The View from the Other Side - UEL Learning and Teaching Symposium 2021

The View from the
Other Side
Santanu Vasant
University of West London
LEARNING
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SYMPOSIUM
2021
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Photo Credit: @TrabiMechanic (Twitter) | Location: Claybury, Redbridge, 10th
September 2021 | (Dr Mira Vogel, Senior Teaching Fellow, Kings College London)

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I said I'll be back ... to present
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Quick question...
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What's been your reflection of the
pandemic on teaching and learning?
https://pollev.com/svasant

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A mixed bag - many negatives related to practical skills and the social nature of learning but also positives in terms of widening
the use of technology in teaching/learning.
Revealed our own biases and values relating to our teaching and our students - there's been some surprises along the way!
How much students want/need/value face to face teaching.
It has been flippin' hard for most and we've seen some amazing strides
taken across the sector with regards to reducing awarding gaps for
disadvantaged groups. I worry now that universities are rushing back to
campus and leaving all these benefits and students behind again. I also eel
that staff wellbeing has been pushed to the very bottom of the pile as
everyone coped (but never checked that staff were coping)
It's opened the opportunities for supporting
students unable to attend class.
progressed digital skills development
Definitely difficult adjustment for both staff and
students. Lots of uncertainty, technical issues, and
general wellbeing concerns
Incredibly challenging but provided some good opportunities to develop
T&L practice.
Your replies…

Overview
• Beyond Adversity: through the lens of the Pandemic
• Welcome to Hybrid Higher?
• Transforming University Education: A Manifesto
• Is this about people or not?
• The Joy of Work
• Takeaway messages
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Beyond Adversity:
through the lens
of the Pandemic
PESTLE Analysis
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Beyond Adversity: through
the lens of the Pandemic
• Pandemics usually change societies
• Organisations can audit themselves through Political,
Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal and
Environment external influences (PESTLE, CIPD, n.d.)
• As we live through this Pandemic all these external influences
are accelerating
• There is/will be a Post-Pandemic World if we choose to see
the view from the other side.
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Welcome to
Hybrid Higher?
Physical Space for Activities
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Welcome to Hybrid Higher
• In July 2021, AdvanceHE published Hybrid Higher: Hybrid working
and leadership in higher education (Parkin and Giles, 2021)
• Can a hybrid operating model work? (AdvanceHE, 2021) Royal
Society for Public Health (RSPH, February 2021) report says only
6% of those surveyed want to go back to full time office based
work.
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Beyond Location to outputs
“It is important that we go beyond location when considering hybrid
working to include time (working hours, hours per week etc.). Other
sectors have been developing the concept of the pixelated workforce
(Bersin, 2019); a workforce which is managed by outputs, projects
etc. ... this is something that HE will have to catch up with ...”.
Roshan Israni (Deputy Chief Executive, UCEA)
Hybrid Higher: Hybrid working and leadership in higher education (Parkin and Giles, 2021)
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Vision then trust people
“You and your leadership team will have to provide clarity of vision
and then trust people; trust that they know what they are doing, and
that at the heart of what they are doing is the student experience ... if
you take care of your people, of your employees, they will take
care of your customers, your students, and your business will
take care of itself.” Roshan Israni (Deputy Chief Executive, UCEA)
Hybrid Higher: Hybrid working and leadership in higher education (Parkin and Giles, 2021)
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Transforming
University
Education: A
Manifesto
What is the purpose of Higher Education?
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Photo Credit: Cover of Transforming University Education: A Manifesto
by Professor Paul Ashwin, Bloomsbury. 2020.

Transforming University
Education: A Manifesto
• The purpose of University Education has been warped by the
marketisation agenda.
• The “… purposes of undergraduate higher education should
be understood as being to help students to gain an
understanding of knowledge that can change their sense of
who they are, what the world is and what they can do in the
world.” (p37). The is true transformation.
• Knowledge, educational processes and higher educational
settings important not graduate premiums or generic skills.
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Transforming University
Education: A Manifesto
“This book offers a manifesto for transforming university education. It
challenges unhelpful myths that distort our understanding of the
educational potential of a university education and sets out an alternative
vision for university education. This is important if we are to work towards
university education that consistently enables students to transform their
sense of who they are and what they can do in the world. It is this kind of
education that will prepare them to work with others to make a
contribution to the transformation of society and to meet the
undoubted challenges that face the world in the future.” (p23)
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Is this about
people or not?
Care Doesn’t have a KPI
*T-Shirts are available, see me for details
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Photo Credit: Designed by Santanu Vasant © 2021

Is this about people or not?
• Care Doesn’t Have a KPI.
• Since the pandemic, the message from academics on the
ground has been one of listen and care (Compassion in
Higher Education, a keynote in 2019 at this Symposium with
Dr Theo Gilbert).
• Set direction then give agency to staff – trust comes up a lot.
• Treat your staff as well as your students (if you do).
• Token gestures of care, agency, reward, promotion are just
that.
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The Joy of Work
How can we make work more fun*?
*this isn’t approved by the Executive
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Photo Credit: Cover of Joy of Work by Bruce Daisley, Random House, 2019

Image credit: https://www.behance.net/gallery/21844029/Do-what-you-love-Love-what-you-do

Joy of Work
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RECHARGE SYNC BUZZ
Icons credit: https://www.flaticon.com

Joy of Work
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RECHARGE
• Have a monk mode morning: block off time and think
properly.
• Eliminate hurry sickness: slower is better than doing it
twice.
• Turn off your notifications: they distract you.
• Define your norms: don’t assume your work culture is
inevitable.
• Have a digital sabbath: don’t email at weekends.
• Get a good night’s sleep: self-evident, this one.
• Focus on one thing at a time: multitasking doesn’t work.

Joy of Work
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• Halve your meetings: either their length or their number.
• Create a social meeting
• Stop (being) a bad boss: do no harm and really
understand peoples’ work.
• Know when to leave people alone: don’t meddle or
micromanage
• Laugh: it improves everything
SYNC

Joy of Work
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• Frame work as a problem we are solving together
• Admit when you messed up: hot debriefs (immediate) are
the best.
• Introduce a Hack Week
• Replace presenting with reading: read briefing papers
properly.
• Conduct a pre-mortem: ask at the beginning what will go
wrong.
• Relax. Let it go.
BUZZ

Takeaway message
• Many Universities are changing, at a faster rate due
to the pandemic.
• Universities are complicated places, but some simple
things can make a big difference such as compassion
and setting clear directions.
• Look after your staff and your staff will look after your
customers and that might just help your NSS too!
40
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References
40
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Ashwin, P. (2020) Transforming University Education: A Manifesto. Bloomsbury. London.
CIPD (n.d.) PESTLE Factsheet. Available:
https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/organisational-development/pestle-analysis-
factsheet#gref. Accessed: 16th September 2021.
Daisley, B. (2019). The Joy of Work. Random House. London.
Gilbert, T (n.d.) Compassion in Higher Education. Available: https://compassioninhe.wordpress.com/ Accessed: 16th
September 2021.
Parkin and Giles (2021). Hybrid Higher: Hybrid working and leadership in higher
Education. AdvanceHE. Available: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/hybrid-
higher-hybrid-working-and-leadership-higher-education. Accessed: 16th September 2021.

The View from the
Other Side
Thank you for listening
Photo Credit: @TrabiMechanic (Twitter) | Location: Claybury, Redbridge, 10th
September 2021 | (Dr Mira Vogel, Senior Teaching Fellow, Kings College London)
LEARNING
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The View from the Other Side - UEL Learning and Teaching Symposium 2021

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