2024_02_27_ROT form Greg.docx
2024_02_27_ROT form Greg – shortened.docx

2024_03_04_ROT form Marysia Mahalia.docx
2024_03_04_ROT form Marysia Kwame.docx

My microteaching topic: Introduction to Algorithmic Modelling

Context

This exercise was a part of my teaching practice last term when I was teaching the Coding One: Advanced Creative Coding unit on the MA/MSc Computing and Creative Industry (Modular) programme at UAL Creative Computing Institute.

Exercise description

The group were presented with a brief introduction to the concept of algorithmic modelling in the form of slides with examples of algorithmic geometries in architecture.

Image 1: Historical examples of algorithmic geometry in architecture.

Image 2: Contemporary examples of algorithmic geometry in architecture.

Then, the group were asked to pick one of the objects I brought and try to draw it in stages, as an algorithm, using the provided markers and paper.

Image 3: Objects which I brought for the algorithmic drawing exercise.

Initially, I was planning to do a demonstration on the whiteboard before the exercise, but there were no markers in the room and I panicked and skipped it.

Image 4: Drawings by my colleagues.

Feedback from the group

David said he enjoyed the session and learnt a lot. Lindsay said she liked my choice of objects. A few people mentioned they were a bit confused about the details of the task. Please see the picture with feedback sticky notes for more details.

Image 5: Feedback notes.

Reflection

It seemed to me that the participants did not receive clear enough instructions or an example, which was clearly an oversight on my part. I believe I also was trying to fit too much material, including a theoretical introduction, a demonstration, and a exercise, into a short 20-minute session.

I skipped the drawing demonstration due to panicking after I couldn’t find any whiteboard markers in the room. I believe it was a mistake and I should have performed a demonstration with the tools that were available as the final drawings of the participants were quite different from what I expected.

Reflection about others’ exercises

David brought a carefully curated selection of books, each with singular and highly unusual publishing design. I picked a book with a collection of nature photography with edited colours. I found it very soothing. The paper was textured which added an extra sensory layer to the experience.

Lamprini was teaching us to take Instax photos. We were taking portraits. For a person working in tech, I am quite nervous about interacting with new devices. Lamprini made it much easier and enjoyable. As we were asked to take each others’ portraits in pairs, it was also great to get to know the people from our group better and I did my best to take a nice picture of my colleague, David.

Ella brought objects from the forest alongside personalised pieces of textured paper with symbols on them. I took it as a token of care and kindness in our little community and I really loved the relaxing and reflective environment paired with textured objects from nature which were hand-picked for us.

All of my colleagues’ teaching session brought a sense of calmness and/or community to the classroom. I was really grateful for participating in all of them and they made my day better.

Assessment of Work Produced Using AI and the Students’ Benefit from the Class

Contextual background

As an Associate Lecturer working mostly at UAL Creative Computing Institute, I mostly teach classes related to creative coding. For the past year, my students have been clearly using more and more AI tools to produce the final submissions, but it is often difficult to tell to what extent. The main issue is evaluating the learning outcomes based on the submitted work while hoping to prepare them for industry work which will undoubtedly involve AI while struggling to maintain academic standards and fair assessment.

Evaluation

Last year after noticing the issue, my main manager at the time, Dr Hunter Brueggemann, and I, have agreed on a set of guidelines for students for the use of AI, that Hunter formalised into slides, with the main intention being to encourage students to use AI tools critically to help them learn rather than do the work for them, and requiring them to disclose it (2023). We’ve been including them as a part of the class briefing at the start of the term. I believe a lot of students still use AI tools without disclosing it as I get submissions that are quite advanced and can’t be readily found online but are quite off-topic. We clearly struggle to get through to the students and I don’t feel like they’re benefiting much from the class this way even though they get good and very good marks for the work.

Moving forward

Since last year, a few different policies around the use of AI tools were developed throughout UAL. It’s also been clearly defined that the use of AI tools without citation is considered plagiarism, and as such is treated as academic misconduct.

One of my other managers, Dr Louis McCallum (2024), shares submission templates with students, which contain a section on the use of AI that students need to fill. Given how the LOs are defined, code or essays with large sections generated by AI do not meet the LOs very well. Explaining this to students is partially helpful.

Going forward, I would like to start a discussion about the use of AI tools in the class more, with a focus on using AI for supporting self-directed learning and re-evaluating the learning outcomes, aiming to a constructive alignment (Biggs, 2003) between the desired LOs and Assessment. As generative AI tools have become an industry standard and we aim to ready the students for employment, there may be a misalignment between the desired LOs and what we currently expect the students to do. If methods we require them to use gradually become outdated in the industry, and if we aim for the LOs to represent practical skills connected to employability, the current model does not work.

Using AI comes with its own set of unique challenges. One of them is the encoded bias and possible errors of AI tools that the students often do not consider. I believe a critical understanding of this issue, particularly in an intersectional context, is another thing to potentially include in the revised Learning Outcomes.

References

Biggs, J. (2003). Aligning Teaching for Constructing Learning. Online: The Higher Education Academy. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255583992_Aligning_Teaching_for_Constructing_Learning (accessed: 25.07.2024).

Brueggemann, H. and Tańska, M. (2023). Responsible Use of Large Language Models (LLMs) in Coding One: Advanced Creative Coding (Modular). London: UAL Creative Computing Institute.

McCallum, L. (2024). An observation made while teaching on the Personalisation and Machine Learning module at the MSc Data Science and AI for Creative Industries programme 2023/24. London: UAL Creative Computing Institute.

Designing a creative coding unit for student cohorts with a lot of differentiation in coding background

Contextual background

Last year, I taught on the Coding One: Advanced Creative Coding module on the MA/MSc Computing and Creative Industry (Modular) programme at CCI. The unit was originally designed for students with coding experience, which is not a prerequisite for the Modular programme. I was tasked with re-designing the curriculum for the needs of students with various levels of programming experience, ranging from complete beginners to professional developers.

Evaluation

I did my best to re-design the unit and prepare the teaching materials from scratch within my AL hours. Based on my Action Research Project from the last term (focusing on a different module) – both in terms of literature review and student feedback, I know that a lot of the gut feelings I’d had about how to improve the situation are correct. These include posting more class materials with varied resources in terms of media and difficulty level, prompts for creative tasks for students, and splitting tasks into smaller fragments building on one another.

Moving forward

In short: I find placing the responsibility of re-designing a unit on an AL without appropriate extra preparation time unjust and unethical, both towards the lecturer and the students. I found it impossible to prepare high quality materials accounting for diverse student needs within the expected timeframe. The result is either unpaid work or unhappy students.

I did my best within reasonable working hours and prioritised explaining the basics well so that everyone could pass. More advanced students were not happy, leading to permanent staff taking over the unit this year and me having to look for other opportunities. I don’t have a good solution to this problem and last academic year left me feeling extremely tired and frankly, bitter.

There are, however, a few general opportunities for improvement that I found:

1. Prioritise continuity in teaching, so that classes can be improved gradually every year and feedback implemented. This is only partially up to the AL. This could be seen as an implementation of existing design strategies such as Agile Design (in terms of adaptivity. Interaction Design Foundation, 2024) and Iterative Design (iterative improvements based on feedback and observation, Zimmermann, 2003), and applying these to designing curricula and teaching materials.
2. Talk to the students during classes, check in frequently about the teaching pace, and provide feedback options through various modalities. It’s important offer anonymous feedback options, and to have these conversations throughout the term, not just at the end, and to respect and try to implement that feedback.
3. More advanced students are usually comfortable with self-directed learning. They mostly need materials such as links to tutorials, technical references, and articles. Still, finding interesting advanced topics and good quality resources takes time, a scarce resource for an AL-Unit Leader. Being able to build on previous year’s materials helps.
4. Normalising learning struggles and setting expectations. If I know a topic is difficult, I clearly address that in class. I refer to my own learning experience in the process and explain why they may want to practise a particular skill. E.g.: “It took me 2 years to learn git properly and I broke things on the way. I don’t expect you to fully understand it within a week. But if you choose to work in the industry, this skill will be most likely expected of you. It’s also useful in cases XYZ. You can start by learning these 3 functionalities: …”.

References

Interaction Design Foundation – IxDF. (2024). What is Agile Design? Available at: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/agile-design (accessed: 01.04.2025).

Zimmermann, E. (2003). Play as Research: the Iterative Design Process, in: Design research: Methods and perspectives, 2003, pp. 176-184.

Case study 1: Knowing and responding to your students’ diverse needs.

Trying to overcome language and cultural barriers in teaching

Contextual background

In my first 2 years as an AL at UAL I worked mostly with postgraduate students, roughly 80-90% of whom are not native English speakers. Many don’t speak English fluently. I find it difficult to communicate with a significant part of the class. The language barrier is paired with a cultural one, as many students are not used to having conversations with the lecturer in the classroom. This results in many overseas students struggling with class material, and struggling to get help with technical tasks or not understanding formal requirements, resulting in lower grades and not meeting their full potential.

Evaluation

It is difficult to evaluate how the students who don’t speak English fluently engage (or not) with the class material. I’ve been trying to introduce some elements of group discussion to the class, or interact with students during live coding demos. I’ve struggled both to evaluate my work for myself, as well as check in with the students about their progress and any potential issues if I cannot directly interact with the class. I’m worried they’re missing out on individual support from me during the class because of the language barrier. Several students said they catch up with the lectures later after subtitles are generated, but anyone rarely follows up after the class. As an AL, I don’t get paid for tutorials outside of class time, and can provide limited help with coding issues over Slack or email.

Moving forward

In this part, I would like to refer primarily to the teaching practices of my colleagues, who I believe have come up with several improvements.

To improve in-class communication, I have learnt a very helpful “trick” from Dr Louis McCallum, who, instead of asking if students need help, encourages a more elaborate answer with an open-ended question such as: “What are you working on?”. I have tried it in the classroom and although it’s not a one-cure-for-all, it has helped me engage in more conversations with students, and let me help them with technical tasks more often. Another useful observation form Louis’ class is to ensure the references aren’t UK-specific or that there are alternatives if a task needs a reference. For example, Chinese students may not know Netflix, but can discuss the UX of other streaming platforms (McCallum, 2022).

My colleague Maria Than explained that students from South and South East Asian cultures may not be used to direct interactions with the tutor in class and may not feel compelled to answer unless addressed directly (2023). Her advice to address not more than 2 students at once during the labs as opposed to the whole table has proved really helpful.

Following the TPP module, my colleague Luke Demarest introduced elements of pedagogical theory to his classes, where the students had to learn a skill and convey it to other people (2024). I believe this approach could help the students be more mindful about their learning in a wider context, as well as let them adopt more personalised learning methods.

There is also a number of possible changes that I believe would help, but are out of my control:

1. More individual tutorials / office hours: I’m not paid for this on my AL contract.
2. Encouraging students to attend Language Development classes: despite constant reminders, very few PG students attend.
3. Check lists and all links in one place, e.g. a Miro board. My colleague Luke Demarest has mastered this and I treat his materials as a benchmark (2024). This, however, is not accessible to me at the moment due to the limited hours of my AL contract and other commitments. I’m hoping to improve this when I get to re-teach several units next academic year. UAL GDPR policy is another factor.

References

Demarest, L. (2024). Unit 7: Experimental Practice lecture and class materials from the BA Graphic Design Communication course, Y2 2023/24. London: Chelsea College of Arts. Available on UAL Moodle.

McCallum, L. (2022). An observation made while auditing the STEM for Creatives module on the MSc Data Science and AI for the Creative Industries course 2022/23. London: UAL Creative Computing Institute.

Than, M. (2023). A conversation with Marysia Tańska about teaching experiences at UAL, held in Autumn 2023 at the Grove House Tavern in Camberwell during a UAL CCI staff social.

Image 1. Work from class. I decided to change the topic as writing about the challenges of planning classes on an AL contract felt too negative.

How to approach crits?

As a lecturer, I sometimes struggle to find the balance between attending to the students’ accessibility needs and creating an open and welcoming environment versus encouraging them to practise presenting and discussing their work.

While I mostly deliver technical content, I feel confident about sharing my knowledge from a position of some authority due to my expertise and experience. The case is very different when sharing feedback about creative work. How can I comment about the students’ experience, thoughts and opinions?

My favourite outtake from bell hooks’s Teaching to transgress was the idea of dismantling the power structures in the classroom by embracing mutual teaching and learning through sharing experiential knowledge. Unlike technical knowledge (production and sharing of which is subject to its own power structures), experiential knowledge cannot be invalidated or deemed incorrect, making everyone in the room an equal expert in their own experience. Still, it allows people to learn from one another by exchanging and broadening perspectives.

In art schools, crits can play an important part in collective knowledge-sharing. As Linda noted during the TPP in-class discussion, “a crit is actually co-teaching with the students, creating a democratic space where the hierarchy drops” (PGCert Group 1, 2024). Several people with experience as art or architecture students remembered that during their time in school, crits could be extremely stressful, with someone mentioning trauma. We noticed a strong parallel between “traditional” crits and the content of one of the readings, which pointed out that assessment often serves as a mean of maintaining existing power structures (Broadfoot, 1996), which matched a lot of my colleagues’ student experience, including my own, and which the group strongly opposed. Nick made a very compelling argument for re-framing and re-phrasing crits to students, and that a simple change in phrasing can help the students feel more at ease.

In that case, what can be the tutor’s role during crits? While some group members see the tutors mostly as facilitators during crit discussions, and prefer to organise peer feedback as the main activity, a podcast I recently listened to featured 2 UAL students expressing a different point of view (Interrogating Spaces, 2022). They both said they expected the tutor’s feedback during crits, and at the same time were hoping for concrete guidance on how to improve their work, including references. A UAL colleague, Dr Anna Troisi, talking about compassionate feedback, mentioned the role of objectivity in providing feedback on creative work. Anna expressed a strong opinion that our role is to assess the student’s work against the learning outcomes rather than our own opinion. I understand that as teachers with varying degrees of pedagogical expertise, these two aspects cannot be replaced by peer discussions alone, and are an important condition of respectful work and communication with the students.

References

Broadfoot, P. (1996). The social purposes of assessment. In: Education, Assessment, and Society: A Sociological Analysis. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York, NY: Routledge.

Interrogating Spaces (2022). Compassionate Feedback. Podcast episode from 11^th October 2022. Available at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1FD32TFMn5pYBYeXGIgH9Z?si=7bd502eb26514dea (accessed: 22.04.2025).

PGCert Group 1 (2024). Workshop 5 & 6 notes from Group 1, PGCert Academic Practice in Art, Design and Communication collected by Marysia Tańska. University of the Arts London, 26th February 2024. Available at: https://artslondon-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/m_tanska_arts_ac_uk/ERXcHAfPJMFJnGa1IuENB18BBICNOSTaeLiZm6wfJxZflw?e=dkO8ur (accessed: 23.07.2024).

Other resources

class & reading notes
2024_PGCert_TPP_notes_assessment1

Constructive alignment through play and project-based learning

Since I’ve started teaching at CCI 2.5 years ago, one of the biggest challenges in the classroom has been the level of differentiation in technical skills of the students. Secondly, our students seem to have various cultural experiences of formal learning environments, including ones with very strict power relationships in the classroom.

This contributes to often limited interactions with students and what appears to be limited engagements. I find it important to note that some students who are not very active in the classroom do excellent work at home, often surpassing the expectations.

In the 2007 paper on constructive alignment Biggs and Tang note the importance of the student activities and the teaching and learning methods being directly related to the intended learning outcomes.

I find that approach closely related to the constructivist concept of scaffolding, where the students are provided with resources and support to learn on their own with gradual challenges (Wood, Brunner and Ross, 1976), and the constructionist learning-by-doing, when students learn new skills on real-life projects (1991).

In line with these theories, I’ve found that that the students meet the learning outcomes best while allowed to develop technical skills from class in a project-based setting with a degree of creative freedom.

One of my favourite activities during the coding classes was inspired by my colleague Mahalia Henry-Richards, who, during a guest talk in one of my modules last year, described an art project where they and their colleague made a playground from modelling clay based on memories, and then tried to reconstruct it in 3d modelling software (Henry-Richards, 2023). Mahalia’s creative work and teaching practice are both centred around the concept of play, which I remember well from my time as her student during my Masters course at CCI a few years ago.

A few months after Mahalia’s talk, I was teaching an introductory class on web 3d environments in JavaScript and p5.js. After a lecture on the technical basics of 3d models, the students were asked to work in pairs and design a simple 3d scene using modelling clay, only featuring primitive shapes (p5.js, no date). Later, they had to translate these scenes into a digital realm. The students seemed to be having a lot of fun, and the level of engagement during the exercise was much higher than usual. The final results, being part of the final submission, were of much higher quality than first 3d projects of the previous cohort. The students were quite literally “rearranging and transforming the evidence” (Brunner, 1961, cited in Lee and Hannafin, 2016). Next year, given that I will most likely get to re-teach some units, I aim to introduce more hands-on projects as a part of the class.

References

Biggs, J. and Tang, C. (2007). Using Constructive Alignment in Outcomes-Based Teaching and Learning. In: Teaching for Quality Learning at University (3rd ed., pp. 50-63). Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1961). The act of discovery. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Henry-Richards, M. (2023). Guest talk during the “Introducing Creativity” module, Foundation course in Creative Computing 2023/24. London, UK: UAL Creative Computing Institute.

Lee, E. and Hannafin, M.J. (2016). A design framework for enhancing engagement in student-centered learning: own it, learn it, and share it. In Education Tech Research Dev 64, 707–734 (2016). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-015-9422-5 (accessed: 23.04.2025).

p5.js (no date). “Geometries” example. Available at: https://p5js.org/examples/3d-geometries/ (accessed: 23.04.2025).

Papert, S. (1991). Situating Constructionism. In; Seymour, I. and Papert, S. (reds). Constructionism. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Wood, D., Bruner, J.S., Ross, G. (1976). The Role of Tutoring in Problem Solving. In: J. Child. Psychol. Psychiar., vol. 17, pp. 89-100. Oxford, UK: Pergamon Press.

Object-based learning and computational geometry

When I was learning hand drawing while preparing for my undergraduate architecture school entry exams, I was taught to disseminate buildings and everyday objects into simple geometric shapes through endless repetitions of visual analysis and sketching. It would happen based either during plain-air drawing sessions, where we could walk around an analyse our surroundings in 3d, or based on 2d visual references.

During the PGCert, I learnt that the practice of analysing and learning about real-world forms through drawing that had been long established in art, architecture and nature studies, can be linked to a counterpart in pedagogical context under the name of object-based learning.

Chatterjee (2009) notes that objects “can be used to acquire subject specific knowledge as well as more generic transferable skills”. In an arts and design context, enquiry into objects can help understand the geometric shapes and transformations that can be used to replicate these forms, as well as create new ones. This skill proves really useful in both teaching and learning subjects such as 3d modelling, including algorithmic modelling, or computational geometry, allowing for transferring objects from physical or imaginative into the digital realm, with the potential of being physically reproduced.

By looking at objects through a mathematical lens, objects can be abstracted from their cultural and historical context. For example, a pottery wheel could be an excellent physical example of rotational geometry, and a spring could demonstrate the operation of extrusion, frequently used in computer-aided 3d modelling.

This abstraction comes with its own dangers, as may lead to knowing the context does not justify extractivist and colonial behaviours. Math may seem impartial but the use of cultural heritage for bettering one’s computational skills is not. Objects should always be analysed with respect to the individual and collective work they represent, as well as the power relationships they’re involved in. In the London craft scene, I have seen white(-passing) algorithmic artists appropriating and profiting from formerly colonised countries under educational pretences. I still find it difficult to balance this stance while providing my students with more inclusive and representative examples.

Scientific, cultural and historical knowledge can help us understand objects mathematically, as well as give them meaning. In a Polish architectural context, the spatial composition of traditional rural housing is highly rule-based, or, one could say, algorithmic, to the point where researchers attempt digital reconstructive tasks based on parametric models (Kowal et al., 2015). However, it requires contextual knowledge to differentiate between know that the orientation of the house (typically of a rectangular plan) often depends on the local building code under different periods of foreign occupation (Raszeja et al., 2022). In the work of computational artist Sage Jenson, coding simulations allow for a more in-depth understanding of natural organisms such as slime moulds (Jenson, 2022).

A still from a video by Sage Jenson featuring a simulation of a Hornet’s nest

With a good understanding of geometry, digital modelling can help bring to life forms that we may not be able to produce otherwise. In design for physical outcomes, digital and particularly algorithmic modelling can help visualise the results, create multiple versions, or allow for customisation of the final product. It can also allow for bringing to life forms that possibly could not be manufactured otherwise. The design of Sydney Opera house triggered a whole new epoch for CAD software, and the construction had to wait for the technology to catch up (Victoria and Albert Museum, no date; ARUP, no date). Pushing the technology forward, digital modelling tools expand the library of possible outcomes rather than replace manual craft.

Sydney Opera House. Design by Jørn Utzon and Peter Hall with structural engineering by ARUP. Design 1957, Opened 1973.

Below – examples of contemporary work created using algorithmic modelling

Copper chair by Joris Laarman Lab

Dresses by Iris van Herpen

References

ARUP (no date). Designing the Sydney Opera House. Available at: https://www.arup.com/projects/designing-the-sydney-opera-house/ (accessed: 02.08.2024).

Chatterjee, H.J. (2009). Object-based learning in higher education: The pedagogical power of museums. In: Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the International Committee of ICOM for University Museums and Collections (UMAC), Berkeley, USA, 10th–13th September 2009. Available at: https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/bitstream/handle/18452/9349/chatterjee.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y (accessed: 02.08.2024).

Jenson, S. (2022). Artist in Residency: Sage Jenson (mxsage). Available at: https://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/blog/?p=9137 (accessed: 02.08.2024).

Kowal, S., Koszewski, K., Słyk, J. and Wrona, S. (2015). Parametric Methods in Reconstruction of the Medieval Proto-Town in Pułtusk, Poland. In: eCAADe 2015: Real Time, vol. 1 [proc]. Real Time – Proceedings of the 33^rd International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe. Vienna, AT: Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, TU Wien. Available at: https://ecaade.org/downloads/eCAADe2015_volume1_lowres.pdf (accessed: 23.04.2025).

Raszeja, E., Szczepańska, M., Gałecka-Drozda, A., de Mezer, E. and Wilkaniec, A. (2022). Ochrona i kształtowanie krajobrazu kulturowego w zintegrowanym planowaniu rozwoju [Protection and shaping of cultural landscape in integrated development planning]. Polanań, PL: Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe. Available at: https://wgseigp.amu.edu.pl/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/394103/ochrona-i-ksztaltowanie-krajobrazu-kulturowego-w-zintegrowanym-planowaniu-rozwoju.pdf (accessed: 23.04.2025).

Victoria and Albert Museum (no date). Computers and the Sydney Opera House. Available at: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/computers-and-the-sydney-opera-house (accessed: 02.08.2024).

Other texts and works I engaged with while writing this post

reading notes

Ahmed, S (2019). Using things, in: What’s the Use?: On the Uses of Use. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Hardie, K. (2016). Engaging Learners through Engaging Designs that Enrich and Energise Learning and Teaching, in: Chatterjee, H.J., and Hannan, L. (eds). Engaging the Senses: Object-Based Learning in Higher Education. Oxford, UK: Taylor & Francis Group.

Kahn, P. and O’Rourke, K. (2005). Understanding Enquiry-Based Learning. In T. Barrett, I., Mac Labhrainn and H. Fallon (eds), Handbook of Enquiry & Problem Based Learning. Galway: CETL. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258844946_1_UNDERSTANDING_ENQUIRY-BASED_LEARNING (accessed 02.08.2024).

HE in UK as a systemic tool for maintaining social inequalities.

This post was inspired by several discussions with my colleagues and tutors during the Theories, Policies, and Practices, as well as the Inclusive Practices unit. While I noticed we spent a lot of time discussing equality in higher education, but we rarely addressed what to me is the elephant in the room: tuition fees.

Coming from a country where free public education is a constitutional right, tuition fees still seem a bit odd. Having completed my BSc in Poland with no tuition fees, were it not for Brexit and potentially losing my resident status if I left the country, I probably would not have paid for my Masters either. In the end, I was only able to complete a postgraduate qualification at UAL due to substantial financial help from my family and a student loan, despite having been in full-time employment for two years prior, and part-time before then. I’m citing this to illustrate that my current ability to get a degree and work in academia in the UK is a direct outcome of my financial privilege.

Going to university, whether funded or not, is an expense in itself and not everyone gets an equal start.

The UK is one of the countries with worst social mobility prospects among the members of OECD (Francis and Wong, 2013). At the same time, students from most financially underprivileged backgrounds (students entitled to free school meals) are 22 times less likely to enter a “selective university” than private school pupils, and 55 times less likely to get accepted to Oxbridge. There is a strong positive correlation between family income and educational achievements of children, which directly translates into formal access to top universities (Carneiro et al., 2022).

Tangent note: social mobility rates are a controversial measure for assessing social justice and some authors argue for focusing on pursuing a more equal society instead (Reay, 2013). I agree with this view.

The unequal access to higher education based on the financial background is amplified by other factors impacting the same groups, such as:

• geographic trends, including unequal access to high-quality primary and secondary education in different parts of the UK contributes to maintaining the North-South divide (Gibbons and Vignoles, 2012),
• limited geographical mobility of students from lower-income or minority ethnic backgrounds, who often cannot move for university due to financial or cultural factors (Pennel and West, 2005).
• Even when provided with tuition fees and maintenance loans, students from underprivileged backgrounds are much more likely to leave university with other forms of debt such as credit card debt and overdrafts, and tend to owe much more money in total (Pennell and West, 2005).

The statistics cited above are truly grim. I couldn’t find numbers that would allow for a direct comparison, but having studied in Poland, where public education at all levels is a constitutional right (Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej [Constitution of the Republic of Poland], 1997, art. 70.), and in the UK, where postgraduate fees at the time were about a half of the gross minimum wage, I could observe much more income background diversity at my Polish university.

At the same time, the 2021 OECD report, recommended to me by Lindsay Jordan, proves that the economic benefits of a better-educated society significantly outweigh the cost of public funding of HE, dismissing the financial argument for tuition fees at public universities. This leads me to believe that HE in the UK needs rethinking on a structural level, as currently it serves as a tool for sustaining social inequalities. During TPP, we’ve brought up bell hooks’s Teaching to Transgress, and the idea of shifting the power relationships in the classroom by mutual learning through experiential knowledge. In the UK HE, it seems a lot of that knowledge, and the people who hold it, are mostly locked out of the classroom.

References

Carneiro, P., Cattan, S., Dearden, L., Ven der Erve, L., Krutikova, S., Macmillan, L. (2022). Intergenerational income mobility in England and the importance of education. London, UK: Institute for Fiscal Studies. Available at:
https://hdl.handle.net/10419/267954 (accessed: 24.07.2024).

Gibbons, S., Vignoles, A. (2012). Geography, choice and participation in higher education in England, in: Regional Science and Urban Economics, v. 42, pp. 98-113. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2011.07.004 (accessed: 24.07.2024).

Francis, B. and Wong, B. (2013). What is preventing social mobility? A review of the evidence. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Billy-Wong/publication/272164028_What_is_preventing_social_mobility_A_review_of_the_evidence/links/54dca41f0cf28a3d93f82011/What-is-preventing-social-mobility-A-review-of-the-evidence.pdf (Accessed: 30.08.2024).

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York, NY: Routledge.

Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej [Constitution of the Republic of Poland]. Available at: https://www.gov.pl/attachment/e42b27d1-93c0-4a28-9fb1-e12ca639d8f9 (accessed: 30.08.2024).

OECD (2021). Education at a Glance 2021. Available at: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/b35a14e5-en.pdf?expires=1725033553&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=A850E04338E96BE174FAC225A01C2910 (accessed: 30.08.2024).

Pennell, H., West, A. (2005). The Impact of Increased Fees on Participation in Higher Education in England, in: Higher Education Quarterly, vol. 59, pp. 127-137. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2273.2005.00286.x (accessed: 24.07.2024).

Reay, D. (2013). Social mobility, a panacea for austere times: tales of emperors, frogs, and tadpoles. In: British Journal of Sociology and Education, vol. 34. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2013.816035 (accessed: 31.08.2024).

Further reading and notes

2024_PGCert_TPP_notes_education_social_justice

Notes from tutorial w/ Lindsay:

focus on smaller topics for the blog posts – these may be too broad for the small word count

LLM disclaimer

I used ChatGPT to help me find a data source that Lindsay mentioned in a tutorial after I couldn’t find it via a search engine. The citation comes from the mentioned OECD report directly, following a review of the contents.

Workshops 1 & 2 notes:

2024_PGCert_TPP_workshop_1_notes

Object-based learning – reading notes:

2024_PGCert_TPP_notes_object_based_learning