No more ‘personal notes’? Data protection policy and practice in Higher Education counselling services in the UK

The past decades in the UK have witnessed renewed interest by policymakers, research funders and research institutions in the engagement of non-academic individuals, groups and organizations with research processes and products. There has been a broad consensus that better engagement leads to better impact, as well as significant learning around understanding engagement and improving practice. However, this sits in tension to a parallel trend in British higher education policy that reduces the field to a narrow definition of quantitatively measured impacts attributed to individual researchers, projects and institutions. In response, this article argues for the mobilization of an emerging field of 'research engagement studies' that brings together an extensive and diverse existing literature around understandings and experiences of engagement, and has the potential to contribute both strategically and conceptually to the broader impact debate. However, to inform this, some stocktaking is needed to trace the different traditions back to their conceptual roots and chart out a common set of themes, approaches and framings across the literature. In response, this article maps the literature by developing a genealogy of understandings of research engagement within five UK-based domains of policy and practice: higher education; science and technology; public policy (health, social care and education); international development; and community development. After identifying patterns and trends within and across these clusters, the article concludes by proposing a framework for comparing understandings of engagement, and uses this framework to highlight trends, gaps and ways forward for the emerging field.

Download Full-text

The contradictions of policy and practice: creativity in higher education

London Review of Education ◽

10.1080/14748460.2012.691281 ◽

2012 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Iain MacLaren

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Risk Taking ◽

Management Practices ◽

Recent Literature ◽

Workplace Stress ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Policy Context ◽

Collaborative Exploration ◽

The Uk ◽

Creativity And Innovation

Whilst much of the rhetoric of current educational policy champions creativity and innovation, structural reforms and new management practices in higher education run counter to the known conditions under which creativity flourishes. As a review of recent literature suggests, surveillance, performativity, the end of tenure and rising levels of workplace stress are all closing off the space for real creative endeavour, characterised as it is by risk-taking, collaborative exploration and autonomy. Innovation, as conceived in this policy context (i.e., that of the UK and Ireland), is narrow in scope and leaves little room for critical re-examination of the nature of education itself or radical reconceptions of curriculum, raising the question as to whether such are more likely to arise extra mural , from new forms of organisation.

Download Full-text

Cultures of breastfeeding: reflections for policy and practice

Social Experiences of Breastfeeding ◽

10.1332/policypress/9781447338499.003.0012 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 163-168

Author(s):

Sally Tedstone ◽

Geraldine Lucas

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Student Learning ◽

Infant Feeding ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Senior Lecturer ◽

Clinical Placements ◽

Potential Impact ◽

The Uk ◽

Two Sectors

As an infant feeding specialist in midwifery practice and a university senior lecturer in midwifery, we have had some very interesting discussions about the work presented in this group of chapters. It has become clear to us that what midwifery students learn is heavily influenced by the practice they observe while on clinical placements. This may seem obvious, but from our perspective the pressures that higher education and the NHS face in the current climate of austerity in the UK have resulted in a squeeze on opportunities for dialogue, feedback and reflection between the two sectors, and we feel that this has a potential impact on the quality of student learning....

Download Full-text

Core elements of exemplary academic integrity policy in Australian higher education

International Journal for Educational Integrity ◽

10.21913/ijei.v7i2.759 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Tracey Bretag ◽

Saadia Mahmud ◽

Margaret Wallace ◽

Ruth Walker ◽

Colin James ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Academic Integrity ◽

Best Practice ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Learning And Teaching ◽

Best Practice Guidelines ◽

Core Elements ◽

The Uk ◽

Academic Integrity Policy ◽

Australian Universities

This paper reports on one important aspect of the preliminary findings from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) project, Academic integrity standards: Aligning policy and practice in Australian universities (Bretag et al., 2010) Our project aims to identify approaches to the complex issues of academic integrity, and then to build on these approaches to develop exemplars for adaptation across the higher education sector. Based on analysis of publicly available online academic integrity policies at each of the 39 Australian universities, we have identified five core elements of exemplary academic integrity policy. These have been grouped under the headings, Access, Approach, Responsibility, Detail and Support, with no element given priority over another. In this paper we compare the five core elements identified in our research with best practice guidelines recommended by the Higher Education Academy (HEA) in the UK. We conclude that an exemplar policy needs to provide an upfront, consistent message, reiterated throughout the entire policy, which indicates a systemic and sustained commitment to the values of academic integrity and the practices that ensure it. Whereas the HEA created two discrete resources, the key aim and challenge of this project will be to develop exemplars that demonstrate a strong alignment between policy and practice.

Download Full-text

Re-imagining Diversity: Towards an Anthropology for Disruption in UK Higher Education

Journal ◽

10.22582/ta.v10i1.596 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Alison Macdonald

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Diversity Training ◽

Reference Points ◽

Widening Participation ◽

Special Issue ◽

Institutional Diversity ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Inclusive Learning ◽

The Uk ◽

Uk Higher Education

From Athena Swan accreditations to Access and Widening Participation agendas, diversity training and renewed pedagogic approaches to inclusive learning, the higher education landscape is now awash with the language of ‘diversity’ as policy and practice. The institutionalisation of ‘diversity’ is a welcome method of inclusion, yet it is often reproduced as ‘happy talk’ (Bell and Hartmann 2007) that pacifies the call for meaningful structural and institutional change, silencing and even reinforcing the inequality it seeks remedy (i.e. Ahmed, 2012; Alexander, 2005; Archer, Hutchings & Ross 2003; Kirton, Greene & Dean 2007; Mohanty, 2003; Puwar, 2004). Taking these paradoxical dimensions of diversity as ethnographic and conceptual points of departure, this special issue seeks to unravel some of the everyday experiences, practices and policies encoded in diversity ‘speak’ and ‘diversity work’ (Ahmed 2012) across anthropology departments in the UK. By giving credence to accounts of the daily graft of ‘diversity work’, together with embodied and lived experiences of what ‘being diverse’ entails on the ground, we strive to productively mobilise decentred ‘situated knowledges’ (Haraway, 1988) in order to displace the continued centrality of white / elite / heteronormative / ableist reference points at the heart of much higher education institutional diversity strategies and inclusion agendas (cf. also Puwar, 2004). For us, the term ‘re-imagining’ is a call for positive political transformation in which we hope the difficult, uncomfortable - but hopefully - fruitful questions and critiques posed by papers in this special issue galvanise a space for diverse-led action. It is thus against this backdrop that we try to re-imagine diversity in a new light: to bear witness to those who live its effects and thereby reveal the potential to democratically and holistically re-structure anthropology from the ground up.

Download Full-text

Sustainability 2030: a policy perspective from the University Vocational Awards Council

Higher Education Skills and Work-based Learning ◽

10.1108/heswbl-03-2018-0043 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 233-242 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Mandy Samantha Crawford-Lee ◽

Tony Wall

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Well Being ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Content Type ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Policy Perspective ◽

Balanced Approach ◽

The Uk ◽

The University

Purpose The policy and practice sphere of higher education, skills and work-based learning has become increasingly problematic in the last few years, and the extent to which sustainability and sustainable development are embedded in policy and practice spaces is a cause for concern. The purpose of this paper is to posit a policy perspective from the University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC), the national representative organisation for universities committed to the vocational agenda and an independent voice in the sphere of higher education, skills and work-based learning. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a reflective policy and practice piece which draws on the latest policy moves by the UK Government and associated organisations and engages the latest literature to examine the issues in policy and practice that need to be tackled. Findings This paper argues for a greater integration of sustainable development into higher education, skills and work-based learning policy and practice, and specifically in relation to creating inclusive workplaces, promoting social mobility, a balanced approach to productivity, health and well-being and embedding educational approaches and methods which promote inequality in workplaces. Practical implications This paper is a call to all stakeholders to raise the game of sustainability and sustainable development in the policy and practice sphere of higher education, skills and work-based learning. Originality/value The paper is the only UK policy perspective explicitly dedicated to sustainability and sustainable development in the context of the sphere of higher education, skills and work-based learning. Although it is focused on UK policy context, it will be of interest to international readers wishing to learn about UK developments and the sustainable development challenges in relation to its apprenticeship, technical and vocational education system.

Download Full-text

A review of free online survey tools for undergraduate students

MSOR Connections ◽

10.21100/msor.v15i1.311 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 71

Author(s):

Rob Farmer ◽

Phil Oakman ◽

Paul Rice

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Survey Data ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Data Protection ◽

Online Survey ◽

Academic Staff ◽

Ease Of Use ◽

Survey Tool ◽

The Uk ◽

Identifiable Data

Undergraduate students are often required to collect survey data as part of their studies, but they rarely receive any detailed guidance on choosing an appropriate free online survey tool. In addition, many universities do not provide undergraduate students with an institutionally supported and managed online survey tool. Because there are so many online survey services available, the lack of an institutionally managed survey tool coupled with a lack of proper guidance on their selection and use can cause a great deal of stress and possible expense to students. In order to alleviate this problem, ten prominent free online survey services were reviewed in order to give students, particularly undergraduate students in higher education, some guidance in this matter. Three essential criteria were borne in mind when evaluating the tools: ease of use; ability to export data, and; UK Data Protection Act compliance. Although this paper is predominantly focused on UK students undertaking surveys which collect data that could personally identify a respondent, conclusions are generalised to include recommendations for surveys collecting non-personally identifiable data, and for students studying outside of the UK. Based on the findings of the review, students needing to use a free online survey tool are recommended to use eSurv for all surveys, unless they are given alternative directions by academic staff or others at their institution. In addition, we further recommend that both eSurv and Quick Surveys are appropriate for surveys collecting non-personally identifiable data.

Download Full-text

The unpredictable body, identity, and disclosure: Identifying the strategies of chronically ill students at university

Disability Studies Quarterly ◽

10.18061/dsq.v41i2.7049 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Louise Toller ◽

Hannah Farrimond

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

University Students ◽

Chronically Ill ◽

Chronic Illnesses ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Support Provision ◽

Disability Support ◽

The Uk ◽

Uk Higher Education

The experiences of university students with chronic illnesses have been neglected in previous research, despite the fact that they make up the third largest disability category in the UK. The propensity of chronic illnesses to fluctuate unpredictably sets them apart from other forms of disability, yet little is known about how this inherent uncertainty impacts experiences in higher education, or the strategies students develop in order to simultaneously manage their illness and studies. This article presents a thematic analysis of episodic interviews with 13 current or recent UK university students with chronic illness. One student (Sophia)'s narrative is used as a case study through which the main themes are illustrated, with the stories of other students woven around this, building up a picture of uncertainty and unpredictability.The ill body was consistently experienced as a frustrating barrier around which life had to be reshaped. Utilising university disability support required disclosure and the acceptance of a disabled identity, yet also minimised the intrusion of illness by enabling students to work within their limitations, reducing the risk of symptom exacerbation or relapse.While participants did not struggle to be accepted as disabled or to access support, the fluctuating nature of their chronic illnesses failed to fit the narrower conceptualisations of disability that institutional systems were often created for. Participants felt that the support systems provided were not designed for liminal conditions, that standard support and adjustments were not always relevant to their needs, and that provision was inconsistent. In conclusion, this mismatch between the needs of chronically ill students and support provision demonstrates that gaps between equality policy and practice exist in UK higher education institutions.

Download Full-text