A Framework for Quality Flexible Learning Programs

Flexible learning programs play a central role in many countries to enable successful learning and completion of upper secondary education by young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. While the flexible learning program sector is sizeable, it is also somewhat nebulous and fragmented, which undermines capacity for reflection on what enables success in learning. Research indicates mixed evidence for how well flexible learning programs support young people to gain positive experiences of learning as well as valuable outcomes, including educational credentials. The chapter outlines a Framework of Quality Flexible Learning Programs, based on empirical data from Australian flexible learning programs. The framework is shaped around four interrelated dimensions: valued outcomes, actions, principles and conditions. Rather than mandating exactly what a flexible learning program should look like, the framework is intended to be applied by programs to their own specific context and purposes in order to facilitate success in learning for all their students.