[SSC] SSC - Response to Journalism student (interview questions)
Joss Winn
joss at josswinn.org
Mon Apr 30 18:56:40 UTC 2012
This would be great to publish as a blog post! It extends what is already on the site in a very positive way.
On 30 Apr 2012, at 17:17, Sarah Amsler <simonewright73 at googlemail.com> wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> Please find below my response to Angela Cheng, a Journalism student
> from Taiwan who asked some questions about the SSC for a report she is
> writing as part of her course assignment.
>
> I am planning to send it later this eveing; if you have any comments,
> please get back to me before then.
>
> Best,
> Sarah
>
> Hello Angela,
>
> I've sent your request out to other members of the Social Science
> Centre, so they may reply independently. I'll try to answer your
> questions from my own perspective, but if you want to talk about
> anything further, please let me know.
>
> I'd like to say at the outset that these are my own personal
> respsonses to the questions -- at least where I don't quote from the
> Social Science Centre website. It's important for me to emphasise this
> because we are a group of people who are trying to work collectively
> at all levels. Within the group, however, there is a lot of diversity,
> so different people may answer the questions in different ways. Some
> of them are in fact still questions that we are discussing and
> debating amongst ourselves. So the one thing we do like to say is that
> no single person can represent the Social Science Centre in its
> complexity, and that each person offers one representation, their own
> (though often one forged through lots of discussion with others).
>
> 1. What is the main point that the teachers set up The Social Science
> Centre, Lincoln?
>
>
> The Social Science Centre was established in early 2011 by a small
> group of academics, mainly social scientists, who were concerned about
> the British Government's decision to both withdraw all public funding
> for teaching in the social sciences, humanities and arts, and to raise
> student tuition fees nearly three hundred per cent to, at present, a
> maximum of £9000. They were concerned that it would become difficult
> or impossible for many people to undertake study in these disciplines,
> and indeed that some young people (and many older people wishing to
> return to university) would be unable to pursue higher learning at
> all. One major reason for establishing the SSC, therefore, is to
> provide some way for people who wish to study social science but who
> cannot pay the new fees, do not want to or are unable to take out
> student loans, or are not particularly interested in learning towards
> a formal credential to be able to do so. Alongside this, however, is
> the need that I think many educators feel to work with students and to
> teach and learn in creative, cooperative, non-authoritarian and
> non-bureaucratised ways that are not always possible within
> universities today. The increasing financialisation and marketisation
> of universities in this country and around the world are altering what
> higher education means, what knowledge is for, and how people learn.
> In some institutions, ways of knowing and learning that are not
> economically efficient or profitable in different ways are
> marginalised or prohibited. Languages of critical education, critical
> pedagogy, are often silenced where discourses of 'employablity' become
> dominant. And the worth of education -- of different universities,
> courses, schools of thought, methodologies, teachers and students --
> is now often measured through quantitative metrics such as league
> tables which encourage competition rather than collaboration between
> all of the above. So, we are working both against these negative
> trends in education, which lead towards tying knowledge, research and
> higher learning to the needs of capital and to the already-powerful,
> and towards the creation of alternative forms of critical and
> cooperative education in our own locality.
>
> The Social Science Centre is very much a 'situated' or local project;
> it is based in the city of Lincoln in the UK, and our hope is to be as
> active as possible across the city itself -- in community and social
> centres, museums, public spaces, spaces that should be public.
> However, we are also inspired by and in contact with other people
> working on other kinds of alternative higher education projects in
> other parts of the UK, and overseas.
>
> For a selected things that have been written about the SSC to date,
> see http://socialsciencecentre.org.uk/documents/. The Stanistreet
> (2012) article might give some background; the Burgin (2011) may give
> a hint at historical precendents and histories of
> radical/autonomous/cooperative education.
>
> 2. When is the exact time that the courses start? And How will it carry out?
>
> We are planning to begin courses in October 2012. This will work
> slightly differently from a typical university course, in that the
> first weeks are likely to be spent discussing the concept of each
> course and negotiating its main themes, structure and curriculum.
> There are also likely to be different kinds of courses -- running in
> the evening, or on weekends, or perhaps in other blocks of time,
> depending on the needs and desires of those who are involved in them.
>
> Prior to this, in the summer, we'll be organising workshops and
> seminars around the ideas of curriculum, cooperative education,
> pedagogy, and other issues that are relevant for our work, and for
> developing deeper understandings of both our work and the context in
> which we are working. There is a sense, I think, of needing to learn
> to learn, and build to be able to build. There is a mindfulness within
> the Centre that the sort of project we are imagining not only requires
> commitments of time and energy from those involved, but because it is
> in many cases very different from what we and others are used to, it
> also demands a lot of learning along the way. So while classes will
> begin in October, the process of their development precedes this point
> in time, and will overflow it as the courses and the Centre develop.
> I, at least, am looking forward to being taken in not-yet-imagined
> directions as they do.
>
> 3. How do the institution operate in the situation that students don
> have to pay the fees?
>
> As it is not an institution as such, we have a lot of flexibility in
> how we operate. The Social Science Centre runs mainly on the energy,
> commitment and generosity of its members. None of the people teaching
> are being paid for our work. Scholars have different reasons for
> volunteering their time. Some see it as am intellecutal or social and
> political responsibility; others are in positions, for example being
> retired, where the need for such payment is not so acute. Members of
> the Social Science Centre, whether student-scholars or
> teacher-scholars, are encouraged to contribute to the cooperative if
> they feel able to. We recommend a sum of one hour of a person's montly
> wage (e.g., if a person earns £6 per hour, they are invited to
> contribute £6 per month to the cooperative). This money is then used
> for materials, paying for spaces to hold classes, purchasing library
> cards for students, or the like. But this is a voluntary contribution
> and does not affect anyone's membership rights. As an example, it
> costs £5 per hour to hire a space in a local community centre. It
> costs approximately £5 to make copies of a book chapter or article for
> 10 people. It costs nothing to find paper to write on and pens to
> write with. Various people in the Centre have other sorts of
> technologies of their own -- computers, printers, etc. We are not
> paying fees to external organisations for accreditation, 'marketing'
> or etc. And above all, there is a wealth of collective skill,
> experience and knowledge -- really in any group that organsises
> themselves -- which, when pulled together and worked with, makes many
> things possible that may seem not so.
>
> 4. How many students will the institution recruit? How is the
> evaluation now? (Is there many students want to enter to The Social
> Science Centre, Lincoln?)
>
> We would be delighted if as many as twenty people joined the Centre in
> order to undertake study and research in the autumn. Because there is
> a small group of teacher-scholars at the moment, the idea is to start
> and perhaps to remain small. Thus far, we have had expressions of
> interest from more people than this, and I think many people are in
> the process of seeing what the project is about and how it works;
> above all, whether it's something that could be meaningful for them.
> It is likely not to be interesting for people who are focused on
> earning a formal, accredited university degree. It is likely to be
> more interesting for people who desire a cooperative,
> non-instrumentalised, non-hierarchical and really alternative kind
> higher education, and who want to participate actively in making such
> opportunities possible for others. That being said, there is no
> either-or relationship between this and formal university studies; I
> have spoken to some people who plan to undertake both simultaneously.
>
> Personally, I'm hugely excited about the project. It offers space for
> me to teach and to learn with others from a diversity of social
> positions about the insights of sociology, philosophy and education
> that I believe to be of deep significance for engaging critically and
> ethically in the social world. It is already also a type of space
> where we can learn to reinvent our relationships with each other; to
> cultivate ways of working with others, speaking and listening,
> thinking and producing in ways that are not profit-driven,
> competitive, bureaucratised and precarious. This is not an easy
> process, of course; a brief glance at the history of autonomous and
> cooperative projects in education, ecology and politics will give an
> immediate indication of the contradictions and difficulties. But for
> those who believe that the present organisation of society, and many
> of the current ways of defining and organising higher education are
> themselves unsustainable, the alternative should to work towards
> something better. The Social Science Centre is part of this wider
> project, and speaking personally, has opened up new windows of
> possibility.
>
> It might be a nice idea if you wrote back again in, e.g., November, or
> in January, to see what's happened since today.
>
> 5. Please help me to find some students who want to enter to the
> institution. I would need their opinions.
>
> I have sent your request out to a number of people. If they haven't
> replied to you, I will try to contact them again.
>
> I hope this is helpful for your report. I'm sure you don't need this
> advice at all, but you should of course try to find some critical
> questions and comments about the Social Science Centre, in order to
> broaden and criticalise the perspective. There are a number of really
> pressing debates in general about the notions of 'collectivity',
> 'cooperatives', 'autonomy', 'radical education', 'critical pedagogy',
> and etc., as well as problems of social inequalitie, representation,
> hidden hierarchies, the role of the university in society, the meaning
> of higher education, and etc. Any of these would be worth exploring;
> they are all issues and problems we are discussing in the Centre.
>
> All best,
> Sarah
>
>
> On 4/29/12, Sandie Stratford <sandiestrat at phonecoop.coop> wrote:
>> I agree this makes excellent material for a discussion. Thank you Megan, I
>> found your suggestions very coherent. We must keep our ideals [sic]
>> polished. But I share Joss and others' anxiety about biting off more than
>> we can chew, if wide publicity brings large numbers on board. Much as I
>> want more people to be involved, if that's not a contradiction.
>>
>> Sandie
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Sarah Amsler
>> To: ssc at lists.aktivix.org
>> Sent: Friday, April 27, 2012 12:03 PM
>> Subject: Re: [SSC] SSC Digest, Vol 16, Issue 42
>>
>>
>> I think a great comment and suggestion from Megan, thanks!
>>
>> We could actually use these statements to play with when we meet...which
>> do people feel close to, common themes and differences, talking around
>> them...
>>
>> Best,
>> Sarah
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 3
>> Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:23:22 +0100
>> From: "Megan Robertson" <megan at medals.org.uk>
>> To: <ssc at lists.aktivix.org>
>> Subject: [SSC] Media stuff
>> Message-ID: <CC29A156A1AD439DA30C38973DFEA579 at mexal>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>>
>> May an 'outsider' comment, please?
>>
>> Having discovered you just yesterday through a BBC website article,
>> having
>> had no idea of your existence before then, I would hope that you would
>> grasp
>> any suitable opportunity to raise your profile through the media.
>>
>> It will, however, be important for you to decide just what you think you
>> are
>> as a collective organisation, and to ensure that you present yourselves
>> accordingly.
>>
>> So, what are you?
>>
>> People who want to share knowledge in a structured way, by offering
>> 'courses' in subjects in which you are knowledgeable in a manner
>> accessible
>> to anyone who wants to learn.
>>
>> People who don't like the way in which higher education is developing
>> and
>> who want to offer an alternative.
>>
>> People who see themselves as 'activists' seeking to destroy existing
>> modes
>> of providing education and replacing them with their own vision.
>>
>> People who do not care for the increasing 'commercialisation' of
>> education
>> and so want to offer it for free...
>>
>> Woolly-headed idealists? :)
>>
>> Some, all or none of the above?
>>
>> Different things will attract different people, so you will also need
>> to
>> consider the sort of people that you want to attract. (You may at this
>> point
>> decide you'd rather I went away!)
>>
>> For what it's worth, I followed up the BBC story and stuck my nose in
>> because I am passionate about the provision of excellent education that
>> inspires learners, and as an e-learning specialist I'm fascinated about
>> 'alternate' ways of sharing knowledge and skills.
>>
>> (I also happen to be unemployed, so am always looking for projects that
>> might want to make use of my skills... at least, until I find someone
>> who'll
>> pay me! Until then, and even beyond, interesting not-for-profit projects
>> can
>> have those skills for nothing.)
>>
>> A few thoughts from an outsider looking in, read, discard at your
>> pleasure.
>>
>> Megan Robertson
>> FBCS CITP
>>
>> "By doubting we come to questioning, and by questioning we come to
>> perceive
>> the truth" (Abelard)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
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>> https://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/ssc
>>
>>
>> End of SSC Digest, Vol 16, Issue 42
>> ***********************************
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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