Introduction
In July and August 2021, Teaching Matters ran a series that featured some of the keynote talks and presentations delivered at The University of Edinburgh’s fourth annual Learning and Teaching Conference: Curriculum as a site for transformation. For the first time, external delegates were invited to join, and 190 non-University of Edinburgh staff and students registered for the first day. They joined the rest of the University audience in listening to compelling keynote talks by Professor Kerri-Lee Krause (Provost and Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor at Avondale University) – “Curriculum considerations in supercomplex times” – and Professor Rowena Arshad (CBE, FEIS, Chair in Multicultural and Anti-Racist Education at The University of Edinburgh) – “Diversity in learning and teaching: Is inclusion truly available?”. These talks are available to watch on the conference website. The diversity and breadth of the presentations attest to the ethos of our University community’s constantly evolving and dynamic approach to pedagogy.
In this newsletter, you'll find five insights that we gained from this series, followed by our regular features: Collegiate Commentary, What's making Teaching Matters smile, In case you missed it (ICYMI), and Coming soon at Teaching Matters! If you'd like to keep up with Teaching Matters, sign up to our Monthly Newsletter Mailing List.
Five insights from the Teaching & Learning Conference series: “Curriculum as a Site for Transformation”
Insight One
The student experience is at the heart of a transformative curriculum
One of the conference keynote’s speaker, Professor Kerri-Lee Krause, suggests in her blog post that the key to taking on the project of transforming a curriculum is bringing the university community with you. To do so effectively, it is important to have a clear sense of who is part of the student community, how students perceive their place and sense of belonging in this community, and what they hope to gain from their studies.
This idea is further explored in the series’ first podcast episode, which features a panel from the Curriculum Transformation Programme Board. The speakers - Professor Colm Harmon, Professor Richard Andrews, Professor Iain Gordon, and Dr Lisa Kendall, unveil the stakes of the Curriculum Transformation Programme and specifically address what it means for the student experience. In seeking to explore what defines the Edinburgh Graduate, the programme takes on a reverse strategy of identifying the attributes a students should have by the end of their time in Edinburgh in order to create a curriculum that ensures the acquirement of such skills.
I don’t expect us to describe one homogeneous graduate. Indeed, our diversity is our strength. But rather that we describe a set of graduate qualities, values, and principles that allow students to meaningfully articulate their strengths, skills, and experience in a way that is relevant to their chosen path. - Lisa Kendall
Insight Two
Transformation is personal: Situated experiences are valuable methodological and pedagogical tools
In her post, keynote speaker, Rowena Arshad, identifies what makes a transformative approach a step-up from an inclusive one:
“a transformative approach would be to move from a position of ‘being’ non-racist to a space of ‘doing’ by being anti-racist.” - Professor Rowena Arshad
This space of action entails self-awareness, and inserting one's situated experience into the classroom. Professor Arshad talks about being candid of one’s own blind spots, and having the courage to apologise, if necessary. Being personal and decentring the role of the teacher within the classroom helps to shed light onto questions of power as transformation as intricately intertwined with a quest for reshuffling power dynamics.
Dr Nini Fang, Lecturer in Counselling, Psychotherapy and Applied Social Sciences, walks us through the challenges of delivering classes on anti-racism and decolonisation through a personal story. She shares her tumultuous experience in delivering course material that made some of her white students uncomfortable because it prompted them to recontextualise their identities. By choosing to tell her story in the third person, she gives the listener agency in deciding the level of engagement to have with the narrator: they can play the role of the person ‘othering’, or develop a sense of empathy. This unique presentation offers deep insights into the power of storytelling as a transformative pedagogical tool.
Similarly, Dr Rachel Hunt, a Lecturer in Geohumanities, Dr Clare Barnes, an Interdisciplinary Lecturer in Sustainable Livelihoods, and Gabrielle King, a Research Assistant in Geosciences, present their study on inclusive cultures in a creative way. They use the narrative form by putting the students’ testimonials of their experiences around belonging and exclusion at the heart of their intervention. The presenters demonstrate the subtle dance between description and analysis, and how letting the data speak for itself can have a powerful impact.
Insight Three
Adaptability: Embracing transformation as a never-ending process
Taking on the task of transforming the curriculum means keeping a finger on the pulse of changing practices, social and cultural forces, and well… global pandemics. Unsurprisingly, many of the presentations this year focused on how educators sought out new ways of delivering teaching material in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis. Transformation is a process that is constantly in motion, which requires adaptability and responsiveness.
Many of the presentations this year testified to colleagues’ relentless efforts in rethinking course delivery and material. For example, Professor Liz Grant, Dr Susan Jarvis and Dr Geoff Simm illustrate the value in developing dynamic and flexible teaching & learning approaches to best reflect global challenges. Conversely, Tobias Thejll-Madsen, Dr Eva Murzyn, and Dr Kasia Banas from Psychology, brilliantly exemplify what thinking on our feet looks like in their piece on creating an intervention in the form of an online resource, which draws from the evidence-based self-regulated framework. Finally, Dr Mostafa Ahmad, from the Internal Medicine programme, talks about asking the difficult question of whether we can improve students’ physical examination skills through online teaching. A meditation worth taking into account as we proceed with teaching in an uncertain world: how do we safeguard the quality of courses aimed at developing practical skills in a hybrid or online environment?
Insight Four
Transformation entails a practice of reflexivity to deconstruct assumptions
This fourth insight is sparked by Dr Neil Speirs, a Widening Participation manager, practitioner and researcher who talks about the Hidden Curriculum and how it contributes to alienating students from working-class backgrounds. Dr Speirs defines the Hidden Curriculum as “the implicit ways of thinking about the world, the implicit set of values and understandings, the implicit ideas and perspectives that are embedded in the objects, the practices, the transmission and social structures of formal education.” These implicit ways of thinking about the world are enabled by teachers who perpetuate ‘social class oriented subtexts’ that are formalised and reproduced via formal education.
“Our current appreciations, understandings, opinions and practices will influence our future. And what we have is: we have a privileged habitus, a privileged selection of dispositions, appreciations, understandings, et cetera, that are delivering the hidden curriculum and participating in the notion of social reproduction. And that’s what we see happening.” - Dr Speirs
In his compelling talk, Dr Speirs underlines the importance of deconstructing our assumptions about common knowledge through a practice of reflexivity, in order to deliver a more equitable learning experience.
In her post, Dr Fiona McNeill takes us behind the scenes as she walks us through her thought-process in creating a new course to support first-year students from the School of Informatics in fostering a sense of collegiality online. She incorporates a thorough reflection on how students responded to the new course, and how she might adapt to better echo their feedback.
Finally, Neil McCormick, an Educational Technology Policy Officer in Information Services offers an astute reflection on the conference as a whole, and how the sessions on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion opened his eyes to microagressions:
“ ‘…think about what your reaction would be if you stand on my foot.’ The image that has stayed with me is from presenter Rayya Ghul’s suggestion to think about what your reaction would be if you stand on my foot. Would I point out that you’re making my foot hurt if you didn’t seem to notice? I suppose I’d want to be sufficiently sure that you’d made a genuine mistake, but there is the more sinister possibility. Perhaps you know you’re causing me pain, and worse – that you might use my intervention to escalate the situation and belittle me further?”
In these three posts, and many others, the authors naturally became reflexive in their writing style, to help shape their thinking both of the conference itself and the challenging topics it addressed.
Insight Five
The endeavour of transforming the curriculum is evidence-based
As well as celebrating colleagues' inspiring and innovative teaching practices, the conference confirmed the University’s solid research culture. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the presentations was seeing how presenters aptly conveyed stories whilst being anchored by rigorous evidence. We see this permeate Michael Daw’s two-part (part 1 and part 2) podcast on rethinking and re-evaluating marking schemes and assessments styles. Dr Daw incites us to interrogate why we strive to use the full range of marks rather than narrowing it down by analysing different marking schemes and assessment styles. Based on his counterintuitive findings, he challenges some assumptions about the marking culture at the University and its relationship to student motivation.
Collegiate Commentary
with Dr Toh Tai Chong, Senior Lecturer, College of Alice & Peter Tan, National University of Singapore
While Teaching Matters primarily showcases University of Edinburgh teaching and learning practice, our core values of collegiality and support extend beyond our institution, inviting a wider, international community to engage in Teaching Matters. In this feature, we ask colleagues from other Universities to provide a short commentary on ‘Five things...’, and share their own learning and teaching resource or output, which we can learn from.
Dr Toh Tai Chong's thoughts on 'Five insights from the Teaching & Learning Conference series: “Curriculum as a Site for Transformation”'
I grew up in a small traditional village, which locals called a “Kampung”, and such settlements are a rare sight in urban Singapore these days. When I was six, my family was asked to resettle to public housing apartments. Even till today, I could still remember that vivid moment when I sat in our van, looking back at our wooden house, and feeling paradoxically depressed and excited at the same time.
All of us have those few moments that we hold close to our hearts as we experience transitions in our lives. For some, it may be an addition of a new family member, for others it may be a career change. The emotions and thoughts that come with transitions and transformation can be overwhelmingly complex. As I read this issue’s “Five Insights”, I am reminded of the transformational journey that we are embarking on here in the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Identifying the strategic values of educational transformation: Transformation is a process that is liken to how caterpillars metamorphose. It is a journey that builds on the past while preparing for the future. Central to educational transformation lies the question, “why do we transform?”. As Singapore moves towards its vision of being a smart and sustainable nation, NUS has made several key changes. The first of which is a shift to interdisciplinary teaching and learning while continuing to build up domain expertise. Why do we do this? Because collaboration is essential in overcoming the complex problems confronting us today (e.g. climate change, COVID-19 pandemic). The more adept our students are at bridging across disciplines and experiences, the more effective are the solutions. A second transformation is how my university is expanding our General Education to include Communities and Engagement, so that it enhances our staff and students’ partnership with members beyond the University. This provides us with an opportunity to learn from members in our society, and creates avenues for us to support the community. We transform because we want our students to seize the opportunities in a rapidly changing world.
Acknowledging our emotions: With transformation, comes a slew of emotions – disappointment, frustration, anxiety etc. A few years ago, a colleague and I shared our maiden experience with interdisciplinary team teaching with the community. The experience was an emotional roller coaster ride. At times, I felt that it was awkward and perhaps borderline rude to interrupt my colleague’s lesson, and on other occasions, she would be disappointed at how I was not actively engaged in the discussion. Discussing these vulnerabilities and shortcomings was challenging because we were both unsure if it would affect our professional and personal relationships. At some point during the course, we decided that for the sake of our students and our friendship, we needed to sit down to talk about our discomfort and be open in sharing our thoughts and emotions. I am glad we had that chat in our office. It turns out we had very different expectations of our roles in a team-teaching setting, and that conversation provided an opportunity to actively listen to each other and collaborative develop solutions. This episode helped me realise that that sharing our experiences with the teaching community can be very empowering and beneficial for others who are going through the same journey.
Supporting each other throughout education transformation: As we navigate the changes that come with transformation, we need to be aware that every educational institution is an ecosystem that is interconnected with the wider society. Hence, there will be multiple stakeholders (e.g. educators, students, administrators, community partners) that would be impacted differently. During this period of change, the importance of providing support for each other cannot be understated. In NUS, our teaching development unit has recently started a series of initiatives to support educators as we transit to online learning. This includes teaching blogs that consolidate timely resources for teachers, and encouraging learning communities to spark conversations and ideas to address emerging challenges. Within the teaching community, educators have also led satellite initiatives to provide targeted support for each other and for our students. Over the last few years, staff-student partnerships have gained traction in my university, especially in the residential college that I teach in. As measures in my university change in response to the evolving COVID-19 situation, we have been partnering our students to step up our support systems and communication channels, so that everyone stays safe as we teach and learn.
Transformation may be uncomfortable, but as a teaching community, we can help each other ride through this journey.
About: Dr TOH Tai Chong is a Marine Biologist and a Senior Lecturer at the College of Alice & Peter Tan (CAPT), a residential college within the National University of Singapore. He believes that learning should be integrated across disciplines and learning activities, and collegiality among educators is a key enabler for teaching innovation. His interests in education research include Students-as- Partners (SaP), experiential learning, reflective writing and interdisciplinary education. His work in the college supports local community organisations through the CAPSTONE and Community Internship modules and overseas community engagement trips.
What's making Teaching Matters smile?
Meet the Teaching Matters team through what's been bringing us joy
What's making Joséphine smile?
One thing that’s making me smile this week is witnessing the City of Edinburgh flooding with students: I had forgotten how much life the student population bring to this city! I’ve also been appreciating the honest conversations I’ve had with friends, colleagues, and students about our comfort levels with socialising as we enter yet another stage of this pandemic; it’s been a true lesson in embodied communication and listening.
Another thing that brings me joy is seeing how much Teaching Matters has grown over the past few months - I am constantly inspired by the creativity of my colleagues. We have some wonderful themes coming up, and the book-nerd in me is particularly excited about our November and December 'Learning and Teaching Enhancement theme' that will feature book reviews and commentaries on the latest learning and teaching resources. Finally, I’m honoured to add another learning opportunity to my PhD internship with the Institute for Academic Development: I’ll be sitting on the 2022 Learning and Teaching conference organising committee. This new experience will provide me with invaluable insights into the inner-workings of planning and running such an influential conference.
Joséphine Foucher is the Teaching Matters Co-Editor and Student Engagement Officer through the PhD Intern scheme at the Institute for Academic Development. She is doing an ESRC-funded PhD in Sociology at The University of Edinburgh. Her research looks at the intersection between art and politics in contemporary Cuba.
In case you missed it (ICYMI)
- Recordings of all the University’s Learning and Teaching Conference presentations are now available. Find them here, on the conference website.
- Glen Cousquer explores the pedagogical implications of COP26 taking place in Glasgow this autumn, as well as contemplating the value of nurturing our emotional and spiritual intelligence when grappling with the climate crisis, and taking us on a pilgrimage to provide a concrete example of what fostering an ecological awareness might look like.
WriteFest 2021
This annual event, established as a way to support academic writing, will run during November 2021 with the aim of bringing people together to raise awareness and celebrate academic writing.
This years’ WriteFest will include morning and afternoon writing retreats and writing hours, writing workshops, online resources and guides to support you with your writing. We will be blogging and sharing writing tips on twitter via the hashtag #AcWriFest21.
We are currently updating the programme and website, but keep an eye on the WriteFest webpage, for further information and to book: https://edin.ac/2Se1Lvc
Teaching Matters is now on LinkedIn!
Follow us on LinkedIn for posts, podcasts and conversations about Teaching & Learning!
Coming soon at Teaching Matters
Upcoming blog themes
September and October's Learning and Teaching Enhancement theme, ‘Innovations in Science Education’, continues to feature work presented at the Learning and Teaching Conference.
The accompanying Hot Topic, ‘Revisiting Hybrid Teaching Exchange Resources’, is proving a useful resource for this academic year as we transfer Hybrid Exchange content to Teaching Matters.
November and December's Learning and Teaching Enhancement theme will feature book reviews of current Learning and Teaching publications, and how they have inspired or challenged our authors' thinking and practice.
November and December's Hot Topic will expand on Glen's contemplations on COP26, and explore how we can embed the climate emergency in our classrooms.
Upcoming podcast series:
This month we will be rereleasing individual episodes from the series: Decolonising the Curriculum - Sharing ideas, produced by The Race Equality and Anti-Racist Sub-Committee (REAR) at The University of Edinburgh in collaboration with Teaching Matters. Different academics at the University chat about what Decolonising the Curriculum means for them, and how they have put this into practice in their learning and teaching or research.
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