[SSC] Discussion Document (SSC Curriculum Group)

[Richard Hall]

Hi Joss,

Loads of teach-ins and alternatives being discussed in NYC. It's been good fun.

I'm not sure that I am arguing for "something wholly different to mainstream HE" or an opposite. In fact, it may be that we are trying to define some form that is against the neoliberal university as it currently stands, and is a recapture/re-inscription of older, historical forms of the University that have been lost along the way.

My concern is the boundaries. If we argue for a student-defined/negotiated/produced space then we need to be clear about what that means for the curriculum. I guess I am confused about the messages being sent. This may be a function of my missing the last two (?) meetings. That in itself is an issue where we are trying to make decisions across the co-operative, and develop positions sometimes remotely - have I missed something? How do we devolve decisions about issues that are fundamental like the curriculum?

I agree that it needs to be compelling, but I also think we have shifted from our original position. That's fine, but I need to readjust. In broad brush, am I correct then that we will be recruiting 20 students to study he-equivalent programmes but not in HE (in a co-op), where we define a curriculum that is an equivalent of traditional HE, and where certain, more limited elements might be negotiated by students-as-scholars?

TBH I am not sure that I am discussing or suggesting perpetual experiment/experimentation in a laboratory. I am suggesting that we start from the student, within a framework of *values*, possible teaching approaches, content, possible assessment types etc. and where we work with the scholar to align what is proposed for her/him. I fear that too much prescription from the start means that we lose the possibility to overcome the limitations of traditional HE, and will ossify what we are trying to achieve.

Hope you are well - have a good weekend.

In solidarity,

Richard.

-----Original Message-----
From: ssc-bounces at lists.aktivix.org on behalf of Joss Winn
Sent: Fri 21/10/2011 17:04
To: ssc at lists.aktivix.org ssc at lists.aktivix.org
Subject: Re: [SSC] Discussion Document (SSC Curriculum Group)
 

On 21 Oct 2011, at 15:15, Richard Hall wrote:
> 
> 
> 8. Does any form of prescription beyond a framework/ethos/range of topics offered, mean that we are just aping formal HE? How tied to formal HE practices do we wish to be?
> 
> 
Hi Richard, 

My own position is that I'm not interested in creating something wholly different to mainstream HE. We know that it is a good model in some ways and we have always been clear about the SSC offering an "equivalent" to mainstream HE, so in my mind, it remains the model to which we provide an alternative, not an opposite. The SSC needs to be a compelling alternative and not necessarily something so radically different to mainstream HE that it is not, in practice a realistic alternative for people. 

Many of us work in HE and so we might be looking for something really quite different to what we experience day to day, but our students will, I think, find even the idea of doing a degree via a non-hierarchical co-operative model, radical enough. Divesting the SSC of many of the familiar elements of mainstream HE could dissolve the Centre into perpetual experiment when both students and teachers, particularly to begin with, need something familiar to hang off. 

To be clear, I don't want to create a pedagogical laboratory with the SSC. I want to create a Centre that will appeal to lots of people who are willing to take on board the idea of localised, co-governance of their education. If we create a form of "HE in a co-operative setting", that's a pretty good start in my mind.

Joss

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