Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.– Margaret Mead
What is the value of education, increasingly students enquire how do I achieve, rather than what can I learn to expand critical thought. Is money on their mind, if faced with their fees, my views on attainment could have been focused through a commercial lens.
This session consisted of two presenters James Wisdom and Victoria Odeniyi providing illuminating and thought-provoking lectures.
Beginning with James Wisdom, Higher Education Consultant discussing the ‘The Context of Higher Education’. Highlighting the financial benefits of studying a degree to both students and the economy. UK citizens will earn 37% more, in future, if educated beyond a secondary qualification level. These financial incentives are not reflected in the study of the Creative Arts, however he highlighted most students do not select their courses based on future income. We were introduced to the key influencers of Government (Lord Agnew, Lord Wharton of Yarn and Simon Burns), and negative viewpoints currently impacting the University sector, explaining why the UK Government is now more focused on supporting Further Education than Higher Education.
“Is the following hour the best way my students could spend their time”, relating to recent student satisfaction surveys. Mr Wisdom asked how we can measure the quality of our teaching by dissatisfaction rates, is it a true value?. Signing off with melancholic future Higher Education predictions, I hope he was correct in saying “Don’t believe a word I’ve said”.
The second lecture by Victoria Odeniyi, on ‘Reimagining Multilingual Student Conversations.’ Victoria is undertaking observational research into how language and communication is used in classrooms and online teaching.
The second lecture by Victoria Odeniyi, ‘Reimagining Multilingual Student Conversations.’ Ms Odeniyi is currently undertaking observational research into how language and communication is used in classrooms and online teaching.
Inviting us to think about the languages we know, what we do or do not speak, competence levels, background, heritage and affiliation.
Detailing observations of lecturers utilising colloquialisms “I’m chuffed to bits” to technical speech “Adopting an aesthetic lens”, generating a barrier to learning. The class highlighted their own experiences of teaching or being taught in relation to the use of language. Raising conscious levels of potential consequences of my Irish accent and learned jargon in direct opposition to my teaching objectives.