Month: November 2021

To start the session we were asked to add images of Human and Non-Human Researchers to the group Padlet page as a form of semiotic analysis.

You can probably imagine, the memes were my additions – I feel memes and gifs bring a bit of humour into something which may be considered a little dry… It was interesting to see different images of ‘researchers’, and there seemed to be a few entries of children or babies researching through taste and touch.

It was interesting to see how the images could then be categorised. Potential categories other than human / non-human were:

• Digital & analogue
• Sensory & digital
• Experiential – taste / play / listen
• Play / focused vs structured / unstructured
• Subjective vs factual/scientific

Next, we looked at data poetry as a mode of research analysis. The idea was to create a poem from the dataset you were given, without adjusting the order of words or adding words.

I was apprehensive at first about the idea of using poetry as a form of data analysis, but when we split off into our smaller groups (I was with Megan and Deborah) and were analysing the dialogue we had chosen out of those provided, a beautiful poem had emerged. Although grammatically incorrect, the gist of what was expressed in the dialogue was well captured. Our process was to look through the raw data and assess what seemed to be key words or phrases, eliminating the unnecessary filler words in sentences. We were left with a string of profound words, what we decided to call our data poem. You can see what our working document here, and the rest of the group’s data poetry here. It was interesting to see how we all tackled the task in different ways.

The battle of neoliberal universities

Identity formation,  
university studies,  
focus, mature, better 
critically engaged student, pain the ass.  

Deeply flawed institutions 
Business model, Dominate 
It’ problematic 
I was on the other side for a change.  

acutely aware 
students short changed 
I don’t think it’s unique  
not enough contact time.  

universities making money 
companies, corporations 
Students, Resource 
maximised profit.  

going to university 
Disconnect 
what students are sold 
what they pay for, 
what they receive.

by Frances, Megan and Deborah

Finally, we looked at thematic coding as a form of data analysis. Although it sounds simple, I find thematic coding difficult to do as you continuously question the validity of your themes. Are you creating too many themes within the data, are you extracting the right bits? Nevertheless, we tackled the task given as another small group:

Personally, I felt like the themes which were pulled were more around key topics which was covered in the dialogue, and perhaps that is how I should be looking at what thematic analysis is. Here’s our themes we came up with.

I appreciate that thematic analysis is a good data analysis method, and hope to be using it with my dataset form the survey (and follow-up interview/s) to see if there are recurring experiences or views.

---

Sadly, I had to leave early during this session due to an appointment at the Japanese Embassy, however, I was able to catch up with what I missed asynchronously.

A very useful reminder on assessed elements during the presentation:

I also saw that there was a collated Padlet created during the session of my peers’ opinions on what bad presentation practice is. I had a read through and I’m very conscious of the fact that I will need to ensure I don’t have too much text on my slides, that I avoid being ‘too dry’ (no monotone voice) and do not assume the knowledge of the audience. Here’s to hoping that I can pull this off.

During the discussion around Selina’s work, I noted down two researchers/theorists to consider: Theo Gilbert on compassionate pedagogy; and David Graeber on care.

---

I was told that the question of belonging needs teasing out, and that I should seek definitions of belonging and transition. This was a great suggestion as it could help root my research. My reference to Bourdieu was noted as too broad, and in the session I had explained that I was referring to his notion around cultural capital which takes time to cultivate, and is often impacted by other forms of capital such as economic or social.

Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier.

Bourdieu, P., 2002 [1979] p.6

My intention was to consider the levels of capital an Insights student would have, and to take into consideration how levels of belonging may differ amongst the students who come equipped with varying levels of capital; be that economic, social or cultural capital. There is much research around underrepresented students (of which UAL Insights students would fall into the category of) experiencing varying barriers whilst at university and into the labour market and how easily (or not) they can obtain such capital (Mould, 2018; Brook, O’Brien and Taylor 2018; Brook, O’Brien and Taylor 2020).

I felt a little all over the place when giving the presentation as I felt I hadn’t made much progress, but I found the process of discussing my research intentions to be positive and encouraging. Feedback from my peers gave me questions for me to consider such as: how many Insights students drop out after enrolling onto their BA; what did CCW cover in the 2-day workshop called Insights Onsites; is there a tension between institutional structures/priorities and needs and the individual student drive? These were all things to consider as I progressed my research.

---

Following the session, I went to find some published work by Gilbert and Graeber. I was interested to read them after they were mentioned in the group tutorial.

Theo Gilbert is an Associate Professor in Learning and Teaching at University of Hertfordshire, and seems to have published a few papers around the benefits of collaboration in learning and assessment design, and the understanding of compassion to student mental wellbeing. I read his chapter published in The Pedagogy of Compassion at the Heart of Higher Education titled ‘When Looking Is Allowed: What Compassionate Group Work Looks Like in a UK University’ (2017).

Compassion means the noticing of social or physical distress to others and the commitment to reduce or prevent that distress.

Gilbert, T. 2017, p.189

Gilbert reflects on the neoliberal drift of higher education towards private enterprise and away from its primary remit to serve the public good. He suggests how this steers students away from noticing the distress or disadvantaging of fellow students in order to focus on self and self-esteem through constant comparison of one’s performance against another (2017, p.190). This, he notes, contributes to the unmanageable levels of student anxiety and depression. Through his research undertaken at University of Hertfordshire, Gilbert evidenced how students who studied under a collaborative pedagogy had experienced a positive impact on critical thinking, explained by students as ‘increased feelings of social belonging/personal safeness, and reduction of social anxiety in seminar discussion groups’ (2017, p.191).

This indicates how a sense of belonging can positively impact a student’s confidence and contributions, furthering their academic process. The paper examines modes of eye contact and the importance of micro-ethnography, where students are sensitive and responsive to others needs. This form of social care plays a key role in breaking away from the paradigm of individualism that higher education has drifted towards, and prepares ‘compassionate graduates for a world in conflict’ (p.200). Reflecting on this reading, I could argue that this is the form of care that I am trying to bring to the UAL Insights students who have joined UAL as an undergraduate, to ensure that they have a sense of belonging within the university and to have a community which can be sensitive and responsive to each others needs.

The article by David Graeber I read was an emotive opinion piece published in The Guardian titled Caring too much. That’s the curse of the working classes. (2014). It suggests that the working class are the caring class, with their work often playing a caring role within society. Although an interesting read, I felt it was not necessarily relevant to my research.

---

References:

Bourdieu, P. and Bourdieu, P. (2002) Distinction: a social critique of the judgement of taste. 11. print. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Univ. Press.

Brook, O., O’Brien, D. and Taylor, M. (2018) Panic! Social Class, Taste and Inequalities in the Creative Industries. Available at: https://createlondon.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Panic-Social-Class-Taste-and-Inequalities-in-the-Creative-Industries1.pdf (Accessed: 10 November 2021).

Brook, O., O’Brien, D. and Taylor, M. (2020) Culture is bad for you: Inequality in the cultural and creative industries. Manchester University Press.

Gilbert, T. (2017) ‘When Looking Is Allowed: What Compassionate Group Work Looks Like in a UK University’, in Gibbs, P. (ed.) The Pedagogy of Compassion at the Heart of Higher Education. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 189–202. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-57783-8_13.

Graeber, D. (2014) ‘Caring too much. That’s the curse of the working classes’, The Guardian, 26 March. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/26/caring-curse-working-class-austerity-solidarity-scourge (Accessed: 10 November 2021).

Mould, O. (2018) Against Creativity. Verso Books.

✓ Prepare a 10 minute ‘Work in Progress’ presentation for formative review in the tutorial.
This will take place on Wednesday 10 November between 9.30-2.30pm.

I signed up to a tutorial time slot for 10 November 2021 at 9.30am, and will be presenting to Catherine, Selina and John.