[ITL-CAD] Re: ITL-CAD Digest, Vol 54, Issue 17
Gail Rathbun
rathbun at ipfw.edu
Wed Nov 25 01:23:03 EST 2009
Bev,
My heart went "thump" at your insight that neutrality is something that
the academically rich can afford:
"But at the same time, in terms of the capital that actually flows
there, this neutrality enables the status quo, and then some. In terms
of educational development, this might be seen, for example, in terms of
people with the most social and academic capital accessing funds for
research, project development or travel to conferences, or programs
that take very little account of how truly accessible they are to
faculty who are threatened in their own departments, or struggling with
cultural or linguistic differences. "
The metaphor really works here. We could all probably contribute
stories that would drive this point home, and provoke thoughtful
reflection among the tellers and the listeners.
On the "quality control" issue in Kim's message. Yes, we try to avoid
that phrase here.
A gift is valuable to the degree that it is expressive: the feelings
and values of its giver, thoughtfulness of the receiver's needs and
interests, and in the degree to which a response, any response, is
evoked in the receiver. I would call the exchange an aesthetic
experience. And, in fact, teaching is about creating aesthetic
experience. How "moving" was it? Did students move in their thought and
their behaviors? Were they excited enough to pursue the coursework? Did
the "artist" take chances? Was the course and the class conducted
skillfully? Did the "piece" hang together like whole cloth? Likewise, in
our own interactions with faculty. When I was "gifted" at the 2008 ICED,
I was moved and I was doubly moved when I saw others excited and happy.
The result was that I felt inspired (excited, motivated) to see things
in a new way. Perhaps we should speak of "qualities control."
These are my ramblings in response to your gifts of insights and
passion.
Gai
Gail A. Rathbun
Director, Center for the Enhancement of Learning & Teaching
IPFW
2101 E. Coliseum Blvd.
Fort Wayne, IN 46805
260-481-6504
"In times of change, learners will inherit the earth, while the knowers
find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer
exists" Eric Hoffer
http://www.ipfw.edu/celtl
>>> Beverley Hamilton <beverley at uwindsor.ca> 11/24/2009 8:44 AM >>>
Hello,
I lurk and enjoy the conversation on this listserv very much, and on
and off send messages off list to Trevor and Michael Potter, as I am
timid by nature....
I think the notion of trading zones is a very exciting one in
connection with Trevor's posing of the question of neutrality as a
principle of educational development. If we consider Switzerland as
metaphor, for example, then we need to see the trope of neutrality in
terms of its value in creating locales where capital can be hidden by
all parties -- ie neutrality IS a key economically valued resource, and
which obviously makes it not at all neutral for the Swiss themselves.
Indeed the term neutral is one I have always found raises the same red
flags as "natural" and "authentic" as ways of making practices
unquestionable -- an opacity masquerading as a transparency.
Educational development is absolutely complicit in a variety of
university economies including the "quality" debate which legitimizes
educational development in a variety of ways which we may struggle
against, but which are part of an economy that surrounds us. Ah.
Switzerland again. I am not speaking randomly of Switzerland, by the
way, having lived there for much of my youth... Anyway. Just as in the
popular imagination as supported by Swiss propaganda, Switzerland is
this landlocked neutral space within a historically squabbling and
embattled pack of nation states, the educational development centre has
a considerable amount of energy invested in the notion of itself as a
locale free of the kinds of silo-related resource and territory
aggression of the disciplinary structures. But the reality is that this
neutrality is in fact a key element of the capital of centres, a key way
that it creates value for itself, and far from being free of the
silo-related resource and territory aggression, centres in their roles
as "honest brokers" are absolutely a clearing house for all of these
economies. Neutrality is an interesting term if we consider for example
the storage of good and capital and wealth systematically stolen from
specific persecuted groups in society in unnumbered accounts. Or the
hiding of wealth by the rich in order to avoid taxation, which in effect
amounts to a form of social theft. The values in play here have to do
with an adherence to a principle of neutrality which can be seen as
openness to all. But at the same time, in terms of the capital that
actually flows there, this neutrality enables the status quo, and then
some. In terms of educational development, this might be seen, for
example, in terms of people with the most social and academic capital
accessing funds for research, project development or travel to
conferences, or programs that take very little account of how truly
accessible they are to faculty who are threatened in their own
departments, or struggling with cultural or linguistic differences.
I would go on at length on the topic of the nature and collapse of the
knowledge economy, the alternate currency of information literacy, the
ways in which capital pools and flows in academic settings, the nature
of academic capital and the function of exchange rates and the process
of "quality assurance" as the nationalizing of the academic banking
system, you know, but there is a limit to how much I should impose on
your time....
Trevor will tell you that I can never resist a good metaphor, so...
What is the money laundering of the academic institution?
Does the university system have "numbered bank accounts"?
How does neutrality constitute a kind of tax-free haven for the
academically rich?
How might an educational development centre see themselves in terms of
microbanking capital investment in local initiatives and how is that
different from neutrality? How is it the same?
How do we invest the capital accrued through neutrality? What would
constitute ethical investment? How about slow money? Green funds?
How does valuing neutrality other disciplinary silos? How does it
legitimize and perpetuate them simultaneously?
Bev Hamilton
Assistant to the Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning
University of Windsor
401 Sunset Ave.
Windsor, ON
N9B 3P4
(519)-253-3000 ext. 4835
From: itl-cad-request at mail.usyd.edu.au To: itl-cad at mail.usyd.edu.au
Date: 11/23/2009 10:53 PM Subject: ITL-CAD Digest, Vol 54, Issue 17
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: On to Barcelona: EdDev and the Gift (Trevor Holmes)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:51:17 -0500
From: Trevor Holmes <tholmes at connect.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Re: [ITL-CAD] On to Barcelona: EdDev and the Gift
To: "Challenging Academic Development (CAD) Collective"
<itl-cad at mail.usyd.edu.au>
Message-ID:
<23F6A04D-F995-4F33-8F05-22B659BC9C55 at connect.uwaterloo.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
Really like this latest blend!
Gift for (post)structural anthropology is one thing, and makes good
sense in the trading zones continuance from last ICED, which I'd love
to see/attend, but Kim you also seem to be moving into
poststructuralist philosophical places with your group -- makes me
think of Derrida and the gift, structurally meaning the becoming-
anonymous of the giver (can teachers -- and teaching developers --
rid themselves and their gifts of value/valuation/ QUALITY in order
to give a gift?)
There's a bunch of responding to do to quality discourses in higher
ed -- and to specific books. I'll write again tomorrow if I can with
a little bibliography I've been growing (in order to cut down some
day I hope).
I wonder if the Derridean aporia around the Gift can link to the idea
of measurement and quality (assigning value to the gifts between
teachers and students?)
t
Trevor Holmes | Senior Instructional Developer | Centre for Teaching
Excellence | University of Waterloo | MC 4052 | tholmes at uwaterloo.ca
| 519 888 4567 x33408 | Curriculum consulting | Chair, Council of
Ontario Educational Developers 2009-2010
On Nov 23, 2009, at 7:18 PM, Kim McShane wrote:
Dear CADs the world over, hi!
Martin Oliver, Liz Hoult and I kind of continued the Barcelona/
Switzerland conversation on off the list - not wanting to fill lots
of in-boxes with our to-and-fro. We were just enjoying the ideas and
swapping lots of other less relevant stuff like refs for Irigaray and
Cixous! (yawn..)
In light of Tai's offer to tidy this up and Barb's exhortation to do
so, we thought we'd communicate a loose summary of our ideas, about
the business<-->gift idea...
Snippets from our conversations below. What do you make of them?
Anyone want to tidy them up? Focus things?
Who else is interested?
(Liz and Martin please come in on this with your understandings and
perspectives).
We got interested in the idea of viewing aspects of our work through
the lens of the gift. We also feel a tad challenged by the term
"quality" in the call for papers for ICED. Theme 3. We got distracted
by "business" culture and started to ponder who this impacts,
replaces gift exchange with commercial transactions.
So:
EdDev and The Gift: giving, exchange, service, sacrifice...."trading
zones"
See below: Do we go with "business"? Do we go with "quality"?
Tai, your big picture view might moderate this and help us in some
way?
Martin:
"discussion about the impact of the business discourse on the aspects
of
teaching and learning that have previously been 'gifted'"
the first chunk of this proposal would have to paint a
brief and broad picture of the creeping in of business; then we would
need
(in a more interesting section!) to lay out and relate the various
theoretical ideas, particularly in relation to the gift. That would
then
give us context and resources with which to explore particular things.
Liz:
We could return to that idea of quality that I reacted against
in the first instance. Quality seems to come from a business
discourse and
therefore seems, at first sight, to be antithetical to some of the
things we
have been writing about with regards to giving, sacrifice, bearing
witness,
travel guide et. etc.
ref: Mandelson, Bologna (but not so relevant in the US - tho Bologna
rumbles away in the distance)
Kim:
- the service dimensions of academic development
- the on-flow of gifts that we exchange in the ed trading zone (ICED
paper)
- in these frugal times in California: sacrificing salary and time
(taking furlough or leave days), as a way of
avoiding lay-offs. Indirectly it is a kind of gift we make to each
other so that all can keep their jobs.
- US alumni associations, endowments, bequests, ed. & philanthropic
foundations
- gift-giving and obligation
What is the gift that we developers give?
Or are we developers an awkward third party staging and overseeing
interdisciplinary exchanges?
Consider these ideas & concepts associated with gift theory (adapted
from Berking, 1999, p. 5) :
- exchange
- sacrifice
- a signal of relationships
- means of expressing love, caring & trust
- normative ideas and judgements about taste (values) are expressed
- gifts render moralities visible
- gifts express/contain feelings and/or memories
- presentation of self; objectification of other
- gifts might also express strategic ambiguities and ambivalent
effects
(consider "gendered" gifts to little boys and girls...)
"...if a third party is present, it [the gift] is also not uncommonly
experienced as a burden and a challenge to personal identities. It
objectifies and distributes symbolic allocations, and publicly
establishes
character traits which are not always consistent with or pleasing to
the
self-perception of the alter ego. This is how "awkward situations"
arise (Dreitzel,
1983). "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kim McShane, PhD
Instructional Consultant
Office of Instructional Consultation
in Instructional Development
Room 1130, Kerr Hall
University of California (UCSB)
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3200
t: + 1 805 893-2828
f: + 1 805 893-5915
e: mcshane at id.ucsb.edu
http://www.id.ucsb.edu/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Kim McShane <kim at id.ucsb.edu>
> Date: November 18, 2009 9:24:19 AM PST
> To: Martin Oliver <m.oliver at ioe.ac.uk>
> Cc: <elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk>
> Subject: Re: Switzerland and an invitation to travel...
>
> Hi Martin & Liz,
>
> The International policy thing has me stumped a little too.
>
> The only "international" policy that rates a mention here sometimes
> is Bologna, and always in the same breath as "horror of horrors! 3-
> year undergraduate degrees" which none in the UC system in
> California wants. Today the UC Regents are meeting at UCLA to vote
> on a whole range of proposals and policies that will affect our
> work in the UC system (10 huge universities). The State of
> California used to subsidize the Univ of Cal universities massively
> so that higher education was relatively cheap in what are well-know
> "quality" universities, but the state has drastically reduced
> funding so the big contentious bill at the regents today is one
> that will raise student fees to levels that will exclude many young
> people here.
>
> That's the other thing, higher education is far more local and
> state-based. At present the way national policy impacts
> universities is via funding for grants and projects as I see it.
> and even there there is so much diversity, and little uniformity in
> terms of national "themes" or drives towards particular standards
> or qualities. nationally at the moment more $$ seem to be going on
> literacy and numeracy in schools than toward higher education.
>
> I have written previously on "performativity" in the managerialist
> university and I see my contribution to any discussion on "quality"
> and "business models" in our paper via that lens.
>
> See the CAD IJAD paper I co-authored with Susan and Heather:
> MacKenzie, H., McShane, K., & Wilcox, S. (2007). Challenging
> performative fabrication: Seeking authenticity in academic
> development practice. International Journal of Academic
> Development. 12(1), 45-54.
>
> I particularly like Nik Rose's take on "performing our identities":
> Rose, N. (1996). Inventing our selves: Psychology, power, and
> personhood. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
>
> I would actually like to learn more and write about (the discourse/
> s on) "quality". This woudld be very useful, so can we head in that
> direction? Bring in our favorite lady theorists - Helene and Luce.
> and I know too that "quality" will open out windows for us to
> explore in literature, performance, art....or maybe even dance..!
>
> So let's go there!
> and "Wake up"! Martin. The day is not over yet. Or is it over there?
> ?
> Kim
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Kim McShane, PhD
> Instructional Consultant
> Office of Instructional Consultation
> in Instructional Development
> Room 1130, Kerr Hall
> University of California (UCSB)
> Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3200
>
> t: + 1 805 893-2828
> f: + 1 805 893-5915
> e: mcshane at id.ucsb.edu
> http://www.id.ucsb.edu/
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
>
> On Nov 18, 2009, at 7:44 AM, Martin Oliver wrote:
>
>> If this is going to be for a paper, we won't have much space,
>> really. (Same
>> holds true in terms of time for a presentation, really.) One big
>> policy or
>> two local ones would do the trick pretty easily. There's certainly
>> lots of
>> possible options here - the Mandelson stuff that's just come out,
for
>> example, or the DEMOS stuff on borderless Higher Education - and
>> we could
>> just do a here/there comparison to show similarities and
differences.
>>
>> Or we could make it more local and try and look at cases based on
>> practice
>> in our own institutions. I know the sample might be rather ...
>> Conveniently
>> skewed? But again, points could be made, I'm sure.
>>
>> If we were going to go wider, Bologna's a possibility; OECD might
>> be another
>> place to look for documents. But I almost feel like the fact that
>> we would
>> have to go looking misses the point that this is something we
>> experience in
>> our own practice. Honestly, I don't feel like OECD, or even
>> Bologna, really
>> has that much influence on me day to day, and yet here these
>> things are.
>>
>> Writing on quality is certainly a possibility. It's a fairly well-
>> trodden
>> critique, though, I think. Perhaps not this particular take on it,
>> but it
>> was certainly flagged up for its business associations when it
>> came in, and
>> on the whole "student as customer" mentality is was often packaged
>> with.
>>
>> I'm not feeling a flash of inspiration here, I'm afraid - the
>> theoretical
>> discussion feels much more engaging right now! Are we clear enough
>> on what
>> we're looking for evidence of, to be able to specify where to find
>> it?
>>
>> Martin (feeling rather tired... Yawn...)
>>
>>
>> On 18/11/2009 10:09, "elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk"
>> <elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Martin and Kim,
>>>
>>> here's a thought about pulling our ideas together before we go
>>> back to the
>>> bigger group.
>>>
>>> If we go along the lines that Martin has suggested, which is a
>>> nice basic
>>> structure, is there a useful document that will have
>>> international currency,
>>> onto which which we can hang our ideas? I can think of plenty of
>>> policy
>>> monstrosities doing the rounds in the UK context at the moment
>>> but they will
>>> have limited resonance internationally.
>>>
>>> Given the drive for all of us to internationalize our work in HE
>>> is there some
>>> sort policy document that could have an impact on all of us? If
>>> if it was the
>>> European context then the Bologna agreeement would be the thing.
>>> Is there
>>> something that has a wider application? Excuse my ignorance on
>>> this - I'm not
>>> really up to speed on it.
>>>
>>> Alternatively, we could return to that idea of quality that I
>>> reacted against
>>> in the first instance. Quality seems to come from a business
>>> discourse and
>>> therefore seems, at first sight, to be antithetical to some of
>>> the things we
>>> have been writing about with regards to giving, sacrifice,
>>> bearing witness,
>>> travel guide et. etc. Again, is there academic work that emanate
>>> from a
>>> quality/business origin that are having disproportionate
>>> influence in thinking
>>> about teaching and learning in HE internationally?
>>>
>>> I've just ordered Luce Irigaray's 'The Way of Love' ( nice title
>>> - a reference
>>> to the Bhagavad Gita, I think) from amazon. Also her edited book
>>> of essays on
>>> Teaching (with Mary Green), which you will have already, I guess
>>> Kim.
>>>
>>> I'll be out of circulation for a couple of days now. The
>>> interview for that
>>> job is on Friday morning. I need to prepare a presentation on 'A
>>> Vision for
>>> Knowledge Transfer.' Imagine that!
>>>
>>> Take care,
>>> Liz.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Elizabeth Hoult
>>> National Teaching Fellow
>>> Director of Regional Academic Development
>>> Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor's Office
>>> Canterbury Christ Church University
>>> North Holmes Road
>>> Canterbury
>>> Kent
>>> CT1 1QU
>>>
>>> 01227 782860
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Martin Oliver [mailto:m.oliver at ioe.ac.uk]
>>> Sent: Fri 11/13/2009 6:19 PM
>>> To: Kim McShane; Hoult, Elizabeth
(elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk)
>>> Cc: Martin Oliver
>>> Subject: Re: Switzerland and an invitation to travel...
>>>
>>> Well it certainly seems like something is coalescing. I like
>>> Liz's wording:
>>>
>>> "discussion about the impact of the business discourse on the
>>> aspects of
>>> teaching and learning that have previously been 'gifted'"
>>>
>>> I think this fits within the wider contexts you've both
>>> mentioned; they feel
>>> to me almost like illustrative cases, in which this specific
>>> theme might be
>>> played out. The idea in Kim's post of people giving leave and
>>> salary -
>>> something we haven't had to do yet - is really interesting (so
>>> long as you
>>> can detach from the personal cost, of course...). It might be a
>>> short step
>>> away from learning and teaching and/or ed dev per se, though.
>>> It's probably
>>> a step we could take, but it feels to me like it'd need to
>>> actually be
>>> taken, if you see what I mean.
>>>
>>> I get the feel that the first chunk of this proposal would have
>>> to paint a
>>> brief and broad picture of the creeping in of business; then we
>>> would need
>>> (in a more interesting section!) to lay out and relate the various
>>> theoretical ideas, particularly in relation to the gift. That
>>> would then
>>> give us context and resources with which to explore particular
>>> things.
>>>
>>> Could we bring in art and so on? I must confess I struggle with
>>> that a bit.
>>> I don't think it's a bad idea - I rather like it! - but it's
>>> outside my
>>> comfortable academic repertoire, so imagining how it'd work is
>>> hard for me.
>>> The Lewis Hyde book has lots of folk tales interjected; some of
>>> those work
>>> quite well. There's also long sections in the second half on
>>> Whitman and
>>> Pound. So I'm sure we could do something, just ... Not sure what.
>>>
>>> Meh, it's been a long week and I'm tired, so I'm going to quit
>>> there!
>>>
>>> Hope you both have a great weekend,
>>> Martin
>>>
>>> On 12/11/2009 16:35, "Kim McShane" <kim at id.ucsb.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> G'day Liz & Martin,
>>>>
>>>> I am enjoying reading over your thoughts - from both of you.
>>>>
>>>> I think we should aim to pull our ideas together and go back to
>>>> the main
>>>> CAD list with our thoughts, and tentative plan.
>>>> The carnival idea seems to have captured imaginations yet again!
>>>>
>>>> Riffing off Barb Grant's f-words, I'd say the theme around me in
>>>> the
>>>> Californian universities is "frugality" and this is connected to
>>>> gift-giving too. (Not sure I can speak for the entire US.)
>>>> Universities in
>>>> CA are madly reducing student intakes; everyone is sacrificing
>>>> salary and
>>>> time (taking furlough or leave days). This is represented as a
>>>> way of
>>>> avoiding lay-offs - so indirectly it is a kind of gift we make
>>>> to each
>>>> other so that all can keep their jobs. There are rumblings that
>>>> central
>>>> management in the huge 10-university Univ of Cal system is not
>>>> making
>>>> enough sacrifices.
>>>>
>>>> We in Instructional Developmentare making sacrifices, "doing
>>>> more with
>>>> less" is the name of the game. Q. How do we maintain generosity
>>>> in frugal
>>>> times? Also our Director is being very cautious in ensuring
>>>> that we (ID)
>>>> are not perceived to be throwing money around, when the
>>>> departments are
>>>> struggling (phones have been taken out of office in many Hums
>>>> depts -
>>>> symbolic gesture? Many colleagues I can only contact via email).
>>>> He has
>>>> decided to redirect our annual grants program money away from
>>>> advertized
>>>> Teaching Development grants and instead allocate them internally
>>>> to our
>>>> production services areas, so that all faculty/lecturers can
>>>> still each
>>>> access free services up to $1000 equiv. each (digitizing, web
>>>> design,
>>>> videos, photography etc.)
>>>>
>>>> Of course the big "gift" area in US would be endowments and
>>>> bequests from
>>>> alumni and big business like the Bill Gates Foundation. And the
>>>> alumni is
>>>> very grateful. This culture of money-giving is down-sizing too
>>>> - though I
>>>> need to read up on that. Often these 'gifts' came without
>>>> strings and
>>>> enabled all kinds of innovation that federal grant funding
>>>> agencies would
>>>> never allow.
>>>>
>>>> However, I am not sure how this is relevant to educatonal
>>>> development.
>>>> What links are you making via Mandleson, Liz?
>>>>
>>>> I very much like the idea of using art, poetry, film, literature
>>>> as a lens
>>>> for examining our work.
>>>> I am pondering images and ideas and this is a beautiful way to
>>>> occupy my
>>>> mind as I drive to work, which I must do right now!
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Kim
>>>> ______________
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:05:15 -0000,
>>>> <elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> Dear Martin and Kim,
>>>>>
>>>>> okay, the application is now in and I'm back up to speed.
>>>>>
>>>>> 'Enhancing strategies for development' is nicely broad and
>>>>> vague, so it
>>>>> should allow us enough leeway to be creative with it.
>>>>>
>>>>> Kim, I think you are right - there is plenty of common ground
>>>>> between
>>>>> Irigaray and Cixous, particularly around the notion of creating
>>>>> new ways
>>>> of
>>>>> relating to the other (certainly applicable to teaching and
>>>>> learning) but
>>>>> also in the way both resort to the poetic, in some form or
>>>>> another, in
>>>>> order to challenge the restrictions of the dualistic,
hierarchical
>>>> thinking
>>>>> that is intrinsic to academic language. So I like the idea of
>>>>> developing
>>>> a
>>>>> theoretical framework that connects their work and looking at
>>>>> whatever
>>>>> aspect of teaching and learning that we decide upon, through it.
>>>>>
>>>>> I think what Martin has written about the imposition of the
>>>>> vocabulary
>>>> and
>>>>> assumptions of a business model on higher education and the way
>>>>> it is
>>>>> re-structuring the teaching and learning interchange, is really
>>>> important.
>>>>> How the genuine gift (and associated concepts, listed by Kim)
>>>>> fits into
>>>>> that is fascinating. I'm doing some writing with someone else
>>>>> about the
>>>>> notion of property as a driving idea in the modern UK university
>>>> (knowledge
>>>>> transfer, obsession with plagiarism, explicit encouragement of
>>>> competition
>>>>> for scarce resources etc.). That paper is about structures and
>>>>> wider
>>>>> activities.
>>>>>
>>>>> I wonder if we could use Martin's examples as a starting point
>>>>> for a
>>>>> similar discussion about the impact of the business discourse
>>>>> on the
>>>>> aspects of teaching and learning that have previously been
>>>>> 'gifted'.
>>>> Kim,
>>>>> I don't know how all this relates to what is going on in the
>>>>> US? One of
>>>> my
>>>>> tasks for this afternoon is to spend, what I don't think will be
a
>>>>> particularly edifying couple of hours, reading Peter
>>>>> Mandleson's (gov.
>>>>> minister for universities, except universities no longer
>>>>> officially exist
>>>>> in the world of business and innovation!) paper on the future
of
>>>>> universities. Do the underpinning ideas apply in the US? I
>>>>> don't want
>>>> to
>>>>> get us bogged down in a load of policy analysis, but it would
>>>>> be good
>>>> to
>>>>> use what we are thinking about with the gift to challenge some
>>>>> of the
>>>>> nonsense (but I'm not advocating a retreat to the old style
>>>>> 'liberal'
>>>>> education either - just as property based in other ways).
>>>>>
>>>>> Just to throw this in as well, but don't feel obliged to pick
>>>>> it up if it
>>>>> doesn't appeal. I love taking a text that isn't normally
>>>>> accessed or
>>>> even
>>>>> associated with the ordinary data on education, and using it as
>>>>> a way of
>>>>> opening up thinking about teaching and learning. In my PhD I
used
>>>>> Russell's Educating Rita, David Mamet's Oleanna, G.B. Shaw's
>>>>> Pygmalioon
>>>>> (fairly obvious choices) but also Ovid's Pygmalion and
>>>>> Shakespeare's The
>>>>> Winter's Tale (it did all come together in the thesis-
>>>>> honestly!) to look
>>>>> at resilience in adult learning.
>>>>>
>>>>> I wonder if there is a piece of writing (or even film/painting
>>>>> etc.) that
>>>>> we could use to ground (or grow?) our ideas for all this?
>>>>> Maybe it's as
>>>>> simple as using a text by Irigaray or Cixous or the book that
>>>>> Martin used
>>>>> to get us thinking about it all. Or maybe there's something
else?
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyway, as I say, I understand it's a minority interest, so
>>>>> don't feel
>>>>> obliged to pick it up if you don't want to?
>>>>>
>>>>> I'll look forward to your comments,
>>>>> Liz.
>>>>>
>>>>> Elizabeth Hoult
>>>>> National Teaching Fellow
>>>>> Director of Regional Academic Development
>>>>> Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor's Office
>>>>> Canterbury Christ Church University
>>>>> North Holmes Road
>>>>> Canterbury
>>>>> Kent
>>>>> CT1 1QU
>>>>>
>>>>> 01227 782860
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: Martin Oliver [mailto:m.oliver at ioe.ac.uk]
>>>>> Sent: Mon 11/9/2009 12:41 PM
>>>>> To: Hoult, Elizabeth (elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk); Kim
>>>>> McShane
>>>>> Subject: Re: Switzerland and an invitation to travel...
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for letting us know - and of course, no rush. Good luck
>>>>> with the
>>>>> application!
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 09/11/2009 11:12, "elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk"
>>>>> <elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear Kim and Martin,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks for the congratulations.
>>>>>> I haven't lost interest - I'll get back with some ideas for
>>>>>> how we can
>>>>>> develop
>>>>>> this in a couple of days.
>>>>>> I'm in the middle of a job application (same institution) that
>>>>>> really
>>>>>> needs
>>>>>> to be finished by tonight - I'll write some more once that's
>>>>>> out of the
>>>>>> way.
>>>>>> Best wishes,
>>>>>> Liz.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Elizabeth Hoult
>>>>>> National Teaching Fellow
>>>>>> Director of Regional Academic Development
>>>>>> Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor's Office
>>>>>> Canterbury Christ Church University
>>>>>> North Holmes Road
>>>>>> Canterbury
>>>>>> Kent
>>>>>> CT1 1QU
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 01227 782860
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: Martin Oliver [mailto:m.oliver at ioe.ac.uk]
>>>>>> Sent: Thu 11/5/2009 4:24 PM
>>>>>> To: Kim McShane; Hoult, Elizabeth
>>>>>> (elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk)
>>>>>> Cc: Martin Oliver
>>>>>> Subject: Re: Switzerland and an invitation to travel...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Just wanted to second those congratulations – well done!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I’m not going to keep up with this cross-reading, I think, but
>>>>>> if I can
>>>>>> I’ll
>>>>>> try and manage one or two things from either side of the
>>>>>> conversation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The bit Kim asked about – the role of the developer/teacher/
>>>>>> facilitator
>>>>>> –
>>>>>> I’ll try and speculate on. Things that occurred to me included
>>>>>> the way
>>>>>> that
>>>>>> the nature of HE has changed (from a public good to a private
>>>>>> purchase,
>>>>>> at
>>>>>> least to some extent – lots of lit makes that quite obvious)
>>>>>> and what
>>>>>> this
>>>>>> might mean for teaching; no longer is there a gift to
>>>>>> Universities
>>>>>> that’s
>>>>>> passed on through generous teaching to funded students, but
>>>>>> instead a
>>>>>> purchase that increasingly has to be tied down, specified,
>>>>>> bounded and
>>>>>> precisely costed. (You should hear the arguments here about
>>>>>> the workload
>>>>>> management system, particularly where it means that the
>>>>>> quality of
>>>>>> teaching
>>>>>> might have to be lowered because we’re not paid enough to
>>>>>> spend that
>>>>>> much
>>>>>> time with students.) Does that mean we’ve been taken out of
>>>>>> society in
>>>>>> some
>>>>>> important way? I don’t know whether, perhaps, that’s
>>>>>> altogether too
>>>>>> obvious.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I also think there are going to be differences in the kind of
>>>>>> teaching.
>>>>>> The
>>>>>> tutorial, the personal development (one-to-one consultation)
>>>>>> session or
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> informal sharing of ideas over coffee are going to be quite
>>>>>> different
>>>>>> from
>>>>>> the day-rate-costed consultancy for outsiders, off-the-shelf
>>>>>> workshops
>>>>>> and
>>>>>> mass teaching.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Maybe there’s a question here about how we can still find
>>>>>> opportunities
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> give, or to invite, in spite of being pushed into a market
mode?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I also wonder if there’s a counter-current in which the
>>>>>> purchase of
>>>>>> teaching
>>>>>> liberates some students from the “feet of the master” kind of
>>>>>> dependent,
>>>>>> grudging, positioning gift-giving. Maybe there’s a good gift/
>>>>>> bad gift
>>>>>> thing
>>>>>> that would be useful here.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Feeling a bit vague about this today, I’m afraid, but didn’t
>>>>>> want to
>>>>>> let the
>>>>>> whole day pass without having something to offer. (Oh the
>>>>>> poisonous gift
>>>>>> of
>>>>>> interesting conversation...!)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Take care,
>>>>>> Martin
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 05/11/2009 01:50, "Kim McShane" <kim at id.ucsb.edu> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Dr Liz! CONGRATULATIONS!
>>>>>>> That is great news!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Well I have been reading, skimming Cixous!
>>>>>>> Veils - co-authored with Derrida - one of those books you find
>>>>>>> incidentally
>>>>>>> on
>>>>>>> library shelves while searching for something else!
>>>>>>> Love Itself - not so connected to our ideas - another
>>>>>>> incidental find.
>>>>>>> However, I am hanging onto, and dipping in and out of, the
>>>>>>> Cixous
>>>> reader
>>>>>>> -
>>>>>>> which has the piece in it that you recommended. It also helps
>>>>>>> guide my
>>>>>>> reading
>>>>>>> and understanding, and it has filled me in quickly on Cixous'
>>>>>>> personal
>>>>>>> stories, and moves.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> BTW - I have enthusiastic, encouraging, (fascinated &
>>>>>>> intrigued) Crit
>>>>>>> Lit and
>>>>>>> Education people around me in this university! They are
>>>>>>> blown away by
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> possibility of applying Hums & theory to higher ed.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I am also reading and would highly recommend Helmuth
>>>>>>> Berking's (1999)
>>>>>>> "Sociology of Giving". Very useful scaffolding for me. Not
>>>>>>> that I am a
>>>>>>> builder
>>>>>>> or anything.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I think Cixous and Irigaray have a position (and beautiful
>>>>>>> French, in
>>>>>>> translation) in common - witnessing without interference.
>>>>>>> Up to a point, I think what they are saying is that we
>>>>>>> developers, we
>>>>>>> teachers
>>>>>>> create the environment, we witness and be with, we imagine
>>>>>>> with ("songe
>>>>>>> à la
>>>>>>> douceur..."), we journey with, we reflect with... Hmm
scratchy
>>>>>>> record....eurk uk uk!!! this is starting to sound a bit
>>>>>>> fluffy &
>>>>>>> idealistic
>>>>>>> and how do we integrate into the image the realities of
>>>>>>> assessment,
>>>>>>> evaluation, accountability, performativity. Well.... no-one
>>>>>>> else is
>>>>>>> responsible any more according to Beck. The individual is
>>>>>>> responsible
>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> self.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Martin can you fill in here a little more about the role the
>>>>>>> developer/teacher/facilitator...? Maybe the "giving stuff"
>>>>>>> comes in
>>>> here
>>>>>>> too?
>>>>>>> The obligation that is created. I think gift theory holds
>>>>>>> more clues
>>>> for
>>>>>>> us.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Consider these ideas & concepts associated with gift theory
>>>>>>> (adapted
>>>>>>> from
>>>>>>> Berking, 1999, p. 5) :
>>>>>>> - exchange
>>>>>>> - sacrifice
>>>>>>> - a signal of relationships
>>>>>>> - means of expressing love, caring & trust
>>>>>>> - normative ideas and judgements about taste (values) are
>>>>>>> expressed
>>>>>>> - gifts render moralities visible
>>>>>>> - gifts express/contain feelings and/or memories
>>>>>>> - presentation of self; objectification of other
>>>>>>> - gifts might also express strategic ambiguities and
>>>>>>> ambivalent effects
>>>>>>> (consider "gendered" gifts to little boys and girls...)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "...if a third party is present , it [the gift] is also not
>>>>>>> uncommonly
>>>>>>> experienced as a burden and a challenge to personal
>>>>>>> identities. It
>>>>>>> objectifies
>>>>>>> and distributes symbolic allocations, and publicly establishes
>>>> character
>>>>>>> traits which are not always consistent with or pleasing to the
>>>>>>> self-perception
>>>>>>> of the alter ego. This is how "awkward situations" arise
>>>>>>> (Dreitzel,
>>>>>>> 1983). "
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What is the gift that we developers give?
>>>>>>> Or are we developers an awkward third party staging and
>>>>>>> overseeing
>>>>>>> interdisciplinary exchanges?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Gotta rush home right now, but Liz I think we can contribute
>>>>>>> to the 3rd
>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> ICED conference themes: "Enhancing strategies (for
development)"
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Cheers to you both,
>>>>>>> Kim
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>>>> Kim McShane, PhD
>>>>>>> Instructional Consultant
>>>>>>> Office of Instructional Consultation
>>>>>>> in Instructional Development
>>>>>>> Room 1130, Kerr Hall
>>>>>>> University of California (UCSB)
>>>>>>> Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3200
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> t: + 1 805 893-2828
>>>>>>> f: + 1 805 893-5915
>>>>>>> e: mcshane at id.ucsb.edu
>>>>>>> http://www.id.ucsb.edu/
>>>>>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Nov 4, 2009, at 9:31 AM,
>>>>>>> <elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Dear Martin and Kim,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Thanks, I'm learning a lot. I like the idea of the artist's
>>>>>>>> gift and
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> idea of using that analogously with teaching.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> There is a discrepancy between the excitement I feel about
>>>>>>>> the ideas
>>>> in
>>>>>>>> this
>>>>>>>> conversation and the conference themes, though!
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Just to remind you, they are:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Quality learning
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Global quality
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Enhancing strategies (for development)
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I've just had a look at the conference web page and the
>>>>>>>> explanations
>>>>>>>> are
>>>>>>>> more
>>>>>>>> interesting than the headings.
>>>>>>>> I guess we are talking about 'quality learning' in its
>>>>>>>> broadest sense?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I don't want to close the conversation down around one of
those
>>>> themes,
>>>>>>>> yet,
>>>>>>>> though - it's got too much potential.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Kim - I love those quotations. I will order some of her
>>>>>>>> books now. On
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> basis of those extracts, I'm sure you will like Cixous (she
>>>>>>>> does deal
>>>>>>>> with
>>>>>>>> the poison/gift thing in 'The Book of Promethea':
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> "Mystery of the gift: the poison-gift: if you give, you
>>>>>>>> receive. What
>>>>>>>> you
>>>>>>>> don't give, the anti-gift, turns back against you and rots
>>>>>>>> you. The
>>>>>>>> more
>>>>>>>> you
>>>>>>>> give, the more you take pleasure. How could it be that they
>>>>>>>> don't
>>>> know
>>>>>>>> that?")
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> You used Irigaray to look at e-teaching and learning in
higher
>>>>>>>> education in
>>>>>>>> your PhD, I used Cixous to look at resilient adult learning
>>>>>>>> in HE in
>>>>>>>> mine
>>>>>>>> (just passed - 2 weeks ago). It would be great if we could
>>>>>>>> find some
>>>>>>>> way of
>>>>>>>> combining the two as a helpful theoretical framework (there
>>>>>>>> seem to be
>>>>>>>> so
>>>>>>>> many similarities between them) within which to talk about
>>>>>>>> learning in
>>>>>>>> higher
>>>>>>>> education. Perhaps combining it with Martin's ideas about
>>>>>>>> invitation
>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>> travel etc.? I'm not thinking very clearly but I'm sure
>>>>>>>> there is
>>>>>>>> something
>>>>>>>> there. Both seem to be interested in the possibilities of
>>>>>>>> relations
>>>>>>>> with
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> other in ways that go beyond the desire to possess,
>>>>>>>> appropriate or
>>>>>>>> destroy.
>>>>>>>> Lots to develop there in terms of teaching and learning. It's
>>>> brilliant
>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>> hear from someone else who is thinking along the same
>>>>>>>> lines. I have
>>>>>>>> spent
>>>>>>>> the last few years inhabiting the uneasy space between
>>>>>>>> Literary Theory
>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>> Education, with the Lit Theory people being politely
>>>>>>>> interested but
>>>>>>>> slightly
>>>>>>>> bemused about practical applications of Cixous' ideas, and
the
>>>>>>>> Education
>>>>>>>> folk
>>>>>>>> being downright hostile. I exaggerate - there are some very
>>>> honourable
>>>>>>>> (and
>>>>>>>> quite brilliant - particularly Ben Knights and Alison Phipps)
>>>>>>>> exceptions in
>>>>>>>> the UK but they are few and far between. What do you
>>>>>>>> think? I'll
>>>> have
>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>> think about how we could do that.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Bit of a ramble that, but hopefully you get the general
drift.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Best wishes,
>>>>>>>> Liz.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Elizabeth Hoult
>>>>>>>> National Teaching Fellow
>>>>>>>> Director of Regional Academic Development
>>>>>>>> Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor's Office
>>>>>>>> Canterbury Christ Church University
>>>>>>>> North Holmes Road
>>>>>>>> Canterbury
>>>>>>>> Kent
>>>>>>>> CT1 1QU
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 01227 782860
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>>>> From: Martin Oliver [mailto:m.oliver at ioe.ac.uk]
>>>>>>>> Sent: Tue 11/3/2009 11:39 AM
>>>>>>>> To: Kim McShane; Hoult, Elizabeth
>>>>>>>> (elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk)
>>>>>>>> Cc: Martin Oliver
>>>>>>>> Subject: Re: Switzerland and an invitation to travel...
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> As I say, the Hyde book is interesting but flawed, so ...
>>>>>>>> Second hand
>>>>>>>> copy
>>>>>>>> probably wise.
>>>>>>>> ;-)
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> He deals with the obligation thing, and the need for the
>>>>>>>> gift to go
>>>>>>>> elsewhere if it’s to avoid becoming a veiled economic
>>>>>>>> transaction.
>>>> The
>>>>>>>> examples he uses are anthropological (tribes and folk
>>>>>>>> tales), so
>>>>>>>> there’s
>>>>>>>> scope for challenge there, but the point he makes is that a
>>>>>>>> gift
>>>> isn’t
>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>> gift if you expect reciprocation; it’s a loan or
>>>>>>>> transaction. To
>>>> avoid
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> obligation he focuses on gifts given from excess, so they’re
>>>>>>>> not a
>>>>>>>> sacrifice, and he’s particularly interested in naturally
>>>>>>>> reproducing
>>>>>>>> gifts
>>>>>>>> (the bountiful sea, etc.) and artistic gifts (things that
don’t
>>>>>>>> diminish the
>>>>>>>> giver by being given). There’s also stuff about the movement
>>>>>>>> of the
>>>>>>>> gift
>>>>>>>> outward, and the idea that its reciprocation (if there is
>>>>>>>> one) should
>>>>>>>> involve giving to someone else, rather than back to the
>>>>>>>> giver; it’s
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> movement of gifts that he sees as marking the boundaries of
>>>>>>>> particular
>>>>>>>> kinds
>>>>>>>> of societies, and the idea that what goes around comes
>>>>>>>> around. (So you
>>>>>>>> could
>>>>>>>> have a society of two, but it’d be very insular if that’s
>>>>>>>> all there
>>>>>>>> was...)
>>>>>>>> Then there are things about the destruction or consumption
>>>>>>>> of gifts
>>>>>>>> which is
>>>>>>>> an interesting, if slightly mythic, part of all this.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> There’s also stuff about the imperative that artists feel to
>>>>>>>> give
>>>>>>>> their
>>>>>>>> works to society, which might have a useful analogy in
>>>>>>>> teaching.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Anyhow, I’ll keep randomly burbling on until you drop me off
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> mailings.
>>>>>>>> Which you’re free to do at any point – I won’t take offence!
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> All the best,
>>>>>>>> Martin
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 02/11/2009 20:10, "Kim McShane" <kim at id.ucsb.edu> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Thanks Martin,
>>>>>>>>> Hi Liz,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I've just ordered a used copy of Lewis Hyde from amazon.
>>>>>>>>> I'm curious.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I am also going to look at Marcel Mauss properly.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The whole gift thing is complicated for me, because as a
>>>>>>>>> Japanese
>>>>>>>>> speaker,
>>>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>>>> am conscious of the notion of obligation associated with
>>>>>>>>> gift-giving/gifting
>>>>>>>>> in some cultures... I always feel the obligation to return
the
>>>>>>>>> favor....
>>>>>>>>> there
>>>>>>>>> is something about giving gifts that gives the giver power..
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> And my associative mind pulls in the tired old reminder
>>>>>>>>> that Gift in
>>>>>>>>> German
>>>>>>>>> meaning "poison" - which intrigues some people for no
>>>>>>>>> particular
>>>>>>>>> reason -
>>>>>>>>> except that it helps their mind to swing around for an
>>>>>>>>> instant...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Liz, merci buckets for the leads on/into Cixous!
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I think we might be onto something here (travelling &
>>>>>>>>> gifts?) and I
>>>>>>>>> don't
>>>>>>>>> know
>>>>>>>>> how you feel Liz, but I'd be happy for you to keep
>>>>>>>>> monitoring/intervening
>>>>>>>>> in
>>>>>>>>> the conversation Martin - and to even consider collab.
>>>>>>>>> writing and
>>>>>>>>> shared
>>>>>>>>> authorship, even though you can't come to Barcelona.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I'm off to read, and to read again your interesting
emails....
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Thx
>>>>>>>>> Kim
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>>>>>> Kim McShane, PhD
>>>>>>>>> Instructional Consultant
>>>>>>>>> Office of Instructional Consultation
>>>>>>>>> in Instructional Development
>>>>>>>>> Room 1130, Kerr Hall
>>>>>>>>> University of California (UCSB)
>>>>>>>>> Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3200
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> t: + 1 805 893-2828
>>>>>>>>> f: + 1 805 893-5915
>>>>>>>>> e: mcshane at id.ucsb.edu
>>>>>>>>> http://www.id.ucsb.edu/
>>>>>>>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Nov 2, 2009, at 4:54 AM, Martin Oliver wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Thanks for copying me in. It's fascinating.
>>>>>>>>>> :)
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I've just finished reading a book my Dad gave me -
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gift-Creative-Spirit-Transforms-World/dp/
>> 1841959936>>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> /
>>>>>>>>>> ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257166190&sr=8-1
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> The reviews are probably fair; I thought the opening
>>>>>>>>>> chapters were
>>>>>>>>>> great,
>>>>>>>>>> but nearly quit in the second half, and the ending is a
>>>>>>>>>> little
>>>>>>>>>> "...and in
>>>>>>>>>> the last decade all this happened!" Still, it's an
>>>>>>>>>> interesting
>>>>>>>>>> account of
>>>>>>>>>> how society can be understood in terms of who you're
>>>>>>>>>> willing to
>>>> share
>>>>>>>>>> gifts
>>>>>>>>>> with, who has to pay and what happens at the boundaries.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> It sounds to me like it might be reminiscent of some of
>>>>>>>>>> the things
>>>>>>>>>> Cixous
>>>>>>>>>> is
>>>>>>>>>> writing about although I don't remember her being cited in
>>>>>>>>>> there at
>>>>>>>>>> all.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> It might be interesting to think about what spaces within
>>>>>>>>>> this work
>>>>>>>>>> could
>>>>>>>>>> be
>>>>>>>>>> seen as gift spaces, and where/how the economic is
>>>>>>>>>> encroaching, and
>>>>>>>>>> whether
>>>>>>>>>> some of that could be reclaimed.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Best wishes,
>>>>>>>>>> Martin
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On 02/11/2009 12:05, "elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk"
>>>>>>>>>> <elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Dear Kim,
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks for getting back to me. I could go on about
>>>>>>>>>>> Cixous forever
>>>>>>>>>>> so I'm
>>>>>>>>>>> delighted that you are interested. I'll try and stop
>>>>>>>>>>> myself from
>>>>>>>>>>> writing
>>>>>>>>>>> an
>>>>>>>>>>> entire essay on the e-mail but I have got some writing
>>>>>>>>>>> that I've
>>>>>>>>>>> done on
>>>>>>>>>>> this
>>>>>>>>>>> that I'm happy to send if you are interested. What
>>>>>>>>>>> fascinates me
>>>>>>>>>>> is how
>>>>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>>>> apply her notion of l'ecriture feminine (which is a
>>>>>>>>>>> stance, NOT a
>>>>>>>>>>> biological
>>>>>>>>>>> description - most of the examples that she gives of
>>>>>>>>>>> 'feminine'
>>>>>>>>>>> writers
>>>>>>>>>>> are
>>>>>>>>>>> men - Genet, Shakespeare, Rilke, Blake, Kleist etc.) as a
>>>>>>>>>>> kind of
>>>>>>>>>>> metaphor
>>>>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>>>>> transformational learning. She does write directly about
>>>>>>>>>>> teaching
>>>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>> learning and the university as well but I think it is the
>>>>>>>>>>> wider
>>>>>>>>>>> application
>>>>>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>>>>>> her utopian imagining of a type of writing that can exist
>>>>>>>>>>> in what
>>>>>>>>>>> she
>>>>>>>>>>> calls
>>>>>>>>>>> 'the realm of the gift' to the teaching and learning
>>>>>>>>>>> scene that
>>>>>>>>>>> excites
>>>>>>>>>>> me
>>>>>>>>>>> most.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> She plays around with these basic ideas in most of her
>>>>>>>>>>> writing but
>>>> I
>>>>>>>>>>> think
>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> essay 'Sorties: Out and Out: Attacks/Ways Out/Forays' in
the
>>>>>>>>>>> publication
>>>>>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>>>>>> she wrote with Catherine Clement in 1975 - 'The Newly
>>>>>>>>>>> Born Woman'
>>>> is
>>>>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>>>>> great
>>>>>>>>>>> place to start. In it she imagines the realm of the gift
>>>>>>>>>>> as a
>>>> place
>>>>>>>>>>> where
>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> restrictions of the property economy and the belief in
>>>>>>>>>>> the illusion
>>>>>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>>>>>> individualization can be overthrown:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> "What would happen to logocentrism, to the great
>>>>>>>>>>> philosophical
>>>>>>>>>>> systems,
>>>>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> order of the world in general if the rock upon which they
>>>>>>>>>>> founded
>>>>>>>>>>> this
>>>>>>>>>>> church
>>>>>>>>>>> should crumble?"
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I'm interested in how that revolutionary question could
>>>>>>>>>>> help us
>>>>>>>>>>> enquire
>>>>>>>>>>> into
>>>>>>>>>>> teaching and learning and how what she says about writing
>>>>>>>>>>> beyond
>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> constraints of ego, hierarchy and the obsession with
>>>>>>>>>>> property could
>>>>>>>>>>> be
>>>>>>>>>>> applied
>>>>>>>>>>> to the activities of teaching. learning and the way that
>>>>>>>>>>> we view
>>>>>>>>>>> knowledge.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I think there are links to what Martin has written here
>>>>>>>>>>> as well as
>>>>>>>>>>> Ron
>>>>>>>>>>> Barnett
>>>>>>>>>>> and Alison Phipps' writing on hospitality. So she says
>>>>>>>>>>> of the
>>>>>>>>>>> 'feminine'
>>>>>>>>>>> writer:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> "But there is a nonclosure that is not submission but
>>>>>>>>>>> confidence
>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>> comprehension; that is not an opportunity for destruction
>>>>>>>>>>> but for
>>>>>>>>>>> wonderful
>>>>>>>>>>> expansion.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Through the same opening that is her danger, she comes
>>>>>>>>>>> out of
>>>>>>>>>>> herself to
>>>>>>>>>>> go
>>>>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>>>> the other, a traveler in unexplored places; she does not
>>>>>>>>>>> refuse,
>>>> she
>>>>>>>>>>> approaches, not to do away with the space between, but to
>>>>>>>>>>> see it,
>>>> to
>>>>>>>>>>> experience what she is not, what she is, what she can be."
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Her writing isn't for everyone - it's an acquired taste -
>>>>>>>>>>> but I
>>>>>>>>>>> think if
>>>>>>>>>>> you
>>>>>>>>>>> like Irigaray you will enjoy it.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Re. Buddhism: like a lot of those French post-
>>>>>>>>>>> structuralists
>>>>>>>>>>> (Irigaray
>>>>>>>>>>> is
>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> exception, I think, there is a nice essay by her in the
>>>> introduction
>>>>>>>>>>> to a
>>>>>>>>>>> book
>>>>>>>>>>> called 'Religion in French Feminist Thought, by Joy,
>>>>>>>>>>> O'Grady and
>>>>>>>>>>> Poxon
>>>>>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>>>>>> links to what you have written and we could apply to all
>>>>>>>>>>> of this as
>>>>>>>>>>> well),
>>>>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>>>>> all their shaking of the foundations of philosophy, she
>>>>>>>>>>> remains
>>>> very
>>>>>>>>>>> Western
>>>>>>>>>>> in her outlook, particularly in those early works. I see
>>>>>>>>>>> all sorts
>>>>>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>>>>>> interesting connections to other traditions, though.
>>>>>>>>>>> With Cixous I
>>>>>>>>>>> see
>>>>>>>>>>> strong
>>>>>>>>>>> connections less with Buddhism and more with the Hindu
>>>>>>>>>>> idea of
>>>>>>>>>>> Shakti -
>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> feminine divine and energy or life force . I think you
>>>>>>>>>>> could read
>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> whole
>>>>>>>>>>> of 'Sorties' in that light - not aware of anyone who has
>>>>>>>>>>> though.
>>>> But
>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> ancient Indian traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism
>>>>>>>>>>> clearly resonate
>>>>>>>>>>> deeply
>>>>>>>>>>> with all that she is saying about escaping the illusion
>>>>>>>>>>> of the
>>>>>>>>>>> autonomous,
>>>>>>>>>>> self-interested and self-sustaining individual, whether
she
>>>>>>>>>>> acknowledges
>>>>>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>>>>>> or
>>>>>>>>>>> not.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> There is a great book by Sal Renshaw that came out
>>>>>>>>>>> earlier this
>>>>>>>>>>> year
>>>>>>>>>>> called
>>>>>>>>>>> 'The Subject of Love: Helene Cixous and the Feminine
>>>>>>>>>>> Divine' that
>>>>>>>>>>> opens
>>>>>>>>>>> up
>>>>>>>>>>> all
>>>>>>>>>>> sorts of possibilities along those lines.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I'll stop now!
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I'd love to hear your thoughts. Let me know where to
>>>>>>>>>>> start with
>>>>>>>>>>> Irigaray
>>>>>>>>>>> -
>>>>>>>>>>> I've only come across her in passing, mainly in
>>>>>>>>>>> connection with
>>>>>>>>>>> Cixous
>>>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>> I'm
>>>>>>>>>>> keen to read more.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Best wishes,
>>>>>>>>>>> Liz.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Elizabeth Hoult
>>>>>>>>>>> National Teaching Fellow
>>>>>>>>>>> Director of Regional Academic Development
>>>>>>>>>>> Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor's Office
>>>>>>>>>>> Canterbury Christ Church University
>>>>>>>>>>> North Holmes Road
>>>>>>>>>>> Canterbury
>>>>>>>>>>> Kent
>>>>>>>>>>> CT1 1QU
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> 01227 782860
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>>>>>>> From: Kim McShane [mailto:kim at id.ucsb.edu]
>>>>>>>>>>> Sent: Fri 10/30/2009 11:50 PM
>>>>>>>>>>> To: Hoult, Elizabeth (elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk)
>>>>>>>>>>> Cc: Martin Oliver
>>>>>>>>>>> Subject: Fwd: Switzerland and an invitation to travel...
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Hi Liz,
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I really loved reading your post, and I clearly need to
>>>>>>>>>>> read more
>>>>>>>>>>> Helene Cixous - a great mate of Derrida's. When it comes
to
>>>> teaching
>>>>>>>>>>> and learning which entry point/s would you recommend?
>>>>>>>>>>> Anything?
>>>>>>>>>>> Everything? Or do you have any favorite pubs. of hers?
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Martin Oliver got back to me behind the scenes with some
>>>>>>>>>>> focusing
>>>>>>>>>>> observations. I've cc-ed Martin in and I just want to say
>>>>>>>>>>> that his
>>>>>>>>>>> thinking has always made sense to me, and helps me notice
>>>>>>>>>>> what I am
>>>>>>>>>>> missing. (thx Martin!). Martin wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Interesting post of yours. There are some obvious things
in
>>>> support
>>>>>>>>>>>> of your position, such as the motivational engineering of
>>>>>>>>>>>> constructive alignment and so on. There are a few things
>>>>>>>>>>>> I'm not
>>>>>>>>>>>> sure fit so well. Between the directing and the waiting,
>>>>>>>>>>>> surely
>>>>>>>>>>>> there's the invitation? I've started to think of my
>>>>>>>>>>>> teaching more
>>>>>>>>>>>> as
>>>>>>>>>>>> being a tour guide, showing people where I (and others)
>>>>>>>>>>>> have
>>>>>>>>>>>> travelled intellectually, and trying to explain why. And
>>>>>>>>>>>> if people
>>>>>>>>>>>> want to come with me that's great, but if they find
>>>>>>>>>>>> their own
>>>> route
>>>>>>>>>>>> that's positive too - more positive, perhaps, because
>>>>>>>>>>>> they can
>>>>>>>>>>>> invite others somewhere new in the future.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Not that this is in any way a criticism, just an
>>>>>>>>>>>> observation that
>>>>>>>>>>>> contrasts sometimes obscure the middle ground!
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I have replied:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> "Your referencing of the tour guide metaphor is really
>>>>>>>>>>> useful
>>>>>>>>>>> actually, and thank you for inserting the notion of
>>>>>>>>>>> "invitation".
>>>>>>>>>>> And, you are making me think too of "hospitality" which I
>>>>>>>>>>> believe
>>>>>>>>>>> your
>>>>>>>>>>> colleague at UCL, Ron Barnett has explored in an
>>>>>>>>>>> interesting paper
>>>> I
>>>>>>>>>>> have somewhere...."
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Martin, I just want you to know that I am forwarding
>>>>>>>>>>> your private
>>>>>>>>>>> comments on to Elizabeth for now, in the hope that it
>>>>>>>>>>> might inspire
>>>>>>>>>>> us
>>>>>>>>>>> to generate more thoughts on this.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Liz, I think what Martin is suggesting are other ways of
>>>>>>>>>>> being a
>>>>>>>>>>> developer/expert/instructor in between the binaries I
>>>>>>>>>>> described.
>>>>>>>>>>> Invitation and hospitality, coupled with the
touring/travel
>>>> metaphor
>>>>>>>>>>> suggest the evening inn, warm meal and fireside. Come
>>>>>>>>>>> inside, or
>>>>>>>>>>> stay
>>>>>>>>>>> out in the cold. Sometimes metaphor can be just too
>>>>>>>>>>> yucky, but
>>>>>>>>>>> while
>>>>>>>>>>> we don't have to get too descriptive with it, it can also
>>>>>>>>>>> help us
>>>>>>>>>>> organize our thoughts.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Can you see any sense or possibility in this Elizabeth?
>>>>>>>>>>> Why are we so set on eliminating the teacher, master,
>>>>>>>>>>> developer? Or
>>>>>>>>>>> why are the experts and masters obstacles? (See my other
>>>> reflection
>>>>>>>>>>> below. I am bracketing this for fear you will think I am a
>>>> religious
>>>>>>>>>>> nut, which I'm not, but I do find zen stories
intellectually
>>>>>>>>>>> sustaining or relevant sometimes).
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> We could mull this over a bit and take it back to the
>>>>>>>>>>> main CAD
>>>> list.
>>>>>>>>>>> Have a good weekend!
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> cheers,
>>>>>>>>>>> Kim
>>>>>>>>>>> ________________________________
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> We will not mention Buddhism in our writing - I am not
>>>>>>>>>>> preaching
>>>>>>>>>>> here...
>>>>>>>>>>> I just like a good story, and the connections we can
>>>>>>>>>>> make... eg.
>>>>>>>>>>> Given her "kill the master" rec., I wonder if Cixous had
>>>>>>>>>>> experience
>>>>>>>>>>> of
>>>>>>>>>>> Buddhism? Irigaray did.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Liz, there is an interesting Zen buddhist koan about not
>>>>>>>>>>> reifying
>>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>>> buddha. (Buddhism tries to pride itself on being non-
>>>>>>>>>>> theistic, I'm
>>>>>>>>>>> about 88% convinced, but that B character lurks there
>>>>>>>>>>> sometimes).
>>>> I
>>>>>>>>>>> just ripped the following off the net:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> "After years on his cushion, a monk has what he believes
>>>>>>>>>>> is a
>>>>>>>>>>> breakthrough: a glimpse of nirvana, the Buddhamind, the
big
>>>> pay-off.
>>>>>>>>>>> Reporting the experience to his master, however, he is
>>>>>>>>>>> informed
>>>> that
>>>>>>>>>>> what has happened is par for the course, nothing special,
>>>>>>>>>>> maybe
>>>> even
>>>>>>>>>>> damaging to his pursuit. And then the master gives the
>>>>>>>>>>> student
>>>>>>>>>>> dismaying advice: If you meet the Buddha, he says, kill
him.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Why kill the Buddha? Because the Buddha you meet is not
>>>>>>>>>>> the true
>>>>>>>>>>> Buddha, but an expression of your longing. If this Buddha
>>>>>>>>>>> is not
>>>>>>>>>>> killed he will only stand in your way."
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> ....Ironically, interestingly, there is a "master" in
>>>>>>>>>>> this story
>>>>>>>>>>> too...and he gave "dismaying advice".
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>>>>>>>> Kim McShane, PhD
>>>>>>>>>>> Instructional Consultant
>>>>>>>>>>> Office of Instructional Consultation
>>>>>>>>>>> in Instructional Development
>>>>>>>>>>> Room 1130, Kerr Hall
>>>>>>>>>>> University of California (UCSB)
>>>>>>>>>>> Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3200
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> t: + 1 805 893-2828
>>>>>>>>>>> f: + 1 805 893-5915
>>>>>>>>>>> e: mcshane at id.ucsb.edu
>>>>>>>>>>> http://www.id.ucsb.edu/
>>>>>>>>>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> From: <elizabeth.hoult at canterbury.ac.uk>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Date: October 29, 2009 3:04:16 PM PDT
>>>>>>>>>>>> To: <itl-cad at mail.usyd.edu.au>,
<itl-cad at mail.usyd.edu.au>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Subject: [ITL-CAD] RE: ITL-CAD Digest, Vol 53, Issue 6
>>>>>>>>>>>> Reply-To: "Challenging Academic Development \(CAD\)
>>>>>>>>>>>> Collective"
>>>>>>>>>>>> <itl-cad at mail.usyd.edu.au
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Dear all,
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Here are some not very well thought out ideas that have
>>>>>>>>>>>> been
>>>>>>>>>>>> sparked
>>>>>>>>>>>> off by the various emerging strands of the discussion.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Firstly, I shuddered at the juxtaposition of the words
>>>>>>>>>>>> 'quality'
>>>>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>>> 'learning' in the conference themes but that is maybe an
>>>> irrational
>>>>>>>>>>>> reaction based on the UK experience of years of
technical-
>>>>>>>>>>>> reductionist applications of quality to education by our
>>>>>>>>>>>> politicians
>>>>>>>>>>>> and their quangos. Could we subvert/re-claim the term,
>>>>>>>>>>>> I wonder?
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> I like the idea of neutrality/Switzerland as metaphor
>>>>>>>>>>>> and I think
>>>>>>>>>>>> there are fertile links to Catherine's post-colonial
>>>>>>>>>>>> work that we
>>>>>>>>>>>> could explore.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> I'm also excited by Kim's reference to Irigaray in this
>>>>>>>>>>>> context
>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>>> the notion of the cognitive psychology discourse 'doing
>>>>>>>>>>>> violence'
>>>>>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>>>>> the teaching and learning scene.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> I'd like to throw in Helen Cixous' notion of learning as
"a
>>>>>>>>>>>> passionate act of co-construction" instead of an
>>>>>>>>>>>> interchange
>>>>>>>>>>>> between
>>>>>>>>>>>> the teacher as 'master of knowledge' and his or her
>>>>>>>>>>>> subordinate as
>>>>>>>>>>>> receiver of it here.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> "The only way to bar that is to execute the master, kill
>>>>>>>>>>>> him,
>>>>>>>>>>>> eliminate him, so that what he has to say can get
>>>>>>>>>>>> through, so that
>>>>>>>>>>>> he himself is not the obstacle, so that it will be given.
>>>>>>>>>>>> Something
>>>>>>>>>>>> on the order of a personal gift, a subjective one."
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Don't know if that would allow us to tease open a more
>>>>>>>>>>>> radical
>>>>>>>>>>>> reading of passivity/neutrality/bearing witness/service
>>>>>>>>>>>> in the
>>>>>>>>>>>> context of education development in particular and
>>>>>>>>>>>> teaching and
>>>>>>>>>>>> learning in general?
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Best wishes,
>>>>>>>>>>>> Liz.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Elizabeth Hoult
>>>>>>>>>>>> National Teaching Fellow
>>>>>>>>>>>> Director of Regional Academic Development
>>>>>>>>>>>> Senior Pro-Vice Chancellor's Office
>>>>>>>>>>>> Canterbury Christ Church University
>>>>>>>>>>>> North Holmes Road
>>>>>>>>>>>> Canterbury
>>>>>>>>>>>> Kent
>>>>>>>>>>>> CT1 1QU
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> 01227 782860
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>>>>>>>> From: itl-cad-bounces at mail.usyd.edu.au on behalf of
>>>>>>>>>>>> itl-cad-request at mail.usyd.edu.au
>>>>>>>>>>>> Sent: Thu 10/29/2009 5:36 PM
>>>>>>>>>>>> To: itl-cad at mail.usyd.edu.au
>>>>>>>>>>>> Subject: ITL-CAD Digest, Vol 53, Issue 5
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Send ITL-CAD mailing list submissions to
>>>>>>>>>>>> itl-cad at mail.usyd.edu.au
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>>>>>>>>>>>> http://mailman.ucc.usyd.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/itl-cad
>>>>>>>>>>>> or, via email, send a message with subject or body
>>>>>>>>>>>> 'help' to
>>>>>>>>>>>> itl-cad-request at mail.usyd.edu.au
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> You can reach the person managing the list at
>>>>>>>>>>>> itl-cad-owner at mail.usyd.edu.au
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is
more
>>>> specific
>>>>>>>>>>>> than "Re: Contents of ITL-CAD digest..."
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Today's Topics:
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> 1. Trevor's comments (Martin Oliver)
>>>>>>>>>>>> 2. Re: Trevor's comments (Michael K. Potter)
>>>>>>>>>>>> 3. Re: Plans for ICED 2010 (Kim McShane)
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>
-------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> ---
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Message: 1
>>>>>>>>>>>> Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:55:13 +0000
>>>>>>>>>>>> From: Martin Oliver <m.oliver at ioe.ac.uk>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Subject: [ITL-CAD] Trevor's comments
>>>>>>>>>>>> To: <itl-cad at mail.usyd.edu.au>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Message-ID: <C70F6B61.4BD0%m.oliver at ioe.ac.uk>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Trevor wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> My idea is to interrogate what so many of us mean when
>>>>>>>>>>>>> we say our
>>>>>>>>>>>>> teaching centres must "be Switzerland" in the political
>>>> landscapes
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> And
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Navigating approaches to consulting, consulting styles
>>>>>>>>>>>>> in a
>>>>>>>>>>>>> complex
>>>>>>>>>>>>> insitution, ethically, without losing self completely in
>>>> servitude
>>>>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>>>>> is that part of what your idea addresses?
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> And Gail replied:
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> The service mentality, and always having to downplay,
>>>>>>>>>>>>> hide, even
>>>>>>>>>>>>> disparage my
>>>>>>>>>>>>> own disciplinary expertise, which is instructional
>>>>>>>>>>>>> design is an
>>>>>>>>>>>>> annoyance and
>>>>>>>>>>>>> damaging to the consultant's identity, but if you can
>>>>>>>>>>>>> acquire the
>>>>>>>>>>>>> languages
>>>>>>>>>>>>> and mediating tools of the different communities of
>>>>>>>>>>>>> practice you
>>>>>>>>>>>>> must
>>>>>>>>>>>>> navigate, you can possibly move chameleon-like from one
>>>>>>>>>>>>> to one.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Sort of the
>>>>>>>>>>>>> EU-ee.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> I'm highly unlikely to make it to ICED, but this touches
>>>>>>>>>>>> on some
>>>>>>>>>>>> stuff I'm
>>>>>>>>>>>> trying (and failing) to find time to write up. So I
>>>>>>>>>>>> thought I'd
>>>> pop
>>>>>>>>>>>> out of
>>>>>>>>>>>> the woodwork for a moment to voice support, and just
>>>>>>>>>>>> throw in a
>>>>>>>>>>>> couple of
>>>>>>>>>>>> random things.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> The paper draft has the working title, "to protect and
>>>>>>>>>>>> serve?",
>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>>> focuses
>>>>>>>>>>>> on a case study of a support group in a department. The
>>>>>>>>>>>> central
>>>>>>>>>>>> idea
>>>>>>>>>>>> is that
>>>>>>>>>>>> the work of the group is to solve problems with teaching
>>>>>>>>>>>> practice.
>>>>>>>>>>>> The main
>>>>>>>>>>>> argument is that if a group does this too efficiently,
>>>>>>>>>>>> there's no
>>>>>>>>>>>> need for
>>>>>>>>>>>> practice to develop, and dependency ensues. It's only by
>>>>>>>>>>>> pushing
>>>>>>>>>>>> those
>>>>>>>>>>>> problems across to academics that you end up with
something
>>>>>>>>>>>> sustainable,
>>>>>>>>>>>> effective and owned by those involved. (But obviously,
>>>>>>>>>>>> you have to
>>>>>>>>>>>> time how
>>>>>>>>>>>> you do this, so as not to make it overwhelming -
>>>>>>>>>>>> otherwise they
>>>>>>>>>>>> wouldn't
>>>>>>>>>>>> have needed you to get involved in the first place.)
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> What I hope to achieve with this is to show how the
>>>>>>>>>>>> "service"
>>>>>>>>>>>> involves
>>>>>>>>>>>> having and then sharing expertise, whether or not that's
>>>>>>>>>>>> apparent
>>>>>>>>>>>> at
>>>>>>>>>>>> first.
>>>>>>>>>>>> For me, it ties into that offering a service/being in
>>>>>>>>>>>> servitude
>>>>>>>>>>>> difference.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> The other comment I thought I'd drop in goes way back to
>>>>>>>>>>>> when I
>>>>>>>>>>>> studied
>>>>>>>>>>>> logic in my degree programme. There, I encountered the
>>>>>>>>>>>> notion of a
>>>>>>>>>>>> meta
>>>>>>>>>>>> language - a way of talking about languages. In relation
>>>>>>>>>>>> to Gail's
>>>>>>>>>>>> comment
>>>>>>>>>>>> in particular, I wonder if it's helpful to distinguish
>>>>>>>>>>>> between
>>>> talk
>>>>>>>>>>>> about
>>>>>>>>>>>> teaching (what an academic might do) from talk about
>>>>>>>>>>>> "talk about
>>>>>>>>>>>> teaching"
>>>>>>>>>>>> (an academic developer's job).
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> (As an aside, we might also do talk about OUR teaching
>>>>>>>>>>>> and talk
>>>>>>>>>>>> about "talk
>>>>>>>>>>>> about OUR teaching", but I don't suppose many people
>>>>>>>>>>>> would really
>>>>>>>>>>>> care about
>>>>>>>>>>>> that apart from us!)
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> I don't have a clear sense of which parts of our talk
>>>>>>>>>>>> focus on
>>>>>>>>>>>> teaching, and
>>>>>>>>>>>> which on "talk about teaching". Some - Catherine's work
>>>>>>>>>>>> on the
>>>>>>>>>>>> contact zone
>>>>>>>>>>>> springs to mind - seems more obviously at one end than
>>>>>>>>>>>> the other,
>>>>>>>>>>>> though. I
>>>>>>>>>>>> guess I wonder, quite simply, whether it's a useful kind
of
>>>>>>>>>>>> distinction to
>>>>>>>>>>>> draw in terms of trying to explain how we can do that
>>>>>>>>>>>> chameleon-like
>>>>>>>>>>>> work,
>>>>>>>>>>>> and why it involves effort, and sometimes goes wrong.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks for provoking me into posting, anyhow.
>>>>>>>>>>>> ;-)
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Martin
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Martin Oliver
>> m.oliver at ioe.ac.uk
>> London Knowledge Lab,
>> Institute of Education,
>> 23-29 Emerald Street, UK
>> +44 20 7763 2168
>>
>>
>
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