Thread by @timbocop

On the last day of #UoELTConf22, I'll be chairing Neil Speirs and colleagues on "A quiet, unnoticed form of gentle solidarity" and @sbayne on "The ‘mode 3’ university: Is this our future?" Looking forward to it!

Neil plays confronting video of Edinburgh student stories of exclusion, isolation, loneliness, patronisation, bullying, inferiority complex due to social class. Gathered over 20 years but could still be told today. Accents, wealth, privilege, elitism. #UoELTConf22

Classism involves ongoing sustaining of barriers to access of resources for some, and the easing of access for others. Does university teaching still presuppose and reinforce the privileged upbringing of middle and upper classes? #UoELTConf22

Neil: we can look at structures, policies, curricula and procedures, but students and staff maintain class distinction, devaluing and dominance through interactions. How can we cultivate a welcoming culture that looks beyond access? #UoELTConf22

Strive for environmental conditions for all students to thrive and flourish. Look at gaps in pastoral and pedagogical care. Build solidarity through collective labour “not the glorification of entrepreneurial individualism” (Neil). #UoELTConf22

We're now hearing about the value of peer mentoring as safety net, emotional support, a way of legitimising students' diverse ways of being. #UoELTConf22

Now @sbayne talking changing ideas of what the University is via progressive modes (of knowledge, development, ideas of the Uni) #UoELTConf22

Mode 1: ivory tower (linear, disciplinary, elite, “excellence”). Old but still current. Sharp boundaries. Universal knowledge. Separate from the world. #UoELTConf22

Mode 2: network (non-linear, applied, interdisciplinary, discovery, "efficiency”. Mass ed as a “right”. Still elite-ish but more permeable boundaries. Entrepeneurial. Servicing society. Market values and transmission of skills.
#UoELTConf22

(oops, networked was wrong for mode 2, that's more Mode 3).
Mode 3: ecological (local and global problem contexts, transdisciplinary, distributed agency). HE as obligation. Weak boundaries. Preparing whole populations for rapid social & tech change. #UoELTConf22

Sian asks if we’re at a change point. Mentions Barnett's “feasible utopia”. Signs of uni’s tackling community problems. Education as enabling rather than consumable, signs in strategy docs (Interconnectedness, social responsibility, lifelong access, sustainability)#UoELTConf22

Some great Q&A on both sessions about how we can be mindful of the sort of university we want to be and how to go about this at different levels and in different ways. Loads to chew on, thanks Neil, Gabriele Negro and @sbayne! #UoELTConf22

PS I haven't done justice to Sian's work here (my excuse is that it's tricky chairing and tweeting at the same time!). No doubt @sbayne will share something far better when it's ready 😁 that explains the complex tensions and multiplicity involved in mode-shifting.

For example, we should be careful of different ways of realising a global and ecological university (I am reminded that ecologies can also be brutal places where only the fittest survive...)