Journal of Academic Development and Education JADE Issue 11 Summer 2019 | Page 32
Learning to be social: Creating conversations for
compassion and change
Zoe Robinson ([email protected])
Abstract:
Social learning requires us to connect on a very
human level, as individuals and the social animals
that we are. We spend much of our days in
conversation, yet few of us have received any
formal training in conversation skills or reflect
explicitly on how we converse with others and
how we can have better conversations. We seem
to assume that we develop these skills naturally,
yet we are all aware at times of not been listened
to and not listening to others. In higher education,
outside of several areas of professional practice,
‘communication skills’ development is seen as
synonymous with ‘presenting’ and disregards the
one-to-one communication that is fundamental to
every aspect of our lives. This session draws on the
findings of a HEFCE-funded project which explored
pedagogies of one-to-one communication. The
session will summarise the impacts of the project
in creating real change in personal and professional
behaviour and practice in the 150+ participants,
from undergraduates through to academic and
professional services staff; as well as immersively
explore the conditions and activities that can
create conversations for compassion and change.
The findings are relevant to establishing effective
conditions for social learning in many different
settings.
Social spaces for sustainability learning:
Classrooms, campus accommodation and coffee
shops
Sarah Briggs ([email protected])
Abstract:
Learning doesn’t just take place in the classroom. In
the field of Education for Sustainable Development,
there is an appreciation of the different spaces for
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sustainability learning - from the formal curriculum,
the informal curriculum, to the hidden curriculum
(the environment in which students live and study);
and the importance for congruence in the messages
we give to students through these different spaces.
The complex interactions across these spaces for
learning require effective partnership working
between different stakeholders creating its own
social learning and understanding of different
perspectives, but can also create tensions for
example the space between students’ public and
private lives. This session explores how social
learning leading to broader learning and change
has taken place in these different settings at Keele
University, led at different times by the University,
Students’ Union, and students themselves. Examples
range from solutions-orientated campus-based
group projects, to student-led campaigns and
initiatives, many of which have taken flight in an
informal space for student sustainability activism, the
sustainable student bungalow - a student-led project
designed for students to be able to ‘live what they
are learning’.
“Simulated physiotherapy practice assessments:
unexploited collaborative learning opportunities?”
Anne O`Brien (a.v.o'[email protected])
Abstract:
Background: Simulation is used in many health-
related learning environments for teaching and
assessment purposes. Students in the School of
Health and Rehabilitation (SHAR) “model” as patients
for each other which provides opportunities to
refine handling and communication skills (Fejzic
& Barker 2015; Reitz et al, 2013) also facilitating
practitioner competence to be assessed. This study
aimed to explore student beliefs/ experiences
of “modelling” as a learning opportunity during
examinations. Method: Following ethical approval,
physiotherapy students were invited to participate.
Semi-structured interviews, were audio-recorded
and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed
using a thematic analysis approach (Braun & Clarke,