On Wednesday 28 November, we hosted a Curriculum Transformation (CT) Workshop in Humanities and Social Sciences. The aim of the session was to provide staff with information, guidance and support for CT regardless of how involved or informed they already were. The workshop covered a broad range of areas from the philosophical ideas and opportunities for transformation right through to top practical tips on the process from individuals who are currently engaged through the Vanguard programmes.
The session was kicked off by Dr Andrea Abbas from the Department of Education, who presented some of her research on inequality in education in her The Opportunities Within Curriculum Transformation’ talk. This opening presentation really got people thinking more broadly about why we are doing CT and was especially relevant to the social sciences.
Next, Dr Robert Eaton from the CLT presented on the Principles and Process of Curriculum Transformation. Rob talked us through the eight principles of CT, putting them into context and presenting on how each could be addressed. He also showed us the resources available on the Curriculum Transformation Resource Hub and talked through the documentation for Phase 1 of the process.
Abby Osborne (Curriculum Development Officer, Inclusivity) and Tamara Reid (Student Engagement Ambassador, Inclusivity) then gave presentations on Inclusivity, Higher Education & the Classroom and Student Engagement. The talks gave attendees some real tangible ideas for both making our curriculum inclusive and how to engage students effectively in the process. These were particularly useful in that they demonstrated the many ways we can achieve this, and the fact they are not all complex or onerous.
Our final presenter in the session was Dr James Turner (Senior Lecturer, Health), who gave a very practical (and extremely useful!) talk on Curriculum Transformation in Practice which covered some of the lessons that the Curriculum Development Team in Health learned (and are still learning!) during their CT process, along with some top tips for success!
I am very grateful to all the presenters and to the attendees for asking some really insightful questions. I look forward to many more fruitful discussions on curriculum transformation in the coming months.
Cassie Wilson
Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching)
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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