equivalent to the US Associate degree, the qualification was aimed at fulfilling demand for people qualified at associate professional level (Wagner, 2004), partially in recognition of the fact that the proportion of students engaged in intermediate-level higher education was lower in the UK than other industrialized nations (National Skills Task Force, 2000). As an intermediate-level higher education qualification, the FD is classified at level five in the national qualifications framework (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, 2004), ranking it alongside the Higher National Certificate and Diploma (HNC/D). The acronym ‘FdA’ refers to a Foundation programme broadly in the sphere of the arts, while ‘FdSc’ refers to a broadly science-based programme. A defining characteristic of the FD of central relevance to the present study is a requirement for educational progression arrangements. FDs must offer access to higher qualifications for learners from ‘different starting points and with different entry qualifications’ (QAA, 2004). Unlike the older British Higher National qualifications, Foundation degrees need to provide guaranteed progression for successful candidates to at least one named bachelors degree, typically enabling entry to level three of an honours programme provided by the HE institution making the FD award. In this respect, the FD initiative marks something of a policy departure in that, while the conventional standard for university entry has long been a minimum of two ‘A’ levels or equivalent, the standard requirement for entry to a Foundation degree is only one ‘A’ level or equivalent, essentially providing an opportunity to achieve a bachelors degree within three years of study for students who would not have gained entry in the past. Bringing people that might not have made it otherwise into the HE system in this manner serves the government’s widening participation and social inclusion agendas. 89 The University of Sunderland was the leader of one of 21 consortia chosen from 56 bidders to pilot the Foundation degree, the first new UK higher education qualification to have been introduced for 25 years. A range of subjects were offered from 2001-2, the award being made by the University for FD programmes delivered mostly by regional partner colleges. Sunderland presently offers 34 FD programmes amongst an estimated 1600 offered nationally in 2004-5 (Lockley, 2005) across more than twenty vocational subject areas. Nationally, nearly 38 000 students are enrolled on FDs, and HEFCE is presently planning for expansion to a total of 50 000 places. The Foundation degree and Tourism in the north east One of the first Foundation degrees to be offered by the University of Sunderland was FdA Travel and Tourism, now delivered at four FE colleges across the north east region. The rationale for providing the new programme included a wish to respond to expressed demand for a better-qualified workforce in the growing regional industry, and an intention to establish a ‘feeder’ route to the University’s existing bachelors provision in the tourism field. Successful FD students typically progress to level three of the institution’s BSc Tourism Management degree programme. The north east is home to some of Britain’s newest and most exciting cultural and heritage tourist attractions, as well as some of the oldest: the Alnwick Garden, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, the new Sage Gateshead world-class music venue, Anthony Gormley's Angel of the North sculpture, Beamish Open Air Museum - and Hadrians Wall and Durham Cathedral, both World Heritage Sites. The recent regional economic strategy consultation document from ONE North East, the regional development agency, stated that one of the region’s key priorities is for the north east to become a major global tourism destination (ONE North East, 2005a). The agency’s economic policy links tourism development closely with regional economic regeneration, and has identified a need to improve the skills of the industry’s workforce (ONE North East, 2005b). Presently only 12% of managers and senior workers in the regional tourism and hospitality sector possess accredited high-level skills, compared to 34% in all industries (Step Ahead Research, 2004). STUDY METHODOLOGY Little attention has been paid to personal factors influencing the decision faced by successful Foundation degree students whether to progress to a level three honours year or to take their Foundation degree to find employment at the end of their programmes. The simplest and most straightforward method of gaining insight into these factors was via survey means, and to that end a self-completion questionnaire survey instrument was devised in collaboration with partner institution colleagues. It was administered by college Assistant Programme Leaders to individual level one and two students studying for a sample of the University of Sunderland’s Foundation degrees at regional FE partner colleges. Study research questions were derived both from key themes in the literature and collective professional experience of student retention and progression issues. These were then translated into a mix of open- and closedresponse questions for use on the questionnaire. The survey investigated several themes of relevance to the aims of the study, including: • • • • • characteristics of the typical FD student levels of interest in progression factors positively influencing progression factors deterring progression perceptions and opinions of the Foundation degree Questionnaire survey forms were administered in early summer 2005 to students studying for four Foundation degrees: • • FdA Travel and Tourism FdA Sport and Exercise Development 90 • • FdA Performing Arts Studies FdA Media Design The questionnaires were completed and collected during normal class contact time, and passed back to the University. Of 52 questionnaires received for analysis, one was discarded because it was substantially incomplete, leaving a total of 51 found to be suitable for analysis. The overall sample of 51 FD students was not large, but represented about 40% of all level one and two students studying for the named FDs, and 11% of all University of Sunderland Foundation degree students studying during the academic year 2004-5. The dataset derived from the survey is considered a sufficient basis for examining the issues in what is an initial study, but the analysis is not intended to be definitive. The resultant data were analysed utilising a combination of statistical analyses of quantitative results (employing the Excel spreadsheet package) and interpretation of the qualitative. Additional data in support of the research aims was obtained from informal interviews with small samples of Foundation degree students conducted throughout the course of the research project. RESEARCH FINDINGS Characteristics of the sample: The typical FD student The respondents were predominantly female (71%) and mostly aged under 21 years of age (85%). Only two respondents were aged over 25 (4%), offering a challenge to the government’s declared aim that Foundation degrees should be targeted at older learner age groups as well as those in the traditional HE entry age bracket. Most were local students, drawn from the immediate area around the north eastern colleges at which they were studying, and mostly lived with parents or, in a few cases, in student accommodation. A few were drawn from further afield, however – Carlisle, Liverpool, Stevenage, London, Andover - indicating that attractive Foundation degree programmes can draw students to educational institutions far from their home regions. A majority of FD students gained entry to their with GCSE ‘A’ and/or ‘AS’level qualifications (43%), with a further 30% entering with pre-2005 VCEs (‘Vocational ‘A’ levels’), indicating an HE entry profile that is predominantly traditional, albeit one possessing lower-than-traditional UCAS entry tariff points. The remainder reported a range of alternative qualifications including, variously, pre-2001/2 ‘A’ levels, GNVQs, AGNVQs, level three NVQs, and SCOTVEC awards. One person entered with a bachelors degree. In terms of career plans, most respondents (84%) were planning to pursue careers in the industry sector most relevant to their Foundation degree. No-one said that they wouldn’t do so, though the remainder expressed uncertainty about their future plans. Given the declared vocational orientation of the Foundation degree, it might have been expected that many FD students would be studying on a part-time basis, but all the surveyed students were studying full-time. This contrasts with the broader picture: nationally, about half of all Foundation students study part-time. The declared social class profile of the surveyed students was found to be heavily biased towards professional, managerial/technical, and skilled non-manual backgrounds, with conspicuous under-representation of those from less-advantaged backgrounds (see Figure One). It seems clear that the government’s social inclusion agenda will not necessarily be served by the Foundation degree initiative. 91 Figure One - Reported socio-economic class status of the student sample (OPCS 1990 Standard Occupational Classification) Professional Manag/Tech Skilled non-man Skilled manual Partly skilled Unskilled Does not work Not known Interest in progression from the Foundation degree to an honours degree In response to a question asking respondents whether they were planning to progress to a bachelors degree immediately after their Foundation degree, just over two-thirds (71%) said that they would, a comparable proportion to that reported by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA, 2005). A clear majority of respondents (59%) had commenced their FD programmes with the intention of progressing to an honours degree, and a further 12% changed their minds in favour of progression during the course of their studies (see Table One); this proportion of the sample will be termed ‘progressors’ (after Davies, P. et. al., 2002). Of the remainder – the ‘non-progressors’ - 18% started with no intention of progressing and had not changed their minds, and a further 12% changed their minds against progressing during the duration of the FD programme. Table One - Intention to progress from Foundation to an honours degree Firm plans to progress Changed mind – plan to progress Changed mind – plan not to progress Never planned to progress % of sample 59 12 12 18 Longer-term interest in progression to honours degrees While about 30% of all respondents stated that they planned not to progress immediately after the FD, these ‘non-progressors’ were asked whether they might consider returning to undertake an honours degree at some point in future – see Table Two. Though the base data become less reliable here due to a reliance on low absolute numbers of responses, 6% claimed to have plans to progress in future, and a further 18% answered ‘Maybe’. The implications are that, over the longer term, the 71% noted earlier as likely to progress to honours level may increase by an additional 6-24 percentage points, to a likely absolute maximum of about 95% of all Foundation degree students surveyed. 92 Table Two – Non-progressors’ longer-term interest in progression to honours degrees Firm longer-term plans to progress Maybe No longer-term plans to progress % of sample 6 18 4 Key factors: Positive influences on progressors’ decisions What were the key factors influencing ‘progressors’ in their decisions to progress to bachelors programmes at honours level? Progressors were asked to rank their positive influences, and analyses indicate that: • • • • influence from others is the most important factor in individuals’ progression decisions – from family and friends, and also from FD tutors Foundation students’ personal desires for achievement, and their ambitions in general, are of second-ranking importance peoples’ future careers are a major underlying driver, ranking third in terms of influence the linked factors of enjoyment of the learning experience and respondents’ developing confidence as learners provided a constant background theme, ranked fourth overall Analysis of additional, free-response data broadly supports this general picture of respondents keen to progress because they were enjoying the learning experience on their FDs; who seemed thirsty for knowledge; and were well-supported in their ambitions by friends, family and tutors. More specific, longer-term ambitions for jobs and careers also featured amongst the free-response data, but the clear impression gained is that such ambitions were of secondary importance overall in accounting for progressors’ positive decisions. Interpreting all the data derived from responses to the question ‘Which were your three main positive influences?’ through the device of a hypothetical summative statement might produce: ‘Everyone is rooting for me progressing; I’ll feel as though I have really achieved something if I do; it will benefit my career in the longer term; and I’m enjoying the programme.’ Key factors: all respondents - What might deter progression? Closed-response attitudinal statements investigated factors which might negatively influence the progression decisions of both progressors and non-progressors utilising a five-point Likert scale. The most daunting factors identified were: • • • • financial issues; concerns about whether successful progression to a bachelors would improve job prospects; issues related to the scheduling of level three study within individuals’ lives; and the fear of failure. Survey respondents were least concerned with the actual transition from college to university; after that, individuals’ lack of confidence, the perceived burden of another year in education, and feeling at a disadvantage to university-based students were found to be of relatively limited importance related to progression decisions. Key factors: What might deter progressors progressing? Progressors’ responses to questions investigating what might deter them progressing indicated that: 93 • • • • the biggest potential problems centred upon financial issues: concerns about regular income, accentuated by linked concerns about peoples’ ability to maintain part-time jobs while studying at university, and longer-term concerns over debt accumulation via student loans the ‘step-up’ from one type of institution to another represented a second major source of uncertainty. Respondents thought that their academic workloads would increase in terms of both quantity and difficulty. In addition, the prospect of moving from Foundation level study in what were clearly perceived as friendly, helpful and enjoyable college environments for level three bachelors study in universities with (to quote one respondent) ‘…uninspiring tutors…’ might deter people progressing the fear of failure was a third key deterrent factor, and one more significant for progressors than for non-progressors. and a few progressors wondered whether their job prospects would be materially improved with a bachelors degree. Progressors were not worried about the transition from college to university; that they might lack confidence; spending another year in education; timetabling university around their lives; and possibly being at a disadvantage to university-based honours students. Key factors: What influences non-progressors? Non-progressors expressed a strong desire to leave education upon completion of their Foundation degrees in order to get a job. These respondents reported ambitions to gain career positions - and one enterprisingly sought to transform a FD work placement position into a fulltime job - although many still maintained aspirations to progress to bachelors degrees in the future. Were they to progress, non-progressors would be concerned about job prospects, finance, and potential problems with timetabling university around the rest of their lives. This group expressed the least concern about the transition from college to university; that they might be at a disadvantage coming from a FE college; a lack of personal confidence; and spending another year in education. Key factors: Local provision - The geographical issue Local provision of higher education is an increasingly important issue in light of changes to student finance arrangements. It was established earlier that most FD respondents were drawn from the immediate area around their colleges in north east England, and the geographical issue was mentioned frequently in survey responses, indicating that having to travel significant distances to study at level three is a significant issue influencing the progression decisions of some FD students. This factor is perhaps particularly resonant for students in north east England, where a higher proportion choose to remain in their home region for HE-level study than in any other English region except London (Nixon et. al., 2005). The prospect of having to travel regularly to Sunderland in order to study was clearly unattractive, though respondents seemed not to have considered the possibility of living in student accommodation in the city for their final year. Progression: Progressors’ intentions and knowledge of their likely HE progression path Most students (75%) felt well-informed about the progression path and arrangements for entry to a bachelors degree, though the remainder did not. This latter group could have benefited from increased information and advice, perhaps provided by their linked university. Most progressors were able to name the programme and institution to which they would normally progress after their FD, although a small minority of ‘progressors’ were unable to do so. Progression to Sunderland, the HE institution providing their Foundation degrees, was inevitably the dominant pattern of intent, although about one quarter of the sample planned to remain in one of the surveyed FE colleges which, unusually, provides and validates a one-year ‘top-up’ level three honours programme to which their FD students are encouraged to progress. Only about one-third were aware of alternative programme and institution options other than those provided by the University, and only one person planning to remain in the region to study 94 intended to progress to an institution other than that providing their Foundation degree. Finally, only one respondent planned to move outside the region for further study. The Foundation degree: Would respondents recommend Foundation degrees in general, and their specific programmes, to others? A closed-response question sought to determine whether all Foundation degree students would recommend the general idea of an FD to others. Four-fifths of respondents (78%) answered in the affirmative, no-one said ‘no’, and 22% offered a guarded ‘maybe’. Most respondents considered theirs was a good educational programme, and they enjoyed pursuing it. Of those that recommended their FD programme, the most frequent reasons cited were that: • • • • their educational experiences had been enjoyable they perceived that FDs open clear opportunities to, and a taste of what to expect from, progression to university or gaining a career FDs enable the achievement of a recognized HE qualification within a two-year time horizon compared to three for a bachelors. This was regarded as important because students incur less debt and suffer less ‘personal pressure and stress’ than on a three-year bachelors local FD provision obviates the need to travel to more distant institutions for study Of those not able fully to recommend FDs, few offered any indication of the reasons for their responses apart from one respondent who was clearly concerned about whether they had the ability to handle the workload at level three of a bachelors degree. Almost four in five (79%) would have recommended their specific Foundation degree programmes to others, while 16% definitely would not. When asked to explain their answers, those respondents answering in the affirmative indicated that their experiences of FE collegebased FD programmes had been enjoyable, and they considered that their qualification would assist them obtaining employment in their chosen industry sector. The Foundation degree: A discrete qualification, or a stepping-stone? So how did student respondents view the Foundation degree - as a discrete vocationallyoriented qualification, or simply a stepping-stone on a progression route to an honours degree? It was established earlier that just over two-thirds of all respondents planned to progress immediately after successful FD study, implying that they regarded the FD as a stepping-stone to a bachelors. These progressors liked the flexible, step-wise progression to higher education offered by the Foundation degree qualification. FDs are attractive because the qualification opens the option of progressing to bachelors study in the future: ‘It is a convenient way of obtaining an honours degree, and if after two years you have had enough, you have a qualification’ For some, while signing up for two years of study is acceptable, three years seems a lot. Other comments included: ‘Friends are planning to graduate with BSc – I want to as well’ ‘You can get a full degree after doing a Foundation degree for two years. So why not go on and complete the full degree?’ ‘I know people who are carrying on to do their masters if possible – I want to do so’. Choosing a Foundation degree offers people direct experience of HE-level study, providing a basis upon which they can consider their future plans. Of course, it is possible to gain many 95 university bachelors degrees in a step-wise manner, with interim exit points at level one (typically with a Certificate of HE) and level two (typically with a Diploma of HE), but neither the qualifications nor the mode of their achievement are widely publicised by existing institutional providers, or valued by employers. Those planning not to progress, some of whom had changed their minds against progression during the duration of their programmes, regarded the FD as a discrete, work-oriented qualification in its own right, at least in the short-term, preferring to seek to gain jobs immediately upon qualification. A few non-progressors ventured further explanation of their decision, explaining that: • • • • they didn’t fully understand the benefits of an honours degree after having completed two years of FD study they had had enough they were not prepared to undertake what they perceived to be a more demanding workload in an honours year financial reasons were a factor – low incomes, tuition fees, and student debt To investigate the matter further, non-progressors were asked what would have to change for them to elect to progress in the future. Amongst a relatively low volume of responses, the decision not to progress was frequently qualified by statements indicating that if appropriate jobs were not forthcoming shortly after qualification individuals might progress to complete an honours year after all. In addition, they might progress to an honours year from a job if they discovered that a bachelors was required for career progression. Respondents might also elect to progress: • • • if a suitable bachelors programme was provided geographically closer to their homes if they were better informed about the additional benefits of a bachelors degree if the workload at level three was more moderate than they perceived it likely to be The decisions indicated by non-progressor respondents’ were of course provisional and subject to change in response to a myriad of possible future influences, but overall the state of the labour market and the progress of their own careers would be important influences upon any future decisions to progress. Further analyses The results of further analyses were pending at the time of writing. They will be included in a future version of this research paper. CONCLUSION It seems clear that the Big Decision is not a particularly daunting one for a majority of Foundation degree students, for most were planning to progress to honours-level study upon successful completion of their FDs. This research study has found strong interest in progression from FDs to bachelors degrees: over 70% of the sample expressed a wish to progress upon Foundation degree completion, and that proportion might conceivably rise by a further 6-24 percentage points if non-progressors return to study after a period in employment, to a likely absolute maximum of about 95%. As few as 5% of all FD students might never elect to re-enter higher education, which may be regarded as one measure of the success of the relatively new FD qualification. The key factor influencing individuals to opt to progress was found to be encouragement from family and friends, and also from FE college tutors. Second to this were individuals’ personal desires for achievement, and their broader personal ambitions in general terms. After that, careers were an underlying driver for all FD students: the state of the labour market and the likely progress of individuals’ careers were significant for all respondents, and many wondered whether progressing to a bachelors degree would improve their employment prospects. Finally, simple enjoyment of the learning experience and respondents’ developing confidence as 96 learners were ranked fourth overall as factors influencing positive decisions to progress. A key factor potentially deterring decisions to progress was financial – the prospect of a low income for one or more additional years, and of growing personal debt. The majority accepted that pursuing a bachelors degree would entail relative poverty and debt but were prepared for it, while a minority had no immediate intention to progress, preferring to commence a career at the end of their FD studies. ‘Non-progressors’ were particularly concerned with practical matters including study scheduling issues and the demands of travelling to the institution at which they would study for their honours award, while for progressors academic factors were of greater concern, notably the ‘step-up’ from an FE to an HE institution and the fear of failure. Interestingly, few respondents cited a lack of personal confidence, feeling at a disadvantage to continuing bachelors students, and the burden of another year in education as negative factors. While the bachelors degree was perceived as being ultimately more valuable, the Foundation degree was regarded as a desirable and recognized qualification in its own right. Provided in local FE colleges – a critical factor - respondents found FDs enjoyable, and appreciated that the qualification was achievable in two rather than three years and opened opportunities to further study and/or jobs. For most, the FD was regarded as a stepping-stone on the route to an honours degree; for others, it was seen as an end-qualification offering the prospect of a job. Study respondents felt generally well-informed about the progression path to HE associated with their Foundation degrees, and most were unaware of alternative programme and/or institutional options. For the north east of England, as elsewhere, FDs may serve to improve the region’s higher education participation rate, with potentially positive impacts upon economy and society. However, despite the undoubted importance of the FD as a qualification for the twenty-first century, raising the progression rate from FDs to bachelors degrees is arguably important for the north east because populating the region with FD holders rather than honours graduates may address expressed short-term economic need but might also lock the region further into a pattern of relative educational underachievement that could hamper long-term economic prospects. There is a national cultural change swinging in favour of higher education participation becoming a norm rather than an exception, and the Foundation degree is both feeding off and contributing towards it, but the change needs to be yet more embedded within British society and culture. RECOMMENDATIONS Some of the key factors influencing Foundation degree students’ progression decisions are not particularly susceptible to outside influence, at least in the short term. Encouragement from tutors in FE colleges is significant, however, and providing information about the achievements of FD students at honours level, and in gaining jobs and careers in the longer term, may also contribute to raising the proportion of those progressing to level three study at university. Recommendations for measures to promote progression to HE – universities To promote progression, universities need to: • • • • Provide interesting and enjoyable Foundation degree programmes that attract students, address employers’ requirements, and offer progression to bachelors degrees Provide realistic and readily-understood information about student funding and loan repayments, promoting HE as an investment and emphasizing opportunity cost Develop FDs in a fully integrated, structurally-linked manner, with strong articulation to enable smooth progression (see Davies et. al, 2002) Provide opportunities for FD students to interact with university-based staff colleagues and students during the duration of their Foundation studies 97 Recommendations for measures to promote progression to HE – colleges To promote progression from FDs to bachelors programmes, colleges need to: • • • • Provide realistic and readily-understood information about student funding and loan repayments, targeted if possible at groups under-represented in HE, promoting HE as an investment and emphasizing opportunity cost Work with universities to involve FD students with students and staff colleagues at the HE institutions to which they would normally progress – through guest lectures, shared teaching sessions, social encounters, and field trips Colleges should ensure that FD students are treated comparably to universitybased students in matters of marking and assessment in order to build their confidence - and make them fully aware of it Maintain and even improve the supportive environments of colleges providing FDs in an effort to reduce levels of drop-out during programmes and increase progression rates. FD tutors in particular have a critical role in supporting FD learners, providing guidance, monitoring and counselling, efforts which might be targeted particularly at potential non-progressor students Recommendations for measures to promote progression to HE – government To promote progression, the government needs to: • • • Provide public information about student funding and loan repayments Promote the Foundation degree to parents - a critical source of influence over progression decisions – to potential students, and to employers and the general public, emphasizing the potential for progression to honours Produce public information about the achievements of FD students at honours level, and in gaining jobs and careers FURTHER RESEARCH There is a need for this exploratory study to be repeated on a larger scale, perhaps with an additional longitudinal dimension aiming to examine actual outcomes – whether or not individual FD students opted to progress. In broader terms, there is a general lack of such longitudinal studies from one level of learning, or qualification, to another, upon which judgements on government policies towards vocational education and training might be based. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to thank all respondents, and the university Foundation programme leaders and assistant programme leaders in partner colleges who helped administer the survey. REFERENCES Department for Education and Skills (2003) The future of higher education, Cm 5735, London: HMSO Davies, P, Greenwood, M, Kendall, P, McCaig, C, Parry, GW, Williams, J. (2002) Progression from HNC/Ds to Honours Degrees: Diversity, complexity and change, Bristol: HEFCE HEFCE (2000) Foundation degree prospectus, Bristol: HEFCE Lockley, E., Foundation Degree Forward, November 2005, personal communication National Skills Task Force (2000) Skills for all: Proposals for a national skills agenda, London: DfEE Nixon, I., Penn, D., Settle, T. and the KSA Partnership (2005) Graduates and the north east, Wolsingham: The KSA Partnership, study prepared for ONE North East ONE North East (2005a) Leading the way: Regional economic strategy consultation document, Newcastle: ONE North East ONE North East (2005b) North East Tourism Strategy 2005-2010, Newcastle: ONE North East QAA (2004) Foundation Degree qualification benchmark, Gloucester: QAA 98 QAA (2005) Report of a survey to follow up Foundation degree reviews carried out in 2002-3, Gloucester: QAA Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (2004) The statutory regulation of external qualifications in England. Wales and Northern Ireland, London: QCA Step Ahead Research (2004) Workforce dynamics in the north-east: The tourism and hospitality sector, Newcastle: Skills Intelligence North-East Wagner, L. (2004) We now have to build on our strong foundations, Times Higher Education Supplement, 9th July 2004 99 SURPRISE AND SENSE-MAKING: PLACEMENT EXPERIENCES IN SMES Andreas Walmsley, Stephanie Jameson and Rhodri Thomas Leeds Metropolitan University A.Walmsley@leedsmet.ac.uk ABSTRACT As part of a study on attitudes and their impact on career choices particularly with regard to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this paper aims to investigate the notion of surprises encountered by students who have undertaken work experience in tourism SMEs. Newcomers often experience what Hughes (1958) has termed ‘reality shock’ on entering new organisational settings. Making sense of these ‘shocks’, or, using less dramatic terminology, ‘surprises’, is a key task facing organisational newcomers. Thus, drawing on literature predominantly from the field of organisational socialisation, this paper will address issues of surprise and sense-making as part of the placement experience. Given that the study aims to understand not only the types of surprises encountered, but also how the students made sense of these, it was necessary to adopt an interpretative approach that allowed access to meanings ascribed to experience. Thus, in-depth interviews were conducted with students who were completing or had recently completed a placement. Initial analysis shows a wide range of surprises encountered relating both to the organisation and the self. A recurring theme was surprise expressed at the level of responsibility and autonomy encountered by students. Sense-making was predominantly externally directed rather than internally, i.e. with recourse to the nature of the organisation or industry instead of being based on self-reflection. Keywords: placements, SMEs, organisational socialisation, sense-making. INTRODUCTION This paper reports on an ongoing study into the impacts on career choices of placement experiences in tourism and hospitality small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Adopting an interpretive method, the study as a whole attempts to provide a detailed understanding of students’ experiences and how these experiences are reflected in career intentions. A series of interviews with students who have recently undertaken placements in SMEs are being conducted. Preliminary results of the first interviews with particular focus on surprises encountered are discussed below. Debates surrounding the oversupply and/or underutilisation of graduates are ongoing in a society that has seen levels of participation in higher education increase dramatically in recent decades (DfES, 2003). These debates equally resound in the spheres of tourism and hospitality higher education where education at degree level is a relatively recent phenomenon (see for example Evans, 1993; Ryan 1995; Jones, 2004). Partially as a result of these concerns interest in SMEs and their ability to provide employment to graduates has increased. Thus, Johnson and Tilley (1999) explicitly call for increased linkages between SMEs and higher education institutions to raise awareness of employment opportunities in such businesses. Not only is it the case that SMEs can provide employment opportunities for graduates, but graduates have the potential to improve performance of SMEs (Holden, et al., 2002). A win-win scenario appears to emerge, though there are voices that rightly question this somewhat simplistic view of the SME-graduate relationship (Beaver, 2002). Arguably, one way of increasing awareness of SME employment opportunities is by providing students with work experience in SMEs. Indeed, this has been the aim of a number of initiatives such as the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme (Westhead, 1998) and the University of Glamorgan’s Network75 initiative (Bowen, et al., 2004). Nonetheless, before understanding impacts of placements on career choices one must understand the experience itself. Thus, the influence of unanticipated experiences are seen to be an important aspect of people’s transition 100 to new work organisations (Arnold, 1985). It is these surprises and how sense was made of them that is to be explored in this paper. PLACEMENTS IN TOURISM & HOSPITALITY The inclusion of work based learning in higher education is not new (Brennan and Little, 1996). Nonetheless, a wide range of terminology is still used to describe the phenomenon of work experience as part of formal education (see for example (Kusluvan, et al., 2003). To clarify matters, the focus of this study is on a form of work based learning termed sandwich placements as they occur in UK higher education courses. These involve a period of supervised work experience (usual requirements are a period of a minimum 48 weeks) in either the second or third year of a four year undergraduate course. More particularly, sandwich courses are ‘courses which incorporate periods both of organised full-time work experience and of full-time study, the work experience of placements being linked in some measure to the course content’ (RISE, 1985). Most commonly, three investors are seen to exist in the placement experience: students, employers and higher education institutions, although a wider range of stakeholders also exist (Busby, 2005). Nonetheless, it would seem reasonable to assume a greater degree of personal development for the student as a consequence of the placement experience than for the employer or members of the educational institution. The purpose of placements is frequently seen in the light of employment outcomes, particularly skills acquisition.Thus, a substantive focus of the tourism and hospitality placement literature has been on skills (Leslie, 1991; Busby, et al.; 1997, Callan, 1997; Maher, 2005) with some authors (King, 1994) even declaring the purpose of work experience is precisely to obtain the necessary skills to supplement theoretical training. In this respect, placements should be highly valued as they undoubtedly help inculcate the vocationally relevant skills and knowledge referred to, for example, in the Quality Assurance Agency’s Benchmark Statement (Busby, 2003). However, another employment outcome involves providing a basis for making career decisions; Sherrel (1987) for example aptly makes the point that the placement serves as the ‘shop window of the industry.’ Arguably, the confrontation of one’s expectations with the reality of the workplace during the placement is an important preparation for post-degree employment (Waryszak, 1999; Fell and Kuit, 2003). Ducat (1980) fittingly calls the placement experience a ‘career laboratory’ in which the student seeks to deliberately test the prospective occupation. Focusing on future career choices, the overall impression one gains from the tourism and hospitality literature is not entirely encouraging. Thus, studies (West and Jameson, 1990; Barron and Maxwell, 1993; Purcell and Quin, 1995; Callan, 1997; Kusluvan, Kusluvan and Eren, 2003) indicate that a large number of placement students are put off the tourism and/or hospitality industry by their experiences. Indeed, according to Barron and Maxwell (1993) pre and post placement students in their study held ‘diametrically opposed views’ of the nature of working life in the hospitality industry. Nonetheless, Waryszak (1997) although coming to similar results subtly places some emphasis on students’ unrealistic expectations rather than unconditionally condemning the placement itself. Unmet expectations, broadly defined, may be an inevitable accompaniment to the experience of entering an unfamiliar organizational setting and not solely as a consequence of poor communication of what the workplace is like (Fell and Kuit, 2003). In other words, it should not be forgotten that when people enter organizations they bring their own interpretive schemes with them (Fournier, 1996). By implication, a given situation could equally be interpreted as positive or negative depending on the individual’s background, and furthermore, a negative experience might be as beneficial a learning experience as one that entirely met expectations. Nonetheless, it is difficult to disagree with Leslie and Richardson’s (1999, 2000) point that the benefits of placements to students will not be maximized until certain expectations (i.e. managerial responsibility, task variety and suchlike) are met. SURPRISE, SENSE-MAKING AND TRANSITION TO WORK As highlighted above, this paper does not intend to focus on the broad array of placement experiences but will explore surprises encountered by students and the sense-making that 101 occurred as a result of these surprises. It seems reasonable to assume that any move into an unfamiliar situation will create some anxieties for the person moving on. Indeed, Hughes (1958) speaks of ‘reality shock’ in describing experiences of people encountering a new work context, whereas Louis (1980) describes the organisational socialisation experience as being ‘disorientating, foreign and related to a kind of sensory overload.’ Nonetheless, whether Paulson and Baker (1999) are right in suggesting that all organizational entry necessarily entails ‘entry shock’ is questionable and will partly depend on the novelty of the situation. Importantly here is the acknowledgement that ‘entry shock’ appears to be more pronounced for those individuals entering the organizational world directly from the role of student (Feldman, 1988). Moving away from the term ‘entry shock’, Louis (1980) argues that surprise constitutes a major feature of the organisational entry experience and simply represents a difference between an individual’s anticipation and subsequent experience. Surprises can be positive and/or negative and anticipation may revolve around the job, the organisation or self (Louis, 1980). Arnold (1985) in a study into surprises experienced by graduates entering full time employment simplifies this to surprises that focus on oneself or on one’s environment. Thus, so Arnold (1985), much self-learning may occur as well as learning about the new settings. Again however, it must be remembered that work transitions will affect people in different ways. Van Maanen and Schein (1979) clearly state this point: ‘In some cases, a shift into a new work situation may result in a sharply altered organizational and personal identity for an individual…in other cases, the shift may result in only minor or insignificant changes in a person’s organizational and personal identity…’(Van Maanen and Schein, 1979). In describing adjustment processes such as the reassessment of identity we have however already turned from a pure description of experience to its impact. Thus, in the first instance the organisational newcomer is faced with the task of ascribing meaning to experience. This is the outcome of a sense-making process which, so Louis (1980), is the primary task for the newcomer. The concept of sense-making is well named because it literally means ‘the making of sense’ (Weick, 1995). Often this involves as in Louis’ (1980) use of the term placing stimuli into frameworks, however, it can also involve ‘associated responses’ i.e. action rather than just placement (Thomas, et al., 1993). Importantly, and Weick (1995) is at pains to point this out, sense-making differs from interpretation. Whereas interpretation implies that ‘something is there, a text in the world, waiting to be discovered’ (Weick, 1995:13), sense-making is less about discovery and more about invention. Similar to Festinger’s (1957) cognitive dissonance theory that argues people adjust their beliefs post hoc to be in line with a chosen course of action, to engage in sense-making is to construct, filter, frame and create facticity (Turner, 1987). METHOD The overall aim of the study is an understanding of the impacts of placements in tourism and hospitality SMEs on individuals’ career decisions. At the time of writing (October 2005) a first round of interviews with students who had recently completed their placements were still underway. This paper focuses on the eleven individuals interviewed to date. The sample largely consisted of participants from a range of universities who were not only willing but had also undertaken their placement in a SME. Identifying participants was challenging because the vast majority of students appear to undertake their placements with large companies, particularly in tourism. The categorization of a SME was based upon the EU definition of businesses with fewer than 250 employees (www.europa.eu), although other definitions have been proffered (for a review see Thomas, 2000). In contrast to the majority of studies related to placements in the tourism and hospitality literature, this study is based on what may be termed an interpretive methodology. Thus, Weber (1964) argued that to understand the behaviour of individuals and groups, social scientists must ‘gain an understanding of the other’s view of reality, of his or her symbols, values and attitudes.’ In this sense in-depth interviews were deemed a more fitting data collection method than wholly structured questionnaires. 102 Interviews were guided by Wengraf’s (2001) Biographic-Narrative-Interpretive Method. The term ‘guided’ is intentional as it was not always possible to apply the method as envisaged given some respondents’ reluctance, at least in the interviews, to engage in a narrative based largely on (self)-reflection. This method, by taking a very unstructured approach to begin with, then leading to more specific questions (though still fairly unstructured) aims at bridging the gap between an entirely theory-led approach on the on the one hand, and a wholly open inductive stance on the other. Interviews lasted on average 45 minutes. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION The aim of this paper is to offer a preliminary and selective analysis of two issues: organisational socialisation in placements as applied to SMEs. Thus, although other important issues arose in the interviews these receive no attention here. As can be seen below, common themes emerged as did entirely unique experiences. Rather than present the findings in a table or as bullet points it was decided to use a discursive presentation method as this would not only be more ‘readable’ but would also give some feeling for individual contexts. Joanne (all names changed) – tourism student – tour operator Joanne undertook her placement with an independent tour operator. Surprise was expressed at a number of issues, partially explicable due to her lack of prior work experience. Thus surprise was expressed at the reality of the business environment. This included redundancies that occurred as the company faced a major crisis, routine overbooking of flights, and less than honest dealings with customers over the phone. Nonetheless, it appears that initial surprise at the nature of the operation gave way to an adjustment in attitudes, that is Joanne became more accepting of the way the business operated as time went on. Joanne also expressed surprise at her varying roles within the business: ‘I was expecting to move around the different departments, but not like I did, because I was only used in emergencies.’ Furthermore, lack of a proper induction and leadership in the organization came as a surprise to Joanne. Sense seems to have been made of this situation by trying to see its positive side, i.e. much task variety and autonomy leading to greater responsibility and ultimately personal development. Thus Joanne also speaks of an increase in confidence at a level she had not anticipated. This serves as a good example of the individual nature of meaning creation. An important point for Joanne was the type of friendships she had made while on placement. It seems that Joanne needed to become immersed in a work environment with people who were more mature than at university (so Joanne) for her to be able to establish more meaningful relationships. Rachel – tourism student – hotel Rachel’s initial expectations of the placement in this particular establishment do not appear to have been very high. This could go some way in explaining why she found the placement experience as a whole more rewarding than anticipated. Thus, similar to Joanne’s situation, Rachel expresses satisfaction with task variety and astonishment at how soon she was given considerable responsibility. Sense was made of this early conveyance of responsibility, somewhat self-deprecatingly it would seem, on the basis of business needs. However, throughout the interview it was clear that Rachel was proud to have been made reception manager and she recognises her abilities. Further issues that surprised Rachel were the taxing nature of dealing with a diverse range of customers, and also the consideration management had for the company’s staff: ‘They always look after the staff and they always make sure that you’ve got what you need and if you’re struggling then they can help you out.’ Christine – hospitality student - hotel Christine began her placement abroad in a large hotel but had to return to England due to a work injury. This situation permits some comparison of her experience in both large and small establishments. Beginning with negative surprises, Christine was not expecting working hours to be as long and work as arduous in the large establishment as had been the case. Nonetheless, rather than complaining about being overworked Christine makes sense of the experience by expressing satisfaction at the fact that she had lived up to the challenge and 103 coped with the demands of the job. Negative surprises in the small hotel related to the general lack of professionalism, particularly as she had been expecting higher standards given the hotel’s aspirations to be/become a boutique hotel. In contrast with Joanne, there seems to have been little shift in Christine’s attitudes towards running a business. She remained as convinced of her standards at the end of the placement as when she began. In fact, there almost appears to have been something of a cultural shift towards Christine’s position in the hotel rather than the shift occurring in the opposite direction. Christine was also surprised by the immaturity of some of the hotel’s employees, particularly with regard to interpersonal relations. Sense was made of these issues as being exceptional occurrences, i.e. particular to the business but not to the industry in general. Claire – tourism and leisure student – events organiser Claire mentioned little that truly surprised her. Whether this can be put down to a reluctance to disclose her thoughts and a lack of reflection on her experience is difficult to assess. For someone with little prior work experience one would predict some ‘reality shock’ in entering the world of work. Claire did express surprise at the small size of the firm given the amount of business it conducted, which is also indicative of a lack of pre-placement preparation. She also received more responsibility than she had expected, though spent more time in the office rather than out at events than she had wished. On a positive note, Claire had not expected to be running her own events and was hence surprised by this. Overall, little is said about herself, that is surprises are made sense of more with reference to the organisation than to the person. Lisa – hospitality student – hotel Lisa was quick to point out that the placement was her first experience of working in a hotel. This was therefore used as an explanation of her surprise at the number of new things she had to learn, even ‘the tiniest things like authorising a cheque’. Further surprise was expressed with operational aspects of this sector of the industry. Thus adjustment to shift patterns and a regulated lifestyle were found more difficult to get used to than anticipated. Similar to Rachel’s experience, surprise was also mentioned at the diverse range of behaviour customers would display, particularly with regard to the number and type of complaints that were made. Finally, the overall way the hotel managed its staff was a positive surprise for Lisa. Her expectations of employee relations in the industry, specifically high levels of labour turnover, were not confirmed. She was surprised at the supportive environment and levels of responsibility given to her at early stages of her placement, though sense was partially made of this with reference to her competence and learning ability. Paul – hospitality student – hotel Paul mentions three surprises as part of the placement experience. The first and most dominant was the attitude the owner took to the running of the business. This consisted of a very laid back approach which actually hampered the business’ operations. Paul was also surprised at the composition and turnover of the hotel’s work force, this consisting mainly of young foreign staff who worked for a couple of months or even weeks before moving on. Paul’s last surprise was about his identity as a placement student and the fact that he was in all respects treated as another employee. This was compounded by a perceived lack of support from university which had not been in touch with him while he had been out on placement. Martin – tourism and hospitality student – began a placement with a large hotel chain before moving to an independent bar Martin started his placement with a hotel that formed part of a large chain. Unfortunately for Martin, rather than being given managerial responsibilities, he was left with purely operative tasks. He was surprised at this and obviously disappointed as he had been promised managerial responsibilities in his interview for the position. Thus, Martin decided to quit his first placement and began working in a bar he knew. Martin settled in very well and was equally pleased with the support he received from the bar’s owner. For example, Martin expressed surprise that he was given the opportunity to undertake external courses funded by the business, also a trip abroad: ‘…the management offered us a day out to Paris, the whole staff, thirty people, first class with Eurostar plus lunch in a Brasserie in Paris, you don’t see that very often, either if you work for a small or a big company.’ Added to this are further surprises at the positive working environment in the business: ‘it’s very rarely I’ve been working in a bar either 104 small, independent like this, or a big chain where the staff has been so loyal.’ Martin was also pleased and surprised with the amount of responsibility he was given which included shifts where he was running the bar on his own. Overall, Martin clearly compares his placement experiences with prior work experiences including his brief stint working for the hotel chain. Richard – hospitality student – two placements started before moving to a bar / restaurant Richard’s placement experiences are wide ranging. He initially began two placements before moving to a placement with an independent bar/restaurant. The first placement was with a hotel chain and the other with a chain of pubs/restaurants. These experiences had been very disappointing, primarily, as with Martin, because of unrealistic job previews. That is Richard was led to believe he would have more influence in determining how the business units he would be working in would be run. These disappointments seriously rocked Richard’s confidence in the industry and in his abilities (there was always a doubt in Richard’s mind that the reason he wasn’t given more responsibility was due to people perceiving him as not being up to the job). Richard was a mature student and appears to have been more self-reflective than the majority of respondents. However, having found another placement opportunity through an acquaintance he moved to an independently run bar/restaurant. Here the surprises were made sense of by way of contrast to his prior placement experiences. Thus, given the somewhat stricter way staff were managed in his previous placement experiences. Richard was also surprised at the level of support he received from the managers and also expresses surprise at the business’ success. It had broken even after a year’s trading. Michelle – tourism student – tour operator Like Rachel, Michelle worked for a small, independent tour operator. However, Rachel worked not in the administrative hub of the business, but rather on a camp site in Spain in the summer season and in the French Alps in the winter. Rachel does seem to have been taken aback by the behaviour of the tourists she was responsible for. She explains this, in a matter of fact way, i.e. without pretensions, on the basis of social class. The product the company was offering as described by Michelle was geared towards the lower end of the budget spectrum. Hence Michelle was also surprised by the dilapidated state of the company’s facilities (mainly in Spain). When asked whether the company had prepared her for the potentially aggressive behaviour of its clients Michelle strongly denies having been made aware of the nature of the problems that might (and frequently did) occur. More importantly, Michelle did not receive the assistance she was expecting when difficult situations arose with clients. Overall then, the way the business was managed surprised Michelle. She was further surprised by the workload given to her and other fellow placement students. It seems Michelle regarded the work placement as somehow being different to full time employment i.e. not being quite as demanding. Interestingly, given the above one might expect Michelle to have a very negative view of her placement, but she made sense of the placement in a very philosophical way. On thinking about whether she would have preferred working for a different company she says: ‘But if I’d had the chance to go with someone else I probably would have done, but then I wouldn’t have had the experiences I’ve had, so…torn between the two.’ John – hospitality student – bar / restaurant John, similar to Claire, did not express many sources of surprise. Although originally intending to undertake a placement with a large organisation John was turned down at the last minute. Disappointed by this he managed to find a placement with an independent bar/restaurant. Admitting he was able to learn a lot, at least initially, he nonetheless expresses surprise at the ‘frosty’ attitude at work. He explained this in part with reference to age. That is, he was by far the youngest member of staff and it wasn’t until after Christmas when other young members of staff joined the team that the atmosphere at work improved. A point that aroused feelings of incredulity related to the owners’ failure to develop the business to its potential. John saw opportunities to develop the business that were being ignored and although able to voice his concerns, these were not heeded. The last months of John’s placement appear to have been quite tedious for him, trapped in a situation where he felt he had learnt as much as he was able to and with the desire to move on but not being able to. 105 Lucy – hospitality student – bar / restaurant Having very little experience of bar/restaurant work Lucy was not only faced with a new organisation but also with new work tasks so the potential for surprises was fairly high. Lucy was clearly expecting a more structured work environment, and more adherence to formal procedures and guidelines. What she found was an organisation that took an easy-going approach to managing people and the business in general. Not that this bothered Lucy, she was pleasantly surprised at the friendly, informal atmosphere at work, even towards managers. It somewhat contradicted the picture she had received of the typical work organisation university had provided her with. Like many of the other accounts above, Lucy was surprised at the levels of responsibility given to her, especially early on in her placement. The only major disappointment Lucy encountered related to support received from her university, that is she didn’t receive any, at least not while the placement was ongoing. A tutor did visit her but not till after the placement had been completed. Thus Lucy did not feel as though she had been on placement but regarded herself more as an ‘ordinary’ employee. DISCUSSION Above overview of surprises points to a number of issues that merit further attention. Beginning with the organisational socialisation process, firstly, one can adopt Arnold’s (1985) approach and assess whether surprises were internal or external to self and equally how sense was made of surprises. Some elements of internal surprise are mentioned, notably with regards increases in confidence, but overall the experiences encountered were external, that is about the business or the job. This was perhaps to be expected and yet the literature does suggest that entrance to a new organisation can bring about significant changes in personal identity (Van Maanen and Schein 1979). Mackenzie Davey and Arnold (2000) also recognised that levels of personal change as a result of starting employment will differ quite considerably between individuals. They, therefore, argue that in any attempt to investigate change the first aim will be to identify those who describe themselves as changed. Unfortunately, as already discussed in the methods section, there was not a large pool of potential respondents the authors could draw upon. The finding that barring confidence levels little identified personal change occurred is itself a valuable finding however. Admittedly, it is difficult to assess levels of self-reflection engaged in by respondents as there is no guarantee that all thoughts will be divulged in the interview. Nonetheless, the results are perhaps indicative of a lack of respondents’ reflection on their experiences. This finding, if true, is important as cognitive processing of experiences is the foundation for social learning (Krumboltz, 1976, Bandura, 1986), and indeed, experiential learning is at least partially based on reflection (Boud, et al., 1993). Tribe (2002) therefore quite rightly calls in question knowledge regimes that can perform an act of closure on reflection. Similarly, if knowledge is no longer emancipatory but simply productive as Lyotard (cited in Delanty, 2001:104) claims, the full educational potential of placements will be squandered. Consequently, debriefing sessions where students’ can reflect and share experiences as mentioned by Busby (2003) can be considered critical for the placement to fulfil its educational potential. Nevertheless, as Boud, Cohen et al. (1993:9) remind us, ‘for learning to take place, the experience does not have to be recent…the experience itself may not change, but the learning from it can grow, the meaning of it can be transformed, and the effects of it can be altered.’ There is no closure on placement learning. One may also argue that personal change was limited given the limited nature of surprises encountered. Indeed, compared to Nicholson and Arnold’s (1991) and Mackenzie Davey and Arnold’s (2000) studies, surprises encountered by respondents and subsequently personal change, were less manifest. However, Nicholson and Arnold’s (1991) and Mackenzie Davey et al.’s (2000) studies looked at graduate entry into large organisations. As will be mentioned in more detail below, the fact that most participants in this study already had work experience in the tourism and hospitality industry goes some way in explaining the limited nature of surprises. For many the placement was not a ‘first hand glimpse of reality’ (Collins, 2002). Sense-making related both to the self as well as the environment. Thus, the recurring issue of levels of responsibility were sometimes related to business needs (i.e. external), and yet for 106 some it was seen as a confirmation of personal ability (i.e. internal). Of course, the dividing line between person and environment can be a narrow one (Arnold, 1985) and in some cases sense-making can relate both to external as well as internal factors. Importantly for future impacts on career intentions is how surprises were made sense of with regard to existing interpretive schemes. For many respondents the placement was not their first experience of working in the industry. It is clear that for those for whom it was (Lisa for example), surprises appear to have been manifold; for others (e.g. John) less so. This points again to the interaction of person and environment in the sense-making process. By implication, a ‘one size fits all’ approach to placement administration/management is inadequate. Turning to surprises and the nature of SME employment the overall impression one gains is largely positive. With regard to full-time employment, Johnson and Péré-Vergé (1993) aver, that often SME managers fear they will be unable to meet graduates’ employment expectations, particularly vis-à-vis salary and quality of work. Other studies support the notion that graduates prefer employment in large organisations to employment in SMEs (Williams and Owen, 1997, Belfield, 1999). It cannot be denied that for some (John, Michelle) the placement did not live up to expectations. Particularly John felt constrained by the nature of the organisation. However, the other respondents tend to have had very positive experiences when assessed by the surprises they encountered. Broadly confirming graduate experiences of work in small organisations (Arnold, et al., 2002) respondents’ perceptions of task variety were positive, levels of responsibility, particularly early levels, were high, and for some the level of management commitment to their employees far exceeded expectations. The experience for the majority fell in line with Eakins’ (2000) proposal that the ‘placement should be structured so that it provides tasks which students see as challenging, for which the student can take responsibility and which they see as contributing to the organization.’ Interestingly, in two cases (Richard and Martin) respondents had begun placements with large hotel/restaurant chains only to be disappointed, particularly it seems as a result of unrealistic job previews. These respondents then found extremely satisfying placements in small firms. CONCLUSION This paper has attempted to outline initial insights into the placement experiences of tourism and hospitality students in SMEs by focussing on the notion of surprise. Surprises and sensemaking, as has been discussed, are an important element not only of the adjustment process when entering new work environments but also of the learning experience that placements provide. An interpretive approach was adopted which aimed at an in-depth understanding of the experiences. Further work is needed in analysing the results of the interviews and indeed further interviews will be conducted to assess the impacts of these experiences on career choices. Overall, surprises were wide ranging and yet for some respondents limited in nature. This, combined with an apparent lack of reflection, raises doubts as to whether placements are achieving their potential for personal development beyond the skills discourse. The results also indicate that any evaluation of a placement must be seen at an individual level given that sense-making is based on interpretive schemes unique to the individual. Finally, there is very little evidence that placements in SMEs are generally of poor quality. 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Significantly, it has been widely recognised that they differ from larger enterprises with regard to a number of aspects, including their business objectives and the constraints they face in trying to achieve those. One area in which small tourism businesses have been seen to lag behind their larger counterparts is in the area of training. This paper presents the findings of a case study carried out in West Cork, Ireland. The Fuchsia Brand is a regional tourism quality initiative which involves the training of its members, totalling 65 at the time of study. The training courses were successful in overcoming a number of recognised barriers to small tourism businesses’ participation in training initiatives. In addition to being held locally at convenient times, the course content, and the way it was delivered, was, for the most part, largely relevant to small tourism businesses. The findings also underline the importance of peer learning. It was found that knowledge sharing amongst the initiative’s members played a critical element of the learning process for the participants. The findings highlight the importance of a physical forum for the cultivation of an environment conducive to the development of social ties, which, in turn, facilitate knowledge sharing. The quality initiative’s multi-sectoral membership was reflected in attendance at the training courses, which resulted in a rich cross-sectoral knowledge exchange. Implications and recommendations based on the paper’s findings are presented. They relate not only to course content and its delivery but also the role of the tourism educator not just as trainer but as broker for such networks, insuring that knowledge sharing and knowledge capture take place effectively. Keywords: training, small tourism businesses, multi-sectoral networks, knowledge sharing, peer learning. INTRODUCTION The tourism and hospitality industry is commonly acknowledged as being a ‘people industry’, and as such, the aspect of training is pivotal to the industry’s success. Consequently, much emphasis has been laid by both academics and governments on this area in an effort to develop a core resource of the industry (Baum, 1994 and 1995; Jayewardene, 2001, Fáilte Ireland, 2004). Recently, in Ireland, the government has made a clear statement of its recognition of the need to support small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) in this regard (Tourism Policy Review Group, 2003a and 2003b). The issue of training in the small business sector in general has been neglected by academics and management and this is particularly true in the case of tourism and hospitality (Jameson, 1999). This paper aims to address this paucity of research by focusing on a case study in the South West of Ireland, with a view to gaining a greater understanding of the training needs of small and micro tourism businesses. LITERATURE REVIEW There is no universal consensus with regard to how ‘small firms’ in the hospitality industry should be defined (Morrison and Thomas, 1999). Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are generally defined in terms of number of employees. Travel and Tourism Intelligence (TTI, 2001) and Synergy (2000) define small enterprises as having between ten and 49 employees, and medium, between 50 and 249 employees. Companies employing less that ten individuals 110 are often embraced under the term of ‘micro-enterprises’ (Synergy, 2000: ix). Adopting this definition, it can be seen that the European tourism industry is a SME-dominated sector, with 99 per cent of firms counting less than 250 employees, and about 94 per cent employing less than ten persons. On average tourism SMEs in Europe provide jobs for six employees (European Commission, 2004). Baum (1999) and Middleton (2001) conclude that it is the small rural business that continues to be the dominant model in most developed and developing countries. SMEs, in addition to being one of the most important sectors of the tourism industry, constitute one of the most vulnerable due to high levels of undercapitalitisation and other economic pressures (Williams, 1997; Morrison, 2002). Technological, financial and structural changes in the hospitality industry in recent decades, combined with broader trends in tourism, have put enterprises in the industry under mounting pressure. ‘Many are increasingly marginalised, and may, in time, be forced to close unless new approaches can be adopted to improve their productivity and performance’ (TTI, 2001: 43). Consequently, there is much scope for the SMTE sector to benefit from performance-enhancing strategies, including training programmes. With regard to quality, it is necessary to assist such enterprises in the tourism and hospitality industry in developing and evolving, so that they might respond to the expectations of the increasingly demanding and quality-conscious customer (Gouirand, 1994). Williams (1997) maintains that quality strategies can be as effective as a means to success for SMEs as for large firms. It does not follow, however, that the same quality strategies will be as effective for SMEs as for large firms. SMTEs – different prerogatives, different needs It is becoming increasingly clear that small tourism and hospitality firms, although having much in common with larger tourism and hospitality firms, often operate according to quite different imperatives. Differences are found, for example, in business objectives, management style, marketing techniques and access to funding (Friel, 1999). Their business objectives may be tempered by a priority for quality of life and a more relaxed approach to their business (McKercher, 1998; Getz and Carlsen, 2000; Morrison, 2002). Furthermore, in rural areas, revenue from tourism may be merely supplementing a main income (Pearce, 1990; WTO, 1997) or arise from an tourist activity practiced as a sideline or hobby, usually by females (Kousis, 1989; Oppermann, 1997). Nevertheless, although rural family business owners might not be ‘adequately prepared for their business ventures and many will not be growth oriented’, and often place job satisfaction and family first, Getz and Carlsen (2000: 559) maintain that they ‘certainly recognise the need to operate sound, competitive businesses.’ In addition to different prerogatives to those of larger firms, small tourism businesses often experience different handicaps and constraints (Gouirand, 1994; Morrison, 2002). Buhalis and Cooper (1998), in their study of Greek island SMTEs, refer to a common lack of managerial know-how and strategic vision. Many of the SMTEs were found to be unaware of available marketing techniques and followed a product-oriented approach rather than a consumer approach. Similarly, McKercher and Robbins (1998: 173) found in their study of small nature tour operators in Australia that most ‘are run by owner-operators who have no formal business or marketing background and no prior experience in the tourism industry’. Furthermore, it is not only the handicap of size that afflicts small tourism enterprises but also their isolation both psychologically and physically. In many cases, SMTEs do not have access to other enterprises that might be able to facilitate them in various areas where they need support (Poon, 1990; Luciani, 1999; Netter, 1999). Often located in peripheral areas, SMTEs may suffer the consequences of a lack of tourism infrastructure and limited access to the market place (Nilsson et al., 2005). Similarly, there often exists a prohibitive distance from centres of learning and training for SMTEs. 111 Different problems require a different literature Against this background of differences and weaknesses of small tourism businesses, there is a general consensus that the large and important area of SMTEs has been substantially neglected (Lowe, 1988; Ritchie et al., 1997; Tinsley and Lynch, 2001), including the area of the family and owner-operated tourism business (Getz and Carlsen, 2000). Morrison and Thomas (1999: 148) note: ‘Until recently, those engaged in hospitality management research have all but ignored small enterprises, or arguably misunderstood their dynamics by treating them as scaled down versions of larger firms.’ This has been found to be the case with regard to hotel productivity (Lee-Ross and Ingold, 1994), yield management (Luciani, 1999) and marketing (Friel, 1999). Nevertheless, efforts have recently been made to address this gap (e.g., Thomas, 2004; Morrison and Thomas, 2004). As Tinsley and Lynch (2001: 370) conclude, ‘there seems to be an increasing awareness that the small firm is an entity unto itself and requires a different research strategy to that of larger firms.’ Research in the area of training for SMTEs is particularly needed given the pivotal role they play and the constraints they face. This is supported by Gouirand (1994) who identifies a lack of rigour with regard to quality management in small tourism businesses. Breiter and Bloomquist (1998: 32) conclude that small and medium-sized hotels are less likely than large hotels to implement TQM, including training initiatives: ‘The smaller the hotel, the less likely it is to incorporate empowerment, training and development, rewards and recognition, and tools and techniques’. Becton and Graetz (2001) in their study of small tourism and hospitality businesses in Australia found that there was a shortage of skilled staff and owner-managers. Those surveyed had little management training or qualifications. Barriers to further training included the cost of training and inflexibility of hours and place of delivery. This finding supports Gouirand (1994) who, writing in the context of French tourism, notes that small hoteliers have neither the time nor the disposition to avail of training, which can have serious implications for quality and consumer satisfaction. Given that most tourism destinations are largely dependent upon SMTEs, the paucity of research pertaining to the training needs of SMTEs constitutes a significant lacuna in the literature. This next section presents the methodology used to conduct an exploration into a destination-wide training initiative for SMTEs in West Cork, Ireland. METHODOLOGY The findings of this paper relate to one aspect of a larger study on quality management at the tourism destination. The nature of the case study allowed for an investigation into SMTEs’ training needs, given that one of the criteria used to select the case study was the existence of a training initiative involving a wide range of such businesses. The Fuchsia Brands tourism quality network based in West Cork, Ireland, satisfied the case study selection criterion insofar as applicants must participate in a number of training courses in order to become members. The businesses are mostly micro in size, and often family run. The network encompasses a wide range of tourism enterprises from the accommodation, restaurant, transport, activity and visitor attraction sectors, and had a total of 64 brand members at the time of investigation. A series of in-depth face-to-face interviews with brand managers and brand members were conducted. A number of the interview questions probed feelings and opinions relating to training needs and participation in the mandatory training courses. The total number of brand members willing and available to be interviewed totalled 46 out of 64, accounting for 58 of the brand’s 78 establishments. Of the 46 interviewees, 41 managed businesses with less than 50 employees (i.e. small businesses). These 41, in turn, included 34 who ran familyowned/operated businesses employing less than ten persons (i.e. micro businesses). The interviews with the 41 small and micro business owners/managers covered establishments in the following categories: hotels, guesthouses, self-catering accommodation, bed and breakfasts (B&Bs), hostels, caravan and camp-sites, restaurants, activities, attractions and transport, and as such included every enterprise type represented in the brand. The interviews 112 were carried out during the winter of 2002, and were conducted on the premises of each interviewee. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS The main findings from the interviews relate to the obstacles and solutions to participation in training for SMTEs, the different training needs of various types of SMTEs, and the benefits of peer learning and knowledge transfer. Overcoming obstacles to training With regard to obstacles to training, these became apparent as interviewees discussed how membership of the Fuchsia Brands network had helped overcome barriers and facilitated applicants’ participation in the training courses. With regard to place of delivery, training courses were held locally throughout the region, with specific venues varying between different towns so as to share the onus of travelling amongst the applicants. Although some interviewees found that the journey time and distance to the training venue was prohibitive, others appreciated that the alternative would have been to travel to the major cities of Cork or Dublin. The latter situation was seen to be a major deterrent, and the difference made, especially to small and family businesses, in having training courses that were ‘local’ and ‘convenient’ was thus expressed by one B&B owner: ‘Oh, they [the brand applicants] wouldn’t have done it otherwise! One hundred per cent wouldn’t have done it because you couldn’t do it. Oh, bringing the training to us, was one of the best things they ever did.’ Similarly, brand membership helped overcome time and financial restraints. The most common format of the training courses was a series of five or six one-day sessions over a number of months. With regard to the convenience of timing of the training courses, expressions like ‘they didn’t take too long’ and ‘they’re run over winter’ were commonly used. In light of Fyall et al.’s (2001) observation that the urge to collaborate appears more pressing in the shoulder and offpeak periods of the tourist season, when visitor numbers are at their lowest, it was fitting that training was organised for these periods, lessening the inconvenience for tourism service providers. Other comments concerned the heavily subsidised nature of the courses, which were run on a matched-funding basis. Several operators mentioned that if an operator wanted to undertake the training independently without the support of the brand, that the cost would be prohibitive. These findings support Becton and Graetz’s (2001: 113) assertion that the barriers for small tourism training include ‘the cost of training and inflexibility of hours and place of delivery’. In addition to the training courses being made more widely accessible in a temporal, geographical and financial sense, the course content was delivered in a manner, which was accessible to many of the small business operators involved. The majority of the operators expressed their appreciation of this. For many of the applicants, it had been a long time since they had been in an educational institution and, indeed, few had had previous industry training, some admitting that they had entered the tourism and hospitality business with little or no experience (‘no clue at all’). To them, the practical and straightforward way, free of ‘technical jargon’, in which the course content was delivered by the trainers had played a significant role in facilitating their attainment of the standard. Moreover, in addition to the course content delivery, the course content itself appeared, for the most part, to be tailored to the needs of the small tourism business operators, which constituted the majority of the total number of brand applicants. The main training courses were: Chef’s Workshop, Modern Kitchen Management, Sales and Marketing, Professional Hospitality, Food Hygiene and Principles of Quality, and were mostly delivered by CERT (as the Irish National Organisation for Training in Hospitality and Tourism was known at the time). According to the majority of the interviewees, the content of the training courses was appropriate to their business skill requirements. When asked about the most useful aspects of the training, many of the hospitality providers mentioned ‘simple things’, like ‘greeting people at the door, opening the door, how to deal with people’. The course on IT skills was found to one of the popular by the respondents. This supports the work of Buhalis (1998) and Nilsson et al. (2005) who highlight the importance of IT skills to SMTEs. Also, there was a general consensus that the 113 exercise where participants developed their own business plan was beneficial. (This is in contrast with Nilsson et al.’s (2005) findings, where only one of the eight Swedish SMEs studied over four years claimed to have designed a workable strategic plan: the remainder were more concerned with their marketing efforts). In addition to this, the majority of interviewees expressed their appreciation of the course element relating to the regional destination product, i.e. West Cork. This was complemented by the emphasis the brand managers and trainers laid on the importance of networking. Having met other tourism suppliers during the training and become more aware their individual product/service was part of a greater holistic experience, a consciousness of the importance of business links and networks was generated. In contrast to the general consensus that the training was useful, there were a number of isolated comments that certain aspects of the training were too targeted towards larger businesses. Several operators advocated the segregation of larger businesses from smaller ones for the purpose of training in order to ensure that the respective business types’ training needs were appropriately and effectively met. Further probing identified one particular module, ‘Principles of Quality’, as being at the root of most of such comments. One of the bigger hotels conceded that this particular module was ‘more advanced and sophisticated’ and one to which they only sent their supervisory and managerial staff. The above comment serves to highlight the difference between the training needs of small businesses and those of larger businesses and echoes Morrison’s (2003) contention that too often the provision of training programmes belongs more to the domain of tourism corporations and is in tune with large firm business models, thus contributing to market failure from the perspective of the SME. Moreover, the findings support the call for SME development programmes ‘to be driven by SME needs and preferred models, styles and delivery of learning’ (Morrison, 2003: 806). The general feedback concerning the training was, nevertheless, that most of the courses were tailored to the small tourism business in terms of timing, venue, required investment, content style and delivery. Different needs of various sub-sectors Findings also revealed that different tourism enterprise types had different training preferences and needs. This supports Reichel and Haber (2005) who note that differences exist between and within particular tourism sub-sectors, such as between accommodation and recreation activities, and say, within accommodation. Consequently, in order to gain an insight into the success conditions for each sub-sector, reference must be made to the unique characteristics of each of these. Given the nature of the particular types of SMTES, it was not surprising that those involved with attractions, for example, found the tour guiding training particularly valuable. Restaurant, B&B and guesthouse managers were especially interested in the food preparation and presentation aspects, whereas these held less appeal for self-catering operators. This group felt, rather, that the modules based around IT skills such as designing homepages and booking systems were of more use to them, as did the activities and attractions. It can be seen from the tourism training matrix in Table 1 that there were more courses available (and mandatory) for hospitality enterprises than for the attractions and activities sectors. Establishment type Hotel Guesthouse B&B Restaurant/ Pub Self Catering Caravan and Camping Amenities and Facilities Chef’s Workshop * * * * Modern Kitchen Management * * Sales and Marketing * * * * Professional Hospitality Food Hygiene Principles of Quality * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 114 Hostel (*) * Table 1: Fuchsia Brands’ Tourism Training Matrix. * (*) * This led to a certain degree of resentment amongst the attraction and activity managers since they felt that they were provided with fewer opportunities for training than the hospitality groups. A number of operators attended the training courses, hoping to benefit in some way, but often felt frustrated at the emphasis placed on food. Knowledge sharing One aspect of the training, however, which the majority of respondents felt made participation worthwhile was the platform the shared physical forum provided for knowledge sharing amongst the participants. The informal nature of the training allowed for direct interaction between diverse tourism service providers who shared common concerns, experiences and a sense of community. Consequently, there was much scope for knowledge exchange within the network. Regardless of sector, many enterprises including the larger and long-established businesses, but in particular the SMEs and the newly established firms, commented that they had learned as much from talking to each other as from listening to the professional trainers. This live knowledge exchange occurred across sub-sectors as well as within sub-sectors: one hotel testified specifically to learning from the experiences of visitor attraction and guesthouse managers. This supports Morrison’s (2003) emphasis on the effectiveness of peer-learning, acknowledging that owner-managers may have a certain respect for each other (Wyer, Mason and Theodorakopoulos, 2000). CONCLUSIONS This work supports earlier claims by researchers that the tenets applied to large tourism firms cannot always be applied to SMEs (Lee-Ross and Ingold, 1994; Friel, 1999; Luciani, 1999). The research found this to be the case in the particular context of training, and as such supports earlier research in the area (Morrison, 2003) and provides valuable lessons for educators of small and micro-sized tourism businesses. Three significant barriers to SMEs’ participation in training are venue, timing and finance (Becton and Graetz, 2001). Delivering courses locally and conveniently (i.e. during the off-peak season) can significantly overcome these obstacles. Also, assurance that training course content and the delivery thereof will targeted to the needs and preferences of SMTEs may further counter their traditional reluctance to undertake training. In addition to taking the needs of the business size into account, recognition must be given to the needs of the diverse sub-sectors represented by small and micro-sized tourism businesses. Whilst there are a number of training courses which are relevant for a specific sub-sector, e.g. HCCAP for food-providing tourism enterprises, there are other elements which have a wider appeal, such as IT and business management skills. The findings also suggest that there is a need for curricula to be designed and developed for those operating in sectors such as activities and recreation. The findings of this case study have implications for tourism and hospitality educators. 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