Inspire - a Teaching Fellows' newsletter

Promoting excellence in Learning and Teaching, driven by Middlesex Senior Fellows of HEA with contributions welcomed from all Middlesex staff.

Tuesday 22 March 2016

Mar 2016 Newsletter

Welcome to the 10th issue of Inspire. It will be coming to you three times per year.
Feel free to comment on any of the individual items. [Download PDF version]


Diversity and difference at Middlesex
At a recent Erasmus conference held for Middlesex International Week the Vice Chancellor closed the conference praising our diversity and reflected on the issue of how we make difference integral to learning. He proposed that ‘we need students who are both prepared and diverse if we are to be an exciting, vibrant university'. 
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Intercultural learning on the Internet
One of the outputs of the Intercultural learning on the Internet (IntCultNet) project included a target group analysis for learners. The aim of the analysis was to investigate the existence of and target potential target users of the deliverables of the project in the partner countries in the duration of the project and after it.
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Bridging social capital 
Within the SU one of our key mechanisms for understanding diversity is through the lens of social capital. If we consider ‘bonding’ social capital what happens when similar groups of people spend time together, then ‘bridging’ social capital is what occurs when we learn and collaborate with those who are different to us. We are creating situations in which ‘bridging’ social capital happens.
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Benefiting from Diversity (and saving lives)
The meaning of the word diversity is itself a broad concept; it not only includes the dimensions of race but also embraces the gender difference, ethnicity, sexual orientations and many more. Finding a potential donor and saving lives of people suffering from blood cancer is the mission of our marrow society. 

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Diversity – three key learning points
My experiences have taught me valuable lessons in terms of finding a balance between staying consistent with my own values and beliefs, whilst at the same time building a rapport and showing respect for others. I have reasoned this into three key areas, which I believe that if in place it is possible to live and work in harmony with any diverse group of people. 
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Teaching Inclusively – Celebrating diversity
Top Tips: Resources to aid your thinking and planning.  Especially useful for CPD or in need of refreshing your skills.
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Apps for teaching and learning
As a group of health and sport academics and subject librarians we have run a project that has involved an innovative interactive process using dialogue sheets to stimulate teachers in discussion and reflection on the use of ‘apps’. It also enabled capture of individual comments, questions and ideas for wider dissemination.
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Conferences 
A regular listing of conferences with a learning and teaching theme (including this year's Annual Learning and Teaching Conference on 5 July), plus links to other sites listing similar events. 
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