Reading about the SACHA programme, I was struck by the sheer breadth and diversity of activities which are interwoven across the five lessons. There was a palpable sense of vitality and willingness to innovate, but also a strong sense of community and support for learning. It was fascinating to explore the examples of practice and to think about their resonances with our practice here at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). How to do all of this justice within one commentary? Rather than reflection, I propose this piece as a diffraction. Without going too far into the theory, diffraction, as proposed by philosopher-scientists Donna Haraway and Karen Barad, is about reading insights ‘through’ one another, to understand what matters. Working with this concept, my intention here is to read examples from our university contexts ‘through’ one another diffractively, to allow shared insights and ways of understanding to emerge. So, here goes my diffractive commentary! Sense of belonging I fully agree that a sense of belonging is crucial for learning, so it made sense that community was the first of the five lessons. From the introductory post onwards, it is very clear that the SACHA programme places students from all backgrounds at the centre of the change process, empowering them to engage with key issues in sustainability and creative thinking. These inspiring examples brought to mind an ARU project entitled Seeing Myself, which saw students from diverse backgrounds co-create a series of workshops, short films and motivational talks by ARU alumni, facilitated by Karen Sturt, Student Engagement Manager in the Faculty of Arts, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences. Project Co-ordinator, Jasmine King, who completed the MA in Film & TV Production and subsequently gained a managerial position in the creative industries, commented: “the experience of acting as a conduit for change and amplifying student voices through film was both rewarding and enriching.” Intentionality On intentionality, it was illuminating to read participants’ perspectives on developing resilience, celebrating diversity and working with an optimistic mindset. Here, a lesson that resonated was how best to reach those who may not feel comfortable asking for help. In our context, the ARU Language Centre has developed a programme of academic skills workshops which take place within the timetabled curriculum across faculties. Centre Director, Sarah Etchells, explains, “teaching these sessions with both international and home students provides a meaningful and inclusive approach to integrity, both in terms of academic development and life skills”. Variety Whether through experiential learning, or specific resources such as MURAL, the variety of opportunities on the SACHA programme is clear. At ARU, diverse strategies for active, creative and playful learning are regularly implemented across courses and modules. Interdisciplinary variety is embedded in the undergraduate curriculum through the award-winning Ruskin Modules, where students from across courses come together to tackle ‘wicked’ problems, framed by UN Sustainable Development Goals. A forthcoming edited book provides insights into the rich variety of modules; on the specific topic of SACHA, the module Climate Justice and Social Inequality: Could you be an Agent for Change? implements a variety of pedagogical strategies, including team building, peer assessment and reflection tasks. Module Leaders, Roxana Anghel and Victoria Tait, shared the following insights:
“For us, success was having students acquire a critical understanding of how historic and present injustices intersect with the climate crisis. This conscientisation was a crucial first step towards becoming change agents, further strengthened by their engagement in active learning. To apply it effectively and respectfully in contexts of social inequality, we recommend that students unpack the concept critically, to avoid the power imbalance of a ‘saviour’ role. In our module, they practiced an intermediary role, as facilitators of co-produced solutions. Becoming a change agent can involve difficult epistemological transitions – support, and presenting the challenge as offering not imposition are key conditions.”Co-creation In the fourth lesson, the SACHA participants’ experiences demonstrate how co-creation can have a direct impact on inclusive and collaborative curriculum design. Diffracting this through an example from the ARU context, co-creation was also at the heart of the Creative Showcase Project within the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. This multi-stranded initiative saw students working as Creative Ambassadors to produce creative artefacts communicating their final-year dissertation topics to wider audiences; students’ perspectives on the project have since been implemented within the curriculum. Group work The SACHA blog posts on group work provide an insightful account of the many benefits and challenges of working together to achieve shared learning goals. As the authors explain, group dynamics can be complex, and the proposed strategies, from enhanced communication, to fostering accountability, to mentorship, all resonated. My diffractive example here focuses on the Jigsaw technique. Pioneered in the 1970s in the recently de-segregated US school system, this simple, two-stage regrouping strategy has multiple benefits for inclusive, collaborative learning. An ARU-based learning and teaching project on the jigsaw technique explored its implementation across diverse disciplines. Senior Lecturer, Nicola Walters, who participated in the research project and has since incorporated the technique into healthcare courses, commented:
“The jigsaw strategy works on several levels, it encourages more collaborative work breaking down division than can be caused by friendship or work groups. In my course we have apprentices drawn from a variety of workplaces and initially they tend to sit and work with people they know or who work in their organisation but this limits the range and scope of discussion, the jigsaw technique requires interaction with a wider mix of students. […] It is striking how much more complete the engagement and concentration on understanding the section they will be sharing with others is, and then the pride and respect in stage two where they share with their peers.”To conclude, the SACHA programme provides a rich range of perspectives and strategies which rightly place students at the centre of learning and teaching. In this commentary, by interweaving these with related examples of practice from ARU, I hope that the reader will have experienced a diffractive process, intended to generate new insights for consideration, and, of course, further diffractions!
David Jay
