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The Learning Development Project

The Learning Development Project

By LDProject

In the Learning Development Project, conversation is the key to unlocking disciplinary scholarship. We interview the writers and thinkers whose work has shaped and continues to influence the Learning Development field today. Join us in discovering the people behind the ideas - because publication isn’t the end of the story.
Currently playing episode

John Hilsdon: the origins of LD

The Learning Development ProjectJul 29, 2022

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54:24
Emily McIntosh and Diane Nutt: integrated and integrating practitioners

Emily McIntosh and Diane Nutt: integrated and integrating practitioners

Show notes The term ‘third space’ is, these days, readily familiar and recognisable, the concept well rehearsed since Celia Whitchurch first applied it to those boundary-crossing ‘blended professionals’ in higher education, in 2008. However, its definition remains somewhat elusive, its apparent capaciousness also risking a loss of meaning through being too broad. Third space can therefore be discomfiting for some, the transformative and emancipatory possibilities it offers at odds with the threat it can pose to building an established, recognisable identity. These feelings were a source of tension for Emily and Diane, who explored alternative perspectives and critique in the creation of this book. For them, writing was (and remains) a way of socialising ideas: trying things out, refining and developing, and then seeding new conversations. That doing this together has been a joy for them is only too evident - from their ongoing writing and research projects, to their easy delight in writing with each other. The resources we mentioned

Adler, M. (1972) How to read a book: The classic guide to intelligent reading. Touchstone

Becker, H.S. (2020) Writing for social scientists (3rd ed.). The University of Chicago Press

Grant, J. (2021) The new power university: The social purpose of higher education in the 21st century. Pearson Education

Kift, S., Nelson, K. and Clarke, J. (2010) Transition pedagogy: A third generation approach to FYE. Student Success 1(1), 1-20

Syed, M. (2019) Rebel ideas: The power of diverse thinking. John Murray Publishers, Ltd.

Veles N, Carter M and Boon H (2019) Complex collaboration champions: university third space professionals working together across borders. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 23 (2-3). pp. 75-85

Veles N and Carter M (2016) Imagining a future: changing the landscape for third space professionals in Australian higher education institutions. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 38 (5). pp. 519-533


And the book we talked about
McIntosh, E., and Nutt, D. (eds) (2022) The impact of the integrated practitioner in higher education: Studies in third space professionalism. Routledge.

Mar 21, 202401:15:21
Sonia Hood: building strategic connections

Sonia Hood: building strategic connections

Show notes

A previous career in Marketing has proven useful in helping Sonia advocate for Learning Development in her institution, and in doing so for the students who benefit from it. When we learn to speak the language of strategy, and to align what we do with our colleagues’ institutional priorities, it becomes easier to integrate LD provision by presenting it as a means for achieving goals and solving problems. Similarly, building connections with colleagues and articulating our expertise can boost our confidence by helping us shape the professional identity of LD, a skill that will be increasingly important in the future, along with agility and the flexibility to embrace new developments such as AI.

Sonia’s EdD explored the self-efficacy of students when faced with a writing task, so we asked her advice on conquering the fear of writing, particularly that of the blank page. The answer, for her, is to switch from a blank Word document to a blank paper document, and break down the tasks involved into a mindmap, as messy as you like because the process is just as important as the product - if not more so! 


The resources we mentioned

Bandura, A. (1997) Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Worth Publishers

Elbow, P. (1998) Writing without teachers. 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The Pomodoro technique: https://www.pomodorotechnique.com/what-is-the-pomodoro-technique.php 

Syska, A. and Buckley, C. (2022) Writing as liberatory practice: unlocking knowledge to locate an academic field. Teaching in Higher Education, DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2022.2114337


And the chapter we talked about

Hood, S. (2023) Succeeding in Learning Development. In Syska, A. and Buckley, C. (eds.) How to Be a Learning Developer in Higher Education: Critical Perspectives, Community and Practice. Routledge.

Feb 27, 202457:54
Steve Rooney: finding freedom in constraints

Steve Rooney: finding freedom in constraints

Show notes In a values-driven profession like Learning Development, pedagogies and praxis must almost by necessity go beyond the activities and practices of the classroom, to embrace the socio-political structures in which those pedagogies are situated. By discussing agency (of students, but also of Learning Developers) in relation to structure – whether institutional, ideological, or both – Steve Rooney is able to explore the interplay between the two: how one is informed, constrained, and even liberated by the other, in an educational ecosystem conceptually much bigger than any classroom. Temporally, too, when we think about our own praxis, ‘the past lingers in the same “present” in which the future tries…to take root’ (Bauman, 2010: 38); as we strive to support our students’ agency, so we also acknowledge where they are coming from and what they are bringing with them, even whilst we must negotiate our own part in the structures in which we operate. 

Any anxiety this might engender can be tempered by understanding and accepting what is within our control – in writing as in life. Steve reminds us – in his work but also in his conversation – that none of us are alone in feeling this way and that we are part of a compassionate and kind community that offers solidarity. To write is to think and to share and be part of that community, so recognise your anxiety and respect it, and take a chance. Write. 

The resources we mentioned

Archer, M.S. (2000) Being human: The problem of agency. Cambridge: CUP.

Bauman, Z. (2010) Living on borrowed time: Conversations with Citlali Rovirosa-Madrazo. New Jersey: Wiley

Danvers, E. (2018) ‘Who is the critical thinker in higher education? A feminist re-thinking’, Teaching in Higher Education, 23(5): 548-562

Fanon, F. (1961) The wretched of the Earth. London: Penguin Books

Rose, G. (2011 [1995]) Love’s work: A reckoning with life. New York: NYRB.

And the chapter we talked about
Rooney, S. (2023) The mess we’re in: LD pedagogies and the question of student agency. In Syska, A. and Buckley, C. (eds.) How to Be a Learning Developer in Higher Education: Critical Perspectives, Community and Practice.
Routledge.

Jan 25, 202401:02:53
Alicja Syska and Carina Buckley: friendship through writing

Alicja Syska and Carina Buckley: friendship through writing

Show notes

Writing is magical. It can take your thoughts and ideas and spread them further than you could reach alone. It can unite a group of colleagues in pursuit of a common goal to build a field. And it can mediate and strengthen a creative and rewarding friendship. Alicja and Carina share their experiences of writing together and collaborating on the production of their book, How to be a Learning Developer in Higher Education - where the idea for the book first came from (a Greek beach), what their experience of editing a book was like (compiling the index will never be forgotten), and what writing means to them (everything).

The resources we mentioned

Jensen, J. (2017). Write no matter what. University of Chicago Press.

Lamott, A. (1995). Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor Books.

Murray, R. (2014). Writing in Social Spaces: A social processes approach to academic writing. Routledge.

Pressfield, S. 2002. The war of art: Break through the blocks and win your inner creative battles. Black Irish Entertainment LLC.

Silvia, P.J. 2007. How to write a lot: A practical guide to productive academic writing. American Psychological Association.

Strunk, S. and White, E. 1999. The elements of style (4th ed.). Pearson.

Zinsser, W. 2016. On writing well: The classic guide to writing nonfiction. New York: Harper Perennial. And the book we talked about

Syska, A. and Buckley, C. (2023) How to be a learning developer in higher education: Critical perspectives, community and practice. Routledge.

Dec 14, 202301:07:38
Trevor Day: writing in the bones

Trevor Day: writing in the bones

Show notes

After a career as a marine biologist, Trevor washed up in London to discover a love of teaching and an aptitude for writing, which became something of a compulsion. Just as writing has become a fundamental part of his own identity, so he is also committed to helping students develop that writerly part of their own identities too, to think holistically about what they are writing and who they are writing it for. This kind of deep thinking about purpose is what he terms ‘writing in the bones’ - a part of who you are and its own motivation. By engaging in dialogue with ourselves around writing, we can unpick our strategies, build our confidence, and support others to do the same. Trevor’s advice for writing is valuable for everyone: start the process with the freedom and looseness of creativity, to figure out what you already know and play with ideas, and then refine through criticality. The outputs of writing are important, but that process of becoming a writer has benefits that reach far beyond any single piece of writing. How about you: would you call yourself a writer?


The resources we mentioned

Brande, D. (1981 [reprint]) Becoming a writer. Jeremy P Tarcher

Elbow, P. (1998) Writing without teachers. 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hickman, D.E and Jacobson, S. (1997) The power process: An NLP approach to writing. Anglo-American.

Nicol, D. (2021) The power of internal feedback: exploiting natural comparison processes, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 46:5, 756-778,

DOI: 10.1080/02602938.2020.1823314 

Sword, H. (2012). Stylish academic writing. Harvard University Press.

Zinsser, W. (2016). On writing well: The classic guide to writing nonfiction. New York: Harper Perennial.


And the book we talked about

Day, T. (2023). Success in academic writing (3rd ed.). London: Bloomsbury.

Nov 23, 202301:20:17
Virna Rossi: designing for inclusive learning

Virna Rossi: designing for inclusive learning

Show notes

As someone who has been passionately engaged in the craft of teaching for over 20 years - and who has practised at every level from primary to higher education in that time - Virna was keen to explore how to engage an increasingly diverse student body in interesting and relevant teaching. Her journey in producing this fantastic book was triggered by the pandemic, which suddenly made inequalities in access all the more pronounced. Her roots to shoots model, and the metaphor of the tree, emerged from the values that together summarised her understanding of ‘inclusive’ - at which point she discovered the vital importance of finding shared meanings of words, developed further through the guest provocations and narratives that illustrate her intentions so well. The pandemic has brought increased visibility to educators and developers, no matter how they identify, and we all need to make a bit more noise about what we do. A piece of writing is a dialogue between an author and their readership, and despite its challenges, this sense of collaboration and exchange enriches everyone involved.

The resources we mentioned

Healey, M., Matthews, K. E., and Cook-Sather, A. (2020) Writing about learning and teaching in higher education: creating and contributing to scholarly conversations across a range of genres. Elon, NC: Elon University Center for Engaged Learning. https://doi.org/10.36284/celelon.oa3

Inclusive Learning Design - the companion website (https://inclusivelearningdesign.com/)

Maha Bali - Reflecting Allowed https://blog.mahabali.me/ And the book we talked about

Rossi, V. (2023). Inclusive learning design in higher education: A practical guide to creating equitable learning experiences. London: Routledge.

Oct 23, 202301:14:44
Helen Beetham: designing for a hopeful future

Helen Beetham: designing for a hopeful future

Show notes

We might see predominantly our own little slice of the higher education sector but something we all have in common is a concern with the knowledge ecology and how we think with students about their learning. For this, writing matters. Writing is a way of thinking and being; it is a form of dialogue, and conversation matters too - with each other, and with our students. By writing long-form essays on her Substack, Helen has found a lightening of voice and a closer connection to an audience. For her, writing is a commitment to writing as development, a way of coming to be and coming to know; she’s a different person at the end of a piece than when she started. And perhaps this process is more important now than ever. The knowledge ecology in which we all work and live feels dominated these days by big business. Despite sometimes unavoidable pressure to support and promote these technological interventions, our knowledge practices can remain open, communal, and ethical. 

The resources we mentioned

Ivanič, R. (1998) Writing as identity: The discoursal construction of identity in academic writing. John Benjamins Publishing

Maxwell, G. (2012) On poetry. Harvard University Press

Nussbaum, M. (1992). Love’s knowledge: Essays on philosophy and literature. Oxford University Press

Seymour, R. (2019). The twittering machine: How capitalism stole our social lives. London: The Indigo Press

And the publication we talked about https://helenbeetham.substack.com/


Sep 26, 202301:04:18
Julian Edwards: writing as a frame for insight

Julian Edwards: writing as a frame for insight

After an eclectic career that has involved extended stays in vastly different countries, Julian Edwards is familiar with the need to find a way to integrate his experiences into his sense of who he is. He is also familiar with how easy it is for students to feel bamboozled or at the mercy of something they don’t understand, and the detrimental impact that can have on the curiosity so vital for truly widening – and deepening – participation. Julian’s goal, in what he calls this ‘kitchen sink’ book, was to help students get through a complex and complicated assignment by helping them to understand their writing and reduce the culture shock inherent in confronting new forms of writing. Reflection itself contributes to that process, in creating a means for recognising that perception and reality are often dissonant but time usually solves all ills. Looking back on an event or an experience is the best way to learn from it, after all! 

And what of his advice to the struggling writer? Get some distance from your writing and don’t be afraid to edit, not just for the finishing polish but to really figure out what it is you want to say. As for where you start, work with what you’ve got. Perhaps a student has brought a question, or a colleague has a problem. Maybe there’s something you’d like to see changed. Maybe you feel inspired. Whatever it is, cultivate a regular habit of putting something onto the page and you’ll be on your way!

The resources we mentioned Beer, G. (1999) Open fields: Science in cultural encounter. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Demings, W.E. (2000) Out of the crisis. Massachusetts: The MIT Press

Davies, WH. Leisure. Available at: https://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=100 

Elbow, P. (1998) Writing without teachers. 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kolb’s reflective cycle. Available from https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html 


And the book we talked about


Edwards, J. (2023). Write reflectively. Los Angeles: SAGE.

Aug 24, 202357:52
Lee Fallin: technology and its humans

Lee Fallin: technology and its humans

Show notes

Lee would be the first to admit he’s a tech nerd (in fact he does at least twice, in this conversation!) and has been since building his first website as a child. However, he never loses sight of the person in front of the screen, and he has never forgotten what it was like to be the only one of his school friends not to have access to a computer. That sense of inclusion has driven him ever since, culminating (to date, anyway) in the Designing for Diverse Learners poster now in the National Teaching Repository. As well as providing clear instructions for ensuring all our resources are as inclusive and accessible as possible, they also open up more of a link to design thinking. Well designed resources benefit everyone, and it’s an important habit to cultivate. As for writing, Lee loves it. (We cheered!) He has engaged in an ongoing process of trial and error to figure out what works best for him but as with other guests, recommends collaborative writing for that sense of accountability and value. If you’re still unsure whether to take the plunge, perhaps this is the extra nudge you need?

The resources we mentioned Richards, K. and Pilcher, N. (2023) Study Skills: neoliberalism’s perfect Tinkerbell, Teaching in Higher Education, 28:3, 580-596, DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2020.1839745

Tomlinson, T., Fallin, L. and Watling, S. (2022). Designing for Diverse Learners Poster [4.0]. National Teaching Repository. Poster. https://doi.org/10.25416/NTR.20141498.v1

And the papers we talked about Fallin, L. (2021) “Developing online content to support students: the Remote Learning SkillsGuide”, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (22). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.vi22.671.

Fallin, L. (2021) “Teaching academic software via YouTube videos in the Covid-19 pandemic: potential applications for learning development”, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (22). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.vi22.679.

Fallin, L. and Tomlinson, T. (2022) “Designing for diverse learners ”, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (25). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.vi25.973.

Fallin, L., Davison, E., Spencer, G. and Tomlinson, T. (2023) “Supporting inclusive learning resource design with Designing for Diverse Learners ”, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (26). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.vi26.924.

Jul 20, 202301:10:45
Celia Whitchurch: locating LD in third space

Celia Whitchurch: locating LD in third space

Show notes

The concept of third space is one that most Learning Developers have probably encountered at some point, whether in their reading, their writing, or how they understand their role. Celia Whitchurch has a long relationship with LD, first invited into the fold by Janette Myers in 2015. She outlines for us how the idea of third space has developed, from attempting to define what someone is not, to positively recognising and legitimising a new way of working in the university. Third space professionals are adept at networking and negotiating, crossing boundaries and creating new pathways, and similarly third space (never THE third space, for Celia - there are multiple!) has undergone its own metamorphosis. Much of her recent work is on managing a career of shifting identities, and impending retirement doesn’t seem to have allayed Celia’s passion for writing. It starts with an idea, and then a paragraph, and it flows from there, with some headings to ensure all bases are covered. Get a writing mentor, or gather some writing buddies, and learn from each other. But take heart - even Celia Whitchurch can have a paper rejected! So if it’s ever happened to you, you’re in excellent company, and the only thing to do is try again.

The resources we mentioned Murray, R. (2020) Writing for Academic Journals. 4th ed. London: Open University Press, McGraw-Hill Education.

Whitchurch, C., W. Locke, and G. Marini. 2023. Challenging Approaches to Academic Career-Making. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/challenging-approaches-to-academic-careermaking-9781350282537/

And the paper we talked about Whitchurch, C. (2008). Shifting Identities and Blurring Boundaries: the Emergence of Third Space Professionals in UK Higher Education. Higher education quarterly, 62(4), 377-396.


Jun 22, 202301:04:43
Dave Middlebrook: Unrolling the text
May 25, 202351:38
Ursula Wingate: Bringing genre pedagogies into academic literacies

Ursula Wingate: Bringing genre pedagogies into academic literacies

Although the concept of academic literacies introduced by Lea and Street in 1998 has been transformative in helping us understand the sociostructural context of student writing, it has never put forward a pedagogy. This is where the concept of genre, the signature pedagogy of EAP, can step in, marrying a concrete teaching practice to the theoretical stance of academic literacies. There is a tension between the two approaches yet both aim to be transformative - in the mindsets of those working with students, and in the learning experiences of those students. Yet arguably this transformation has not gone far enough, being limited to those programmes or courses that have successfully worked with a Learning Developer rather than necessarily across the institution. So how can that level of transformation - essentially in how we 'do' higher education - be brought about? Ideally, by expanding the role of the Learning Developer to be embedded in the disciplines and working directly with lecturers to support student-centred teaching and assessment, and to help those lecturers best understand how to develop their students’ writing. You may not agree with this approach, in which case we’d love to hear from you! 


The resources we mentioned: Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes https://benjamins.com/catalog/jerpp 

The Language Scholar https://languagescholar.leeds.ac.uk/about/ 

Lea, M. and Street, B. (1998) ‘Student writing in higher education: an academic literacies approach’, Studies in Higher Education, 23 (2), pp.157–172. Available at: DOI: 10.1080/03075079812331380364 (Accessed: 10 October 2019).

Lillis, T. and Scott, M. (2007) 'Defining academic literacies research: issues of epistemology, ideology and strategy', Journal of Applied Linguistics , 4(1) pp.5–32. Available at: http://oro.open.ac.uk/17057/ (Accessed: 10 October 2019).


And the papers we talked about: Wingate, U. (2019) “Achieving transformation through collaboration: the role of academic literacies”, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education (15). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.v0i15.566 

Wingate, U., & Tribble, C. (2012). The best of both worlds? Towards an English for Academic Purposes/Academic Literacies writing pedagogy. Studies in Higher Education, 37(4), 481-495. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2010.525630 

Apr 28, 202351:31
The Collaborative Writing Group: creating a writing community

The Collaborative Writing Group: creating a writing community

Writing a doctorate can be a lonely experience, but when compounded by a global pandemic, the desire for connection and community became almost overwhelming for one group of people. Their solution lay in writing together. Despite never having met before, the 10 authors of this paper decided to join forces and create something together that was far richer as a result than anything they could have produced on their own. This act of writing worked to shape their identity as a group, by providing a point of contact, allowing individual voices to be heard, and building a trusted space for sharing ideas. By becoming in a sense their own data, they got to know themselves and each other much better, and collective autoethnography has become the standard methodology for the group. The sense of collective ownership of the group has become a sustaining element, giving it life and prompting all the members to go further and write more. 

The resources we mentioned

Pat Thomson’s blog - Patter https://patthomson.net/ 

Elbow’s free writing technique comes from Elbow, P. (1998). Writing without teachers. 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Syska, A. & Buckley, C. (2022). Writing as liberatory practice: unlocking knowledge to locate an academic field. Teaching in Higher Education, DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2022.2114337

Johnson, I. P. (2018) Driving learning development professionalism forward from within. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. doi: 10.47408/jldhe.v0i0.470
And the paper we talked about

Bickle, E., Bishopp-Martin, S., Canton, U., Chin, P., Johnson, I., Kantcheva, R., Nodder, J., Rafferty, V., Sum, K., & Welton, K. (2021). Emerging from the third space chrysalis: Experiences in a non-hierarchical, collaborative research community of practice. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 18(7), 135-158. https://doi.org/10.53761/1.18.7.9 

Mar 23, 202301:08:01
Helen Bowstead: the joy of writing

Helen Bowstead: the joy of writing

There is joy in writing - real joy! - in its immanence and its ‘nowness’ and its ability to collect and articulate thought. We often see writing as the means to an end, a way of conveying a message, but for Helen, writing has its own identity and its own reason for existing. As Foucault argues, what we do is who we are. We may even write a friendship into existence. Through writing, Helen encourages us to blast the academic discourse open so we can fully work with ideas and respond to the world in which we find ourselves.

How do you do that? Be brave. Take the risk and write the work you feel should be out there. We have to seek out the spaces where we can find joy, collaborate, share, and talk about our writing. We also need to create space for other ways of expressing knowledge. Writing is very much like LD in that sense; it’s a space for us to meet, share and learn. If that process is painful, then interrogate that pain, which is probably linked somehow to the expectations we have of ourselves and of our writing.

Try writing for the sake of it - you too might find that joy!

The resources we mentioned

Cixous, H. (1991) Coming to writing and other essays. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Lipsitz, G. (1998) The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Manning, E. and Massumi, B. (2014). Thought in the act: passages in the ecology of experience. University of Minnesota Press

Pelias, R. (2004) A methodology of the heart. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press

St. Pierre, E. (1997a) ‘Methodology in the fold and the irruption of transgressive data’, Qualitative Studies in Education, 10(2), pp.175-189.

St. Pierre, E. (1997b) ‘Circling the text: nomadic writing practices’,

Qualitative Inquiry, 3(4), pp.403-417.

St. Pierre, E. (2004) ‘Deleuzian concepts for education: the subject undone’, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 36(3), pp.283-296.

Tillmann-Healy, L. (2003) ‘Friendship as method’, Qualitative Inquiry, 9(5), pp. 729-749

Syska, A. and Buckley, C. (2022) Writing as liberatory practice: unlocking knowledge to locate an academic field. Teaching in Higher Education https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2022.2114337

Winterson, J. (1989) Sexing the cherry. New York: Grove Press

And the paper we talked about

Bowstead, H. (2011) Coming to writing. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education (3). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.v0i3.128 

Feb 23, 202301:09:58
Amanda French: Writing in the rhizome

Amanda French: Writing in the rhizome

After a long and varied career teaching in a range of educational contexts with a diverse student population, Dr Amanda French is troubled by our relationship with writing. It’s a task often approached as a neutral operation but trying to teach it in this technical, mechanistic way - with all that potential for seeing it as a skill in deficit - is closing off for students that sense of writing as a social act. It’s a part of who we are and how we think; it allows us to be part of and develop the discourse and to connect to each other. So, while it can act as a vehicle for thought, it’s not (or shouldn’t be) the product in itself. We can think of it as part of a rhizomatic environment, people entangled with their situated writing, and learning developers can be at the centre of that in helping students unpack it and figure out how to express not only what they want to say, but who they are.

The main message is, don’t be scared of writing! Start by writing anything down and write every day. The most sustainable approach is to allow for a slow, gradual accretion of confidence, almost like an artisanal approach, and in doing so you become part of a wide and diverse community.

The resources we mentioned

Julia Molinari (2022) What Makes Writing Academic: Rethinking Theory for Practice

Rowena Murray (2014) Writing in social spaces

Helen Sword https://www.helensword.com/

Pat Thomson https://patthomson.net/

The Thesis Whisperer https://thesiswhisperer.com/

Sara Ahmed (2014) The cultural politics of emotion

And the paper and book we talked about

French, A. 2020. Academic writing as identity-work in higher education: forming a

‘professional writing in higher education habitus’, Studies in Higher Education, 45:8,

1605-1617, DOI:10.1080/03075079.2019.1572735

French, A. 2022. A Philosophical Approach to Perceptions of Academic Writing Practices in Higher Education. Routledge

Jan 26, 202301:10:22
Alison James: fellow explorer and companion

Alison James: fellow explorer and companion

Professor Alison James, free range educator, coach and play enthusiast, describes herself as a fellow explorer and a companion to those wishing to explore play and creativity in higher education. Academic identity can often resist play because of traditional conceptions of what academia is or should be, and it can take real bravery and courage to try something new and playful. People find their way to play through various routes: encountering it in a training session, through curiosity, by trying and failing with traditional methods, and that visceral feeling that comes from experiencing something themselves and wanting to do more with it.

Writing can take the same approach, in that it is best experienced socially, with peer support, conversations, sharing, and making your ideas visible. True literacy, after all, is about being able to learn, unlearn and relearn. So make space for some play, and we can all take ourselves and our work more lightly!

The resources we mentioned

Engaging Imagination https://engagingimagination.com/

Helen Sword - The Writer’s Diet https://writersdiet.com/

Helen Sword, zombie nouns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNlkHtMgcPQ

Professors at Play https://professorsatplay.org/

Stephen Nachmanovitch (1993) Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art

Johnny Saldaña (2009) The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers

And the paper and book we talked about

James, A. R. (2013) “Lego Serious Play: a three-dimensional approach to learning development”, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (6). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.v0i6.208.

James, A., & Nerantzi, C. (Eds.). (2019) The power of play in higher education: Creativity in tertiary learning. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

Dec 14, 202201:19:26
Sunny Dhillon: pedagogies of discomfort and the neoliberal university

Sunny Dhillon: pedagogies of discomfort and the neoliberal university

In this podcast, Sunny Dhillon takes us on a long journey, through philosophy, pedagogy and personal training, in a testament to the power of metaphor. Although wellbeing sounds like an innocuous, even desirable goal for students and for higher education to pursue, Sunny’s thesis is that it is ill-advised to be well adapted to a society that is so sick. In our individualised, neoliberalised form of responsibility, it can be difficult to see that ‘wellbeing’ might in fact mean deliberately discomfiting ourselves and embracing the ambiguity of true inquiry. This pedagogy of discomfort is all about having difficult conversations, challenging accepted viewpoints, and resisting the hegemonic discourses around the notions of success and wellbeing in academia. Taking decolonisation in his sights as the next means by which higher education seeks to address the problems of retention and student satisfaction without necessarily tackling the systemic sources of those problems, Sunny proposes that learning developers have an important role to play, being both outsiders and insiders and having the ability to create space for these difficult conversations.

The resources we mentioned

Mumford method: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/Arts/Documents/MumfordMethod.pdf

Etymologist: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3234647.Mark_Forsyth

Decolonisation article: https://journals.sfu.ca/pie/index.php/pie/article/view/1377

Personal blog - https://dsdhillon.medium.com/

And the paper we talked about

Dhillon, S. (2018) “Whose wellbeing is it anyway?”, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. doi: 10.47408/jldhe.v0i0.460.

Nov 24, 202258:38
Debbie Holley: equity and belonging in Learning Development

Debbie Holley: equity and belonging in Learning Development

Throughout a chequered career, Professor Debbie Holley has striven to make a difference for students, with a strong thread of belonging and wellbeing running throughout all her roles. Her overriding interest in technology has led her to challenge and investigate the inequalities of the digital divide, particularly since nothing seems to have changed much in the last ten years. Disadvantaged students still struggle with access, not necessarily because of the technology itself but as a result of the structural inequalities that determine who uses what and how, and how confident they feel in doing so.

For us in the Learning Development community, we must not assume that everyone can access and use all the resources we create and provide. However, there’s a lot we can do with learning design that need not require extensive training or institutional investment. Most students have a mobile phone so let’s think about bitesize learning. Isn’t this the better starting point?

Publications discussed:

Biggins, D., Holley, D. and Zezulkova, M., 2017. Digital Competence and Capability Frameworks in Higher Education: Importance of Life-long Learning, Self-Development and Well-being. EAI Endorsed Transactions on e-Learning, 4 (13), e1. DOI: 10.4108/eai.20-6-2017.152742

Holley, 2019. https://wonkhe.com/blogs/everything-you-think-you-know-about-universities-and-technology-is-wrong/

Holley & Oliver, 2011. Negotiating the digital divide: narratives from the have and the have-nots

Kirby, A. (2009) Digimodernism: How New Technologies Dismantle the Postmodern and Reconfigure Our Culture. New York and London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Resources mentioned:

Abegglen, S., Burns, T., & Sinfield, S. (2021). Supporting Student Writing and Other Modes of Learning and Assessment. A Staff Guide. Environmental Design. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/6970/1/Writing-guide-2021_2021.05.25.pdf

Pauline Ridley, Drawing to learn https://blogs.brighton.ac.uk/visuallearning/drawing/

Oct 27, 202245:52
Sandra Sinfield & Tom Burns: on the joy of being a learning developer

Sandra Sinfield & Tom Burns: on the joy of being a learning developer

How do you prepare students for the mysterious world of university? Sandra and Tom used their own experiences and the stories of other students to create strategies that empower learners to have a meaningful learning journey in HE. Learning Development is about demystifying practices so people can navigate them on their own terms. What Sandra and Tom want to add to that is happiness – helping students learn how to enjoy learning and find their voice in a creative, reflective space, because when students write about their learning for themselves in their own voices, they become confident in writing itself, and their academic writing improves. It’s about creating a space for students to flourish, and where they can understand that feeling fear isn’t the same as being a failure. As Sandra says, ‘that’s the joy of being a learning developer: finding HOW we can help the students’.

And how can we help ourselves with our writing? For Sandra and Tom, it’s simple: ‘When we say “write to learn” we really mean it…Quite often we do something that we don’t know yet what we want to say about it. So we’ll open a Google doc and we’ll all plunge in.’ So be brave, work with other people, and be kind.

Publication discussed:

Burns, T. & Sinfield, S. 2022. Essential study skills: The complete guide to success at university (5th ed.). Sage.

Resources mentioned:

D.W. Winnicott, Playing and Reality (2005)

The Cornell note taking system https://lsc.cornell.edu/how-to-study/taking-notes/cornell-note-taking-system/

Pattern note taking https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/globalpad-rip/openhouse/academicenglishskills/reading/note/example2/

Dave Middlebrook, The Textmapping Project http://www.textmapping.org/

Read more about textmapping in: Abegglen, S., Burns, T., Middlebrook, D. and Sinfield, S. (2019) ‘Unrolling the text: Using scrolls to facilitate academic reading’, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (14). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.v0i14.467.

Jim Davis, ‘Don’t waste student work’, TEDxOttawa (2011)

Sally Mitchell (2010) ‘Now you don’t see it; now you do: Writing made visible in the university’, Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1474022210361452

Theresa Lillis (2001) Student writing: Access, regulation, desire. Routledge.

Peter Elbow’s books on writing http://peterelbow.com/books.html

Molinari, J. (2022) What makes writing academic: Rethinking theory for practice. Bloomsbury.

Abegglen, S., Burns, T., Sinfield, S. (2021) Supporting Student Writing and Other Modes of Learning and Assessment. A Staff Guide. Calgary: University of Calgary. http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/6970/1/Writing-guide-2021_2021.05.25.pdf

Sep 23, 202201:20:12
Kate Coulson: impact in LD and why it's okay to hate writing

Kate Coulson: impact in LD and why it's okay to hate writing

How do you write when you hate writing? The answer might be to support others in writing and hope some of it comes back round to you!

Kate Coulson, Head of Learning and Teaching Enhancement at the University of Northampton, is driven by the desire to show that LD is central, important and has an impact on students - for their sake, and for ours too. Impact is a broad and slippery concept, difficult to define, making it all the more important that we consider it and work towards it. But there’s no point having data and insights, if no one else knows about it.

Part of the problem is having enough time to organise these thoughts into a publication, especially if you’re someone - like Kate - who would probably rather do anything else than write, even when that helps overcome the barriers that surround LD. One of those barriers is that we don't talk enough about what we know and what we do, which means no one else knows either. 

Collaborative writing is not something that comes easily to Kate, and neither is writing for publication. If it's not a habit or a priority, it can seem impossible to do, although a deadline can help. For Kate, the most effective support is the writing retreat she set up and which runs every month. Colleagues love it and have found it productive, and even Kate has managed to write during some of the sessions. So she's made a space, set targets, and  has a group of people to hold her accountable. Now she just has to do it. 

How about you?


Publications discussed:

Loddick, A., and Coulson, K. (2020) ‘The impact of Learning Development tutorials on student attainment.’ Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education 17. doi: https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi17.558

Coulson, K., Loddick, A., and Rice, P. (2021) ‘Exploring the Impact of Learning Development on Student Engagement, Experience, and Learning.’ In: Huijser, H., Kek, M., and Padró, F.F. (eds.) Student Support Services: Exploring impact on student engagement, experience and learning. Springer Singapore. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3364-4_19-1

Resources mentioned:

Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (2016)

Joli Jensen, Write No Matter What: Advice for Academics (2017)

Aug 25, 202247:12
John Hilsdon: the origins of LD

John Hilsdon: the origins of LD

A group of people working together can create great things.
We are delighted to welcome Dr John Hilsdon, until recently Associate Professor and Head of Learning Support and Wellbeing at the University of Plymouth. John was one of the founders of ALDinHE following a successful symposium at London Metropolitan University in 2002, and in 2005 he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for his invaluable contributions to LD.
We talk here about the classic 2011 book, Learning Development in Higher Education, co-edited with Peter Hartley, Christine Keenan, Sandra Sinfield and Michelle Verity.
Collaboration and co-working has been a feature of John’s life as a learning developer, driven by initial feelings of isolation as a lone practitioner that prompted the founding ALDinHE, his establishment of the Journal for Learning Development in Higher Education, and the writing of this book.
Its origins go back to the 1980s when John worked in FE and sought to make education relevant to his students. The learner’s context has to be the starting point, if they are to fulfil their potential. This belief, and the opportunities that arrived from Government in the early 2000s, led a 16-university consortium to create the LearnHigher CETL in 2005 which culminated in this book, intended both to help colleagues and future colleagues, and get other academics to understand LD. The book was a way to express philosophical and practical ideas and reflect on the values that guide us.
In that sense, the book represents the thinking of the collective but also reflects where those collaborators were grounded in practice, and the key issues that felt pressing.
Does John feel that it had the desired impact? It’s certainly considered an essential resource, and its frequency of citation is testament to that, although whether it’s permeated management consciousness is another question. However, it does remain the only book explicitly on LD, and can be built on in future.
This idea inevitably leads us to thinking about how learning developers can shape the future of their work. The answer, for John, sits firmly with individual agency. Context will dictate how much power we have but there is always the option to exercise some agency. Speak out and ask questions, he says, if only because it’s difficult for those in authority to suppress them!
We ask about developing LD from a field of practice into an academic discipline: John is sanguine about such ambitions, preferring to concentrate on how we work in relationship with colleagues and students. After all, good collaborative work is recognised as such when people feel able to express themselves and know their contribution is valued.
John’s real desire lies in the idea of a Learning Development university, where people come to undertake interdisciplinary, project-based and collaborative work. Even if that seems a little out of our reach, we can still offer students learning conversations that are relevant in our new post-pandemic context. We can even play and create, and find connections. No matter what else might happen, we can still do that.
And here’s where writing can come in. It’s about being in dialogue with multiple others, sharing ideas and interpretations. It’s a hugely complex psychosocial construct - no wonder encouraging students to write is at the heart of LD practice.
We help students succeed every day by starting from the ground up. If that isn’t worth writing about - creatively, and with courage - then what is?

The resources John mentioned:
Bill Readings, The University in Ruins (2010)
Peter Elbow, Writing Without Teachers (1973)
The Critical Thinking Model:
www.plymouth.ac.uk/uploads/production/document/path/1/1713/Model_To_Generate_Critical_Thinking.pdf
And the Wrasse project: wrasse.plymouth.ac.uk/

And the book we talked about:
Hartley, P., Hilsdon, J., Keenan, C., Sinfield, S. and Verity, M. (eds.) (2011) Learning Development in Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan.
Jul 29, 202254:24
Podcast trailer

Podcast trailer

A brief introduction to the Learning Development Project podcast.

Jun 09, 202201:39