What’s yours is mine, what’s mine is yours.
So here goes….a blog…my first attempt…ever. I have always seen myself as a bit of a closed book, guarded, reserving of judgement until I’ve deliberated all of the facts. I don’t have a huge social media presence, I don’t update my status everyday to inform the world of my rather mundane daily routine (although I do like to have a good nosey at everyone else’s!) and so the notion of being open and writing a blog on the subject is quite exposing for little old me.
When discussing openness as part of OKHE, the group came up with the concepts of sharing knowledge, freely giving with no expectations and acknowledging the contributions of others. All of these concepts, in my opinion, encapsulate the world of higher education. Students and academics discuss theories and findings, build upon this knowledge and make new discoveries or continue to carry on the debate with new ideas and opinions. Students gain knowledge for the personal and professional development. Academics continue exploring and researching their area of expertise, often referencing their contribution via publication. These publications will be sources used by those in the future and so the cycle continues. As I work in higher education, I’m probably au fait with this practice then? Well…possibly.
You see, I haven’t always seen open practice quite so clearly as a part of the role that I play in higher education. I have worked in the industry for 17 years within administration. I witness open practice from a student and academic perspective but never really considered my contribution in the same way. Catherine Cronin (2017) defined Open Educational Practices as
“a broad descriptor of practices that include the creation, use, and reuse of open educational resources (OER) as well as open pedagogies and open sharing of teaching practices”
Much of the theories and literature refer to teaching practices so does administration fit this approach? An article from Carina Bossu explored that idea that this concept applies to a wider network of people within higher education commenting
“I believe that most of us working in higher education today are to some extent open practitioners, mostly those working closely with learning and teaching, including educators, educational developers, instructional designers, student support staff and librarians (yes, they can be educators too!).”
Theoretically I feel the most appropriate concept is that of Social Constructivism. Vygotsky (1934) introduced the idea of a ‘sociocultural approach to cognitive learning’ which is further developed in Cronin’s article by Archer’s (2003) social realist theory. Archer commented on structure, culture and agency which I feel is quite befitting to higher education administration.
Administration is structured using the same institutional level policies, facilitated by the same institutional level systems and guides so surely we follow these verbatim and Bob’s your Uncle then? Well — no. Why? Because we need to have that informal knowledge from those who have discovered before us that pressing the save button in that specific screen on the system, as the guide instructs you to do so, is the direct opposite to what you should do and will in fact delete the past two hours’ worth of work! In that respect, openness is the key to keeping the operational function of higher education administration ticking and relies on a culture of sharing and support.
From my perspective I see my contribution to openness as being shaped from those that I have learned from. I relied on the guidance and expertise of colleagues and managers to show me the ropes when I first started my career and have built upon this.
One way in which I have contributed to this cycle of openness is the creation and distribution of handbooks, manuals, and processes. These are pivotal in sometimes breaking down the formal guides and policies in to how they are put into practice. It usually involves consulting with a range of colleagues across the institution on how they do something, what they use, why they do it. It’s about acknowledging that you are not necessarily expert at all things and so need to consult those who have a wider understanding of an area of work and vice versa.
Often these come from knowing who’s who so networking is a vital element of openness. An issue could arise that I think to myself ‘I know who can shed some light on that’ and rely on their experience to be able to assist. That knowledge is then passed on through colleagues who can then answer the query for their peers like an elaborate institutional wide game of pass the (verbal) parcel!
Having said that, communication is one area that I try to ensure is constant. I hold fortnightly meetings with my team to allow a two way stream of updates and information from the institution as well as an opportunity to talk with one another on any areas that they need assistance with, adopting a team environment where all pitch in with input as much as possible.
Expanding on this is the introduction of workshops that I have scheduled in regular intervals in which a specific operational aspect of the team’s role is selected to discuss in depth. From this it has resulted in the production of process maps to act as structured guidance and reminders of key tasks. All of this relies on the valuable input of all involved.
Referring back to Archer’s theory, agency is where I feel higher education administration could be developed to allow more openness to occur. On a local level within departments and Schools, this ethos may be encouraged and promoted but I feel in a wider context this level of open knowledge is currently limited. I’m sure there are ways in which I work that could be improved through having knowledge of colleagues expertise within another department, and I am sure there are ways in which I work that could benefit a wider audience than my immediate team but there isn’t the full mechanism to share this more widely at present. I hope that this is a cultural change that can start to be embedded to foster a collaborative learning environment in all aspects of higher education.
