Hi John,

Last week of term here, so not a huge amount of thinking time but here's my two-penn'orth.

Firstly, what Carina said really resonated with me, especially: " I have spent 6 years being able to prove that I know what I am talking about with regards to learning development, and built up good personal relationships with staff across the university, and then I’ve ruthlessly exploited that goodwill to help develop blended learning and embedded learning skills support." I feel that we *have* been successful in making LD visible, and perhaps (ironically) more so in the more senior levels of T&L management and administration, but that has largely been down to a relentless and ruthless charm offensive on the part of every member of the team. It's meant that we do now have influential champions who keep us on the strategic agenda. It's been hard work, but it's had excellent results, for instance:

I'd also 100% agree that having a wider professional profile in terms of our involvement with ALDinHE at Steering Group level, and our regular (as in not very often but at regular intervals!) publications and presentations, has definitely boosted our profile with academic staff. We've also benefited from being structurally and physically moved to the Library, at a time when our former administrative home was losing a great deal of goodwill among academic staff and students on campus - right place, right time.


Both of these seem quite individual-led, so not necessarily very helpful for other LDers in different situations. One thing I really do feel very strongly would make a difference here though would be the development of a professional qualification. When Emma Coonan and I ran a session about professional identity at the ALDinHE conference in Southampton Solent a couple of years ago, one of the comments was that it was hard to ascribe professional status to LDers when they didn't have anything to prove that they had an acceptable level of professional expertise. I know this is something that's been discussed many times but it's really time for us to make the development of a professional qualification a priority. I really do believe that that is the only way we can guarantee any kind of access to power for LD that does not depend on the individual.

(Yes, that *is* a quick email - for me.)

Kim

Dr Kim Shahabudin, SFHEA, Study Adviser, Study Advice & Maths Support 

1st Floor, University of Reading Library, Whiteknights, PO Box 223, Reading, RG6 6AE 

( 0118 378 4242/4614 : www.reading.ac.uk/library/study-advice twitter: @unirdg_study

Please note that I now work part-time and am not usually on campus on Mondays.

From: learning development in higher education network [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Carina Buckley [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 07 December 2016 14:51
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: How powerful are you? How powerful is LD?

Hello John, and all,

Thanks for posing such a thought-provoking set of questions! I would be happy to share a few of my ideas for general consumption.

I feel like a learning developer in disguise. My job title is virtually unintelligible, and learning development is not a phrase that appears anywhere in any policy or operational plan. While management are very supportive (and proud, which is nice) of my involvement in ALDinHE, they couldn’t articulate what ALDinHE is about, much less pronounce it. 

That said, a year ago I moved into aforementioned unintelligible position where I finally can make things happen on an institution-wide scale, rather than just through individual conversations, and for the first time I do feel like I have some power (and thus also responsibility, as Peter Parker taught me). However, it’s definitely under the radar, and it definitely has limits.

My tangible powers as exercised in my institution include shaping what the VLE interface looks like and how it is used, and how teaching staff are trained and developed (blended learning by default is my mission). I’ve been able to recruit a great team member (who’s reading this – hello!) who has developed embedded activities for learning skills, which is now slowly rolling out, and I have a platform to shout about the work that the learning technologies team is doing. I’m also in a position to make sure that the learning technologies team has a strong pedagogical, developmental slant. 

A lot of this has come about due to, I think, my own character. I have spent 6 years being able to prove that I know what I am talking about with regards to learning development, and built up good personal relationships with staff across the university, and then I’ve ruthlessly exploited that goodwill to help develop blended learning and embedded learning skills support. So far, so successful. However, I was absolutely impotent when it came to the ending of face-to-face support; my personal status in that role was what gave the role status, it seems. When I left the role, the role itself left. 

I have to say, also, that my relationship with ALDinHE, and my current position as Co-Chair, has been good currency for me, so I hereby declare myself Chair for Life. Oh okay, power curtailed. Maybe just as well. My Director respects my involvement in the wider learning development community, and my opinion and perspective is sought on our initiatives. 

In sum, I think I’ve reached this point because I’ve been able to demonstrate success – actual results, like improved marks for students in a particular type of assignment. But that wasn’t enough to save the position of Learning Skills Tutor when I left it. However, it was a way to get me and my work noticed a bit higher up the institution, and now I have more opportunity. I guess if you’re looking for factors in increasing agency, having someone high up notice and appreciate your work certainly doesn’t hurt. 

All the best,
Carina

-- 

Dr Carina Buckley, SFHEA

Instructional Design Manager | Solent Learning and Teaching Institute

Southampton Solent University | East Park Terrace | Southampton SO14 0RJ

T: 023 8201 3336 | E: [log in to unmask] www.solent.ac.uk

Co-Chair of ALDinHE: www.aldinhe.ac.uk


From: learning development in higher education network <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of John Hilsdon <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: John Hilsdon <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, 7 December 2016 at 12:45
To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: How powerful are you? How powerful is LD?

Dear all

 

I’m developing some thoughts about the extent of the ability of LD and LDs to influence “what goes on” in higher education: starting from our own practice and “moving upwards”. I should say that I’m writing an EdD thesis and may use anything posted publicly in response to this – but I’m not just interested in mining your responses for my thesis – the question of agency and power is one that has arisen most strongly from my thesis and it’s the question I want to hand back to the LD community. My own developing theory in relation to these questions concerns the extent to which we have ‘capital’ of either the traditional or less tangible, discoursal, ideological kinds.

 

If you have time to respond and would like to do so I’d be grateful to hear what you think – and as I think this may be of interest to all, please post to the list unless you would prefer to talk to me privately.

 

I’m offering some prompts here, but you do not need to use them to respond – and if you do use any of them you can pick and choose which.  You can suggest other ideas. I’m hoping this may be the start of a conversation and am not seeking to control where it goes (if anywhere!). In general: what power(s) do you have, where does it come from and what intensifies or limits it? Whom does it affect?

 

Think about power that may come from your own decisions and actions (including speech; writing and the production of materials).

 

Contexts: in your day-to-day practice with students and colleagues; in your team locally; in your department/division/unit; in your faculty; in your institution; in your community; in the wider LD community; in the wider world of HE.

 

In these contexts, you have a platform for communicating and acting … but what enhances or limits your ability to be agentive in these? (e.g. in one-to-ones, groups sessions, team meetings; committees; governing bodies or equivalent; public forums (including online).

 

How far are you ‘embedded’: in your team; within academic departments or programmes; in your institutional structures? Are you enshrined in policy (e.g. Teaching and Learning; University strategies, missions; marketing “offer”)? Does being embedded in these ways help?

 

Where else does your power come from? Is it mostly from the force of your character; your specialist knowledge and experience – practical and theoretical; the status of your team; the role you may have in relation to programmes; your involvement in marking and assessment; in awarding credits or qualifications? Does it come from funding and resourcing – are the best resourced teams the most powerful?

 

Does LD’s power depend on ‘results’ – is it realistic to expect to measure these in terms of grades, retention, success, progression? Even if ‘good’ results are demonstrated, does it make a difference to the power conferred upon or available to LDs?

 

What do you think are the most important factors in whether or not LDs have power or are able to be agentive (agentic? Not sure which word to use). What would give LD more legitimacy and power and how might that be achieved?

 

All replies will be gratefully received – whether quick replies to particular questions; examples and descriptions of local arrangements; anecdotes or suggestions for new and different questions. Looking forward to hearing from some of you at least!

 

 

John

 

John Hilsdon

Head of Learning Support and Wellbeing

Room 104, 4 Portland Mews

Plymouth University

Drake Circus

Plymouth

PL4 8AA

+44 (0)1752 587750

 

[log in to unmask]

http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/jhilsdon

 

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