Andy Pitchford, Head of CETI
23 October 2024

Introduction

“Authentic learning is a sham,” an experienced academic colleague tells me. “How can we pretend that what happens in my class, and what happens within a university generally, isn’t real life in some way? It’s not imaginary, it’s not happening in another dimension, so why do we have this ludicrous binary approach to education and the world beyond?”

This is a frequent objection to the idea of authentic learning, that we are creating an artificial divide between what happens between the walls of our institutions, and what people experience in the ‘real world’ beyond those barriers. The inference is that the supposed ‘real world’ is more important, and that academic enquiry and the business of scholarship is demeaned as a result.

But those of us who espouse authentic learning are not trying to create artificial divisions or domains, nor are we trying to downplay the value of academic knowledge. We’re trying to imagine and create sets of circumstances where learners will be fully engaged and find purpose and meaning in their studies.

What we mean by authentic learning

‘Authentic’ in this context, relates to the fundamentals of learning. If ‘learning for the test’, ‘competitive individualism’ or ‘consumerism’ infers an alienating or shallow experience, what is the alternative? How else might learning be organised? If so much contemporary learning is sedentary, inert, uninspiring and abstract, how might we bring light and life into the classroom? The authenticity we are pursuing here is about those circumstances where learners fully engage with their studies, in the sense that they experience intrinsic motivation, understand and value the activities that they pursue, and have some agency to determine how and what they study.

Put simply, learning at any level is much like any other human endeavour. If we see the purpose in what we do, engage with others who validate and support our actions and see the products of our labours put to good use, we are much more likely to find meaning, belonging and fulfilment. Authentic learning is about stripping the educative experience back to these fundamentals. The search for more fulfilling and authentic modes of learning has taken us away from the traditional academic classroom, and its focus on the ‘sage on the stage’ and the transmission of knowledge shared by the established and the powerful, and towards experiential learning. Here, students are encouraged to apply their knowledge or the core capabilities of their discipline in order to produce benefits for others beyond the immediate classroom or module. This application might be manifested through the production of a solution to a problem or an answer to a question, or the construction of some new artefact, resource, work of art or digital innovation. The point is to bring meaning and purpose to the experience of learning. Through application, learners can see the value of their work and the relevance of their field of study.

Connecting the curriculum

There are connections here between other pedagogical interventions and fashions. We are all familiar with active learning, the flipped classroom and more recently ‘authentic assessment’. When we talk about authentic learning, we’re really connecting all of these notions but through much longer-term episodes that stretch beyond a single class or assessment. Authentic learning really seems to add value in extended – perhaps module-long modes of learning – where the focus is collaboration with tutors, peers and the potential beneficiaries of the initiative. Learners connect with their field or discipline and seek greater understanding because they want or need to – they come to this through choice and realisation rather than having knowledge imposed upon or transmitted to them.

Here at Westminster, we have really mature examples of authentic learning that continue to thrive and progress. Live projects in Architecture, for example, the development of our Legal Clinic and the amazing work of the Democratic Education Network (DEN) all exhibit the key features of authenticity that we’re describing. But the location, context and legacy of Westminster means that we can do so much more to make this approach a distinctive characteristic of our educative journey. On our very doorsteps we have history, community, civic life, retail, corporations, neighbourhoods and public spaces that offer incredible opportunities for our students to see life from different perspectives, to engage with novel and interesting challenges, and to make connections that may last long after their graduation day. Of course there are other universities on our patch who could make the same argument, but few if any have our ongoing commitment to transformation, our history of applied and practical learning and the long-standing connections with individuals and organisations in the locality.

Conclusion

This isn’t a call for all learning at Westminster to adhere to some new criteria, or for all modules to suddenly become ‘authentic’ in some way. But it is the beginning of an argument to say that all students, at some point in their studies, should experience this form of learning. In part so that they can compare different approaches and be able to reflect on those that suit them best – for whatever purpose – and in part because we genuinely feel that their senses of belonging, community and purpose will be enhanced as a result.

Further Reading/Resources

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/covid-disrupts-our-academic-identities-and-thats-something-we-should-embrace-2/

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/how-to-sustain-authentic-learning-in-challenging-times-2/

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/managing-the-risks-of-community-engaged-learning/

https://vimeo.com/1010599216?share=copy

Image: Kyle Glenn via UnSplash

About the Author

Andy is the Head of the Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation at the University of Westminster. He has led community engagement initiatives in universities for the past 30 years and was awarded an Advance HE National Teaching Fellowship in 2015 in recognition of this work. With David Owen and Ed Stevens, he published the Handbook of Authentic Learning with Routledge in 2021.