Guest host: Emma Vincent 

In an ever-changing world where uncertainty is the only constant how can we prepare our students for the future? This is the challenge that many institutions are grappling with. As higher education professionals we are committed to enabling our students to succeed in their future careers. However, what is success and how and why do we measure it? The core Higher Education measure of success we have currently is the Office for Student’s (OfS) definition, which is articulated through B3 student outcomes metrics. These metrics may define success at an institutional level but how do we balance this with what it means to an individual or to us as professionals? 

The landscape in higher education has shifted significantly from when I moved into the sector in 2005 fresh from 10 years’ experience nationally and internationally in Human Resources roles at Marks and Spencer. Looking back, I do not ever remember anyone mentioning the words value for money in the context of careers service provision; Now the words metrics, outcomes and satisfaction are high on the agenda and are becoming increasingly synonymous with the word employability. This can be largely attributed to the maturity of the OfS and the transition to the revised Teaching Excellence Framework. The B3 Student Outcomes metrics with minimum numerical thresholds require institutions to be transparent about graduate outcomes. Being someone who likes data and meticulously working through it to find a narrative, I find myself overwhelmed with the sheer scale and complexity of information that is now available to institutions, so much so that I do wonder whether it is even possible to ever get to grips truly with everything available.  

I moved into the world of employability to inspire and empower others to succeed in whatever they choose to do; without judgement I coach amazing individuals to identify their talents and articulate them to others. Reflecting as I write this blog, I realise that my true passion and drive in all of this is to ensure students receive a high-quality student experience, constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible to remove the inequalities that exist in higher education and society today. As a girl born in Newcastle, first in family to go to university I can identify with many of the challenges our students face today. I can also recognise the added value of having a holistic one stop shop approach to delivering student support, co-creating and signposting to development pathways that can truly make a difference.  

So, what should leaders do? I suggest we collaborate across professional services and academic schools; we share innovative ideas and more than ever we gather momentum and energy in institutions to face the future world of work together. Our value proposition as communities is that by joining forces, we become powerful changemakers, making a difference to all our students, sparking their curiosity in continuous learning and opening doors to employers and sectors they did not even know existed. 

Using our collective passion and enthusiasm to encourage others to succeed I suggest we create employability strategies that are used in parallel with Access and Partnership Plans that are complementary, fit for purpose and more importantly are genuinely seen as a priority by institutions.  

Strategies can’t however be built solely on shared values and promising ideas. As a leader I recognise the need to continually face the challenge of adapting our work to meet evolving demands. To measure, articulate and share the success of our interventions, we must embrace the new world of data informed decision making, by using robust mechanisms to gather feedback and evaluation on what works.  

As the needs of the student body evolve and universities digital maturity transformation continues this requires teams to adopt a more agile approach to delivering services to students. The emergence of artificial intelligence, together with significant societal changes and an increase in students with poor mental health, calls for a regular re-evaluation and enhancement of all institutional employability strategies.  
 
To set the scene for our upcoming LTHEchat where we will delve into some of the most pressing issues surrounding student futures, I propose that a strong employability strategy would need to consider integrating several key elements: 
 

• 1. Technological innovation: Our strategies must equip students with the AI and data literacy skills needed within the workplace and the confidence to continuously learn and adapt to using technology to leverage career success.  
• 2. Inclusive and accessible pedagogy: Providing a diverse portfolio of equitable opportunities within the curriculum so that all students can engage will ensure that graduates are future ready.  To achieve this, we must influence our networks to understand and address the unconscious barriers and bias that may exist within the workplace.   
• 3. Career preparedness: By integrating and scaffolding employability skills in the curriculum, we can empower all students to make informed choices about their future and thrive post-graduation. 
• 4. Scalable provision: As student populations expand and become more diverse, emerging holistic university operating models and underpinning systems and processes must adapt accordingly. We require scalable solutions that do not compromise personalised guidance quality while leveraging technology to enhance student engagement. 
• 5. Mental health support: The link between mental health and employability is undeniable. All universities have been strongly urged to sign up to the Student Minds Mental Health Charter Programme by September 2024, signalling now more than ever institutions are being encouraged to make cultural changes so that all aspects of university life support mental health. This support and learning can only have a positive influence on students transitioning into the labour market.  
• 6. Evidence informed practice: Our continuous evolution of employability strategies should be grounded in rigorous research that elevates graduate outcomes for all. This collaborative research should inform our practice as professionals and enable us to create personalised pathways that meet the specific diverse needs of learners. 

To explore these themes in depth, I invite you to participate in our upcoming LTHEchat, designed to engage participants in a meaningful dialogue about shaping the future of employability. I look forward to an evening of rich exchange of ideas, sharing of best practices, and collaborative problem-solving.  
 

References 

• Evans, C., and Yusof, Z. (2020). The importance of parttime work to UK university students. Industry and Higher Education, 35(6), 725-735.  
• Lyden, T (2020). Raising undergraduate aspirations through career mentoring. [blog]  
• TASO Evidence Toolkit https://taso.org.uk/evidence/toolkit/  
• TASO (2022). What works to reduce equality gaps in employment and employability?  
• TASO (2022). What works to tackle mental health inequalities in higher education? 

Guest Biography 

Emma Vincent has been Deputy Director at Teesside University since 2021. She is a senior leader within the Student and Library Services directorate with specific responsibility for Student Futures. Prior to joining Teesside Emma spent 16 years at York St John University in a variety of roles, most latterly as Head of Student Success and Widening Participation. Prior to joining the sector Emma held of several leadership roles within Human Resources both nationally and internationally with Marks and Spencer.  

She recently led on the creation of Teesside 2027 Student Futures Strategy, voted by experts and employers as the winner of the targetjobs Best University Strategy of the Year Award 2024.  

In recognition of her work as a strong advocate for creating accessible opportunities that address the progression gaps that exist for students Emma won the Fair Career Progression award at The Purpose Coalition Levelling Up Universities Awards 2021. She has used this passion and knowledge to collaborate with colleagues at Teesside to create the university’s new Access and Participation Plan (2024-2028).  

The need for compassionate assessment 

Since the pandemic, there has been a growing interest in compassionate pedagogy and assessment. The pandemic highlighted the urgency of responding to student wellbeing and discussions on how to support students during this challenging time, leading to critical reflections in the sector about how we might “reimagine assessment for good” (Sambell and Brown, 2021 p.11). Compassionate pedagogy is one of relational education, building relationships with students to notice distress and oppression, and take action to reduce harm. However, the idea of compassionate pedagogy and compassionate assessment are challenging concepts, both conceptually and as something to implement in practice. Quality assurance and regulatory pressure as well as institutional and disciplinary cultures present significant barriers. Andrew et. al. (2023) provide a useful framing of these issues in their editorial ‘The role of compassion in higher education practices’, highlighting the gap between wanting an ethos of compassion and the reality of practice and policy.  

Fairness or equity 

A significant problem with Higher education (HE) assessment policy is that we apply blanket, identical rules that need to cover a wide range of diverse students. When university students were largely homogeneous (many years ago now) this was fine. However, these inflexible approaches based on fairness disadvantage many. As an example, consider policies or practices about giving feedback on draft work. Institutional or local policies often dictate the number of drafts allowed for feedback and the need to apply this ‘fairly’ across the cohort. Below are some anonymous quotes from university policies:  

“Feedback should be constrained by a specific word limit…unit tutors must consistently apply the agreed approach.”  

“Formative feedback on students’ learning is an integral part of the curriculum and its assessment, and contributes to ensuring the integrity of the assessment process. However, only one instance of feedback on any final piece of work for submission is permissible.” 

Some students arrive at university with a good grounding in academic writing and they are likely to need far less help than students who lack confidence and skill in academic writing. Is it fair that everyone gets one chance at feedback regardless of actual need? 

Where is our time, as academics, and our limited resource best spent? This is an example of where fairness gets in the way of equity and consistency overrides compassion. A compassionate approach to assessment would recognise difference and be flexible to the needs of students. 

Stress, anxiety and wellbeing 

A second concern is about the stress and anxiety caused by assessments and how we might mitigate this. The purpose of awarding degrees is that we are certifying that students have learnt certain knowledge and skills but I feel that HE assessment regimes have lost sight of the human element of learning. 

In research we conducted at the University of the Arts London, assessment stress and anxiety was the most prominent feature described by students when talking about assessment and grading. This at a university which had very few exams! Exams seem to create an extra level of stress and anxiety. The recent exam issue at Bath University (not that Bath is doing anything different to any other university) gives an insight into this. Note the contrast in the student concerns and the university concerns: 

Student: “I think the university needs to understand the stress and anxiety, performances are definitely going to fall” 

University: “To ensure quality standards are met…to uphold the quality and integrity of their degree.” 

Where is the acknowledgement of the human cost and distress? Given the growing concerns of the mental wellbeing of students and data that shows that university students have a higher incidence of mental health conditions than the general population, should this be addressed through assessment policy and processes? Assessment policies and practices often do not address wellbeing and mental health. There are some policies which might be considered more compassionate. For example, many universities, allow self-certification for late assessment submission. This reduces the need for students to evidence a short-term illness when that evidence may be difficult to obtain. However, the circumstances in which students can use self-certification are often very limited. Might it not be better to think about more flexibility of deadlines rather than rely on short-term mitigation? Or challenge the assumption that every student should get the same amount of time regardless of need? Is now the time to take a more radical approach to policy and challenge taken for granted assumptions in order to create a more compassionate approach to assessment? 

Is this too radical? 

Our sense of the sector through the work we have been doing on compassion suggests that introducing the compassionate, human element to assessment policy and practice to be on an equal footing to the quality and standards element seems a radical step too far. Please join us in trying to convince our colleagues otherwise! 

Thanks to funding from the QAA, we, have set up a network of colleagues interested in compassionate assessment. The network aims to support each other in bringing about more compassionate practices and policies in assessment in the HE sector. We want to share good practice, resources and policy innovations. If you are interested in joining us please join the JISCmail list We are also hosting regular online events. The next event is the 10^th of May 12noon-1pm (online), click on the booking link to attend. 

References 

Andrew, M.B., Dobbins, K., Pollard, E., Mueller, B., & Middleton, R. (2023). The role of compassion in higher education practices. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 20(3), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.53761/1.20.3.01    

Baughan, P. (ed.) (2021) Assessment and feedback in a post-pandemic Era: A time for learning and inclusion. York: Advance HE. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/assessment-and-feedback-post-pandemic-era-time-learning-and-inclusion 

Sambell, K. and Brown, S. (2021). ‘Changing assessment for good: building on the emergency switch to promote future-oriented assessment and feedback designs.’ 

Team biographies 

Dr Neil Currant, Senior Lecturer, University of Bedfordshire: 

Neil has been supporting teaching, learning and assessment practices in higher education since 2005. Neil’s doctoral study was on the experiences of belonging for global ethnic majority students in predominately white universities. Neil’s research interests include belonging, assessment, educational leadership, and inclusion. Most recently they were part of a QAA-funded project Belonging through Assessment: pipelines of compassion which led to the current project to build a network for those interested in compassionate assessment. 

Liz Bunting 

Liz is an Educational Developer in the Academic Enhancement team at University of the Arts London, where she supports socially just experiences and outcomes for students. She has an interest in nurturing ecologies of belonging in Higher Education, through relational, compassionate and trauma informed policies and practices. She is a Senior Fellow HEA and a recipient of an Advance HE CATE Award 2020. 

Vikki Hill, Senior Lecturer, Queen Margaret University: 

Vikki is a Senior Lecturer in Learning Enhancement and Academic Development. Vikki has over 20 years’ experience in education and leadership and works with staff and students to develop pedagogy and support equitable outcomes. Much of her academic development practice focuses on compassionate pedagogies, practices and policies. She is a Senior Fellow HEA and a recipient of an Advance HE CATE Award 2020. 

Led by Andy Tattersall

It was the influence of late night listening to Radio Luxembourg at the age of 15 when I first took to recording my own audio. I would make cassette tapes of my records interspersed by me chatting nonsense on a cheap microphone before handing them out to friends with the words ‘Tat on 2’ scribbled on the cases. Back then I was clearly captivated by the power of audio communication and the impact it can have on others, I also was obviously much less aware of copyright. And despite then taking my hobby onto the next level as a pirate and legit radio DJ and completing a journalism degree 25 years ago, it would take me another couple of decades to integrate audio into my professional work. I produced my first podcasts on campus five years ago with my ‘How to beat digital distraction’ series on Apple Podcasts. If it was not obvious before then, it is now, that podcasts are a hugely untapped opportunity to engage with others on campus and beyond. What stopped me making them sooner, as I had written about their potential in an internal report for my department in 2006, was permission. I just did not think I would be allowed to make them.

On the surface within the learning and teaching community, podcasts are an effective means of sharing ideas and good practice. This space is dominated, as you would expect, by lively and engaging American education podcasts. Whilst under the surface most campuses have invested money and resources into podcasting, it feels like much more is needed. Until the opening of our new Social Sciences building at Sheffield, called The Wave, there was just a solitary, well used podcast suite. Plans are in motion to expand on that offer and should teachers and students catch onto the benefits of this technology, then more would be needed in the future. Ultimately this has to be driven by the curriculum and by individual champions leading the way.

Whilst podcasting, as we know it, has been around for 20 years, it remains a largely new endeavour for most. Statista estimates that approximately half a billion people listen to podcasts globally and that figure is growing each year. I suspect that a lot of those listeners are academics and students in HE. Yet its potential to create podcasts by that community remains largely untapped. As with any innovation we are perhaps at that early majority stage of the curve. Reasons as to why podcasts have not been adopted at the same rate by HE compared to social media will be many, but at the top of that list will be technical and financial barriers. There is also the issue of confidence with many teachers no doubt feeling more comfortable delivering a lecture than exploring podcasts. Many may be put off by the thought of how they sound, what listeners might think and that no one will listen. Yet, that problem has never stopped a paper from being published or conference presentation being delivered. You may never top the podcast charts but the more you produce, the easier it gets and the better they will sound. From my experience and the guests I work with across my podcasts, it is quite an enjoyable experience.

There are many benefits to creating podcasts in a HE learning environment not just for the students but also those teaching them. Podcasts require digital skills and in an evolving workplace, these transferable skills become ever more valuable. For students, podcasts are a way of reflecting on their learning but also showing whether they have an understanding of a subject. For years, students have been asked to give group presentations and attend

seminars, which will remain as useful exercises and skills. Podcasting provides another option and is discipline agnostic, in theory you can create podcasts on any given subject.

We are becoming more aware of the opportunities and challenges that will come with the AI revolution. The challenges are how do we ensure HE adapts to these changes and podcasts offer an opportunity to do things differently. Giving students the skills and pedagogical reasoning to create their own podcasts provides a different means to generate and assess learning. But that does not come without its challenges.

For podcasting to be a successful part of the curriculum a few things need to happen. Firstly, there needs to be an investment in podcasting suites, whether static or portable so that students can create them. These technologies need support as recording your first podcast can be a daunting prospect for many. There also needs to be a means of hosting and sharing the podcasts. Those delivering courses need the time and support to properly embed podcasting as a learning activity within their modules. Various ground rules need setting in place as to length of podcast, as busy lecturers will not want to invest more time listening to a podcast when it takes them away from marking essays. Decisions need to be made as to whether the quality of the recording is formally assessed. Going forward, video podcasting will become more commonplace and that adds another possibility.

If they are not already, the more progressive academics, already attuned to embedding social media, video and Wikipedia resources into their course materials will find podcasts another valuable resource alongside traditional journals and books. Podcasts created by course tutors also offer an opportunity to supplement recorded presentations and videos. Core and supplementary course materials could be delivered as podcasts. How teachers approach this very much depends on their time and technical abilities, but even short podcasts could be a way of engaging with students in a way other formats fail. Every form of teaching in the digital age has their pros and cons, and with podcasts they succeed where other formats fail, in that they are portable. Students can literally learn whilst they walk to a lecture. It is another way to break up learning and bring the tutor’s voice and personality further into the classroom. To do that, there needs to be an investment of time and money, and the skills to help teachers communicate in different ways to what they may be used to. Given podcasts are not core to academia (yet), some may feel they need permission to create them as part of their courses, but that is not the case. They need practical, technical, and where applicable, copyright guidance. This is no different to creating slide decks and other learning artefacts. Producing podcasts may seem like a leap of faith but alongside presentations, videos and reading lists, they really do have the potential to revolutionise learning.

References

Hammersley, B (2004) Audible Revolution. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/feb/12/broadcasting.digitalmedia

Tattersall, A. (2019) How to beat digital distraction and write more. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/how-to-beat-digital-distrations/id1457359810

Unknown (2024) Number of podcast listeners worldwide from 2019 to 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1291360/podcast-listeners-worldwide/

Biography

Andy Tattersall works at the Division of Population Health at The University of Sheffield. Andy writes, podcasts and teaches about research communications including podcasting, blogging, social media, video/animation, infographics and altmetrics.

Andy received a Senate Award from The University of Sheffield for his pioneering work on Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) in 2013. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and was named in Jisc’s Top 10 Social Media Superstars in HE.

Andy co-wrote and edited a book on Altmetrics which is aimed at researchers and librarians.

You can find more about Andy at his Linktree page here.

Led by Prof. Richard Hill

Universities (particularly their managers) talk a lot about innovation.

“We need to innovate”

“This is innovative”

“Our environment fosters innovation”

And this is what people outside academia would expect from a university. Lots of bright, enthusiastic people, in the same space, working together, innovating.

As an academic manager I am wary of how being innovative is something that might be quantified as a ‘performance indicator’. This prompted me to reflect on my experiences of working with academic staff, and I have come to the conclusion that while there might be targets to recognise, negotiate and manage, it is essential that the emphasis should be on developing a culture of innovation. This culture emerges when the following characteristics are evident:

1. Diversity of thought – we must embrace difference and use it as a catalyst for action.
2. Growth mindset – universities are full of hard-working people, but it is a resilient mind that enables the persistence and self-belief to keep plugging away.
3. Encouraging risk-taking – we should learn from start-ups; fail fast and learn.
4. Sensitive communication – effective communication is the lubricant for dissemination of ideas between colleagues and external stakeholders.
5. Agility – an ability to ‘duck and dive’ in response to external pressures, but also opportunities to innovate at all levels, especially systems within universities.
6. Collaboration – perhaps collaboration is talked about more than innovation in universities, but it is the ability to work together across boundaries (often political) that results in a tangible outcome.
7. Efficient workflows – we need to learn from the Software Engineering profession; automate the tedious, error-prone processes, and focus on quality enhancement, so that we can invest more time on learning and teaching innovations.
8. Supportive leadership – perhaps the most important. The foundation stone upon which the enablers can be built. But leadership is not just about the hierarchy and titles. Successful academic departments are awash with empowered academics who lead in different ways.

The challenge, therefore, is how can we create such a culture.

Innovation is rife within the curriculum. I see it all of the time. Academics working with students in interesting ways, creating things, exchanging ideas and becoming new versions of themselves. And it’s easy for staff to become weary of constant demands for innovation.

However, building a culture of innovation is not necessarily about focusing on more innovation. That is the danger of those pesky performance indicators.

A culture of innovation is more about creating the conditions for innovation, rather than the innovation itself.

I’d like to see more of this thinking within management and leadership, and it is incumbent upon academic staff to consider how they might use management positions within Higher Education Institutions to effect the change that we desire. How might the experience of innovating with our students inform a new outlook for university leadership?

But it’s not all down to the managers and leaders either.

How can we transfer the benefits of learning and teaching innovations to university systems and practices?

If we can crack this, the innovation performance indicators shall only be reporting success.

Richard writes ‘The Productive Academic’ newsletter on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/profrichardhill/) and also maintains a blog at https://profrichardhill.com.

Biography

Professor Richard Hill is Head of the Department of Computer Science, and Director of the Centre for Sustainable Computing, at the University of Huddersfield, UK. Richard advocates using the processes of research to design and deliver innovative curricula, and he has led the transformation of several large portfolios in the field of Computing education. Richard received a National Teaching Fellowship in 2022 recognising his inclusive approach to academic leadership and he is also an Advance HE Principal Fellow. Richard also has interests in academic development and servant leadership, and he has published a guide (https://tinyurl.com/coaching-academics) to using a coaching approach with academic staff. He also maintains a blog and newsletter about academic productivity at https://profrichardhill.com.

Imagine if mutual flourishing was central to a regenerative education system – human flourishing in the more than human world. Imagine if learning was transdisciplinary, and intergenerational, in community with each other and nature – imaginative and beautiful learning that prioritises learner agency, creativity, critical thinking, complex problem solving and ethical decision making.

How do we integrate imaginative learning and teaching into our daily work? As educators, we have a shared purpose to co-design a creative and imaginative approach to learning and teaching based on a clear set of values. As role models in teaching and learning, we can invite imaginative, creative, and playful pedagogies by manifesting these habits of mind each day. Cultivating the conditions for curiosity, imagination, and creativity is vital in nurturing these dispositions in our students and staff. At Bath Spa University we want to develop learners who are curious, creative, and confident to learn imaginatively alongside others in the community and in the natural world.

At Bath Spa University we are researching experimental sites for pedagogical innovation (Hay 2021a). Forest of Imagination is a long-term research project that invites everyone to have a conversation about the importance of our collective imagination and our connection to the natural world. As part of our university mission as a creative social enterprise, we emphasise social value, social impact, and the importance of social and environmental justice. Our creative methodology drives our ambition to be professionally creative, making creativity visible. We engage students, educators, and cultural and creative partners in creative and reflective practice that places curiosity, creativity, and confidence at the heart of a creative pedagogy.

An imaginative approach to teaching and learning celebrates differences and diversity in expression between students and staff. As tutors we can actively value the concept of playful learning, using our collective imagination and creativity to seek creative solutions to complex problems and contexts. These spaces of possibility and dialogue open up our imaginative learning potential as co-learners.

Nurturing curiosity and creativity develops confidence in both learning and teaching and, in collaboration with colleagues, is enhanced through supportive learning communities. Prioritising curiosity, imagination and creativity encourages us all to explore, experiment, and reflect through transdisciplinary experiences, and through opportunities for active learning and authentic multi-modal assessment. Staff and students engage in collaborative activities through the co-creation of learning and research.

Students aspire to their future careers through developing their academic and employability skills, and their creative confidence. Students are challenged at the forefront of their disciplines through the connection of curricula with research, professional practice, and knowledge exchange activities, including environmental sustainability through the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Our curriculum, learning resources and activities are diverse, inclusive, and accessible, enabling a sense of belonging, opportunity, and creative ambition.

Thinking about the conditions for cultivating creativity, we can create opportunities for inviting authentic learner agency to develop these imaginative and creative skills, for both individual and collaborative learning. Valuing this space of pedagogic emergence and possibility is vital to co-create inquiry and learning in an intra-disciplinary space. Noticing and witnessing learners’ engagement is also important in this process – how they are listening, exploring, creating, taking risks, being playful, curious, making connections, communicating ideas, reflecting, and constructing meaning.

We need to co-create learning spaces that are personal, connecting, trusting, inspirational, creative, open, and inclusive, to invite learning that is joyful and complex – transdisciplinary, intergenerational learning in a community for human flourishing in the more than human world. Learning is like a forest, everything is connected (Bateson 2023).

References and further reading

Bateson, N. (2023) Combining, Triarchy Press, Axminster

Benn M., Hay, P., Rigby, S., Sapsed, R., and Sayers, E. (2020) ‘Creative Activism, Learning Everywhere with Children and Young People’ Forum Volume 62, Number 1, 2020

Eisner, E.W. (2002) From episteme to phronesis to artistry in the study and improvement of teaching. Teaching and Teacher Educaton, 18, 375-385

Hay, P. (2021a) Impact Case Study in Creative Pedagogies REF21: Developing and embedding innovative creative pedagogical approaches in creative arts education https://www.trackimpact.org/project/eu-west-1/9173/overview

Hay, P. (2021b) ‘Spaces of Possibility: reimagining learning’ International Journal of Art and Design Education. Volume 40, Issue 1

Hay, P. (2022) ‘School Without Walls. Education 3-13 International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education. Volume 50, 2022. Pp 521-535

Hay, P. (2023) ‘Children are Artists: supporting children’s learning identity as artists.’ Routledge, London

King, H. (2020) Future-ready Faculty: Developing the characteristics of expertise in teaching in higher education. Proceedings of the International Consortium for Educational Development conference, ICED2020

Led by Dr Alison Purvis @DrAlisonPurvis

Compassionate, positive, and caring interactions in learning and teaching are important because they can create psychological safety, encourage engagement, and develop a sense of belonging for everyone (Burke & Lemar, 2021).  Thoughtful staff-student interactions allow students to develop the skills and confidence to make them successful in life. Where there is compassion, mistakes can be made as necessary for learning and without fear of judgement (Brown, 2016).  Demonstrably person-centred approaches can help to mitigate the challenges some students experience.  However, do we have the skills and confidence to support students in a way that is more human and compassionate, and which requires more openness and vulnerability? How can we ensure that students feel cared for yet challenged to achieve their best? Asking academic colleagues to adopt compassionate pedagogy alone is unlikely to produce a transformational change in their interactions with students. Colleagues must be supported to do so, leaders must role-model the behaviours of care and compassion, and courageous leadership needs to be visible (Della-Latta & Burkett, 2021).

The role of staff in creating the conditions for compassion, empathy, care, kindness, and concern is evidenced as a core requirement for a student experience that allows students to thrive (Waddington, 2017).   Compassionate pedagogy contributes to positive interactions between students and tutors which build confidence and competence leading to a more positive experience and potentially a greater commitment to life-long learning.  Being in a state of contentment, safety, and connection allows for students to be driven to engage in their learning (Waddington, 2017).

A related aspect of being a compassionate practitioner is that of carrying out culturally responsive teaching (CRT) where tutors actively adopt inclusive practices which recognise the diverse backgrounds of their students and provide diverse learning environments (Sanger, 2020). When student diversity is understood and valued, the learning environment becomes richer for everyone. Humanising teaching in online environments is even more important when minoritised students of colour are shown to be less likely to achieve compared to their white or Asian counterparts (Pacansky-Brock et al, 2020). There is clearly a need to develop the knowledge and confidence to adopt inclusive practices in all types of learning environments. 

There are some simple guideposts that can be used to ensure compassion and inclusion are at the forefront of our approaches to learning, teaching, and assessment, and our approaches to working with each other:

• Avoid assumptions apart from the assumption that everyone is experiencing unseen challenges and deserves our compassion
• Operate from a place of abundance, there is space for everyone to thrive
• Give opportunities for collaborative reflection – what went well, what could be done differently
• Seek to learn about differences and think about how diversity can be appreciated
• Offer mutual respect and authenticity for genuine learning relationships

Compassionate and inclusive pedagogy does not exclude or diminish any individual and gives everyone the opportunity to learn, thrive and succeed.

References

Brown, B. (2016). Brené Brown encourages educators to normalize the discomfort of learning and reframe failure as learning. About Campus, 20(6), 3-7. https://doi.org/10.1002/abc.21224

Burke, K. & Larmar, S. (2021) Acknowledging another face in the virtual crowd: Reimagining the online experience in higher education through an online pedagogy of care, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 45(5), 601-615, https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2020.1804536

Della-Latta, J., & Burkett, K. (2021). From popular theory to practical application: How Brené Brown’s theories of courageous leadership inform the fields of international education. Adult Education, and Online Education. In B. Kutsyuruba, S. Cherkowski, & KD Walker (Eds.), Leadership for Flourishing in Educational Contexts, 163-176.

Pacansky-Brock, M., Smedshammer, M., & Vincent-Layton, K. (2020). Humanizing online teaching to equitize higher education. Current Issues in Education, 21(2). Retrieved from https://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/view/1905

Sanger, C.S. (2020). Inclusive Pedagogy and Universal Design Approaches for Diverse Learning Environments. In: Sanger, C., Gleason, N. (eds) Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1628-3_2

Waddington, Kathryn. (2017). Creating Conditions for Compassion. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57783-8_4.

Biography

Alison is an Associate Dean Teaching and Learning at Sheffield Hallam University and has over 25 years of experience in higher education. She is a teaching and learning specialist with research interests in higher education practice, digitally enhanced learning, inclusive practice, physiology of exercise, and public health. 

Led by Dr Gustavo Espinoza-Ramos @tavoer8

Introduction

In recent years, higher education institutions have faced increasing pressure to enhance student progression, satisfaction and engagement. This situation and a very competitive environment have encouraged more universities to move away from teacher-centred approaches to teaching in accordance with student-centred initiatives, including technological tools, outdoor learning practices, and authentic assessment. One of these initiatives involves the development of fun activities in class.

However, there is not a clear definition of fun in learning. Instead, there have been different synonyms, such as entertainment, amusement and enjoyment (Lesser et al., 2013). Moreover, research has demonstrated that enjoyment positively contributes to student engagement and intrinsic motivation to study (Bond et al., 2020; Sharma, 2021) and for that reason, there are new teaching initiatives orientated to develop a fun learning environment. In this tweet chat, we will explore the extent of embedding fun in the learning environment.  

Definition

The definition of fun in learning is still unclear, although some authors define it as an emotion that triggers student engagement and motivation in learning (Reeve, Cheon and Jang, 2020). For that reason, there is a need for further research on this concept, its definition and its impact on higher education.

Ludic pedagogy

Despite the lack of a consensus on the definition of fun in learning, some authors identify the overlap between the meaning of fun and play (Maier, 1980). This has led to the conceptualisation of Ludic pedagogy; a novel teaching and learning philosophy that promotes fun in higher education (Lauricella and Edmunds, 2023). This pedagogy relies on four principles: fun, play, playfulness and positivity when developing an effective learning environment (Lauricella and Edmunds, 2021), where:  

• Fun: is the motivator factor that provides the stimulus to do the activity.
• Play:  is the learning activity that is practised in class.
• Playfulness: is the attitude of the students and educators.
• Positivity: is the desired affect and feelings after carrying out the learning activity.

Benefits

Despite there not being a universally accepted definition of fun in education, some authors have identified the benefits of this as learning environment as including: student engagement and motivation due to strong positive emotions (Krashen, 1982); higher assessment grades and student retention (Klingbeil, 2023); and higher motivation and creativity in lecturers (Klingbeil, 2023).

Challenges

Despite the benefits of fun in learning, there are some barriers to its understanding and implementation in higher education including:

• A traditional view of education that is a hierarchical, serious, structured, and instructor-led approach that leads to prejudice towards the concept of fun in education (Meilleur, 2021), claiming that it lacks academic rigour.
• Lack of training programmes and limited resources to develop a fun learning environment (Cloke, 2023).
• Difficulties in building a sense of community in the classroom so that students will be able to take risks and learn from mistakes to promote learning (Meilleur, 2021).
• The perception of high workloads that hinder the development of fun learning activities (Lesser et al., 2013).

How we can embed fun in learning

Despite its detractors, increasing numbers of practitioners are embedding fun in teaching and learning through different initiatives including:

• Gamification: Implementing games in higher education can take different forms, including video / board games, quizzes, polls, and surveys on which students will gain points when answering the correct answers.
• Humour: Positively impacts on student anxiety and improves their retention of information and self-esteem (Lesser et al., 2013). It can take the forms of images, text and real stories in the learning content. However, the main challenges reside in finding the appropriate and relevant humour to the learning lesson and the different student responses to humour (Lauricella and Edmunds, 2021).
• Outdoor learning activities: Such as field trips can develop a fun, enriching and transformative learning experience. At the same time, they promote higher-order learning, increase the interpersonal skills of learners, and create a sense of ownership over work (Jones and Washko, 2022).
• Artificial intelligence (AI): Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are tools that can bring forth an environment of joy that encourages students to engage in the learning activity. For example, through VR, students can create and engage in virtual and safe learning environment simulations, where they get to practise their skills (Cloke, 2023).
• Develop social spaces: This can be done through the lecturer’s personality, which can result in a strong bond with students, and the development of social spaces where students can interact with their peers. The primary purpose of such social spaces is to reduce the academic distance between lecturer and students and develop a safe space in which the latter can express themselves, develop creativity and take risks when learning.

Conclusion

Embedding fun in learning has grown in a number of adopters, and there are more studies on its positive impact on education. Despite challenges in its implementation, new teaching approaches, such as ludic pedagogy, endeavour to conceptualise it and establish a framework that guides its implementation in higher education. Finally, embedding fun in education can  result in a learning environment that suits the new and challenging students learning preferences.

References

Bond, M. et al. (2020) ‘Mapping research in student engagement and educational technology in higher education: a systematic evidence map’, International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 17(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-019-0176-8.

Cloke, H. (2023) Why Fun in Learning Works Better Than Dull Learning. Available at: https://www.growthengineering.co.uk/why-fun-in-learning-is-important/ (Accessed: 8 February 2024).

Jones, J.C. and Washko, S. (2022) ‘More than fun in the sun: The pedagogy of field trips improves student learning in higher education’, Journal of Geoscience Education. Routledge, pp. 292–305. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2021.1984176.

Klingbeil, C. (2023) The serious benefits of fun. Available at: https://universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/the-serious-benefits-of-fun/ (Accessed: 8 February 2024).

Krashen, S.D. (1982) Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Lauricella, S. and Edmunds, K. (2023) Ludic Pedagogy. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Lauricella, S. and Edmunds, T.K. (2021) A Serious Look at Fun in College Classrooms, A Serious Look at Fun in College Classrooms.

Lesser, L.M. et al. (2013) ‘Using fun in the statistics classroom: An exploratory study of college instructors’ hesitations and motivations’, Journal of Statistics Education, 21(1), pp. 1–33. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10691898.2013.11889659.

Maier, H.W. (1980) ‘Play in the university classroom’, Social Work With Groups, 3(1), pp. 7–16.

Meilleur, C. (2021) Is Having Fun in Higher Education the Way Forward? Available at: https://knowledgeone.ca/is-having-fun-in-higher-education-the-way-forward/ (Accessed: 8 February 2024).

Reeve, J., Cheon, S.H. and Jang, H. (2020) ‘How and why students make academic progress: Reconceptualizing the student engagement construct to increase its explanatory power’, Contemporary Educational Psychology, 62, pp. 1–12. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101899.

Sharma, M.N. (2021) ‘Motivational and Engagement Factors for Students in classrooms in Higher Education Sector’, International Journal of Scientific Development and Research, 6(1), pp. 147–152. Available at: http://www.ijsdr.org.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dr. Gustavo Espinoza-Ramos is the module leader of Sustainable City Economies and Strategic Perspectives for Marketing modules, and the course leader for the MA Management (online) at the Westminster Business School. He is the CETI – Academic Professional Development Fellow 2023 (@WestminsterCETI – https://twitter.com/WestminsterCETI), a digital champion at the School of Management and Marketing and has an interest in active learning and the use of online tools and simulation games to promote student engagement. He is a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). You can see his blogs and video presentations at the following link: https://linktr.ee/gustavoespinozaramos. You can connect with Gustavo on Twitter @tavoer8 (https://twitter.com/tavoer8), by email g.espinozaramos@westminster.ac.uk or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gustavoespinozaramos/)

Led by guest Dr Teeroumanee Nadan @Tee_Nadan with Amin Neghavati @neghavati, Rachel Branham @ARLT_SIG & Dr Olatunde Durowoju @OADurowoju

This session is being led by members of the Antiracism & Learning Technology Special Interest Group (ARLT SIG). Check out our webspace & blog and sign up to join via JISCMail list: ALT-ARTSIG

In this blog, we take you onto some initial reflections on antiracism in the Higher Education (HE) sector in preparation for some deeper conversations during our #LTHEchat session.

Antiracism a found-and-lost cause

Where do we even start with defining antiracism in the modern world? The more we dig in, the more we seem to notice people having discomfort after discomfort, thus avoiding addressing the cause of this problem.

If it is not the discomfort, we witness the old age scheming of divide and conquer – we get labelled, we get boxed, we get dehumanised! Nowadays, of course, we have the added umbrella of Access, Belonging, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice & Respect which has unintentionally (or even intentionally in some cases) diluted the antiracism agenda. 

The past colonial history of the UK places British society in the hotspot for the need for change. Of course, with the digital era, we are talking more about it, but justice may never be served whether we look at it from a ‘justice as fairness’ perspective or a ‘meritocratic’ conception of justice! 

Antiracism in HE

George Floyd, George Floyd, George Floyd! 

By the end of 2020, this name echoed in very much every meeting in the HE sector. Since then, there has been a movement towards the creation of new roles around more diversity. Nonetheless, there are not many stand-alone roles solely dedicated to antiracism. There are of course the likes of the BAME network, which may be supported by a Race Equality Charter (AdvanceHE 2024a) – if you are lucky to have one in your institution (AdvanceHE 2024b); but this network is still largely seen as an optional practice and there is still a lot of argument on the naming of the network itself. It is more comfortable for most of us to prolong any discussion than to take action and create an impact!

If you are brave enough, we invite you to do further reading ahead of the LTHEchat session and to reflect on the discomfort of everyday actions from teams/departments/institutions in the sector:

• Equity analysis of 6 job blurbs – a podcast for TalkingHE. (Nadan, 2021).
• Discrimination in Recruitment – Talking HE podcast. (Santanu & Nadan 2022).
• Navigating racism with pseudo-antiracists. (Nadan 2022a).
• Modern slavery in UK HEIs. (Nadan 2022b).
• ‌Race equality in learning technology. (Nadan 2022c).

In this chat, we will take you on a one-hour journey of reflections on what role we are all playing in either perpetuating racism or transcending it. Within the HE sector, we have adapted to the digital era and use various forms of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) and other tools and platforms to either facilitate education or services needed on the journey. While staff navigate through the plenitude of platforms, there are the odds of creating inequity and letting racism seep into the HE sector.  We may have all come across one such example, but what we decide to do about it, is what matters the most. We invite you to check out some of our 2022 & 2023 blogs on what the ARLT SIG community thinks about antiracism in the sector.

• Black History Month and What it means for Learning Technologists by Dr Teeroumanee Nadan. (Nadan, 2022d).
• Anti-racist Approaches in Technology with Guest Speaker Liza Layne. (Nadan 2022e). 
• Anti-oppressive Pedagogies in Online Learning with Guest Speaker María Miguéliz Valcarlos. (Nadan, 2023a). 
• Achieving inclusive education using AI with Dr Olatunde Durowoju (Nadan 2023b). 
• Why antiracism and why not something else? By Dr Teeroumanee Nadan (Nadan 2023c).

It is time to create impact!

It is clear that justice may never be served, neither in the HE sector nor in the society at large, anyway from whom do we get this justice? There is therefore a need to focus on action and impact, and this can only be done when we allow ourselves to feel uncomfortable talking about racism and feel empowered to dismantle it – but most importantly it is when White people allow the non-White staff to feel and be empowered!

This blog would not be complete without reflecting on our own reasons for doing what we do to reduce racism in the sector.

“When I came to the UK, I realised that it was common practice to brush the uncomfortable topics under the carpet. I have observed this in every academic institution that I have worked at. What motivates me the most is treating the cause rather than the symptom!” Dr Teeroumanee Nadan – Read the full blog

“.. technologies are being and will be used by a wide array of learners from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds all over the world yet there is a noticeable lack of diversity in the world of EdTech and digital education” Amin Neghavati – Read the full blog

“.. as a White woman, it is my responsibility to use my privilege to dismantle racist systems wherever it lives. For me, this work is about equal access to high-quality education and without understanding limitations to that access, we just are not doing our jobs.” Rachel Branham – Read the full blog

“It became apparent, through some of my research projects, that the HE sector has still not fully explored the use of technology in addressing many of the racial inclusion challenges facing the sector. … My motivation is that I can contribute in a small way to centering this issue within the HE sector and Education Technology industry” Dr Olatunde Durowoju – Read the full blog

We hope to see you en masse on 7th Feb to chat about this topic with officers of the ARLT SIG!

This blog was first published on Reshaping HE –  International, Inclusive & Digital Ed on 18th Jan 2024 and on ARLT SIG blog on 23rd Jan 2024.

References

1. Advance HE (2024a). ‌Race Equality Charter Members. [online].  Advance HE. Available at:  https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/equality-charters/race-equality-charter
2. Advance HE (2024b). Race Equality Charter Members. [online]. Advance HE. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/equality-charters/race-equality-charter/members 
3. Nadan, T. (2021). ‌Equity analysis of 6 job blurbs – a podcast for TalkingHE. [online] Reshaping HE – International, Inclusive & Digital Ed. Available at:  https://teeroumaneenadan.com/2021/12/22/equity-analysis-of-job-blurbs-talkinghe-podcast/
4. Nadan, T. (2022a). Navigating racism with pseudo-antiracists. [online] Reshaping HE – International, Inclusive & Digital Ed. Available at: https://teeroumaneenadan.com/2022/05/26/navigating-racism-with-pseudo-antiracists/ 
5. Nadan, T. (2022b). ‌Modern slavery in UK HEIs. [online] Reshaping HE – International, Inclusive & Digital Ed. Available at: https://teeroumaneenadan.com/2022/02/01/modern-slavery-in-uk-heis/ 
6. Nadan, T. (2022c). ‌Race equality in learning technology. [online] Reshaping HE – International, Inclusive & Digital Ed. Available at: https://teeroumaneenadan.com/2022/02/06/race-equality-in-learning-technology/ 
7. Nadan, T. (2022d). Notes from ARLT SIG 20th Oct 2022 meeting – Black History Month and what it means for Learning Technologists by Dr Teeroumanee Nadan. Available at: https://altc.alt.ac.uk/blog/2022/11/notes-from-arlt-sig-20th-oct-meeting-black-history-month-and-what-it-means-for-learning-technologists/  
8. Nadan, T. (2022e). Notes from ARLT SIG 3rd Nov 2022 webinar –  Anti-racist Approaches in Technology with Liza Layne. Available at: https://altc.alt.ac.uk/blog/2022/12/notes-from-arlt-sig-3rd-nov-meeting-anti-racist-approaches-in-technology-with-liza-layne/
9. Nadan, T. (2023a). Notes from ARLT SIG 9th March 2023 webinar – Anti-oppressive Pedagogies in Online Learning with María Miguéliz Valcarlos. Available at: https://altc.alt.ac.uk/blog/2023/06/anti-oppressive-pedagogies-in-online-learning-with-maria-migueliz-valcarlos-notes-from-arlt-sig-march-meeting/
10. Nadan, T. (2023b). ‌Notes from ARLT SIG 7th June 2023 webinar –  Achieving inclusive education using AI with Dr Olatunde Durowoju. [online] Association for Learning Technology. Available at: https://altc.alt.ac.uk/blog/2023/06/notes-from-arlt-sig-7th-june-meeting-achieving-inclusive-education-using-ai-with-olatunde-durowoju/
11. Nadan, T. (2023c). Anti-Racism & Learning Technology SIG: Why antiracism and why not something else?. [online] Association for Learning Technology. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXCoTQ1XgMo 
12. Santanu, V. and Nadan, T. (2022). Episode 14 – Discrimination in Recruitment. [online] TalkingHE. Available at: https://anchor.fm/talkinghe/episodes/TalkingHE—Episode-14—Dr-Teeroumanee-Nadan—Discrimination-in-Recruitment-e1clspi/a-a773mv3

Guest biography

Dr Teeroumanee Nadan works mainly around Internationalisation, Inclusive & Digital Ed. She approaches HE challenges based on her own HE scholar experience in different countries and her collaborations with different institutions across the globe.

She is currently the Chair of the ARLT SIG and advocates for digital equity. She will be tweeting from @Tee_Nadan

Connect with her on LinkedIn | Connect with her on X | Read her blog Reshaping HE – International, Inclusive & Digital Ed

Amin Neghavati primarily focuses on educational leadership, workplace learning & technology management, driven by a strategic and entrepreneurial mindset. He offers more than 20 years of expertise in the field and is currently the Learning & Development Manager at the University of Bath. Central to his approach is a commitment to social justice and promoting diversity and inclusion. 

He is an External Engagement Officer for ARLT SIG.

He will be tweeting from @neghavati

Connect with him on LinkedIn

Rachel Branham is an artist and educator, working as an Academic Developer and Learning Technologist at the University of West London. Her research interests include education for social justice, radical pedagogy, and reflective practice. 

She is currently an External Engagement Officer for ARLT SIG. She will be tweeting from @ARLT_SIG

Connect with her on LinkedIn

Dr Olatunde Durowoju is a Reader in Education Management and Associate Dean EDI at the Liverpool John Moores University. His research interests are operations & supply chain management, impact assessment & transmission, and inclusive practices in HE. 

He is currently the Vice-Chair of the ARLT SIG. He will be tweeting from @OADurowoju

Connect with him on LinkedIn 

Led by guest Hazel Farrell @renshigirl

Having started my career in higher education over 30 years ago emulating the old-style lecture model of my own undergraduate studies, I quickly reached a point where I wasn’t enjoying my job and my students couldn’t have been very inspired by my unengaging monologues. This marked the beginning of my personal quest to create positive and impactful learning experiences. My approach shifted to a collaborative model with peer learning implicit in this, while also developing more engaging learning materials and student-led assessments.

Technology has been integral to my ongoing evolution as an educator and therefore the emergence of GenAI into the education narrative was a wonderful moment for me. It presented as an accessible mechanism to enhance learning experiences with opportunities for personalised learning, instant feedback, and so much more. I became an early adopter and dived head-first into establishing an AI-enhanced classroom, which involved exploring the technology for teaching, learning, assessment re-design, marking rubrics, and feedback. Most importantly, I brought the students with me on this journey of discovery in an attempt to establish a culture of academic integrity from the outset. My approach to achieving this was a focus on transparency and collaboration, where we used GenAI together in the classroom and openly discussed both the benefits and challenges. My hope was to encourage responsible-use beyond the classroom, but I openly acknowledge that many of the AI-enabled activities were possible because of the small student numbers implicit in my discipline area.

Drawing on the learning from this GenAI exploration, I shared my experiences and student feedback widely in the higher education arena, and also channeled my knowledge into contributing to the development of guidelines and resources within the university to benefit colleagues and students. However, despite this proactivity and urgency I felt to inform myself and embrace GenAI, it became clear that many colleagues were not engaging for a variety reasons. A glaring gap emerged between the issuing of guidelines and resources, and the adoption of, or engagement with, same. The lack of acknowledgement by some that this disruptive technology is changing the landscape of higher education poses a problem in terms of the student experience, and the preparation of our learners for an AI-enhanced society. This is the quandary I am attempting to tackle this semester.

Biography

Dr Hazel Farrell is programme leader of the BA (Hons) Music at South East Technological University. Coming from a background in analytical musicology, Hazel is actively involved in technology enhanced learning with research focused on student engagement in creative disciplines. Recent explorations involve the use of generative AI to enhance learning experiences. In addition to her work on generative AI, she is also leading a research project on the integration of sustainability into higher education with specific focus on the arts. She is a recipient of the university’s Teaching Excellence Award and is a founder member of the SETU research group CASE (Creative Approaches to Student Engagement).