Ajjawi, Gravett & O’Shea (2023) describe how ‘a troubling tension exists between sectoral desires to fix and foster an abiding ‘sense of belonging’, and the multiple, affective, and material ways in which diverse individuals experience belonging’, going on to describe how traditional attempts to foster ‘belonging’ through extra-curricular activity such as parties and societies can privilege young, full-time students, unintendedly ‘othering’ those outside of these characteristics. The financial difficulties of recent years have meant increasing numbers of students are deferring their studies or needing to take on significant amounts of paid work to make get by, leaving them with less time and resources to socialise.
My design for the mentoring programme ‘Interchange’ has intended to ask a minimal amount of time from students, while providing a platform that would enable them to make social connections within the structure of a taught session, that might be informally developed around campus. Through discussion with colleagues, the Course Leader and Third Year Leader I decided that participation for third-years would be optional and presented as part of a series of opportunities for them to develop professional skills (for example teaching experience) whereas the first-year students would all attend as part of their scheduled teaching sessions.
An initial concern was how to incentivise third-year participation. I was conscious that they would be extremely busy writing dissertations during the autumn term and that I might struggle to recruit volunteers. I designed ‘Interchange’ as a reciprocal exchange, where six hours of time from the third years (in three, 2-hour sessions) would be exchanged for a 6hr-day from the first years helping to prepare the degree show spaces later in the year, providing support for one another at different stages of the course.
Research shows that students wish to integrate with one another, but ‘making connections and belonging was emotional, exposing students to a level of vulnerability.’ Ajjawi, Gravett & O’Shea (2023). It was clear that participants would need clearly defined roles and a shared task to help them to start conversations, so I designed the initial session as a treasure hunt, where small teams of first years were each led by a third-year in the task of finding various ‘lesser-known’ places around campus- a useful, induction activity that took around an hour, providing plenty of opportunities for conversation. This was followed by an interactive Q&A, where questions prompted introductions and dialogue between the full group back in the studio.
A copy of the presentation used in the first Interchange Session: Introductions, Treasure Hunt and Q&A.
For the second and third sessions, the third-years are put in a teaching role- they have already led crits in small groups, and in late January they will help first years prepare for an assessment with one-to-one troubleshooting tutorials.
I have increasingly witnessed students struggling to prioritise their studies amongst a need to earn money in the current cost-of-living crisis, and it is easy to imagine how ‘extras’ such as a mentoring programme would be a low priority in this climate. As such I have tried to get students on board with a ‘pedagogy of taking care’ and to help them view their ‘education not solely in terms of the production of human capital, commodification and individualism but also in valuing the diversity and divergence of human potential, self-affirmation and of collective responsibility and well-being.’ Atkinson (2022).
References
- Atkinson D. (2022). Pedagogies of taking care. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
- Ajjawi, R., Gravett, K., & O’Shea, S. (2023). The politics of student belonging: identity and purpose. Teaching in Higher Education, 30(4), 791–804. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2023.2280261