Making Projects Real in a Higher Education Context

Abstract

Challenging educators to rethink projects and see them as a practice rather than as a model of management the authors explore the possibilities for using live projects to enhance real world learning in higher education. Drawing on the work of the `critical projects movement' the chapter outlines a theoretical underpinning for reconceptualising projects as a practice and proposes a new pedagogic model that of `agile learning'. Framing the use of live projects is a mode of real world learning that generates encounters with industry professionals and provides real-value outputs for clients. The chapter explores the challenges that face educators who wish to foreground `social learning' and engagement with communities of practice as a means of easing the transition for students from education to the world of work.