BLOG: Pause, Play, Prosper? The impact and legacy of Covid-19 on access work in the Higher Education Progression Partnership South Yorkshire (HeppSY)
In this blog, we will reflect and build on the main points raised when we presented a session at the NEON Summer Symposium in 2021 called ‘Pause, Play, Prosper? The impact and legacy of Covid-19 on access work’. The presentation outlined the findings from the evaluators perspective of a process evaluation on phase two of the Higher Education Progression Partnership South Yorkshire (HeppSY)[1] programme, which started in August 2019 and finished in July 2021. This blog encourages practitioners and researchers to reflect on the findings and consider how they can incorporate them into their work, regardless of whether that is online or physically in person.
A clear vision
The findings of this evaluation and the pre-pandemic evaluative work found the collaborative approach adopted by HeppSY in building the partnership had resulted in successful and mutually beneficial relationships (Brown, 2019; Clague, Brown and Squire, 2019; Pickering and Donnelly, 2021). A clear philosophy and vision had been established for HeppSY that was embedded across the partnership, while the programme was underpinned by a theoretically informed and coordinated evaluation design. HeppSY approached their relationship with each centre and partner from an individualised perspective so that they could understand their challenges and context, which provided centres with flexibility in the adoption and tailoring of activities. Funding given to centres to build internal capacity, such as through the recruitment of designated staff to coordinate and deliver HeppSY activities, further strengthened trust and collaboration.
- Does your organisation have a clear philosophy that underpins your approach to working collaboratively and engaging partners?
- How does your organisation tailor its approach to the needs of your partners?
- How do you help partners build capacity and develop Higher Education knowledge in their own organisations?
Responsive to centres needs
Responding to the challenges created by Covid-19, schools and colleges were predominantly focused on delivering the curriculum and anything else was seen as a bonus. Institutions and providers across the sector were encouraged to reconsider the pedagogy that underlies outreach work (Rainford, 2021) and to “resist the temptation to seek an immediate response” (Raven, 2020, p. 257). HeppSY paused their activity and redirected their time to listen to centres, which was essential for centres as they were keen not to overload their staff. HeppSY worked with its partners to ensure there was a consistent message about the support that was available and they revised the design and delivery of their offer to include digital, face-to-face and blended activities.
- How do you actively listen and respond to your partners’ needs when designing and delivering activities?
- What pedagogy underpins your outreach activities?
Play
HeppSY were focused on ensuring that knowledge about higher education was retained within the centres and to provide them with greater autonomy to deliver activities themselves, such as by providing training to staff. Once the delivery of activities picked up again in an online environment, the potential to reach more students, provide more individualised support and deliver activity within centres at an earlier stage in time was noted by some staff, particularly as there were no restrictions in terms of travel time or location. However, some physical and collaborative activities were challenging to translate online, while a barrier reported at other UCPs was the potential lack of equipment at centres (Bowes and Patel, 2021). Reflecting on university outreach programmes in Australia, Dodd and colleagues (2021) acknowledge the role of online approaches as a worthy inclusion, supplement or backup to in-person engagement, but they stress that “careful and balanced consideration must be applied if intending to substitute one for the other” (p. 69). Decisions about the design and delivery of a programme should therefore stem from their outcomes and be underpinned by a theory of change approach, which will determine if, and how, online approaches are appropriate for bringing about that change.
- How can you support capability and knowledge development in centres?
- What mechanisms have you got in place to determine which delivery mode will be the most beneficial for your activity?
Prosper?
The strong relationships within HeppSY enabled them to meet their targets pre-pandemic, and during the pandemic they helped the partnership to transition through periods of uncertainty. The partnership has retained its focus in working towards the same agenda and maintained an ethos of collaboration, regardless of whether staff and students were engaging in physical or virtual spaces. However, HeppSY are now in a position to consider how online approaches can be embedded into the planned delivery, rather than it being relied upon as a default position. From the evaluation, staff perceived students to be more willing to learn flexibly and, anecdotally, increases in the digital competency of students and staff members were observed. Centres and partners continued to network with each other in an online environment for collective planning and problem-solving, although it will be necessary to continue to strengthen their digital infrastructure. HeppSY has expressed its commitment to retaining elements of online provision for the delivery of activities and to build relationships, and it will continue to capture further evidence to examine its impact on learners and centres.
- How does your organisation foster collaborative work and engagement in the physical and virtual spaces?
- How is your organisation capturing evidence about the effectiveness of its provision?
In summary
Covid-19 was a tidal wave that shocked everyone’s lives, however, as people adjusted, and as the initial metaphorical waters receded, they left exposed the stark structural inequalities that many people face in our society. This was especially true in education, where a lack of resources had a detrimental impact on access, participation and outcomes. Educational inequalities became so stark they were ever present in the national discourse about the pandemic, but as calmer waters return and public interest fades, we cannot forget the inequalities hidden just below the surface of the water. The learning from practice, research and evaluation undertaken during the pandemic provided crucial new insight into educational barriers and as circumstances change again it is vital that this new knowledge is embedded into practice. This blog post aimed to present the findings from an evaluation undertaken during the pandemic and to help you reflect on your current practice so you can continue to make higher education a viable option for everyone regardless of their background.
Nathaniel Pickering (Senior Lecturer in Research, Evaluation and Student Engagement) and Alan Donnelly (Lecturer in Research, Evaluation and Student Engagement) at Sheffield Hallam University
The authors would like to thank HeppSY for their willingness for us to continue talking and writing about the findings from the evaluation work they commissioned.
The images used in this blog post were created by Fresh Spectrum.
References
Bowes, L. and Patel, R. (2021) Emerging insight report: COVID-19 and Uni Connect. Available at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/db33be8d-cb45-4db0-a470-140823adde69/cfe_uni-connect-covid-19_insight-report.pdf (Accessed 18 February 2022).
Brown, G. (2019) HeppSY+: delivering a collaborative approach? Sheffield: HeppSY
Clague, L. , Brown, G. and Squire, R. (2019) HeppSY: school and college views. Sheffield: HeppSY.
Dodd, E., Singh, S., Micsko, J., Austin, K., Morison, C. and Upton, S. (2021). ‘Equalizing and Widening Access to Higher Education During a Pandemic: Lessons Learned from a Multi-University Perspective’. Student Success, 12(3), pp. 1-15. doi: https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.1715.
Pickering, N. and Donnelly, A. (2021) A Process Evaluation of Phase Two of the Higher Education Progression Partnership South Yorkshire (HeppSY). Sheffield: HeppSY. Available at: https://extra.shu.ac.uk/heppsy/assets/2021/06/210512-HeppSY-Phase-Two-Evaluation-Full-Report-v3.pdf (Accessed 18 February 2022).
Rainford, J. (2021) ‘Moving widening participation outreach online: challenge or opportunity?’, Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 25(1), pp. 2-6. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13603108.2020.1785968
Raven, N. (2020) ‘COVID-19 and outreach: the challenge and the response.’ Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 22(2), pp. 255-263. doi: https://doi.org/10.5456/WPLL.22.2.255
[1] HeppSY is part of the national Uni Connect programme (UCP) that aims to help school and college students aged between 13 and 19 across South Yorkshire who are most at risk of missing out on higher education. HeppSY works in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University, The University of Sheffield and South Yorkshire schools and colleges.