Think Education

International Voices - Leina Shi

To coincide with Judith’s trip to China, this latest episode of the Think Education sees Chris and Judith talking to Leina Shi, Director Education British Council China, about her move to China during the pandemic, leaving UK higher education after 20 years, and the scope and scale of the role she now occupies, including British Council priorities in China.
 
Leina reflected on the changes she has seen in western approaches to China over her career and the renewed interest and willingness to engage post-pandemic and offers insight on how this process could be managed.
 
We talked about digital engagement and virtual connections, as compared to face to face trust building. Leina talked about the event she is organising this week, which brings together key UK and Chinese university stakeholders to discuss collaboration and future activity. Leina gave us a sneak preview into some of the techniques she uses to increase engagement during both online and face to face events.
 
We asked Leina about identity in international education and discussed some of the reflections and case studies in our latest book The Evolving Nature of Universities: What Shapes and Influences Identity in International Higher Education to get her perspective on how identity is viewed in different contexts.
 
#China #internationalhighereducation #britishcouncil #engagement #identity #digitalengagement #conferences

Clearing -The University Journey Begins

In this latest Think Education episode Judith and Chris discuss the wonder that is Clearing. For those not familiar with this exciting time of the year, Clearing is the process by which UK universities and colleges fill any places they still have on their courses.  It is an action packed, and often stressful, time of the year for almost all involved.
 
As students around the world get ready to begin their university journey, we decided to reflect back on our own experiences with Clearing - including the need for regular sugar fueling with mars bar cakes and Jo’s ice cream - the value it has to a university and the impact this can have on people and their sense of identity and wellbeing.
 
We talked about the student experience and how life changing attending university can be. We thought back to our own experiences and reflected on the pressures placed on young people today to have all the answers - as opposed to having the freedom to simply learn and explore.
 
You may not always get what you want, but hopefully, you get what you need.
 
#universityexperience #clearing #application #studentlife #universitybusiness
 

Mason and the French Revolution

Freshly returned from his summer holiday, Mason chose to travel back to revolutionary France today.
 
We talked about why revolutions often happen and how people have the power to change things for themselves and for each other.
 
Mason pointed out that having a King who does nothing but party, and a Queen who is more concerned with styling her hair to look like a boat than with whether people have enough food, is not a good recipe for happy people.
 
We realised that a lot of Mason’s favourite periods in history have to do with revolutions or one group trying to overthrow another. Not unsurprisingly, we are going to talk about the American Revolution in a future episode!

Academic Conferences - Stories, Reflections and Lessons Learned

In this latest Think Education Podcast episode @ProfChrisHill and @ProfJudithLamie talk about the wonderful world of academic conferences.  As many of us turn our attention to the new academic term and returning to the office and classroom, we naturally thought it made sense to talk about leaving campus in pursuit of the conference experience!
During this podcast, we share some of our horror (and success) stories from the early days of our academic careers to the present day, and offer some insights into what we have ‘learned’ along the way.
We reflect on the value of in person events and how best to navigate the experience, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the online model that has been so popular and necessary in recent years.
Judith and Chris compare notes on the role and value of conferences in their respective locations (UK and UAE) and think about the student experience within this space.
We try to offer some guidance and support for students and early career academics here and would welcome the opportunity to hear from others about their experiences and tactics for getting the most out of a conference.
 
#conferences #networking #publicspeaking #academicdiscourse #academictourism #careerdevelopment #research #publication #dissemination

International Voices - Dr Ahmed Shaban

In this latest Think Education podcast, Prof Christopher Hill talks to Dr Ahmed Shaban about his work with the Sharjah Private Education Authority and discusses the recent initiative of a four day week in the private schooling system.
Dr Ahmed outlines the process involved in designing, developing and implementing the four-day week within the private education sector in Sharjah (an Emirate of the United Arab Emirates) and reflects on the initial stages of the implementation.
The discussion moved to impact and wellbeing and Dr Ahmed reported on the current findings and feedback received from key stakeholders, the mechanisms in place to fully support the changes, and some of the knock on effects of the change – such as reduced traffic and increased social activity.
I asked Dr Ahmed about the change in the schooling day and where the additional hours of learning ended up.  I was curious to learn how you are able to condense five days into four – and of course, you can’t, not completely.  The four days do become a little longer but the three weekend days are aimed at creating a balance – with considerable resources in place to support family activity, camps and wellbeing.
As the first such experiment of this nature in the Arab World, the Sharjah Four-Day Week is a fascinating initiative that seeks to better understand student learning, wellbeing and social interaction.  While this is still a work in progress – with an ongoing review process in place – there are already interesting findings (available in the report linked below) to mull over and reflect upon.
 
Four Working Days: An impact study on productivity and quality of life from the perspective of private education in Sharjah
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-shaban-phd-697a1427/?originalSubdomain=ae
https://spea.shj.ae/
 
#fourdayweek #wellbeing #privateeducation #spea #UAE #education #studentlearning

The Second Book -Published and Available

Hot off the press!!  Judith and Chris discuss the release of their latest book and reflect on the process of writing it. 
The Evolving Nature of Universities: What Shapes and Influences Identity in International Higher Education
(Routledge 2023: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003389361)
In previous podcasts, Judith and Chris discussed the start of the process and how they developed both the ideas and the practical aspects of the book.  In this episode, they reflect back on how initial ideas evolved and how new ones emerged.  It is seemingly a good idea to be open to inspiration and to allow a little freedom as you write – you never know where the next good idea will come from.
Judith and Chris talked about the sheer enjoyment and opportunities to learn that come from working with collaborators and the absolute need to increase the different perspectives to which we are exposed.  A staple in our books is the student voice chapter and to this we added a parental perspective.  It is often easy to think we understand the world in which we live and work – largely because we have occupied space within it for a while – but there is always scope to learn more and to think more deeply.
This second book is a book of questions – as was the first one – and we realise that answers are not the point of why we do this.  Questions, the ability to ask them and learn from opinions, perspectives and experiences, is.
As is often the way with these things, Chris found out about the release of the book by reading a post from, most definitely friend of the podcast, Vicky Lewis!
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003389361/evolving-nature-universities-christopher-hill-judith-lamie
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drvickylewis/
https://www.ted.com/talks/dr_christopher_hill_the_ego_and_the_k_id
 
#secondbook #writingpartnership #collaboration #studentvoice #internationalisation #identity

Working with Contributors - REPEAT EPISODE

Another repeat episode for the summer period!
In this episode, Judith and I chat about our writing process and how we collaborated with colleagues around the world.  Writing can often be a tricky business but if you can find people you like working with, like listening to, and like learning from, it can be a whole lot easier!
If you haven't already heard this one, please enjoy Judith and I chatting about how we write, how we work with contributors to develop ideas and to learn from alternative perspectives.
#writingabook #workingwithothers #workingatdistance #collaboration #partnerships

Writing the Second Book - REPEAT EPISODE

As the summer is fully upon us and people are perhaps a little less likely to listen to podcasts, we didn't want to put up new content with interesting colleagues - for fear that the episodes wouldn't be as widely appreciated as they should be.  So instead, we thought it better to stick with just us!
As our second book is now imminent, our thoughts turned back to the start of the process.  Or maybe the middle, it is hard to keep track sometimes!\
If you haven't already heard this one, please enjoy Judith and I chatting about how we write, how we come up with ideas, and how we manage to produce work at distance.  If you have already heard this (thank you for listening) and perhaps you can enjoy it anew!
#writingabook #workingatdistance #collaboration #partnerships

International Voices - Paula Sanderson

In this latest #ThinkEducation podcast, @ProfChrisHill talks to Paula Sanderson @PaulaSanderso16 about the leadership, training, identity and space in TNE.  Paula, COO Interim Middlesex University has held Chief Operating Officer roles at Queen Mary University of London, SOAS University of London, and University of Reading Malaysia, as well as senior operations roles at the University of Sydney and University of Exeter.
Paula reflects on her doctoral work on governance and ethics in international education, and her time working in various international TNE operations, to discuss issues of cultural awareness; communication; training needs; and development opportunities.
I asked Paula about her work on space and how replicating the home campus exactly can actually create barriers and obstacles for TNE students, rather than the sense of sameness.  We talked about the challenges of navigating the need to replicate quality and the desire to contextualize the experience, and then – if possible – to exchange information and knowledge from the branch campus to the home campus.
We talked about the values and identity and the need to be more fully aware of where we are going, what we are able to do when we get there, and what we are prepared to accept.  We reflected on the role of a university and the notion of identity – as connected to values – and what happens when we transplant to another system, country and set of rules, beliefs and laws.
Social mobility should be for all
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-paula-sanderson-323a7745/
 
#socialmobility #TNE #Malaysia #professionaldevelopment #culturalawareness #accreditation #communication #leadership

International Voices - Hugh Martin

In this latest Think Education podcast @ProfChrisHill talked to Hugh Martin, Registrar and Chief Administrative Officer at The British University in Dubai, about the role of universities within society and the value of education.
Hugh reflected on his extensive experience in Higher Education senior management to discuss the power universities have to make a positive impact upon society, and indeed how they have an invaluable role in providing spaces for discourse, information interrogation and knowledge dissemination.  Hugh reflected that universities could certainly do more to demonstrate their value and that the power of higher education, when not viewed as a mere stepping stone to employment, can be instrumental in shaping and developing society.
Our conversation moved through the learning experience and how the pressures that young people face today – in terms of deciding their future – could be better replaced with choices and options for learning.  By creating space and time to think and develop, universities have a vital role to play in supporting youth development and encouraging creativity.  Moving away from a content driven model to one that supports interdisciplinary learning will better prepare students for life and not just for work.
There are probably more poets around than we realise!
 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugh-martin/
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/author/hugh-martin
#internationalhighered #society #employabilityagenda #youthdevelopment #degreevalue #discourse #teachingandlearning