{"id":1418,"date":"2017-02-06T08:51:35","date_gmt":"2017-02-06T08:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.reading.ac.uk\/engage-in-teaching-and-learning\/?p=1418"},"modified":"2019-10-04T15:32:04","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T15:32:04","slug":"engaging-everyone-reflections-on-wednesdays-di-themed-tl-conference-by-simon-chandler-wilde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/t-and-l-exchange\/2017\/02\/06\/engaging-everyone-reflections-on-wednesdays-di-themed-tl-conference-by-simon-chandler-wilde\/","title":{"rendered":"Engaging Everyone \u2013 reflections on Wednesday\u2019s D&I-themed T&L Conference – By Simon Chandler-Wilde"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was blown away by Wednesday\u2019s teaching & learning conference \u201cEngaging everyone: addressing the diversity and inclusion expectations of the Curriculum Framework<\/em><\/strong>\u201c. This was lead-organised by my CQSD colleagues, especially Nina Brooke, but as a collaborative effort across the T&L patch, working with the T&L Dean Elizabeth McCrum \u00a0and others, and with the RUSU Education and Diversity Officers<\/strong><\/a>, Niall Hamilton and Sed Joshi. The venue \u2013 the large Meadow Suite in Park House \u2013 was excellent \u2013 and full to the brim with staff and students from across the University, including regular academics, many from the \u201cLeadership Group\u201d, and very many of the School Directors of Teaching and Learning who have to lead \u2013 and cajole \u2013to make change on the ground.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My jobshare Ellie Highwood will blog separately with her take,<\/p>\n

Including local data on attainment gaps, and gaps in BAME representation between the student body and the staff side, that she presented with Sed in their highly interactive presentation in the morning.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll focus myself on the sessions run by the conference Keynote speaker, Professor Gurnam Singh<\/a><\/strong>, Principal Lecturer in Social Work at Coventry University and Visiting Professor of Social Work at Chester University.<\/p>\n

In his afternoon workshop on \u201cTransformative Pedagogy in Action<\/em><\/strong>\u201d Gurnam revealed more of his background: this something he advocated, for connecting to the learner, humanising relationships, and sharing vulnerabilities. He described his (extraordinary) academic journey from UFD (his O-level grades) to PhD (Social Studies at Warwick) and beyond, starting with his early rebellious school career in Bradford, truanting in Bradford Central Library (where much of his education happened), the one bright (and memorable) spark at school the lunchtime lectures in Sophocles and classical architecture from \u201cMr Mitchell\u201d whose passion for teaching and his subject has had a lasting impact.<\/p>\n

Talking about research vision on his website<\/strong><\/a> Prof Singh describes himself \u201cas an academic activist in that what inspires me both in my teaching and research is the desire to transform individuals and society\u201d. This perspective and motivation came through strongly in his morning Keynote on \u201cUnderstanding and Eliminating Disparities in Degree Awarding: Challenges and Perspectives<\/em><\/strong>\u201c,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

drawing on his extensive research (and research funding) in this area, including his substantial 2011 Higher Education Academy Report \u201cBlack and minority ethnic (BME) students\u2019 participation in higher education: improving retention and success<\/strong><\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n

This keynote was a wide-ranging and comprehensive account of the problem and possible solutions. In part it was a (welcome) call to arms and polemic, asking which side of history are we on, urging us to work for a different history, that we can be part of the change. He was scathing about a certain sort of (white upper class) elitism, a \u201cparticular kind of superiority, not excellence, something else\u201d, the sort we associate with the Bullingdon Club, and about the impact of Trump in legitimising racism and misogyny (while noting that to many Trump had been the social change candidate), and (very much correctly) observed that \u201cwe need more in the academy of my sort\u201d.<\/p>\n

In this initial part of the presentation he urged work to diversify the academy \u2013 with a BME focus but also commenting more broadly \u2013 from a variety of perspectives, reminding us that \u00a0from an international legal perspective education is a fundamental human right<\/strong><\/a>, of our legal obligations under the equality act, of the moral imperative to act in response to inequality, and of the (neo-liberal?) commercial imperative, reminding us of the business benefits of diversity and the widely-cited McKinsey report<\/strong><\/a>, and memorably remarking that his own institution \u201cwould not exist as a White university, except as a senior management team\u201d. (Of course, this applies equally at Reading.) These are all potential levers for change. Gurnam cited also the TEF (with its promise of\u00a0 \u2018incentives that reward institutions who do best at retention and progression of disadvantaged students through their college years<\/strong><\/a>\u2019) as another key lever. (In this space Prof Singh was part of the Academic Reference Group feeding into the October 2016 report \u201cWorking in Partnership: enabling Social Mobility in Higher Education<\/strong><\/a>\u201d from UUK.) In summary he noted that, through these various drivers disparity in attainment was moving to the top of the agenda \u2013 this was certainly true in Wednesday\u2019s conference and in the associated work that has led to our new Curriculum Framework<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prof Singh then talked quantitatively about the BME attainment gap, particularly % difference in attainment of a \u201cgood degree\u201d (2.1 or 1st) between BME ethnicities and white students. He emphasised that significant attainment gaps remain once differences in prior qualifications are factored out, using graphs (see latest available figures above: 2013-14 graduates) published by HEFCE: see Annex G<\/strong><\/a> of the\u00a0September 2015 report<\/strong><\/a>. In terms of causes and solutions, he was wide-ranging. I\u2019ll edit this blog and add more once I have Gurnam\u2019s slides in my hand (I have my eye on his \u201cjigsaw\u201d picture summarising all suggested possible actions from his research). But in terms of causes he touched on:<\/p>\n