Module overview
Applying Widening Participation Policy, the first module in the Postgraduate Certificate in Widening Participation and Evaluation, gives an overview of the policy landscape relating to widening access and participation in Higher Education. It provides a critical lens to examine the history and development of WP, considering both the rationale from which policy emerged and the political context upon which it sits.
The module will offer a two-day learning retreat at the beginning of the semester, hosted both online and in person, at the University of Southampton. We will provide a range of flexible, hybrid activities for you to be welcomed by module and programme staff, your peer mentors and fellow students; providing you with the opportunity to further develop your professional networks. You will be encouraged to explore the interplay between policy, theory and practice by examining key policy initiatives, concepts and contexts, analysing the effectiveness of their application over time, which we will continue to critically consider throughout the rest of the semester through a series of recorded lectures. Lectures are complemented by live and interactive seminars supporting learners to better understand the context within which you are working, enabling you to situate your current practice.
By the end of the module you will be able to synthesise your own understanding of WP, equipped with skills to critically examine both policy and practice to develop your own politically cognisant practice. Consequently, you will build confidence in examining your own practice, within your role, whether that is in designing and delivering WP initiatives, developing strategy or shaping organisational change. Furthermore, whatever level you are working at, you will be encouraged to use these learnings to influence policy in the context of your own HEI primarily whilst also simultaneously exploring how that could be applied nationally and internationally if you have such ambitions.