Advice for teachers

0.1 Why this book?

The role of enabling education is to ‘bridge the gap’ for students who would otherwise not have access to higher education. Enabling is a complex and rewarding discipline centred on equity, inclusion, and empowerment. We address barriers to educational access, foster confidence, resilience, and academic preparedness for students who have faced significant challenges.  Despite difficulties such as funding instability and neoliberal pressures, enabling education remains steadfast in advocating for underrepresented students. If you are new to teaching in this space, welcome! For experienced enabling educators, I hope this textbook supports your work to rebuild learner identities.

Many current textbooks centre on university transition in general, often ignoring the multifaceted experiences of enabling students. This is the gap that this textbook addresses. Study skills, psychological insights, and research have been curated specifically for enabling students, making this textbook an important resource. This textbook is centred on student experiences, and aims to support lecturers in their work to empower by reshaping learner identities, challenging negative learner perceptions, and recognising enabling students as valuable assets in our universities. By placing the student at the centre of our work, we continue to create environments that celebrate diverse perspectives and foster empowerment.

“Advice for teachers” sections of textbooks usually centre on delivering the content and maximising student learning. While this section explores basic pedagogy to be used alongside this textbook, it also briefly examines the nature of enabling education and its teachers and students.

As the initial audience is Australian enabling students and teachers, the content is Australian-centric in nature. Readers from other countries may find it useful to skim over section 0.2 and spend more time perusing from 0.3 onwards.

0.2 Enabling education

The last few decades have seen a significant widening of participation and diversity of students at university (Crank, 2023). To cater for the diversity of student enrolments and promote equitable access to tertiary education, the Australian Government has endorsed enabling courses; fee-free programs designed to prepare students for bachelor-level study (Davis & Bull, 2023). These initiatives are known by many names in Australia, including bridging, foundation, preparatory, pathway, and more recently, Fee-Free Uni Ready programs (Crank, 2023; Davis & Bull, 2023). Enabling courses were originally defined in the Higher Education Support Act (HESA), as “a course of instruction provided to a person for the purpose of enabling the person to undertake a course leading to a higher education award” (HESA, 2003, p. 541). Enabling courses are non-award, non-accredited programs that allow students to explore university study without incurring a Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt.

Enabling’s growth has been substantial, with enrolments increasing by over 400% between 2001 to 2020 (NAEEA, n.d.). The Australian Government has recently pledged $350.3 million to Fee-Free Uni Ready programs (Department of Education, 2024), highlighting the broad support for enabling education’s ability to foster equitable access to education. Enabling courses play an important role in addressing systemic barriers to higher education, particularly for underrepresented students. Their success in academic preparation is largely attributed to the ongoing development and refinement of enabling pedagogies.

0.3 Enabling pedagogies

Enabling pedagogy is shaped by a range of student-centred approaches that provide tailored academic support while honouring the educational experience of the students. Rooted in social justice, empowerment, and an acknowledgement of student diversity, the strength of enabling courses is in their ‘soft benefits’, such as increased student confidence, self-efficacy, a sense of belonging, increased motivation, and academic success (Davis & Bull, 2023; Lisciandro et al., 2023; Olds et al., 2022). The curriculum focuses on language and literacies, critical thinking, numeracy, study skills, university culture, and academic literacy (Davis et al., 2023; Lisciandro et al., 2023).

Research in enabling education is still emerging but often suggests deepening the above practices to better address harmful self-beliefs concerning education and ability (Davis & Bull, 2023). Techniques like storytelling, self-sharing, and promoting resilience and self-awareness are also highly endorsed (Larsen & James, 2022; James & Walters, 2020). These approaches are closely aligned with the foundational principles of enabling education, particularly their emphasis on equity, social justice, and psychological research. Together they form the basis of what is known as pedagogies of care.

Pedagogies of care aim to challenge neoliberal approaches in universities, notably their so-called ‘careless’ practices of emphasising enrolment numbers over student support and treating lecturers as recruitment tools (Motta & Bennett, 2018). Pedagogies of care are rooted in dialogic relationships, providing holistic support tailored to the needs of the students (Crank, 2023). According to Motta and Bennett (2018), pedagogies of care have three components:

• Recognition: Acknowledging students’ diverse experiences and potential:
• Relationality: Building strong relationships and rejecting the traditional one-way teaching model:
• Affective and embodied praxis: Valuing the emotional and embodied aspects of education, prioritising vulnerability and openness over competition and shame.

These pedagogies are multifaceted, individualised, and worth exploring in greater detail. Understanding the students we teach, however, is also extremely important.

0.4 Enabling students

Enabling students face many challenges, including having a diversity of needs, lacking role models, struggling with academic confidence, family and employment responsibilities, and increased mental health issues (James & Walters, 2020; Lisciandro et al., 2023). 50% of students enrolled in enabling programs are from an equity group[1], compared to 30% in undergraduate programs (Lisciandro et al., 2023).

Deficit discourses refer to the framing of under-represented students as lacking essential academic and social skills (Larsen & Frost-Camilleri, 2023). It is difficult to write about enabling students without engaging with deficit discourses. Terms like ‘at risk’, ‘vulnerable’, or ‘marginalised’ are part of our government and university policies and procedures, our research, and our educational interventions. Educational institutions use deficit discourses to rationalise resource needs, attributing marginalised students’ lack of academic progress to personal shortcomings rather than their responsibilities to provide accessible education (Larsen & Frost-Camilleri, 2023). Nonetheless, there are several strategies we can employ to address some of these issues.

Deficit discourses can be challenged by reframing student identities and altering our wording (Larsen & Frost-Camilleri, 2023). Flipping the responsibility for accessible education to the institution, as detailed above, is a good example of this. A strength-based learning approach that recognises the students’ diverse experiences as assets can also help. Explicitly teaching soft skills such as developing self-efficacy, confidence, and employing positive psychology principles are also said to foster personal growth and well-being (James & Walters, 2020). Moreover, developing a sense of belonging by encouraging students to interact with the environment, and the social and cognitive aspects of university life increases student motivation and aids successful transition (Pedler et al., 2022).

Reframing student experiences as assets to our institutions redefines deficit discourses and increases student motivation, self-efficacy, and confidence. In many ways, reflecting on and understanding our students requires an examination and reflection of ourselves as educators.

0.5 Enabling educators and universities

Enabling educators play multifaceted roles beyond traditional university teaching. They provide academic and emotional support, work to empower students, and are advocates for equity (Crank, 2023). They also work to disrupt deficit discourses and promote positive student identities, providing healthier mindsets and coping strategies (Davis et al., 2023; James & Walters, 2020). Hence, the enabling teacher is a multifaceted role and enabling is arguably a discipline in its own right.

However, enabling’s non-accredited status presents structural challenges and enabling programs often lack a stable ‘home’ within universities, making them vulnerable to changes in government funding and institutional restructures. Often, enabling programs face the challenge of demonstrating their importance to their institution (Davis et al., 2023), and remain at the fringe of university culture. Despite this, a recent cross-institutional benchmarking study reveals that shared curricula, learning outcomes, and success rates are similar among enabling programs across institutions (Davis et al., 2023). Enabling students often perform as well or better than their undergraduate counterparts (Davis et al., 2023; Lisciandro, 2022). Despite variations in duration, delivery methods, and target audiences, enabling programs share a common focus on supporting successful educational pathways (Crank, 2023). In fact, the success of enabling courses has prompted some researchers to suggest other university programs adopt similar approaches to address student retention issues (Hattam et al., 2024). The unifying factor of enabling courses is the belief in equity, social justice, and access to education. These elements become even stronger when connecting with enabling communities.

0.6 Enabling communities

The National Association of Enabling Educators of Australia (NAEEA) is the leading organisation supporting enabling education in Australia. NAEEA advocates to improve educational access, provides professional development opportunities (including hosting a bi-annual conference), promotes and conducts research, disseminates resources, establishes and maintains professional standards, and facilitates networking opportunities through special interest groups, known as SIGs. Other organisation and professional bodies might not be enabling education focused but may still provide valuable support depending on your cohort’s needs. Reach out to organisations in your interest areas and explore opportunities to become actively involved. Engaging with NAEEA and similar organisations can deepen your understanding of pedagogy and connect you with like-minded professionals: https://enablingeducators.org/.

Whether you are new to this field or have years of experience, your work is invaluable in fostering equity and supporting students to re-learn their potential as learners. I hope this textbook offers you practical tools, fresh insights, and a sense of connection to the vital role we play as enabling educators. Thank you for being a part of this important work, and best wishes as you continue to empower students on their enabling journey.

Accessing Handouts

All handouts are linked to the title of the learning activity. Alternatively, all handouts can be downloaded in pdf format in the Appendices section of this textbook.

Providing Feedback

Each chapter has a link to provide anonymous feedback on the textbook. You can also contact the author directly via email: l.frost-camilleri@federation.edu.au.

References

Crank, R. (2023). Academic Staff Identity in Widening Participation Programs. In: Padró, F.F., Green, J.H., Bull, D. (eds) Widening Participation in Higher Education. University Development and Administration. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9553-8_25-2

Davis, C., & Bull, D. (2023). A Western Agenda for Access and Equity in Higher Education: The Evolution of Widening Participation. In Widening Participation in Higher Education (pp. 1-22). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/

Davis, C., Cook, C., Syme, S., Dempster, S., Duffy, L., Hattam, S., Lambrinidis, G., Lawson, K., & Levy, S. (2023). Benchmarking Australian enabling programs for a national framework of standards. ‘A practice report’. Student Success, 14(2), 41-49. https://doi.org/

Department of Education. (2024). 2024-25 Budget: FEE-FREE Uni Ready Courses fact sheet. Australian Government. https://www.education.gov.au/about-department/resources/feefree-uni-ready-courses

Department of the Attorney General. (2003). Higher Education Support Act 2003. Australian Government Printing Service. https://doi.org/

Hattam, S., Hattam, R., Weiler, T., & King, S. (Eds) (2024). Enabling pedagogy and Action Research in Higher Education, DIO Press. https://doi.org/

James, T., & Walters, V. (2020). How positive is positive psychology in an enabling program?: Investigating the transformative power of positive psychology for enabling students. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 60(2), 170-189.

Larsen, A., & James, T. (2022). A sense of belonging in Australian higher education: The significance of self-efficacy and the student-educator relationship. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 19(4), 1-15.

Larsen, A., Frost-Camilleri, L. (2023). Issues and Solutions: A Literature Review of the Deficit Discourses Concerning Under-Represented Students. In: Weuffen, S., Burke, J., Plunkett, M., Goriss-Hunter, A., Emmett, S. (eds) Inclusion, Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice in Education. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5008-7_4

Lisciandro, J. G. (2022). First-year university retention and academic performance of non-traditional students entering via an Australian pre-university enabling program. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 62(2), 167–201. https:///doi/10.3316/informit.622093343833841

Lisciandro, J.G., Jones, A., Monteith, D., Geerlings, P., Briggs, B., Bateman, B. (2023). It’s the Principle that Counts: Designing Curriculum for Diverse Enabling Student Cohorts. In: Padró, F.F., Green, J.H., Bull, D. (eds) Widening Participation in Higher Education. University Development and Administration. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9553-8_10-2

Motta, S. C., & Bennett, A. (2018). Pedagogies of care, care-full epistemological practice and ‘other’caring subjectivities in enabling education. Teaching in Higher Education, 23(5), 631-646.

National Association of Enabling Educators of Australia. (n.d.). Enabling education across Australia. https://enablingeducators.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Enabling-Education-Across-Australia.pdf

Olds, A., Jones, A., Sturniolo-Baker, R., Clarke, S., Dawson, J., McGrath, W., … & White, C. (2022). School-based enabling programs: Creating opportunity and connection.’A practice report’. Student Success, 13(3), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.2841

Pedler, M. L., Willis, R., & Nieuwoudt, J. E. (2022). A sense of belonging at university: Student retention, motivation and enjoyment. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 46(3), 397-408. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2021.1955844