'Teaching and Learning Together: Culture, Collaboration and Collegiality' brought together staff from a range of different areas
The Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee of the Faculty of Education and Lifelong Learning recently held its second annual ‘Away Day’ at SETU Arena. The event, entitled 'Teaching and Learning Together: Culture, Collaboration and Collegiality' brought together staff from a range of different areas and units within the faculty to address the question: ‘How do we build community in teaching and learning?’
Open Space technology
Using a consultative approach known as Open Space Technology, the 18 participants worked together to set an agenda for the event, highlighting what mattered to them in relation to the overall question, and then moved around from table to table over the course of the morning to meet and converse with colleagues who were interested in similar issues.
The topics covered ranged from the creation of community in online learning; to the creation of appropriate physical spaces and environments to encourage community building; to co-creation and knowledge sharing within staff teams to develop mechanisms for celebrating faculty and student successes. The Teaching, Learning and Assessment Committee hopes to act on many of the ideas and suggestions that emerged, in the coming academic year and beyond.
Positive feedback
The event also included an update on the upcoming academic unit review from Academic Integration Lead Dr Richard Coady, and ended with lunch provided by the team at the SETU Arena.
Feedback suggested that the day worked well with participants praising the fact that everyone had the opportunity to contribute to the agenda and participate as much or as little as they wished. Others said they enjoyed having time and space for rich conversations in a relaxed and fun setting. It was also commended for highlighting the importance of seeing things from many different perspective with a breadth of representation.
The 'Away Day' was organised and facilitated by a subgroup of the TLA Committee comprising Dr Sarah Bates Evoy, Mr Keith Byrne, Dr Caroline McGarry, Dr Niamh O’Brien and Dr Carol O’Byrne, with the support of Dr Gina Noonan and Ms Suzanne Ryan and funding from the SETU Integration Fund.
