Innovations in Practice (LJMU)
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Book Review of Dave Lochtie, Emily McIntosh, Andrew Stork and Ben Walker (2018) Effective Personal Tutoring in Higher Education
Full text linkWhile higher education is going through a period of turbulent change driven by the Teaching Excellence Framework and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF), the refinement of the widening participation agenda, not to mention the Augar funding review, how we support students continues to be a perennial topic of discussion and contention. Effective Personal Tutoring offers a timely reminder of the role personal tutoring (PT) can play in supporting students but also of the complexity of PT models and practice. It is worth reminding ourselves that the regulatory framework for HE states that students should be “supported to access, succeed in, and progress from, HE” (Office for Students, 2018: 14). The metrics applied by institutions to deliver on the TEF agenda such as attendance, progression, satisfaction and retention all need monitoring and supporting and it can be argued that PT plays a key role in doing this. This is the context of this book.
Effective Personal Tutoring complements Becoming an Outstanding Personal Tutor, which was developed specifically for Critical Publishing’s Further Education series (Stork and Walker, 2015). It applies a similar structure and draws on parallel principles. One of the over-arching ideas is that to be an effective personal tutor requires applying the principles to be an effective academic lecturer. These principles include listening and relating to people, sound pedagogy and subject expertise. The focus here is on a holistic approach to supporting student success and takes a student-centred approach throughout. [Review continues
Embracing the slow: on the deliciousness of pedagogical conversations
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Rome 1986: a resilient group of activists assemble at the historic Piazza di Spagna and, each ‘armed’ with a bowl of penne, vent their displeasure at the opening of a McDonald’s. It was a seminal moment that triggered the birth of the Slow Food movement which by 1989, spearheaded by the charismatic Carlo Petrini (2001), was embedded as a vibrant global and grassroots programme to counter both fast food and ‘fast life’. According to The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Social and Political Movements (2013), Slow Food – whose symbol is a snail - has amassed supporters in 150 countries, determined to link the pleasure of good food with a commitment to their community and the environment. However, in an age of speed walking, speed reading, and speed dating, or ‘living in the fast lane’ and ‘hurrying through life’, slowing down may not come so naturally to many. Especially if we consider that ‘walking’, ‘reading’ and ‘dating’ are moments that should be imbibed and enjoyed rather than as activities to be speeded up. [Editorial continues]
Book Review of Shirin Housee (2018) Speaking Out Against Racism in the University Space
No full textIn Speaking Out, Shirin Housee invites the reader to share in a personal and, at times, emotional and complex journey of some of the lived experiences of minoritised students in UK universities. In this book, Housee offers many compelling reflections that echo a voice that is finding considerable traction (cf. Arbouin, 2018) in these uncertain and discordant times that deserves to be shared and heard. Provocatively titled, the reader is provided with a sense of the unseen, silenced, unheard, or ignored accounts of students to offer a more nuanced and critical understanding of racism in universities, whilst offering reflective tools to address an internal innocence or naïveté and to counter institutional racism. [Review continues
BAME underrepresentation in UK universities: a view from the humanities
Full text linkSignificant divisions have emerged out of the political turmoil of the past three years or so. Yet, out of this unrest has come an increased attention to the virulent racism and racial injustices that still exist in UK society and overseas. In the UK, a number of reports have facilitated more nuanced and evidence-based discussions on BAME underrepresentation, the achievement gap, and the racism experienced by BAME students and staff in universities. This article will summarise the findings of these reports and reflect on their impact for the humanities
Personal tutoring: a recognition of ‘levelness’ in the support for undergraduates
Full text linkThe changing terrain of higher education in the UK, and particularly the greater diversity of the student body, has undoubtedly led to the need for universities to provide greater support, both from frontline teaching staff and in the provision of extra institutional services. Added to the mix are sectoral concerns for the wellbeing and welfare of the student. It is therefore unsurprising that we are seeing a renewed focus on, and interest in, personal tutoring. Taking a qualitative approach, we set out to explore the needs of undergraduate students, on an event management programme, in relation to personal tutoring. Outlined in this paper are the different senses of personal tutoring as student transition through their course. 
Race for equality: reflections of a students’ union officer
Full text linkIt has been eight years since the publication of the National Union of Students’ (NUS) Race for Equality, a report containing several sobering reflections on the BAME student experience in post-16 UK education. In 2018/19 many of the themes were revisited with the publication of a Universities UK and NUS report on the BAME attainment gap. In this viewpoint paper, a personal reflection is offered from the perspective of a students’ union officer, drawing attention to the need to be willing to engage with untapped talent, and on the role a students’ union can play in helping universities create more inclusive cultures and, consequently, more vibrant learning communities
Book Review of Vincent C.H. Tong, Alex Standen and Mina Sotiriou (Eds.) (2018) Shaping Higher Education with Students: Ways to Connect Research and Teaching
Full text linkShaping Higher Education with Students is about linking research and teaching through collaborative relationships between students and staff. The central tenet of this expansive book is that student learning should be anchored in the kind of active, critical, and analytic inquiry traditionally undertaken by researchers. Unpacking the complexities of research-based education, this edited collection documents a University College London (UCL) project that challenges the conventional roles of students and teachers and proposes that research and teaching are not disparate undertakings, but that research equals teaching (‘R=T’). In a contemporary academic environment, that seems to prioritise skills for employability in order to improve student satisfaction and league tables standings, the notion of converting students into co-producers of knowledge is captivating. R=T, as interpreted at UCL, proposes developing students’ voices academically in a way that allows them to transform their ideas into actions, whether in the sphere of politics, society, business, or science. [Review continues
Religion and belief on campus: notes from ‘just your average Muslim’
Full text linkAt the start of 2019/20, religion and belief featured in two prominent sector reports that highlighted problems in social integration on our campuses. This paper offers a personal reflection on faith on the campus, from the perspective of ‘just an average Muslim’, Zia Chaudhry MBE. It presents an overview of the Muslim student experience on campus and endorses the notion of ‘religious’ literacy as a means of nurturing respect and spiritual wellbeing
Book Review of Flower Darby, with James M. Lang (2019) Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes
No full textThis book endorses the idea of small changes to teaching practice in the context of distance learning. However, even if you are not delivering distance learning, there are useful ideas and tips here for everyone. This is a US-based publication, where there are now over 6 million students a year who are engaged in learning at a distance. Although there has been little growth in the UK in terms of ‘pure’ distance learning students (HESA, 2019), there is a growing interest in flexible approaches to learning (Universities UK, 2018). Therefore, this book is interesting because it supports the immediate need to develop teaching practice through small, manageable, research-informed changes, whilst also helping us to reach forward to explore the bigger potential questions around flexible delivery. [Review continues
Supporting Liverpool’s Roma community: an illumination via Bourdieu’s theory of capital
Full text linkWe discuss our Fair Work research with the Roma of Liverpool, and showcase how Roma communities have developed coping strategies in increasingly precarious labour conditions. We utilise Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of capitals, in particular social capital, to show how Roma cope with the uncertainties of precarious employment. We share our work of the Liverpool Roma Employability Network (LREN) and, in so doing, we posit that social networks, borne of social capital, not merely contribute to enhancing opportunity for Roma employability but more so, align deeply with Roma’s habitus
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