In a year where so much has changed, we present a compilation of LSE HE blogposts that highlight important and diverse perspectives on teaching, education, and research. It’s interesting to note how the more things change, the fundamental underlying principles and values stay the same. Enjoy browsing through or revisiting these posts as you begin a new term and a new academic year.
Being a crisis survivor, however, does not make it any easier to go through another major crisis.
Esra Ozyurek
Writing in times of crisis
Esra Ozyurek
In a thought-provoking post written at the height of lockdown in the UK in early April, Ozyurek, discusses how some of the issues around academic writing and research manifest during a crisis. She draws on the contributions of Seckin Sertdemir Ozdemir and Mahvish Ahmad to explain the nuanced nature of scholars working and writing through a crisis(es) and how that experience varies depending on one’s background and history. A must-read for any scholar experiencing Covid fatigue.
The crux of the matter lies in choosing when and how to comply and when and how to contest while remaining true to the fundamental values that underpin our work.
Claire Gordon
Is the changing regulatory landscape a window of opportunity or an assault on our values?
Claire Gordon
Drawing on her experience as the director of an educational development centre, Gordon takes us behind the scenes as she outlines the challenges facing HE and academic development work in the face of changing regulation, academic culture, and institutional values. In a rare departure, this post makes a spirited appeal for a greater role for contestation in academia, and academic development more specifically. As relevant today as when it was first published.
Even as the discourse gets more inclusive, perception and practice don’t always keep pace.
Lee-Ann Sequeira
Notes from the chalkface
Lee-Ann Sequeira
Written a year ago at around this time, this blogpost offers insights into teaching gleaned from interactions with graduate teaching assistants: the etiquette around preferred pronouns, establishing credibility, inclusive practice, risk-taking, etc. A must-read if this is your first rodeo; and if you’re not a novice, use it to hone your teaching chops for the 21stcentury.
when students speak, they do so from multiple subject positions, and their speech can also negatively impact their peers
Ellis Saxey
Centring LGBT+ perspectives in the curriculum and the classroom
Ellis Saxey
This recent post draws on the literature to highlight issues that persist at the institutional level, in pedagogy, and in the curriculum and research. Saxey suggests solutions that move LGBT+ perspectives away from the periphery and towards the centre of our practice and pedagogy. An informative and insightful read that identifies the issues, backs it up with evidence, and offers solutions.
We're not just being sold a tool, we're being sold an anxiety.
Sean Michael Morris
More than a pivot
Sean Michael Morris, Sara Camacho Felix, Dustin Hosseini, and Lee-Ann Sequeira
In this podcast, four educators explore the role of critical digital pedagogies in the shift to online learning and assessment. Some of the topics discussed in this podcast are the role of surveillance capitalism in HE, academics’ engagement with digital education, the role of learning tech tools in HE, the impact of the Covid crisis, and inequality and opportunity. Add it to your playlist if you’re interested in a critical take on learning tech in HE.
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This post is opinion-based and does not reflect the views of the London School of Economics and Political Science or any of its constituent departments and divisions.
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Image credit: Philippe Bout on Unsplash
