(Re)Imagining higher education: an inspirational guide for academics

Authors

  • Sandra Abegglen University of Calgary https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1582-9394
  • Sonia Kamal University of Calgary
  • Tom Burns London Metropolitan University
  • Maryam Akhbari London Metropolitan University
  • Sandra Sinfield London Metropolitan University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi29.1099

Keywords:

higher education, futures, imagination, creativity, students as partners

Abstract

We live in times of certain uncertainty with Higher Education in constant need of reflexive adaptation. The Reimagining Higher Education project, funded by the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE), explored creatively and playfully the future of education. It invited the academic community to participate in workshops to reflect on the current status of Higher Education and, at the same time, to conceptualise what form a humane and integrated Learning Development, the holistic and sustainable fostering of academic literacies and practices, would take within that Higher Education system. The outcome is an open-source guide of Higher Education models, real and idealised, that potentially have the power to change perspectives and attitudes. In this short presentation, we (the project team) will showcase the guide, outlining what a more inclusive, empowering, and creative academia would look like. Our research participants have imaged the unimaginable: universities open, accessible, full of trust, care and laughter. Please join us to further reflect on the future of academia, with hope and positivity.

Author Biographies

Sandra Abegglen, University of Calgary

Abegglen, Sandra is a Researcher in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL) at the University of Calgary, Canada with a strong interest in collaboration, co-creation and social justice. Her research focuses on online education, hybrid pedagogy, academic literacies, creative learning and teaching methods, inclusion, and identity. She is the Principal Investigator for Playful Hybrid Higher Education and TALON, the Teaching and Learning Online Network - and she holds the project lead for several other online education research projects. Sandra has written about her research and teaching practice in a variety of books and journals, and she has presented her work nationally and internationally. She has been awarded for multi- and interdisciplinary work with the Team Teaching Award 2020 by the University of Calgary and the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (​​CATE) by AdvanceHE 2022.

Sonia Kamal, University of Calgary

Kamal, Sonia has a passion for solving problems and enjoys the thrill of taking on new  challenges, particularly when it involves improving people’s daily lives through the  process of planning and design. She is currently enrolled in the second year of the Master  of Planning program in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL) at  the University of Calgary. Prior to joining SAPL as a full-time student, she worked as an  architect for complex projects like township development, parks, and playground design.  As a registered architect in Bangladesh, Sonia is skilled in coordinating multidisciplinary  consultants on design development and project implementations. 

Tom Burns, London Metropolitan University

Tom Burns is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Centre for Professional and Educational Development/Directorate for Transformational Teaching and Learning at London Metropolitan University, developing innovations with a special focus on praxes that ignites student curiosity, and develop power and voice. Always interested in theatre and the arts and their role in teaching and learning, Tom has set up adventure playgrounds, events and festivals for his local community, and feeds arts-based practice into his learning, teaching and assessment practices. Tom is the project lead for (Re)Building the Ideal Higher Education funded by the Association for Learning Development in HE (ALDinHE), published as a LearnHigher resource. He is co-author of Teaching, Learning and Study Skills: A Guide for Tutors and Essential Study Skills: The Complete Guide to Success at University (5th Edition). Tom is a University Teaching Fellow and was part of the #creativeHE collective that won the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (​​CATE) by AdvanceHE 2022.

Maryam Akhbari, London Metropolitan University

Maryam Akhbari was born in 1988 in Tehran. Maryam has a BA in painting and an MA in  illustration from the University of Tehran. She moved to London (United Kingdom) in 2022. Currently, she is undertaking a Masters in Visual Communication: Graphic Design at London Metropolitan University. She was teaching in different universities in Iran from 2016 to 2022,  and she was promoted to a faculty member in a technical and vocational university in 2020.  Maryam is a visual artist, and she has participated in numerous exhibitions, workshops, and  art festivals. She has done art projects such as urban murals and published two illustrated  books. The main theme of her artwork is human, which reflects her own personal life. Her  work technique is mainly figurative, based on the tacit understanding of abstracted shapes.  Maryam is assisting the ALDinHE project as a student researcher.

Sandra Sinfield, London Metropolitan University

Sandra Sinfield is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Centre for Professional and Educational Development/Directorate for Transformational Teaching and Learning at LondonMet and a co-founder of the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE). Sandra is a co-producer of the learning development focused #Take5 blog that has national and international reach as part of ALDinHE - and that shares inspirational practice with LondonMet staff. She has also co-authored Teaching, Learning and Study Skills: A Guide for Tutors and Essential Study Skills: The complete Guide to Success at University (5th Edition). Sandra is interested in creativity as liberatory and holistic practice in Higher Education; she has developed theatre and film in unusual places; and inhabited SecondLife as a learning space. Sandra is a University Teaching Fellow and was part of the #creativeHE collective that won the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (​​CATE) by AdvanceHE 2022. Together with Tom and Sandra A, she has co-edited the book Collaboration in Higher Education: A New Ecology of Practice, just published by Bloomsbury (summer 2023).

References

Abegglen, S. Akhbari, M., Burns, T. and Kamal, S. (2023). ‘(Re)Building higher education: A creative vision.’ LearnHigher. Available from: https://aldinhe.ac.uk/teaching-learning/rebuilding-higher-education/ (Accessed 15 August 2023).

Cormier (2011) ‘Rhizomatic Learning – Why we teach?’ Dave’s Educational Blog. Available from: http://davecormier.com/edblog/2011/11/05/rhizomatic-learning-why-learn/ (Accessed 15 August 2023).

Hall, R. (2021). The hopeless university: Intellectual work at the end of the end of the history. MayFly Books.

Hall, R. (2018). The alienated academic: The struggle for autonomy inside the university. Palgrave Macmillan.

Laing, O. (2020). Feeling overwhelmed? How art can help in an emergency. The Guardian, 21 March. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/21/feeling-overwhelmed-how-art-can-help-in-an-emergency-by-olivia-laing (Accessed 15 August 2023).

Sinfield, S., Burns, T. & Abegglen, S. (2019). ‘Exploration: Becoming playful – the power of a ludic module,’ In James, A. and C. Nerantzi (eds.), The power of play in higher education: Creativity in tertiary learning, London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 23-31. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-95780-7_2

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Published

31-10-2023

How to Cite

Abegglen, S. (2023) “(Re)Imagining higher education: an inspirational guide for academics”, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (29). doi: 10.47408/jldhe.vi29.1099.

Issue

No. 29 (2023): Special Edition, ALDinHE Conference Collaborative Proceedings

Section

Conference Proceedings

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