What’s your philosophy? Follow up post
Although Emily Ford’s article was written in 2012 (the last time our teams at the University of Manchester went through such large-scale change, for what it’s worth), the central ideas stills resonated strongly with those who came along.
Questions of how we work with colleagues across the University, demonstrate our ‘value’ and what our ‘expertise’ is persist — but there was a confidence in addressing these questions; a confidence we might not have had in 2012. One notable aspect of this confidence, repeated in our discussions, was that of asking why? Why do we do things in particular ways and whether we need to continue doing them. This requires a confidence in each other and those we work with — that ‘why?’ is not a criticism but a striving for understanding and improvement.
It was also great to hear individuals’ personal philosophies when it comes to what we do as part of My Learning Essentials — what we do and why we (as individuals) do it. One thing which seemed to be shared was students (and their needs) being central. The conversations were a good opportunity in my case to recognise this tacit element of my personal philosophy and make it more explicit.
So what do you do and why do you do it? Did Ford’s paper resonate with you? To what extent have those of us who are librarians moved on from the questions raised? Are similar questions being raised in learning developer circles (and if so, are answers being found)? Let us know below.
Michael
