Somewhere between paintings and process documents
After two years working as a Teaching and Learning (T&L) Administrator at the University of Manchester I found a Word document on our department network drive listing all the tasks associated with the role, with a detailed description of how to complete each one. Some of the processes were new to me, others I had managed to work out myself through trial and (much) error or by asking colleagues. I began updating the document with what I had learnt along the way and removed what was no longer necessary. When a new colleague started, I invited them to do the same. It wasn’t obvious which of my predecessors had produced the document, but that wasn’t uncommon; in various administration roles I have been in, process documents, handover notes and handbooks have been simple yet invaluable sets of instructions, often left in folders or desk drawers where someone might stumble across them eventually.
I had chosen to take the OKHE course unit to learn about creativity and open knowledge. This would feed into my practice as a visual artist and creative, and my growing interest in the ways in which creativity was fostered within higher education. It has been interesting learning about how creativity fits within the themes of open practice, T&L and research, and I could see how this related to my creative practice. Last year I worked with a medical student to produce an animation that would make their research more accessible to a wider audience. I also took part in a creative development programme with Manchester International Festival, producing images and animations that explored how universities could be more open spaces for learning.
Thinking about openness in relation to my role in T&L administration is more difficult. In my creative practice I help people share ideas with a wider audience in unique and inventive ways, but when I think about sharing ideas in my administration role, I think about the impersonal, inaccessible process document. Despite the accessibility issue, the manner in which the document had been created and updated seems to fit the Open Education Global description of open practices — ‘sharing, collaborative authoring, finding and reusing existing resources, modifying and customizing educational materials’. So it’s a start.
Reading previous OKHE1 posts and the descriptions of how staff in Professional Services (PS) roles were adopting open practices within Higher Education helped me understand how open practice within Professional Services could encompass more than process documents. Gemma Dale explained how being part of an engaging online HR community reinforced her open practice, where resources and ideas could be shared with others working inside and outside of the higher education sector. This kind of approach is evident on the UoM Staff Learning and Development website, which hosts a myriad of open educational resources, toolkits and learning platforms. Padma in Library Services discussed the award-winning My Learning Essentials open educational resources and Jane Gallagher explored how technology is being used to open up access to previously inaccessible research.
Descriptions from OKHE participants in T&L administration positions are similar to my own experience of open practice. Mammaskull notes that ‘openness is the key to keeping the operational function of higher education administration ticking and relies on a culture of sharing and support’, however in a practice where policies, procedures and regulations underpin the work we do, there is a wariness of sharing processes and practices outside of teams, and institutions. Kate explored the benefits of pooling the ideas expertise from a consortium of universities, but that the universities had to overcome institutional boundaries before they could start sharing their practices.
I am inspired to start sharing my ideas and processes with a wider community, reinforcing a greater culture of openness within T&L administration in a way that embraces some of the creative uses of technology seen in other areas of PS. In the way that I have used my creative practice to support a wider engagement with education, I am keen to be involved in a discussions about how we produce, share and redistribute resources to aid learning within T&L administration. Some forums are already in place — Communities of Practice bring together individuals from different teams that have similar expertise, and are a useful way of sharing practices, solving problems, and improving processes. Possibly as a result of a need to ensure consistency and value of the output, or because of a lack of resources to host larger or more regular meetings, these are often hosted and attended by more senior administrative colleagues, with staff at lower grades only feeding into the process where necessary.
Covid-19 has separated offices, hubs and communities and caused a monumental shift in how social exchanges take place amongst staff in higher education. Regular ‘open meetings’ mean that hundreds of individuals can be part of the conversation. We could see Communities of Practice following suit, inviting a more grassroots approach to problem solving and creative thinking that enables staff members to bring their unique experiences and approaches of working within higher education into an open, evolving conversation. There are still many barriers to work through –ensuring sensitive information doesn’t end up where it shouldn’t be, changing a culture of storing process documents and handbooks in hidden places, and ensuring that members of staff at all levels are provided the opportunity, time and resources to connect with each other.
We’ve recently been asked to update our process documents, and I’m reminded of open practitioner and researcher Chrissi Nerantzi’s argument that to be ‘open’ is to be an innovator, a rebel…
