A pedagogical response to the challenges of delivering collaborative probation education in online environments.

This paper explores the challenges in delivering post graduate probation education in a predominately online environment. It discusses the key pedagogical theories underpinning the teaching approach, with a particular emphasis on social constructivism, communities of practice and enquiry based learning. The complexities of engaging students in the types of discursive and collegiate activities inherent within these approaches whilst learning at a distance are discussed. A case study exploring the facilitation of a colloborative enquiry based task into the role of emotion work in probation practice is used to demonstrate our response to the challenges identified. Whilst the context of this paper is probation education, it has relevance to those teaching other disciplines within online settings.