Continuing Professional Development

If improving learning and teaching were straightforward then smart people, and universities are full of smart people, would have sorted it out many years ago. Yet despite lots of work there remain a range of ‘wicked problems’, for example the so called ‘BAME attainment gap’. This is not to say that there is no progress, but the present commercial and regulatory environment is looking for more.
Sternberg (2002) identified, amongst others, two key acts of ‘stupidity’ (and as he points out only smart people can be stupid). These are ‘doing the same things and hoping for a different result’ and ‘acting without looking at the evidence’. Wisdom is then the opposite of stupidity and it requires us, collectively, to make judgements about what to do informed by evidence, principles and our aspirations and commitments. Here the ‘us’ implicates both an individual task and a collective responsibility; for Shephard and Young (2020) it is often systems and cultures that are stupid not people.
Through the metaphor of cooking, a passion of mine, and specifically the scientific approach to creating taste experiences, I want to explore the agenda of addressing such ‘wicked problems’ for higher education providers. This requires a focus the ingredients that make up higher education: experimentation, evidence-based practice, and a clear focus on the central purpose of universities, namely the education of students.
Molecular gastronomy set out to do something different, focusing on the experience of dining and being informed by data and evidence. It developed new techniques in cooking itself, but also in gathering the kinds of data needed to improve the taste experience. It is also characterised by the ‘experimental kitchen’ a place to safely and incrementally develop new approaches to making the experience better. Most insightfully, molecular gastronomy focussed on the forensic analysis of what was going on with food and taste in order to know how their improvements actually worked. Rather than just tip in a few spoons of mixed herbs they analyse the properties of individual plants, their chemical composition and how their taste profiles change under different conditions. The result was a set of precise tools at their disposal for improving the experience of dining.
Working through a few examples drawn from a mix of present innovative higher education practice, innovative practice in other phases of education and speculative reflections on the evidence we already have at our disposal, I suggest what is needed for the wise university in the 21st century.

Dr Richard Davies leads on higher education research and development at the University of Central Lancashire, he heads the Education Research Cluster and is a Deputy Director of the Research Centre for Digital Life. He supports educational inquiries and research across the university, oversees evaluations of university educational innovations and the application of data insights to university policy and practice. Academically, he started as a physicist, but translated to philosophy for his postgraduate work. Before returning to academia, he was a youth worker in North Wales, Manchester and Oxford. His research interests include higher education, elective home education and STEAM education.

Abstract: Delivering authentic inclusive approaches is a challenging and exacting work, necessitating profound, deep reflection across all levels of an institution. It is a work of excavation that requires much more than any individual or institution may think they have the capability to perceive or deliver. Yet never before have we been more required to ensure we move from esoteric constructs of equity towards transparent and transformational approaches to centering minoritised voices. These voices exist in the inner cities and rural lands, across regions and nations, and they are examining our ambitions, spotlighting our inaction and calling for change. By focusing on these critical dimensions of institutional community – the three P’s - processes, practices and people, we will explore and uncover how we together can achieve progressive and meaningful change in educational transformation for all.

Marva de la Coudray is London Metropolitan University’s first Director of Teaching and Learning, a key leadership role for the university. In her current role, Marva has responsibility for driving change through the successful implementation of teaching and learning strategies, and championing a culture of continuous enhancement in teaching and learning practice. Marva has twenty years’ experience working in Higher Education as a passionate advocate for equity, student achievement and transformative education. She has worked with a wide variety of international, national and local governmental, educational and community partners throughout her career, and has considerable experience in working with countries in the Global South. Prior to joining London Metropolitan, Marva led a number of strategic programmes as Head of Access, Participation and Student Success at SOAS University of London.