{"id":4939,"date":"2024-06-11T07:47:20","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T07:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/?p=4939"},"modified":"2024-06-11T07:48:26","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T07:48:26","slug":"leading-in-learning-and-teaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/leading-in-learning-and-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading in learning and teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this blog, Jennifer Pike, Senior Fellow and Head of School at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences reflects on Leading in Learning and Teaching.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Last year I completed the Cardiff University Education Senior Fellowship Program, which took me on a reflective journey through my career.\u00a0 I found it really challenging to be asked to consider my journey in this way at the beginning and explore what had shaped me as an educator.\u00a0 However, once I had allowed myself to really think about this, it opened a whole new language and tools.\u00a0 It helped me understand the pedagogy that underpins my philosophy and approach, and how I can use it to support and lead others in learning and teaching.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading in learning and teaching is not a solo effort (Covey 1999).\u00a0 We are a very busy team of experts pulled in several directions. For me, the most effective leadership style recognises the team’s expertise and channels their skills to achieve common goals. During the 2020-2021 pandemic, we all had to respond to unprecedented change.\u00a0 As Director of Learning and Teaching at the time I had many decisions to make \u2013 how could I support my colleagues to deliver for our students?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Time poverty was one of our biggest challenges (Giurge et al. 2020) and, as a leader, often the most valuable gift you can give colleagues is time.\u00a0 I chose to scaffold our approach in social learning (Wood et al. 1976; Vygotsky 1978; Lyons and Berge 2012), scheduling online meetings and inviting those with existing experience in digital learning and software platforms to share their experiences.\u00a0 Learning from each other was an efficient and effective way to achieve the changes of approach needed \u2013 at the speed they were needed \u2013 because learning together and from each other gave people back time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leadership is also about changing mindsets (Dweck 2017) and supporting the development of intrinsic motivation \u2013 the desire to change (Ryan and Deci 2000).\u00a0 This is particularly true when considering inclusive education (Thomas and May 2010) and the Senior Fellow highlighted this. In Earth and environmental sciences, fieldwork provides a core mystery element to our learning ecosystem (Thomas 2010), immersing learners in awe-inspiring and unexpected places.\u00a0 But fieldwork is not renowned for its inclusion!\u00a0 There are many barriers – physical, socio-economic, and cultural to name a few.\u00a0 It was comfortable to exclude.\u00a0 Following the pandemic, the development of quality virtual fieldwork activities that supported key outcomes of problem-based learning and exploration was a major step forward for inclusion. We could offer a virtual alternative to in-person fieldwork, providing opportunities for those who were unable to get into the field.\u00a0 However, two-years ago we welcomed a student who used a wheelchair into our School, who wanted to get into the field and experience for themselves that mystery element and place.\u00a0 Delivering that opportunity required another change of mindset, multiple leaders, social learning, and time.\u00a0 As a leader you must challenge people to think differently, plan differently, and change the plan, if required, to be inclusive \u2013 and then give them the time to achieve it.\u00a0 You must recognise your first followers and deploy all your leaders!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I really enjoyed the Senior Fellow development programme.\u00a0 I do not think that it necessarily changed my approach, but it provided me an understanding of what I do, why it is effective, and offered me alternative approaches to think about when leading in education.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Visit the <\/span>Fellowships intranet page<\/span><\/a> or get in touch with the team on <\/span>educationfellowships@cardiff.ac.uk<\/span><\/a> to find out more about the Fellowship programmes offered at Cardiff University.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

References<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Covey, S.\u00a0 1999.\u00a0 <\/span>The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 Simon and Schuster UK<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dweck, C. S.\u00a0 2017.\u00a0 <\/span>Mindset<\/span><\/i> (6<\/span>th<\/span> Edition).\u00a0 London, Robinson.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Giurge, L. M., Whillans, A.V. and West, C.\u00a0 2020.\u00a0 Why time poverty matters for individuals, organisations and nations.\u00a0 <\/span>Nature Human Behaviour<\/span><\/i> 4, 993\u20131003.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lyons, S. D. and Berge, Z. L.\u00a0 2012.\u00a0 Social Learning Theory.\u00a0 In:\u00a0 Seel, N. M. (editor) <\/span>Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 Boston, MA, Springer, 3116\u20133118.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ryan, R. M. and Deci, E. L.\u00a0 2000.\u00a0 Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being.\u00a0 <\/span>The American Psychologist<\/span><\/i> 55, 68\u201378.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomas, H.\u00a0 2010.\u00a0 Learning spaces, learning environments and the dis\u2018placement\u2019 of learning.\u00a0 <\/span>British Journal of Educational Technology<\/span><\/i> 41, 502-511.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomas L. and May, H.\u00a0 2010.\u00a0 <\/span>Inclusive Learning and Teaching in Higher Education<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 York, Higher Education Academy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vygotsky, L. S.\u00a0 1978.\u00a0 <\/span>Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes.<\/span><\/i> Massachusetts, Harvard University Press.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wood, D. J., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G.\u00a0 1976.\u00a0 The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology 17, 89-100.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In this blog, Jennifer Pike, Senior Fellow and Head of School at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences reflects on Leading in Learning and Teaching.\u00a0 Last year I completed […]","protected":false},"author":7054,"featured_media":4940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[919],"tags":[],"custom_author":[],"class_list":["post-4939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-fellowships"],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":4939,"cy":4942},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4KqgK-1hF","meta_box":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/286\/2024\/06\/Sized-8.png","pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7054"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4939"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4945,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4939\/revisions\/4945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4939"},{"taxonomy":"custom_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/LTAcademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/custom_author?post=4939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}