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Until quite recently, UK students were largely uninvolved in the creation of their education. Even in the halcyon days of good funding in the 1960s, students were expected to be grateful for whatever their lecturers decided to deliver. I remember, as a student rep in the early 1990s, how my attempt to protest about insufficient chairs in the lecture room (radical!) fell on deaf ears; as I was unceremoniously shown the door in the dean\u2019s office, his parting shot was: \u201cYou can take me on \u2013 but you will lose.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hope those days are long gone, with co-creation (ugly word, really great idea) now being normal. But while there is substantial evidence that the UK\u2019s higher education sector is probably the best in the world, these days it feels as if there are significant rifts within it because none of the stakeholders \u2013 academics, professional staff, students, parents, employers or even government \u2013 actually like the way that higher education is organised in the UK.<\/p>\n
Students have the financial burden. Parents see their children saddled with debt. Employers talk of graduates not being \u201cwork ready\u201d. Successive governments have made clear they don\u2019t like the way we go about our business. And many who work in the sector dislike the marketisation and commoditisation of education. The problem is that there is also no agreement on how the status quo should change.<\/p>\n
Since March, however, we have been brought together by the pandemic. I have seen first-hand (and heard many examples from elsewhere) of how, in the process of finding ways through the massive challenges, we have created a real community. I have seen how students have become ever more closely involved with decisions about how their courses will be delivered. We have somehow ensured that last year\u2019s cohort could graduate and worked incredibly closely and amazingly hard to make sure that this year\u2019s intake will still get the best possible experience of university.<\/p>\n
There is also a sense of community within the sector as we activate networks to find solutions, learning from each other as we make the best of a tough environment. It hasn\u2019t always been easy. In fact, it has never been easy! How do you run courses wholly or partly online when both staff and students clearly prefer face-to-face teaching? How the hell do you deliver two-metre-distanced chemistry labs? How do you run online exams without leaving the door wide open to cheating or disadvantaging students from non-traditional backgrounds? And then there was the A-level results fiasco\u2026<\/p>\n
Being physically isolated from colleagues made such challenges even harder to deal with. We\u2019ve worked from home, often in less than ideal conditions, trying to keep home schooling going and still feeling incredibly guilty about the lack of time and energy we were able to dedicate to it. Many of us found our jobs changed completely overnight \u2013 as did the hours! But, through it all, the virtually enhanced bonds between professional and academic staff, and between staff and students, have sustained us.<\/p>\n
I have also seen a complete change in pace. I have always found that working at a university was at least as demanding as any other job I have had, but I have also found that trying to make changes often feels like wading through treacle. But, since March, a transformation has occurred. Meetings that used to take a month or more to arrange now happen within days. Decisions have been made on the spot, rather than doing endless rounds of committees. Colossal innovation has been brought in at breakneck pace. Solutions and compromises were reached quickly, kept in review, then changed where necessary.<\/p>\n