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Archive version of the weblog for Ellie Clewlow, formerly hosted on EduSpaces.
  http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/  

Christopher Brookmyre, The attack of the unsinkable rubber ducks

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:30:21 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/214497.html

http://www.brookmyre.co.uk/book11.htm

Jack Parlabane is dead – and from his perspective we explore psychic phenomena (unsinkable ducks being a description of the credulous masses), the odd murder and the politics of being rector of a Scottish university.

I enjoyed this a lot – not only for the addition to my collection of academic murder mysteries – but for the tart dialogue, and even the ultimately annoying misdirection.

Keywords: reviews, books

The Killing of John Lennon, Bath Film Festival

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:54:34 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/214263.html

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0881934/

A dramatised depiction of the three months leading up to the death of John Lennon, from the perspective and through the actual words of Mark Chapman.

Interesting jumps in chronology and use of editing gave a sense of Chapman’s distorted and disjointed reality and highlighted his growing obsession with The Catcher in the Rye.

All credit to the Bath Film Festival for coaxing me in to see a film I wouldn’t usually have considered.

Keywords: reviews, films

Macbeth, Gielgud Theatre, London

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:45:42 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/214262.html

Let’s start with the major disappointment – no Patrick Stewart – or rather, a hoarse Patrick Stewart came on stage at the beginning to croak an apology for not appearing; at which point, some attention inevitably disappeared with him. The understudy did a creditable job in his absence, but there was inevitably an impact on quality.

The staging was interesting, with 1930s, totalitarian overtones. This worked extremely well in the beginning, with a real sense of menace, but the coherence was lost in the final battle scenes, which were essentially overgrown schoolboys running around the playground with their toy guns.

My favourite feature was the three witches represented by three ominous nurses in medical masks, whose appearances combined with projected images brought a real sense of surreal menace.

On a more light-hearted note, I was distracted by Lady Macbeth’s early appearance. In a glamorous evening dress and glossy black hair, but combined with an apron and a kitchen setting, it seemed more of a Nigella moment.

For a more positive view, with benefit of performance from Patrick Stewart (sigh), see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/06/04/btmacbeth104.xml

Keywords: reviews, theatre

Calamity Jane, Bath Theatre Royal

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 13:35:46 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/214259.html

“With the magic of a broom
She can mesmerise a room” (A woman’s touch)

Perhaps not one for the feminist lovers of musicals out there….

For a more balanced overview – http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/display.var.1816769.0.0.php

Keywords: reviews, theatre

He’s out of my life

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:36:44 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/210386.html

http://www.mp3lyrics.org/s/shirley-bassey/hes-out-of-my-life/

The bound copies of Venn have been posted off to OU central, and apparently the nice people in the Research School send me a degree in return.

It’s the end of the dead beardy bloke – It may cut like a knife, but he’s out of my life.

Keywords: John Venn, PhD thesis

Weak in the presence of beauty

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:15:38 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/202660.html

I’m now the proud owner of these shoes…

 http://www.lkbennett.com/products/shoes/shoescourts/shoescourtseveningoccasion/pearl/pid-28271red

I am poor but happy.

Keywords: objects of desire, shoes

Mark Thomas, As used on the famous Nelson Mandela

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:21:24 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/201303.html

The comic story of Thomas’ journey through the looking glass into the world of arms dealing, where a particular model of shackles are marketed with the unique selling point that they were used on Nelson Mandela.

 

I’ve been a fan of Thomas’ blend of political activism and satire for a while (particular favourite: a tanker of water delivered to a privatised water company with a track record of hosepipe bans, sent with the best wishes of the people of Ethiopia). The combination of sharp humour and appreciation of absurdity, with the cheeky chappie everyman persona is infinitely more appealing than the work of Michael Moore, whose slanted rhetoric tends to lose me after a while.

 

How can you go wrong with lines like the following?

• It was in December 2004 when one of the founding members of super-group Genesis helped me to finalise a transhipment of electro-shock batons to Zimbabwe before I headed off to the local primary-school winter fair.

 

Or the type of mind that comes up with a scenario where an undercover nun ends up exposing an Israeli arms deal? 

Keywords: reviews, books

Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:18:08 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/201302.html

The story of Calliope, a Greek-American, who is discovered at the age of fourteen to be a hermaphrodite. The story is not only that of Calliope but of three generations of the Stephanides family and of the family secret that gives rise to a genetic condition that manifests itself in Calliope.

 

A tangle of inter-connected themes around different types of identity: female and male sexuality, family relationships, and cultural roots. A combination of a wide-ranging multi-generational history spanning two continents and intricately detailed study of one person’s development. Beautifully written – five hundred pages just flew by.

 

A sign of the times – a book complete with a book club guide in the appendix.

Keywords: reviews, books

(yet more) Quality Strategy Network – annual conference, Aston University, 27-8 September 2007

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:52:26 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/201244.html

Joan Chandler, Interaction with professional bodies

 

A workmanlike survey of the difficulties of dealing with professional accreditation:

• Lack of clarity about expectations;
• Tensions internally regarding responsibility and requirements;
• Conflicts with institutional qa frameworks;
• Lack of clarity about accountability for the work involved;
• HERRG message: envisages a positive and proactive engagement but urges resisting unreasonable demands.

 

A useful characterisation of the types of professional accreditation:

• Accreditation of HE courses for professional entry e.g. Architecture and Engineering;
• Statutory, with legal powers to represent, e.g. Medicine;
• Regulatory, with regulatory and inspectorial function, e.g. OFSTED.

 

No new ideas here but timely and useful in terms of identifying questions for the forthcoming consultation on our institutional QA statement:

• Who is responsible for what? Relationship between departmental involvement and central oversight?
• Relationship between internal QA and professional accreditation?
• What is the protocol for the interface with the accrediting body?
• How can accreditation be a driver for internal qa?
• What are the variations between bodies?
• What is the balance between information-sharing and confidentiality?
• What are the cycles of activity – where is the duplication of effort and where is mutual support needed?
• How can internal and external reviews be dovetailed?
• Is corporate information fit for purpose for review?

Keywords: learning and teaching, quality management

(more) Quality Strategy Network – annual conference, Aston University, 27-8 September 2007

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:50:17 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/201243.html

Duncan Cockburn, Accountability and the Student Voice

 

A more heartening vision of student engagement based upon the Scottish quality enhancement model and recent work with the NUS.

 

Institutions are encouraged to think through their approach to the student voice:

• At the level of principle – what are the first principles of student involvement and what do we want to achieve, what are the desired outcomes, what then are the methods, tools and topics for discussion? Too often, institutions have a set of mechanisms for student involvement without having articulated their role;
• Encourage genuine dialogue to enhance the learning experience rather than address individual issues. Note recent research on SSLC minutes which often identify problems rather than ask students what are your ideas? A problem-based approach does not seem to sit well in a sector where students are on the whole satisfied with their experience – so how does one construct an agenda that aims to bring about improvements in learning and teaching? Such an approach has staff development implications for staff as well as students to enable each to understand their roles;
• Students can undertake a number of roles: as information providers (e.g. completer of surveys), as actor (collector and analyst of feedback), as expert (in learning and teaching), as partner (in a constructive dialogue about learning and teaching);

 

Further reading: current Scottish consultation on student involvement.

 

Useful to know:

• In April 2008, a clearing house of information on student involvement will be published by sparqs;
• IPSOS-Mori/NUS are bringing forward a document on how the National Student Survey has been used by Students’ Unions.

 

Practice elsewhere:

• A Finnish university where students identify academic staff development needs and develop the relevant workshops – with a high turn-out rate from the staff themselves;
• At Bradford, the draft annual monitoring report on a programme is sent to the SSLC for comment. Students are also asked to comment on new programme proposals.

A really inspiring presentation – a pity that the group discussion afterwards immediately descended into the detail of how institutions respond to National Student Survey results.

 

Group discussion on how to manage/lead on quality across an institution focused on the question, how to move from ritual to meaningful engagement?

• Briefing and cultivating understanding of what is going on – what we are doing and why we are doing it;
• Reaching a common understanding – sharing a common dataset of management information;
• Reaching beyond the ‘usual suspects’ by creating a variety of cross-cutting networks, identifying champions, pick up on particular projects as a way in, developing quality networks with partner institutions;
• Meeting the communication challenge – by creation of networks and nodal points; developing groups that cut across departments and schools; involving more junior staff in key activities.

Keywords: learning and teaching, student voice, quality management

Quality Strategy Network – annual conference, Aston University, 27-8 September 2007

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:48:48 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/201242.html

Keynote: Roger Brown, ‘ What future for quality assurance? Can quality assurance resist the market?’

 

Brown posits that the market represents a serious challenge to quality assurance and self-regulation. The key issue being who decides what quality is and what it is for. Whereas academic quality assurance looks to high standards of academic practice and the academy determines worth, quality in the marketplace is about consumer expectations and satisfaction.

 

On this basis he recommends that the sector:

• Needs to work together to resist balkanisation;
• Should stop crying wolf – explore instead the quality rather than the quantity of regulation;
• Provide more information about quality, e.g. detail what we are trying to achieve, how we are doing and how we plan to do better;
• Provide evidence for assertions of quality;
• Withdraw co-operation from commercial league tables;
• Be serious about student education;
• Improve academic practice, e.g. assessment.

 

An interesting if gloomy and slanted view. Thankfully in discussion one participant drew attention to what I regarded as a key gap in the argument as presented. Brown’s stark characterisation of students as consumers and part of the market ignores the model of academic governance set out in our statutes where students are members of an academic community alongside staff, and the educational model we claim to uphold where students have responsibilities as independent and engaged learners. What is the role of students as academic citizens rather than consumers in academic communities?

Keywords: quality management, student voice, learning and teaching

Barcelona III

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:00:40 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/195789.html

Enough culture – time to test out the local public transport: Metro, FGC train, as well as a quaint tram and an amazing funicular railway – in order to go up a mountain to Tibidabo.

 

Tibidabo – not a latin theme park but a long-established theme park in which some of the old rides, including a 1920s propeller aircraft, are still in operation. The main attractions for me were the view out over Barcelona from the top of the ferris wheel and from the aeroplane, the view across to a Norman Foster-designed communication tower, and the Museu d’automats.

 

The museum of automatons is crying out to be the location of a cheesy horror movie. It brings together over thirty automatons, some of which are over a hundred years old and in working order. Some are in the style of old fairground attractions – the fortune teller and the jazz band. Others are gory tableaux, including Crippen’s execution and the Inferno. A number of landscape models, including Tibidabo and its attractions, are included, and the art-form is brought up to date with an automaton of three monkeys on a bicycle on a highwire. I was delighted and spooked (by the automaton of the old woman with the hairy chin and the shrugging shoulders) in equal parts.   

Keywords: travel

George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:59:37 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/195788.html

A bit of an obvious choice for a trip to Barcelona but worthwhile for the way it opened up for me a war about which I knew very little. Guidebooks talk in broad terms about the damage done during the Civil War, so it was good to add more colourful detail – I couldn’t help contrasting Orwell’s romantic description of the stand-off between Communists and Anarchists on La Ramblas in 1937 with the interminable present day march of the capitalist tourist army.

 

Also, much amused by Orwell’s description of the Sagrada Familia as ‘one of the most hideous buildings in the world’, voicing the opinion that ‘the Anarchists showed bad taste in not blowing it up when they had the chance…’.

Keywords: reviews, books

Barcelona II

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:58:56 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/195787.html

In contrast with the scale and relative simplicity of Roman and mediaeval Barcelona, the scale and style of Modernist Barcleona was overwhelming.

 

The Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera and the Parc Guell caused sensory overload. Inspired by Nature, but a fantastical and contrived nature. Hyper-reality – with not a straight line in sight, and every surface covered in elaborate detail and jewel-like colour. As a good Stoke-girl, I couldn’t help but note the use of ceramic collage and hexagonal tiling ….not quite Minton, but then what is?!! It was impossible to take everything in – fortunately, the stunning photographs of Marc Llimargas (in Gaudi: habitat, naturaleza y cosmos) pick out the beautiful details.

 

Ironically, the Sagrada Familia, still incomplete, has, in contrast to the Eglesia de Santa Maria del Mar, developed over time, with its style evolving.  After so much elaborate detail, it was a relief to see the more familiar modernism of Subirachs.

 

The variety within Modernism was also evident elsewhere. Alongside Gaudi’s Casa Batllo (known as the house of bones because of its appearance), is Casa Amatller by Cadafalch which is closer in style to the highly decorated gothic of Pugin. Just around the corner  is the Fundacio Antoni Tapies – a more industrial rather than naturalistic style of gothic modernism (topped off by the modern addition by Tapies of a barbed wire crown to the building).

 

The Fundacio Antoni Tapies was where I cleansed my palate after the modernist excesses. I was struck by Tapies recently at the Tate, but knew very little more about him, so this was a happy coincidence. It was also, in contrast to the tourist queues around every Gaudi exhibit, largely deserted. I like Tapies’ blend of material and form in ‘matter painting’, subverting the conventions of painting by using the boards backing a painting as the surface; integrating unusual materials such as newspaper, cardboard and marble dust into paintings.

Archivist’s note: the integration of the library into the building was nicely done, with older shelving stacks integrated into the main space through glass screens.

Keywords: travel

Melvyn Bragg, 12 Books That Changed the World

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:55:38 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/195786.html

Not, the author was at pains to point out, THE 12 books that changed the world, but A 12 books. As light reading in short bursts while sitting in pavement cafes, this was enjoyable. I liked the quotation from Marie Stopes:

‘A husband is a convenient part of the furniture of a house…I wish you, from my soul, to be riveted in my heart: but I do not desire to have you always at my elbow’.

 

There was a tendency to attribute causal links between later developments to particular works, but on the whole this suggested some interesting further reading.

 

The definition of a ‘book’ was somewhat stretched to incorporate materials that made themselves into book or printed form, such as the Magna Carta. The focus was as much upon 12 great ideas as the book format – which opened up for me the idea of the book itself as something that changed the world. No mention here of the printing press, the output of which had allowed for the dissemination of great ideas.

Keywords: reviews, books

Barcelona I

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:54:49 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/195785.html

I started with the mediaeval and Roman elements. There are perhaps fewer pure survivals of given periods than in other cities, such as Rome, but the enjoyment is to be had in wandering through a maze of narrow streets with tall overhanging tenement buildings, which are still living, working buildings.

 

Particular highlights were the geese in the cathedral cloisters; the quiet and cool courtyard and fountain of the Archdeacon’s house (containing an archive!); the courtyard of the Museu d’Historia de la Cuitat and the Placa del Rei; the remains of the Temple Roma d’Augusti tucked away in the internal courtyard of a building (the remains apparently being hoovered by cleaners when I visited); and the simplicity of the Eglesia de Santa Maria del Mar (a church in pure gothic style as the result of a single point of construction in about 70 years). In a city obsessed with modernism, these areas weren’t crowded – in the Eglesia de Sants Just i Pastor, I was the only person in the church. 

 

Museu Picasso may seem like a bit of chronological leap, but it is situated in adjoining mediaeval houses – features of which, such as the courtyards and the decorated ceilings are still in tact (although it attracts strange looks from the attendants if you wander around looking at those instead of the art). Not keen on Picasso’s early work – which forms the primary part of this collection. The visit was rescued by the late Picasso series based on Velazquez’ Las Meninas and the temporary exhibition of the work of Lee Miller, Picasso en Privat. The photographic exhibition showed Picasso’s greatest product, himself, alongside his portraits of Miller and examples of her other work, such as her photographs of liberated concentration camps and of Hollywood stars, like Dietrich.

 

In contrast, a big thumbs up to the café situated in the courtyard of the Textile Museum just across the street, and to the small shops and restaurants in the surrounding streets.

Keywords: travel

Charlie Connelly, Attention all shipping

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:30:30 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/195783.html

I was facing a week in Barcelona without Radio 4 and so took a piece of Radio 4 with me.

 

I blame Dave Gorman…and Bill Bryson…and Michael Palin… for the current generation of travel challenges undertaken by a likeable everyman to whom nice people and gently amusing things happen. This is another in the series – a tour of each of the areas named in the shipping forecast, mixing personal encounters with historical survey.

 

Some nice factoids about the structure of the shipping forecast and its development, with comments on British attitudes, such as the ironic and disproportionate xenophobic reaction against the renaming of Finisterre (Finis Terrae) after the progenitor of the forecast, an Englishman Fitzroy.

 

What was missing was a sense of the personal journey made by the author. There were a series of trips, each interesting in its own way but with no sense of progression.

Keywords: reviews, books

Inspiration

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:40:52 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/191200.html

Just back in the office after an afternoon attending presentations given by student interns – students who don’t have a placement opportunity as part of their programme of study, who have participated in a paid summer intern scheme in the University’s administration.

The projects were varied – enhancing resources for placements, developing a Moodle course for students new to VLEs, data analysis on international students, marketing in the Print Design Unit, reviewing Security service processes, developing new resources for student academic representation. What was common to all of them was a clear professional commitment to the roles they had taken on and a high level of satisfaction of the managers in charge who had achieved additional projects as a result of the availability of this additional resource.

 From a learning and teaching perspective, it was a real delight :

• to work with students with strong skills and professionalism;
• to see the high level of reflection in the presentations through which the impact of the placement experience could clearly be assessed;
• to observe that the majority of the internships involved students making an impact on the future experience of other students through their contributions to projects on student satisfaction, student representation, placements and e-learning.

Keywords: placements, learning and teaching, higher education

Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:52:48 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/190991.html

Strange. Funny. Inventive.

  Take a chrono-synclastic infundibulum that pitches a man and his dog into a god-like existence outside the known boundaries of space and time, and reach the realisation that even this man, together with the whole of human history as we know it, is pre-determined by Tralfamadorians trying to respond to an SOS from a missing messenger. Maybe it loses something in the synopsis. Think science fiction does ‘why are we here?’.

Another in the nicely produced series of Gollancz SF…

Keywords: reviews, books

Val McDermid, The Grave Tattoo

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:47:26 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/190990.html

I usually enjoy McDermid’s books. The quality of her writing is a good deal higher than that of a lot of modern crime fiction. However, my interest in this book palled. The central conceit of a literary mystery paralleled by a modern murder just didn’t engage me …and of course, the amateur scholar-sleuth seems more affected by the fate of the manuscript rather than the growing pile of bodies. This is the same scholar-sleuth who gives academe a bad name by constructing a hypothesis out of a lack of negative evidence and with methods too random to be called research, and who skips out on term-time teaching in order to pursue a hunch. Of course, she ‘keeps it real’ on a council estate keeping a bright girl on the right side of the tracks…..GRRRR.

Sour grapes?…’She was gradually coming to realize that the bureaucracy of television made university administrators look like amateurs’ (pp.52-3)….surely not.

Keywords: reviews, books

Malcolm Pryce, Don’t Cry for Me Aberystwyth

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:41:30 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/190989.html

I love this series. Welsh noir is the most wonderfully constructed genre. This is a world where local debt collectors confess to murder in order to claim the reward  of a first edition work by Kierkegaard offered by a woman who may or may not be the Queen of Sweden…where the harp-player in the stove pipe hat from Kousin Kevin’s Krazy Komedy Kamp is Santa’s moll…and where Mrs Llantrisant, the former char-lady, is the criminal mastermind of a gang of druids.

The publisher has also gone to a decent amount of effort with the production – including a nice note on the history of the type used.

Keywords: reviews, books

Peter Kay, The Sound of Laughter

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:36:11 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/190988.html

Developing a bit of a retro theme…

  On the whole, I enjoyed this – largely for the familiarity of the cultural reference points and a childhood in a working class family in the 1970s and 1980s. Not so keen on the ‘I’m a writer, writing this’ meta structure binding the narrative together – the story-telling was strong enough to stand on its own.

Keywords: reviews, books

Travis Holland, The Archivist’s Story

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:11:01 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/190982.html

I love spending Sunday morning in Blackwells…. 

Set in Moscow on the eve of the Second World War, this novel captures the flavour of the Stalinist Soviet Union nicely. The ‘hero’ is an archivist in the Lubyanka moved to personal rebellion by a love of literature. The novel has a beautiful sense of stillness, a combination of the all-encompassing paranoia, the phlegmatic Russian acceptance of the hardships of life and the inertia of the Soviet machine. This is underlined by a narrative structure where the key events happen off-stage – characters disappear to some unspoken fate or try to escape the system, the archivist awaits some unknown reaction from the State, and on the world stage, Hitler invades Poland.  The other motif is the play upon the archivist’s stock in trade – record and memory: the archivist’s mother is losing her memory; the archivist’s job is to catalogue and destroy the records of imprisoned writers; his own acts of rebellion include the preservation of a manuscript and the creation of disorder in the archive in order to delay the act of destruction even momentarily.

Keywords: reviews, books

A and R Kenny, Can Oxford be improved?

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:59:36 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/190516.html

http://canoxfordbeimproved.wordpress.com/

An interesting mixture of highly accessible exposition of Oxford governance and reform, informed by the personal experience of a former Master of Balliol; and a manifesto for change brought forward in the aftermath of Oxford’s rejection of the Hood reforms, reminiscent of the nineteenth century pamphlets for University reform.

I’m predisposed to favour a work a) co-authored by a man whose work on Aquinas gave me the building blocks to scrape through a final year paper on Mediaeval Political Thought and b) that gives due regard to J.H. Newman’s The Idea of the University in the first chapter.

The explanation of Oxford’s govenance system and the recent (c.1800 onwards) history of reform was rendered accessible in form through use of personal experience and in length, covering ground that spanned three volumes of the The History of the University of Oxford.

 I was less convinced by the recommendations made – not from strong disagreement with their content, but a feeling that the evidence presented about the financial state of Oxford and the conclusions drawn in the mid section of the book did not do justice to the particular recommendations being made. Having said that, I look forward to the debate that I hope will ensue.

Keywords: books, reviews, higher education

Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le pacte des loups)

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:11:14 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/189230.html

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0237534/

How to describe this?

• werewolf movie
• costume drama set in 18th century France
• dubbed martial arts action….

….actually, all of the above. Yes, really.

What more could you ask for….except perhaps the excision of the annoying aristocratic romantic interest in favour of the enigmatic Italian prostitute…and a slightly more crisp ending.

Keywords: films, reviews

The Simpsons Movie

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:59:03 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/189229.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462538/

We went to see this after a failed attempt to get tickets for Hairspray (remake of John Waters movie with John Travolta in drag outsells family cartoon during school holidays – discuss).

I loved the satirical digs at every side of the environmentalist cause; and even tolerated the slapstick. My main criticism would be that in taking the Simpsons outside Springfield for part of the movie , there wasn’t enough time for the remainder of the cast of characters (Mr Burns, Principal Skinner etc) to shine.

I’m now waiting avidly for Spiderpig to get his own spin-off series.

Keywords: films, reviews

Blogs in learning and teaching

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 07:43:59 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/185868.html

Report and briefing paper from the Higher Education Academy on the use of weblogs to encourage reflective learning in history:

http://www.hca.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/Briefing_Papers/Using_weblogs_to_encourage_Reflective_Learning_in_History.php 

http://www.hca.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/TDG/reports/Using_weblogs_to_encourage_Reflective_Learning_in_History.php

Keywords: blogs

Anthony Gormley, Blind Light, Haywood Gallery

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 08:50:54 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/183695.html

Bad thing – being stuck in London as a result of flooding. Good thing – having time to visit this exhibition a couple of times and reflect on the following aspects:

• the recurring theme of the human body – cast, drawn or pixellated; abstracted sculpture or living, breathing participant;
• the participative relationship between the observer and the art -most obviously in the Blind light installation itself but also in other places like in Drawn, where the audience is invited into and becomes part of a contrast to the cast bodies positioned in each corner of the room. Similarly, in Hatch, selected participants negotiate the interior of the scylpture,being observed through kaleidoscopic spyholes on the exterior;
• the relationship between the sculptural and the architectural, as shown in the placing of cast figures on a familiar skyline in Event Horizon. In Allotment II, based upon a series of measurements taken from individual subjects, each figure is ‘housed’ in the smallest architectural space possible for those dimensions. There was no doubt throughout that this was not only a Gormley exhibition but Gormley at the Haywood. Selected sculptures merged with the gallery walls, others were bounded by integral features of the gallery such as staircases, and the thirty figures of Event Horizon signposted the location of the exhibition. The blurring of traditional professional boundaries, between art, architecture and engineering, is also evident from the exhibition credits, which acknowledge the contribution of academics and architects as well as sponsors and curators;
• the reversal of perspectives embodied in the relationship between the audience in the gallery looking out at the figures of Event Horizon that are each facing in towards the gallery. Similarly, a number of the sculptures are built around a void, defining the shape of the human body, e.g. Ferment and Flare which are constructed like models of molecules from wire around a void of a human body; and Mother’s pride where a foetal void is eaten out of a bread mosaic (okay, reading that last phrase back, I admit it sounds a little strange);
• the physical contrast between large installations like Space station, that take up whole rooms, or, in the case of Event Horizon, a large part of the Thames skyline, with the small intimate drawings and paintings, such as Body and Light.

Keywords: reviews, art

Molière

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:30:28 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/183388.html

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0796335/

Basically, Shakespeare in Love with subtitles: highly enjoyable nonetheless.

Keywords: reviews, films

Jed Rubenfield, The interpretation of murder

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 07:56:44 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/181840.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Interpretation-Murder-Jed-Rubenfeld/dp/0755331427/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/203-3186510-7855120?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183967647&sr=8-1

Freud and Jung, in New York at the start of the twentieth century, become  involved in the psycho-analysis and detection of a murder. Fictional events are inserted into a historical setting and framed by Freudian theory and the beginning of the academic split between Freud and Jung.

The idea isn’t a new one – for example, Jane Austen has been developed as a character in a series of murder mysteries (there’s probably a parlour game/blog discussion in there somewhere about unlikeliest combination of historical character and murder mystery). What works here are the parallels between the academic development of psycho-sexual analysis and the practical application in understanding the motivation for crime.

The setting of early twentieth century New York was nicely evoked, with striking contrasts between the higher echelons and the poorer strata of society. The denouement wasn’t entirely convincing, and some of the red herrings were a little contrived, but well enough written to keep me reading through to the end in the space of an afternoon.

Keywords: reviews, books

4: rise of the silver surfer

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 07:53:16 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/181839.html

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0486576/ 

Not called the ‘Fantastic’ Four in the UK for trades description reasons – allegedly.

Personally, I was disappointed to find out that this wasn’t the latest Al Gore documentary probing internet use among the over sixties.

Keywords: reviews, films

David Mitchell, Black Swan Green

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 12:01:07 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/180910.html

www.blackswangreen.co.uk

An impulse buy on a three for two offer, read on a rainy Saturday afternoon by the seaside.

The evocation of period, the music and domestic detail (Findus crispy pancakes and Angel delight anyone?) were note perfect. I was transported back to my own first year of middle school – the boredom, the complex social hierarchies and the considerable effort invested in remaining invisible.

The only element that didn’t ring true was the sheer volume of ‘external’ events – the encounters with gypsies, the old woman in the wood etc. Even in an episodic narrative taking place over the course of a year, too much ‘happened’ – even if the events are intended to function purely allegorically. Any child of the late seventies and early eighties remembers the yawning empty spaces where nothing much happened…or was that just childhood in Stoke?

Keywords: reviews, books

UBS openings, Tate Modern

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 11:52:54 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/180909.html

A rainy afternoon in London a couple of weeks ago and a lengthy queue for the Gormley exhibition at the Haywood resulted in an enjoyable hour spent in Tate Modern exploring the open modern collections.

A strange mixture of works, some familar, others less so. I particularly enjoyed:

• seeing a Rothko panel from the early 1950s alongside a Monet Waterlilies panel. The Rothko was lighter and more delicately executed than the Seagram murals in the next room. In the space of two paintings, it was possible to see the progression between impressionism and abstract expressionism;
• a room of works by Lousie Bourgeois and Francis Bacon  on the theme of bio-morphism. Disturbing but an exciting taster for the Bourgeois exhibition later this year;
• an artist new to me, Antoni Tapies, whose ‘painting’ incorporated use of clay/stone dust, giving it a sculptural quality.

Keywords: reviews, art

Understanding and managing student expectations, Quality Strategy Network symposium, 14.vi.2007

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:07:00 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/178308.html

Keith Bartlett, Managing student expectations in a small specialist HEI (NSAD)

Interesting to see the definition of QME principles in a different type of institution:

• that all staff and student have a role to play in enhancement of the student experience;
• that close engagement with students is necessary to effective QME;
• that the goal of systems and procedures is continual enhancement of the student and staff experience.

NSAD pays particular attention to the quality of information provided to students and applicants as a key part of managing and understanding student expectations. There is also emphasis on involvement of students in enhancement actions taken as a result of student feedback.

The key themes of their approach are partnership with students, quality of information and shared responsibilities.

Sue Frost, Managing student expectations in collaborative provision (Huddersfield)

• Interesting project with Chinese partner to look at encouraging the culture of questioning and challenging ideas typical to British higher education among groups of students who come from different educational cultures.

Jack Aitken, Student involvement in quality processes at Glasgow

• Noted the evidence emerging of the limited effectiveness of e-methods of surveying student opinion, except via the VLE (which also offers a means of targetting and branding surveys);
• Glasgow is looking at incentivising participation in quality practices, for example, by picking out aspects of good practice identified in reviews/monitoring and offering small amounts of time/money to the staff concerned to develop and disseminate the work.

Alistair Nicoll, Listening to students – understanding and managing the student experience (Sheffield)

• Looking not just to measure satisfaction but to identify ‘promoters’ – those who would actively advocate or positively promote a service or institution;
• Recognises cultural change whereby a single advocate can influence a whole community online;
• Places less emphasis on high response rates to surveys and more upon checking the sense of the message and responding to it;
• Investment of time in tailored information and presentation of key messages at the level of the service or department;
• Using NSS results as a KPI for departments in targetted annual review process;
• Test out NSS questions on students not in final year, which builds trend data;
• Has recently undertaken survey on success in delivering study skills to identify areas where help is most needed.

Has established a cycle:

• measure ment of satisfaction;
• communication of results;
• action planning;
• action deployment
• communication about what has been done.

Keywords: higher education, student voice

Viva

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:45:08 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/178299.html

Darn it – foiled in my attempt to set a record for the longest ever PhD registration by examiners who insisted upon being reasonable and friendly!!

The viva was over in about an hour; my main achievement being self-restraint in not pointing out to my examiners the full range of the deficiencies of my thesis.

The result was a recommendation for award subject to minor typographical corrections (the irony of this was not lost on my colleagues who are accustomed to my ….let’s say, attention to detail (!?) regarding the written word.

Keywords: John Venn, PhD thesis

Think-piece

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 11:17:25 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/177335.html

The QAA has commissioned a ‘think-piece’ from a ‘think and do tank’, nef, visioning quality higher education in 2017. nef [sic] aims to ’stimulate debate about a new economics – an economics as if people and the planet mattered’. Apparently nef are ‘unique in combining rigorous analysis and policy debate with practical solutions’. One of nef’s cited achievements is securing ‘debt forgiveness’.

In the words of Stephen Fry, some people have a way with words, and some people…no have way. 

Keywords: higher education, rants

Paul Ramsden, Why enhancement is the future of quality assurance (QAA subscribers meeting, 5.vi.2007)

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 11:16:21 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/177334.html

Ramsden looked at the complex relationship between qa and qe. The main thrust of his argument was that the most compelling argument for a closer relationship between qa and qe in learning and teaching is the resonance with broader academic culture:

• that there are parallels to academic approaches and values – both are evidence based, questioning and challenging in approach;
• that there are parallels to standard academic practice in research and teaching where a distinction between enhancement and assurance is not necessarily drawn, e.g. peer review of an article for a journal entails a summative judgement on standards as well as feedback and advice on enhancement of the content.

To link qa and qe is therefore, Ramsden argues, to work with the ‘academic grain’, to harmonise with academic values, being relevant and appropriate and therefore minimising the risk of quality being perceived as marginal. By academic grain, Ramsden means peer review, recognition of appropriate academic difference, rigour of approach, encouraging experiement and innovation, and parallelling the values and practice of learning and teaching and research and scholarship.

He identified a number of guiding principles and aspects 1for consideration:

• a focus on learning (student experience and outcomes, not just teaching or student satisfaction);
• a focus on shared academic values and a shared approach to quality management;
• the use of systematic links between qa and qe to maximise effectiveness;
• the need for managerial drivers (such as resources) and collegial drivers (e.g. peer review) to be in harmony;
• operation at multiple levels (individual, discipline, institution);
• shared culture of self-evaluation and reflection for improvement;
• the use of incentives;
• establishing a demand for high standards;
• focus on academic leadership;
• alignment with institutional and national culture;
• openness to change and other experiences (e.g. benchmarking).

One subsequent discussion point was around the extent to which enhancement activity can be shown to have results. This links through to the Institutional Audit perspective on quality enhancement, which looks for evidence of the institutional steps taken to encourage quality enhancement, and ask institutions to provide evidence of the ways in which they (the institutions) assure themselves that this has been effective.

At one level this can be about quantitative data – progression, student satisfaction etc – with all of the questions about desirability and applicability that these entail. However, in the example I had in mind, annual thematic good practice discussions, the concrete outcomes (the actions taken up at various points of the organisation) are only one part of the picture. There is a ’softer’ outcome – that in the midst of meetings that are largely devoted to processing the ‘quality business’ of learning and teaching, such as review reports and programme approval, there is a space that is set aside for academic staff to make use of their meeting discuss their practice and broaden their knowledge of the practice of their peers. How does one measure the institutional steps taken to  create a culture or ethos of quality enhancement?

Keywords: quality management, higher education

G.W. Dahlquist, The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:20:28 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/177109.html

www.glassbooks.co.uk

A chase thriller with touches of fantastical, erotic and science fiction. A mysterious cabal has mastered a transforming process and aims to gain political and social control through the hypnotic and blackmailing potential of dreams captured in glass books. Overall, this had some touches of imagination and originality but was overlong, and relied upon too many cartoon-like confrontations in which the heroes managed to slip through the grasp of inefficient and talkative villains.

 

I have to confess that the main attraction for me in the first instance was the format rather than the content. Late in 2006, a limited edition version of the story was released in ten weekly instalments posted out to subscribers. The obvious comparison was with the nineteenth century periodical releases of novels, such as those by Dickens. The cover design referenced a period style as did the ‘advertisements’ printed on the end leaves. This was a playful touch – the advertisements referred to products and services mentioned within the story itself.

 

In terms of story-telling technique, the weekly format didn’t quite work. Each segment was told from the perspective of a different protagonist. As a result, a cliff-hanger at the end of one section wasn’t necessarily picked up at the start of the next section – a character could effectively be left hanging for a couple of weeks. With my limited attention span, I often had to refer back to check where a particular strand of the story had been left.

Keywords: reviews, books

Celia Whitchurch, Professional managers in UK Higher Education: preparing for complex futures (Interim report for the Leadership Foundation)

Tue, 29 May 2007 07:37:47 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/173917.html

This interim report examines the developing roles of professional managers in higher education, in particular drawing attention to the breakdown of a clear divide between academic and non-academic roles, resulting in managers/administrators with ‘hybrid identities’; and the resulting need for a new understanding of administrative/management functions. It provides a useful survey of aspects of the tensions and ambiguities within current definitions: the management versus administrative functions; the administrator versus the academic; the generalist versus the specialist; loyalty to the department, the institution or to the profession; and knowledge-based versus skill-based progression.

 

The parameters of this report are explicitly set to focus upon a perceived gap in current understanding, that of the role of the professional manager. As a result, one fruitful area that is left comparatively unexplored is the interface between understanding of academic identity and function and that of HE administrators/managers. The idea of multi-layered professional identities may be relatively new when applied to HE administration/management, but it has been a longstanding feature of debates about academic identity and function. This is evident in the historiography of academic identity, which has sought to tease out elements of research, scholarship and teaching functions; and mapping local and cross-institutional loyalties to a discipline alongside institutional location and status. It is also present in a different sense in current discussions taking place in various research-intensive institutions as to the modes of defining and rewarding contributions to learning and teaching. Any understanding of administrative/managerial identity has to be informed by an understanding of how this fits with the academic functions and communities that are core to the existence of a university.

 

An area that is touched upon briefly in the interim report is the influence upon the formation of professional identity of aspects such as networks, mentoring and aspiration. Arguably, in a profession (or professions) that are not defined by formal entry requirements (in contrast with the practise of law or medicine), these ‘softer’ elements of professional culture assume a greater importance. Similarly, in a landscape in which boundaries between the academic and the non-academic are blurred, what distinguishes an academic performing an administrative function and an administrator in a quasi-academic role? This may be a matter of where individual practitioners look to for role models, the networks that they look to for support and the areas in which they seek progression.

 

One gripe regarding style: ‘revisioning’, ‘transitioning’, hybridity’ – the ‘academic civil servants’ of previous generations would not have been impressed.

Keywords: professional identity, higher education

Robin Cooper, The Timewaster Letters

Tue, 29 May 2007 07:35:26 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/173916.html

http://www.robincooper.co.uk/index.php?page=books

The concept: absurd letters sent to a series of organisations and businesses printed together with the oh-so-polite responses, e.g. a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury asking ‘As a religious man could you perhaps give me a few tips as to the best way to set up an entirely new world religion’. Unfortunately, the Archbishop was unable to help.

 

In contrast, all credit to the secretary to the British Halibut Association, who, in response to the letter

‘I am writing to tell you that last night my wife cooked me a piece of halibut. It was bloody lovely’

responded with similar enthusiasm

‘I have sent a copy of your letter to the board of directors of the Association. As it happens, I too had a halibut steak on Saturday…and it was blooming marvellous.’

 

It’s hard not to feel some sympathy for the customer services department of Debenhams, obliged by service standards and a concern for reputation to deal with an enquiry about a shoelace lost in one of their stores in a tone of effusive helpfulness.

Keywords: reviews, books

Facebook

Thu, 17 May 2007 17:18:21 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/170811.html

On a personal level, Facebook is my online equivalent of reading Heat magazine – not exactly edifying, more in the realm of guilty pleasure. Oooh, X has changed their romantic status….Y has joined the Oatcake appreciation society …there’s an Oatcake appreciation society? Must join….

However, professionally, it has stimulated an interesting office discussion on student online identities and use of social networking, linked with thoughts on potential uses e.g. for advertising events or prizes; or, on a larger scale, fostering communities of students about to come up to University. There are contrasting views out there about how far an ‘official’ institutional presence in MySpace or Facebook can be a new creative route for institutional communication or simply akin to dad dancing at a family party – best summed up as Warwick v. Swansea.

At another level, Universities may no longer be in loco parentis but there is an institutional duty of care combined with a concern for the future employability of students, that means guidance is needed to educate students to think about the potential future implications of their online identity, as Cornell has done. This makes it a matter for University administrators.

Online fashions change – today it’s Facebook, maybe Twitter the day after. There’s food for thought here too on how institutions approach the planning of provision of their e-tools.

Keywords: social networks, higher education

Alexander McCall Smith, The Sunday Philosophy Club

Mon, 07 May 2007 10:54:24 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/168632.html

http://www.amazon.com/Sunday-Philosophy-Club-Dalhousie-Mystery/dp/0375422986

I wanted to like this, I really did. I had enjoyed the genteel pace and idiosyncratic approach of the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and was looking forward to what McCall Smith could do with a mystery novel set in Edinburgh.

Within one hundred pages I was bored.

The scenario is that a spinster of independent means becomes interested in the death of a young man she sees fall to his death at a concert. The unique selling point is meant to be that the woman, the editor of a journal of applied ethics, encounters a number of ethical dilemnas in real life.

Unfortunately, the premise just wasn’t engaging. It was hard to feel any interest in the characters. One ‘dilemna’ in particular, ’should I tell my niece her boyfriend is cheating on her?’, was drawn straight from the pages of a teenage problem page. Finally, the sense of place – so evident for Rebus in Edinburgh or Morse in Oxford – was lacking. 

 Within two hundred pages, I had given up reading.

Keywords: books, reviews

e-Portfolios

Thu, 03 May 2007 08:56:20 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/167982.html

Interesting and useful meeting with colleagues from the secondary education sector yesterday. They have achieved beacon status to work on skills development. Points to remember:

• hitherto, we have been thinking in terms of the need for capacity to enable export portability of e-portfolios. We will need to revisit this to ensure we enable import of e-portfolios started in secondary education;
• if a reflective discourse is started in secondary education, this potentially changes the dynamic and content of what we are looking at in terms of academic orientation and academic skills development in HE;
• a ‘portfolio’ approach to PDP – i.e. a range of tools and support to PDP, from free form blogging to highly structured with prompts – makes sense.

Keywords: PDP

Paola Jacobbi, I want those shoes

Wed, 02 May 2007 15:47:15 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/167841.html

The first post-thesis book – and a chance to catch up on Christmas gifts (thanks  Peter). 

Not intended to be a major contribution to social thought or literature, but a few excellent facts (or, if not facts, excellent enough that I don’t want to check their veracity):

• did you know that the fore-runner of the pointed shoe, the poulaine, was prohibited by a papal bull in 1486 as it was considered to be a symbol of indecent vantiy;
• the point at which Hamlet accuses Ophelia of being vain, making reference to ‘you jig, you amble’ is thought by some Shakespeare scholars and fashion historians to refer to chopines, platform heels Elizabethan style.

 Fluffy in the extreme, but with the plus points of not being a nineteenth century theological or logical tract; and hard to dislike a book that recognises the need to devote a separate chapter to red shoes.

Keywords: reviews, shoes, books

Big E-Venn-t

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 14:43:13 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/167169.html

Woo-Hoo!! (and other meaningful quotations from Blur’s Song2)

…the thesis (aka ThatWhichWillNotBeNamed aka The Dead Beardy Bloke aka the Dead Clergy) has been handed in. Viva should take place in early June.

Keywords: PhD thesis, John Venn

‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’…

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:17:54 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/165209.html

…heard playing on Radio Vaticana yesterday. Given the lyrics, does this indicate a doctrinal shift…?

Thesis live: the European tour

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:14:46 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/165208.html

Proof-reading in Rome and a new approach to sight-seeing:

• chapters on childhood and student life in a cafe-bar just south of Fontana di Trevi;
• chapter on curacies in a cafe close to Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore;
• chapters on academic life in a bar close to Basilica di San Clemente;
• and a very stylish conclusion while loitering with a glass of wine on the Piazza Navona.

Why is this not in the Research Councils’ list of required generic research skills?

Keywords: John Venn, PhD thesis

Identity 2.0

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:06:15 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/165207.html

http://www.identity20.com/media/OSCON2005/

 Excellent presentation by Dick Hardt, CEO of Sxip identity on the new generation of online identity management: understandable even to a non-techie like me, and a master class in presentation style.

Keywords: e-learning

Thesis Live: the libraries tour

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 15:51:21 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/162549.html

Four libraries in as many days:

• University of Bath (prizes for opening hours and the best chaise longue)
• University of Birmingham (commended for opening up manuscript collections without prior appointment)
• British Library (best in show for prompt book-fetching, reader spaces and quality of caffeine)
• University of Cambridge (lifesaver award for open access bookstacks and commendation for tea room).

Oh, and I pulled together the final draft of ThatWhichShallNotBeNamed within word limit….

Keywords: libraries, PhD thesis

Plagiarism in statistics assessment

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 10:35:12 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/159723.html

http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/archives/pisa.html

Note a new project on plagiarism detection and deterrance in statistics, with the aim of gathering and disseminating practice.

Keywords: plagiarism

PhD – The Final Countdown

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 13:01:58 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/158279.html

A tough decision this week – to apply for one final extension of one month, moving the final submission date to end of April. It was an immense disappointment, but there was a distinct sense of relief once the decision was made – and having seen progress thus far, my supervisor is supportive, and has been reassured that this is not just a case of being unable to let go!

This means two things: firstly, proof-reading will take place on a piazza in Rome (it’s a tough life), and secondly, I can submit a thesis with which I am more satisfied.

So, on this basis, the list of things to do is as follows:

• reshape final chapter
• write conclusion
• compile bibliography
• full-read through to ensure flow of argument and elimination of repetition
• tie up loose ends, e.g. literature reviews, refs to recent works, checking odd footnotes and references
• proofing and formatting
• read-through from supervisor – with time to incorporate/respond to comments
• read-through from critical friend

Keywords: PhD thesis, John Venn

Gilbert and George, Tate Modern, London

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:25:04 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/155909.html

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/gilbertandgeorge/

Mixed feelings about this – best summed up by ‘I preferred their early work’.

Highlights were:

• the ‘postal sculptures’ – the series of themed engraved cards that were distributed over a period of time;
• the delicacy of the early ‘charcoal on paper sculptures’ including the two self-portraits hanging at the entrance of the exhibition which were aged and sealed to give them the look of a charter;
• the early use of rectangular grids, where a set of images of Gilbert and George or of bamboo were used as a frame for a main image, like ‘Dead Boards’.

It was interesting to read that the use of charcoal was abandoned in part as people were concentrating on the technique – to me, so much of this exhibition was as interesting because of the technique rather than for the final product: for example, the serious challenge of producing largescale photographic panels as part of a larger artwork using projection onto photo-sensitive paper, in the days before cutting and pasting of digital images – or the process of producing the red sculpture album, assembled out of constituent images.

From the perspective of a caffeine addict, it is impossible to dislike an exhibition that has an espresso bar stuffed in the middle – less keen on it being accompanied by the gift shop, even if I was tempted by a wooden toy:

Keywords: reviews, art

Grumpy Older Woman

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 17:55:21 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/155907.html

I now have a superbeast PDA to accompany my superbeast mobile phone – it is now possible for me to mastermind a world takeover based on the contents of my handbag…if only I could understand the operating system… 

The PDA does not count as an object of desire, BUT in order to keep my PDA warm in winter and looking stylish in meetings, a colleague has kindly contributed the ultimate in hand-crocheted covers.

In order to share this with the world, I have at least mastered the camera function on my phone.

Keywords: objects of desire

Grumpy Old Woman

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:39:47 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/154232.html

Summary: I have a new mobile phone and I am old.

Firstly, the salesman and I spoke different languages. I expressed a desire for a new phone – he interpreted this as an opportunity to provide me with an MP3 player, a camera and a hands-free kit. He also offered me something in pink.

Needless to say, when I got the new superbeast home, the last thing it wanted to do was function as a phone. Nope, the SIM card got blocked because it refused to recognise my password. I then had the joy of spending ten minutes this morning on hold, being told that my custom was valued and laboriously typing in numbersand choosing options, only to be required to repeat all the information once I reached the operator.

 I still have no idea how to operate the darned thing, but worst of all, two weeks before my birthday, the superbeast is a tangible reminder that I am old and that however fluent I may eventually manage to become, I am not a ‘native’ of this generation of technology.

Keywords: rants

Primeval, ITV1, 10 February 2007

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 12:34:31 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/152922.html

A maverick scientist who fails to turn up to seminars with his students and brushes unread drafts of students’ theses into the wastepaper bin, preferring instead to investigate a potential hole in space-time being used by dinosaurs.

 

A sad reinforcement of the sector’s prioritisation of research over teaching, and such blatant disregard for the precepts of the QAA Code of Practice on Research Degree Provision regarding effective supervision…tsk.

Keywords: higher education, television

Hogarth, Tate Britain, London

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 12:28:31 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/152920.html

 http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/hogarth/default.shtm

Enjoyable but no surprises. The undoubted highlights were the famous series (Harlot’s progress, Rake’s progress, Marriage a la mode) and the social commentary (Gin Lane and Beer Street). The portraiture and the history paintings were interesting in terms of completeness in illustrating Hogarth’s range but considerably less engaging as works.

 

It was fascinating to see the paintings alongside the engravings and, in one case, to see an attempt to produce a cheaper reproduction in the form of a woodcut. I still prefer the engravings which provide a crispness of detail and starkness lacking in the paintings.

 

Although it was illuminating to see these works together, ultimately, the exhibition itself was a little soulless, designed for maximum throughput of people in minimum time. I couldn’t shake the mental picture of having seen the Rake’s Progress in the Soane Museum some years ago – definitely a location that doesn’t lack soul.

 

My inner child got v. excited by a trip between the two Tates on the new shuttle boat.

Keywords: reviews, art

Antony and Cleopatra, RSC production, Novello theatre, London

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 12:26:44 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/152916.html

http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/theatre/reviews/article2160423.ece

I enjoyed this a lot – a very accessible production, with the emphasis on the comedic elements as much as upon the historical tragedy – a Rom(an) rom com?

 

Harriet Walter as Cleopatra was simply stunning – alternately alluring, demanding and capricious; while Patrick Stewart managed to convey a sense of the human fallibility and weakness that underpinned his downfall.

 

There were only a couple of moments when Ye Authenticke Shakespearean Acting was evident, notably during some badly staged carousing, complete with ensemble dancing, and heroic stances.

 

It was refreshing that the key focus was upon the text and the story rather than upon transposing the story to have parallel meaning in another context – although there was a glorious moment when Octavius had a touch of Blair about him when talking of peace.

 

The set was very simple; scene changes indicated by minimal props and staging. Costumes were roughly period – well, the Romans wore togas and breastplates while the Egyptians seemed to have been dressed by Issy Miyake or Hampstead Bazaar.

 

P.S. On the evidence of appearances on stage variously topless and clad in a leather skirt (and despite a dodgy grey hairpiece) Patrick Stewart still counts as an object of desire.

Keywords: theatre, reviews, objects of desire

Every little helps

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:23:54 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/152193.html

http://www3.open.ac.uk/media/fullstory.aspx?id=10475 The Open University has entered into a partnership with Tesco so that Clubcard points can be used to pay for University courses.

I am naturally bitter that this has been introduced at the end of my time at the OU – there would have been a curious symmetry to funding my PhD through the points gained through the purchase of chocolate and coffee that fuelled its production.

I’m now looking forward to the next edition of the now aptly titled student magazine, Sesame (recipe suggestions on page 47) and to a potential new range of student profiles….Peter, 38, funded his degree in nutritional science entirely through clubcard points gained through mass purchase of turkey twizzlers.

If this is successful, there is potential for the scheme to be extended – instead of collecting vouchers to exchange for sports equipment in schools, we could well be collecting towards an electron microscope in a university of your choice.

What I would be interested in would be a reciprocal arrangement, whereby clubcard points were awarded for academic credit. Of course, the Burgess group’s work on a national credit framework would need to be extended but M level credits in return for beer? That’s a transferable learning outcome.

What has not yet been announced is a similar partnership between an elite UK University and a leading high street retailer to develop a premium range of pre-prepared academic programmes, lightly drizzled with research-led teaching. This is not just a degree, this is an M & S degree.

Keywords: higher education

Electric chair

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:11:11 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/152191.html

A new blog category – objects of desire (see also shoes, books).

The British Library has the most amazing easy chairs with built in power sockets and adjustable work tables to enable readers to slouch over their laptops for hours (with aid of coffee) in comfort. For this triumph in reader services, the BL deserves an enhanced government grant rather than a threat to its funding (http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2000822,00.html)

Keywords: objects of desire

Babel

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 16:05:34 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/150836.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449467/

I loved the structure of the film – interlocking stories across the world – the gentle pace and the way it was shot.

Not keen on the moralising (‘Westerners/western culture are bad’) – not so much from disagreement with the premise, but an objection to the heavy-handed way in which it was done. A delicate touch would have had more impact.

The star names were also something of a distraction – as were the familiar British actors in the small roles who prompted endless amounts of …isn’t that so-and-so …?

Definitely not one to watch after a bad day – this film will only convince you that things have an infinite capacity to get worse.

Keywords: reviews, films

PhD III: Carry on Writing

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 09:29:35 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/147742.html

The abstract and introductory chapter have been polished and are winging their electronic way to my supervisor. I also spent a couple of hours wrestling with MSWord in order to construct a Venn family tree as one of the illustrations – a decade spent as an archivist spent in cordial hatred of genealogists and I end up constructing a family tree. There are gods and they are mightily amused.

 

Repeat any set of words often enough and they start to sound ridiculous. So it was with the introduction and abstract….biographical case-study, intersecting sets, constructing religious and academic identities, inherited and acquired communities. At worst, my examiners are going to be bored by the end of the introduction. At best, I am very consistently ‘on message’.

 

Highlight of Sunday was Dave Gorman on Big Brother’s Little Brother (I know, but I’m a student procrastinating in the face of a deadline). He constructed a classic, three set Venn diagram to represent tolerance, lack of ego and a UK career, using the intersection between the three sets as a means of identifying his tip for the winner of Celebrity Big Brother. Gorman is a man who understands the correct use of a Venn diagram – first, set out the full range of logical possibilities and then reason out. I was impressed…and then a little paranoid: there are gods and they are sending signs to GET ON WITH IT!

 

The next offering to the gods of the thesis is the rough cut, followed by some tying up of loose ends in terms of reading and checking of references. This week I will mostly be cutting and pasting Evangelical childhood and definitions of Evangelicalism.

Keywords: PhD thesis, John Venn

Which superhero am I?

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:33:22 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/146115.html

Slightly geeky?? Only slightly? And how did I end up more Hulk than Catwoman (leaving aside the question of when Catwoman became a ‘hero’)??

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 70% Hulk 60% Catwoman 50% Iron Man 50% Superman 45% Batman 45% Robin 42% Supergirl 40% Green Lantern 40% Wonder Woman 35% The Flash 20%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

C. Kell and A. Lloyd, ‘Developing a new policy for peer review of teaching: a cross-institutional approach’, Educational Developments Nov 2006, pp.13-16

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:19:47 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/146113.html

Case study of use of a new approach to peer review in learning and teaching at the University of Cardiff:

• based on project mantra of reflection, development and enhancement;
• flexible and inclusive definition and framework of what constitutes learning and teaching – therefore relevant;
• inclusive of all staff who have a role in the student learning experience;
• confidential and developmental in nature;
• drawing upon commitments to professional practice, mutual support in learning, diversity, scholarship.

Together with a useful analysis of the challenges of this approach:

• flexibility may mean local practice becomes more entrenched
• difficulty of effective dissemination
• monitoring and evaluation difficult.

Multi-pronged approach taken to promoting the project:

• strategic commitment;
• presentations;
• one to one meetings;
• reliance on ambassadors.

Keywords: academic staff development, peer observation

Update on the law relating to student complaints and appeals; report for QAA by Mills and Reeve October 2006

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 10:00:07 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/145750.html

Briefing on law surrounding English higher education in relation to student complaints and appeals. Needs to be incorporated into thinking on QA statements on admissions, collaborative agreements as well as complaints and appeals.

Keywords: student appeals, student complaints

Small grant schemes

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 09:56:56 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/145749.html

C.Morris and H.Fry, ‘Enhancing educational research and development activity through small grant schemes: a case study’, International journal for academic development, Volume 11, No 1 (May 2006), pp.43-56

 

Case study of use of a small grant scheme for encouraging research and development in learning and teaching, to note for:

-         factors for and barriers to success;

-         impact institutionally across departments and themes

-         approaches to dissemination

-         participation of students

 

Worth relating to in terms of assessing impact of Teaching Development Fund, and future thinking on support materials for TDF (i.e. invitations to bids, reaching out to a wider range of academics, and maximising impact of research).

Keywords: teaching development fund

PhD II: Return of the thesis

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 20:18:10 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/143769.html

It has been a while, but my registration resumes on 1st January with a view to submission at the end of March 2007. No, not scary at all!

A combination of books by Rowena Murray and Patrick Dunleavy on how to approach writing a PhD have been helpful in different ways – the first by emphasising the importance of setting goals and planning work, and the second by concentrating on avoiding common pitfalls and on conventions of thesis authorship. Tips from these combined with the material already written mean that I am certainly not embarking upon a first full draft with a blank page – and that I have structures in mind around which to cut and paste my material.

An informal chat with my supervisor and a couple of cups of earl grey have calmed my nerves somewhat that I am actually saying something, rather than just relating a collection of ‘interesting stuff’. Much reassured by the permissibility of stating the obvious in my introduction! Although, I think I still have a way to go to actually develop my conclusions into something coherent. 

The big intellectual breakthrough has been the guillotine on further research – no more following up on interesting points – it’s all about the writing from now on.

So, to reinstate progress reports:

THE STAGE I AM AT:

Having received feedback on my final chapter, I am now at the stage of writing an introduction and assembling a rough cut of my thesis.

 

My targets upon resuming registration are as follows:

• reading all existing plans, papers and chapters and reflecting on what the key ideas are;
• drafting the introduction for consideration by my supervisor in late January;
• creating a rough cut of my thesis – identifying gaps (one of which will be the 1000 words on academic professionalism left over from previous chapter);
• following up issues and closing down the gaps;
• producing a polished draft for consideration by my tutor in late February. 

Professionally during the same period, I need to find time to refocus PDP, redraft programme approval documentation, give serious thought to IA…must plan time over Easter to crumple into a heap!

Keywords: books, PhD thesis

Casino Royale

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:34:42 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/143497.html

An excellent movie, just not particularly a Bond movie.

Bond was more of a Bond girl than the actual Bond girls – he certainly shed his clothing more frequently (yes, the pecs were almost as memorable as the piercing blue eyes but that’s not the point – what about the conventions of the genre?).

There was no Q/gadget moment (a de-fibrillator in the dashboard doesn’t cut it frankly).

The theme tune was disappointing – doubly so, as David Arnold has previously done some excellent work reworking old Bond themes, and Shirley Bassey is currently doing a better job in a Christmas ad for Marks and Spencer.

M seemed to have adopted an attitude of concerned affection; a function previously discharged by Moneypenny – incidentally, a position now filled by a man without so much as a one-liner to note the change.

Unintentional humour provided by the subtitles: Bond [grunts] far more often than he actually speaks in the course of the movie.

Still, the movie did strike an emotional chord. I was almost inconsolable when the gorgeous Aston Martin DB9 got ‘killed’.

Keywords: reviews, films

Warning: this coffee is hot!

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 14:50:45 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/141817.html

My life has been immeasurably improved by receiving the following warning about a search for train times… 

Warning

Note: Certain combinations of outward and return journeys would result in you needing to leave your destination before arriving at it.

Source: http://www.transportdirect.info/

Keywords: rants

Weston-super-Mare II

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 14:44:56 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/141816.html

Following  a previous post on the joys of a day by the seaside, there have been those who have dared to naysay the beauty and power of the mighty Weston….?!?

If you have any doubt, look here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lofters/

• Proof positive that a fish and chip bar with a sideline in cheap Bed and Breakfast accommodation is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (did I inadvertantly click my ruby red heels???);
• forget Heston Blumanthal and snail porridge, Waves cafe on the seafront commits to providing fine wines and quality food.

Talking of food, excellent lunchtime platter of veggie Indian food – with the nice touch of retro sweets (jelly babies, dolly mixtures) instead of mints brought over with the bill. Not sure of the name of the restaurant – Surma?

Keywords: seaside

Annales – ysis

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:17:52 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/140784.html

annales

An email exchange regarding the development of historical methods rbrought home the influence upon my own work of the French Annales school of historians. I’m not claiming that a study of the religious development of Venn parallels the scope (or indeed, quality) of a work like Braudel’s history of the Mediterranean!

The full range of the Annales approach is not something I have sought to adopt. For example, I don’t seek to explore the relationship between man and his natural environment, indeed, a narrowly focused, single biographical study could be said to sit at the other extreme of Braudel’s scale - history ‘on the scale not of man, but of individual men’ (Braudel, p.21).However, one of my aims for the thesis is to seek to place Venn in the context of the family, religious and academic groups and institutions of which he was a part, by which he was shaped and on which he in turn made his own mark. In this sense, I am seeking to describe  the  history of groups and groupings’ (Braudel, p.21) of which Venn was a part.

My thesis is that Venn’s personal religious development consisted of a number of simultaneous and sometimes conflicting relationships to a number of elements – friends and family, institutions and ideas. These elements were themselves in a state of change  - as Venn reached adulthood and independence; as he sought to reconnect with historical collegiate and family traditions and communities; as a beneficiary of and an influencer of University reform; as he absorbed and generated academic ideas, and as he moved between emerging clerical and academic  professional identities. It is therefore an attempt to reconstruct the evolution of a religious identity by seeking to understand the complexity of its constituent parts – theology, personal influence, community and professional identity. It is also necessary to cross disciplinary boundaries to see the connections between ideas and approaches Venn absorbed and applied in his logical, theological, statistical and historical works.  I would argue that this holds to the spirit of Braudel’s argument that historians ‘should aim at bringing people and individuals to the center of attention and noting all the realities that impinge on them, including their own collective realities and all the realities that they in turn affect’ (Stoianovich, p.115)

References:

F. Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II, Volume I (London, 1972)

T. Stoianovich, French historical method: the Annales paradigm (Cornell, 1976)

Keywords: Annales School, John Venn, historiography, Phd Thesis

You know you’ve had a bad week when….

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 20:07:15 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/140624.html

…you see jokes about Venn diagrams:

http://www.burningdoor.com/dick/images/venn%20diagram.html

http://sideways8.wordpress.com/2006/09/28/venn/

and find yourself wondering if they’re really Venn diagrams.

(since you ask, Venn’s diagrams were distinct from those of his predecessors, Euler and Hamilton, in that his diagram was not based on the mutual relationship between two of more classes, but rather the complete classification of the all possible combinations of the classes; providing a number of sub-divisions or compartments which then might be shown to be occupied or unoccupied.[1] 

YOU SEE? A BAD WEEK AND I GET ANGRY!

---

[1] J. Venn, ‘On the diagrammatic and mechanical representation of propositions and reasonings’ The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, Volume X (5^th series) (July 1880), p.8; J. Venn, ‘On the forms of logical propositions’, Mind: a quarterly review of psychology and philosophy, Volume V (1880), pp.345-6

Keywords: rants, John Venn

Avenue Q, Noel Coward Theatre, London

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 20:24:15 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/140334.html

In honour of Mrs B’s birthday, there was a girlies’ trip to see a live action, puppet musical stage show!

 

Not for us Fireman Sam or the Tweenies, rather, think what would have happened if Sesame Street grew up –  if Bert and Ernie finally admitted their feelings for each other, if the cookie monster got hooked on internet porn, and Jessica Rabbit became a regular guest star. Obviously (legal disclaimers….etc…etc), such as thing would never happen to Sesame Street, but you are now my friends in the neighbourhood of Avenue Q.

 

This was an incredibly clever piece of theatre demanding incredible dexterity. It was a relatively small company where puppets were swapped between puppeteers, and one performer would be manipulating one puppet while providing the voice for another – all while singing dancing, and delivering killer lines.

 

….and yes, there are at least two actors in London today, whose response to the question ‘What did you do at work today dear?’ would include simulating puppet on puppet, fur on fur action of an adult and consenting kind.

Keywords: reviews, theatre

Truman Capote, In Cold Blood

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 13:15:30 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/140074.html

Continuing the noir theme, I picked out on impulse In Cold Blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences (as an aside – I love the serendipity factor of book hunting in Fopp – and the fact that they have a café that does hot buttered toast – thick white, no granary or wholegrain nonsense!).

 

It is the story of a murder, the murderers and the murder investigation in Kansas. Capote combines journalistic style with fictional technique to build up a picture through ‘deep’ narrative – there are no bit players in the story. The reader always gets given an answer to the implicit question of What happened to? Or, what was behind that? For example, Capote provides a short biography of the man alongside whom the murderers came to serve on death row, or a full psychological profile where the court transcript was confined to a bare yes or no.

Keywords: reviews, books

Hollywoodland

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 14:06:26 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/139917.html

Oddly appropriate that the final film at this year’s Bath Film Festival explored the disillusionment and human cost behind the gloss of fame and the projected Hollywood ideal. The story of Hollywoodland, set in the 1950s, and told mostly in flashback, is of the years and events leading to the death of George Reeves, the actor who played Superman. An additional layer of irony is the casting of Ben Affleck as the square-jawed hero in a fickle relationship with fame…

 

The story was both an intriguing premise and by turns, funny and touching. The narrative structure, which explored a number of potential hypotheses through the eyes of the archetypal, down-at-heel private eye, was engaging. Reviewers are drawing parallels with LA Confidential, and it is easy to see why. The film simultaneously debunks the Hollywood myths, while simultaneously using the plot devices and characters that are created within that industry.

 

The Little Theatre Cinema is my idea of civilised – the coffee is worth drinking, there are organic and fair trade snacks and, most importantly, parents appear to leave their children at the Odeon (Betrayal of working class roots? Moi?).

 

The Bath Film Festival – it’s not just for Jane Austen adaptations…..

Keywords: reviews, films, festivals

Ian Sansom, The case of the missing books

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 15:25:29 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/138457.html

I was lured into buying this by the promise of a library-based mystery and a publisher’s blurb which reminded me of returning home to Stoke-on-Trent (‘And is there anywhere in this godforsaken place where he can get a proper cappucino and a decent newspaper?’).

Actually, there isn’t any mystery, and the attempts at comedic eccentricity aren’t a patch on Malcolm Pryce’s Aberystwyth series.

Keywords: reviews, books

Carousel, Bath Theatre Royal

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 17:39:35 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/138153.html

http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/wiltshiretimesleisure/wtimesleisuretheatre/display.var.998769.0.colour_drama_and_spectacle.php

I had forgotten how much I like a good, cheesy musical…with the added bonus of trying to spot a colleague in the chorus in five different costumes.

Carousel doesn’t perhaps score as highly for me as works by Gershwin or Cole Porter, and my feminist spirit was stirred by the suggestion in the text that there were occasions when a man could hit a woman and it wouldn’t hurt…..but it was fun nonetheless.

 I’m madly jealous of peple who have the talent and dedication to commit their spare time to put on a  production of this sort. Of course, I’m biased, but in my opinion, the best performance was that of the Sultan’s wife!

With an innate ability to lower the cultural tone, my favourite bit was the sight of two members of the chorus strolling across the stage carrying planks of wood – intentionally – during a romantic duet. There was just something surreal about this as a piece of staging. I rather hoped it would be a recurring motif.

Keywords: reviews, theatre

Lynda La Plante, The Red Dahlia

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 11:04:05 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/136077.html

Want to write a murder mystery? Don’t have an original idea? Welcome to the LaPlante checklist for crime fiction! By following our easy step by step guide, you too can produce another bestseller in less time than it took Barbara Cartland to churn out another five bodice-rippers…

√ A brilliant investigator with a flaw (drink, women etc)

√ Sexual tension between close colleagues on the investigation

√ Plot that parallels another case

√ Difficult working relationship with authority figure (who is, inevitably, stupid)

√ Lone investigator following intuition on a lead puts him/herself in precarious position

√ A brilliant, arrogant, charming protagonist who obviously did it, but on whom there is no proof

√ Ill-advised relationship between investigator and either a suspect or a member of press

√ A moment when someone says ‘Gov, I know this sounds crazy but….[cue far-fetched theory that might just be right]’

√ A corpse dismembered with such brutality that ‘hardened’ policemen go pale

√ Disgrace of investigator prior to redemption by breaking the case

√ Not so much plot that it can’t be easily adapted into a three hour, two part TV special for commercial television

Don’t get me wrong, I like the formulaic nature of crime fiction. That’s why I find it an undemanding genre with which to unwind. If I ever get around to writing a crime novel, it will probably reference many of the criteria set out above. What disappointed me here was that  talented writer was working on auto-pilot.

Keywords: reviews, books

I bet you look good on the dance floor….

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:47:13 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/135037.html

After a day that included being quizzed by an accreditation panel, I took solace in buying shoes. I will now click my heels three times and make the thirteen pages of committee minutes I am now editing fly away.

Keywords: objects of desire, shoes

Mood-Shoe

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 16:19:30 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/134430.html

these shoes sum up my mood today (this is officially ‘not a good thing’).

Keywords: shoes

Albert Camus, The Outsider

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 16:08:58 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/134427.html

The best representation that I’ve come across of the way in which a person can feel detached both from the events around them and from social expectations of what one ought to do and feel. The author conveys brilliantly a sense of emotional and physical lethargy in a setting in which the burning sun drains energy and where a man can become involved in people and events less from his own volition and more from a lack of anything better to do.

Keywords: reviews, books

From Weston with Love

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 15:42:43 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/134425.html

I have a nostalgic affection for trashy seaside towns as the result of too many family holidays spent in Blackpool and Rhyl. Throw in a grey day, a pier, the smell of fresh donuts and greasy chips in the paper, and I’m happy to spend a couple of hours out of range of a good quality  double espresso and a Waitrose supermarket. 

 

On this basis, I spent Saturday morning in Weston-super-Mare, walked along the pier, read the Guardian cover to cover, bought North Somerset chocolate in bulk (if cocoa beans have reached the west, why not fresh ground coffee?), got sand in my shoes and sea air in my hair. I then got the train back to Bath in time to sink a triple shot latte before serious caffeine withdrawal could set in.

Keywords: seaside

The Musical Challenge

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:26:36 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/134060.html

http://elgg.net/frelgg/weblog/133950.html

In the middle of my last post, I came up with this week’s challenge – can we convert any set of tracks by a particular artist into a plot for a musical?

 You know the sort of thing - Queen songs beome We Will Rock You and Abba hits are turned into Mama Mia (giving rise to my favourite linkof all time – at a moment of emotional torment, one character turns to another and says, ‘Chiquitita, tell me what’s wrong…’ [cue the music])

Now since the patron saint of this blog is the Hoff, there is an obvious place to start.., the track-listing of the very best of Daid Hasselhoff (…surely the best is yet to come…?)

1. Highway To Your Heart

2. Dance Dance D’amour

3. Everybody Sunshine

4. Do The Limbo Dance

5. These Lovin’ Eyes

6. Lonely Is The Night

7. Looking For Freedom

8. I Believe

9. Best Is Yet To Come

10. Je T’aime Means I Love You

11. Yesterday’s Love

12. Flying On The Wings Of Tenderness

13. Crazy For You

14. Hot Shot City

15. After Manana Mi Ciello

16. Du

I’m seeing rugged hero, a beach scene, a fast car, a mission to fight for democracy and a rock concert in an unusual place….maybe on a wall of some sort…

A little bit of politics…

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:12:07 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/134061.html

http://elgg.net/frelgg/weblog/133948.html

…as Ben Elton would have said (before he started converting song lyrics into plotlines for musicals)

In a world in which senior politicians think the way to further their career is through poor puns (Web-Cameron, anyone?), Mark Thomas makes the ridiculous truly sublime with his contribution to the mass lone protest movement:

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/commons/comment/0,,1920277,00.html

Blog usage

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 16:40:53 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/133940.html

http://elgg.net/impelgg/weblog/133716.html

…return to this when we consider how to encourage take-up of blogs, and engineering a critical mass of take-up.

Keywords: blogs, PDP

Thesis structure

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 15:26:41 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/133222.html

My application for suspension has been accepted, so before I take a break for a while, here is THE plan aiming to outline the following:

• the purpose, main themes and content of each chapter
• the relationship to themes in existing literature
• the elements of originality and contribution to scholarship
• the relationship to other chapters.

Introduction (5000 words)

• overview outlining aim to offer layered biographical study of Venn concentrating upon academic and religious identities
• relating to literature on intellectual elites, crises of faith and vocation, concepts of professionalism, developments in late nineteenth century church and university
• first biography focusing on Venn rather than as a footnote to family or religious doubters or university reformers and in so doing offer sidelight on groups and institutions of which he was a part
• offer a multi-faceted view of identity (personal, network, institution) like a Venn diagram or DNA double helix??

Evangelical Childhood (15,000 words)

• exploration of religious elements of Venn’s youth
• relating to literature defining religious experience, Evangelicalism, childhoo
• offer multi-stranded definition of Evangelicalism, the development of the strands of which is developed in the next three chapters
• sets up the idea of the Evangelical family myth which is explored in the Biographer chapter

College Life – Undergraduate (15,000 words)

• exploration of religious experience in college life (party, institutional, personal)
• relate to existing literature on the history of uni and college, and to literature of party (Conybeare)
• offering detailed examination of collegiate religion and testing ideas of of party identity in microcosm – linking to next chapter on party participation as curate
• offering one step in construction of Venn’s evangelical identity

Curate (15,000 words)

• exploration of religious experience while a curate
• relate to existing literature on clerical professionalism and education, church party in relation to Darwin and Essays and Reviews (relating back to Conybeare)
• offers next step in religious identity – growing independence, new friends but curate etc – illustrating how religious journeys and identities are not neat but can be conflicting

Academic Life I and II (20,000 words)

• exploring academic life and identity in two parts pre and post 1880s
• relating to literature on academic identity, professionalisma nd university reform
• offering understanding of changing university and elite milieu through eyes of participant and observer
• relating to next chapter on the construction of new college identities
• completion of story of religious journey – where did it end?

Biographer (15,000 words)

• exploring Venn’s work as a historian and biographer
• relate to role of biography in familand evangelical tradition, contemporary antiquarianism, scientific methodprofessional historians
• offering understanding of construction of identity

Conclusion (5,000 words)

•  biography of Venn in the round – intersecting sets
• religious journey – multi-faceted and layered

Bibliography (10,000 words)

Keywords: John Venn, PhD thesis

Why Blog? Part I

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 13:59:39 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/133209.html

Why Blog? Part I

Return to this as part of preparation for PDP sessions with postgraduate groups

Keywords: PDP

In less than 200 words…

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 11:54:31 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/132922.html

http://elgg.net/frelgg/weblog/132829.html

…explain the difference between a cookie and a biscuit, giving examples.

 The office discussion so far has centred on:

- the difference in texture – cookies being softer and biscuits being harder and very dry;

- cookies have ’stuff’ in them, e.g. chocolate chips (but where does that leave Garibaldi biscuits?)

- cultural difference – the English have biscuits, the Dutch and Americans have cookies.

 Any further contributions??

Autonomy and collegiality

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 11:34:31 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/132357.html

Sir David Watson, QSN 2006, argued that research and teaching were fundamentally related to the individual decision – about evidence or about assessment. Simon van Heyningen, QSN 2006, talked about preserving the personal autonomy of the teacher as well as considering more strategically what aspects of institutional autonomy we still had and identifying those that were worth defending. In recent years, increasing external obligations have replaced autonomy with responsibilities in many aspects.

 

This opened up for me some interesting questions relating less to quality and more to academic governance and its history – what is the function of the much vaunted institutional autonomy of universities? What is its basis?

 

One aspect of this is the historical tradition. The mediaeval colleges were established by royal charter that established the key functions and established certain rights and privileges; a pattern of local autonomy that was followed with newer foundations in contrast with state education systems in other countries. The mediaeval master, fellows and scholars collectively managed their activities, but more importantly, their endowment – thus, collegiality. This endowment, either from the crown, church or private benefactors, brought with it obligations and responsibilities just as state grants do today – the difference being that one prayed for the souls of one’s benefactors rather than for a positive verdict from the QAA.

 

With regard to autonomy, there is also the relationship between the individual and the institution.  Academic freedom and the application of the individual intellect to research or teaching are considered to be fundamental characteristics of the academic profession. Is the particular reverence that is accorded to institutional autonomy in part a scaling up the academic values of the individual to that of the collective norm of the collegiate body?

 

Finally, where is the student voice in this? I don’t mean to promote the ‘consumer’ voice in a ‘marketised’ student economy but I do want to recognise that universities are not just ‘providers’ of education to students. Under the charters and statutes of most universities and colleges (with a few Oxford and Cambridge exceptions), students are defined as part of the corporate body. Therefore, they have a stake in any consideration of institutional autonomy or collegiality. What impact does the true inclusion of students in concepts of collegiality have upon our conceptualisation of the institution and its autonomy? Is it in the interests of the student learning experience that there should be this emphasis on institutional autonomy given that this may mean very different educational experiences? Or does the autonomy of institutions and the related capacity for variations in ethos and priorities mean that students have a choice of learning communities, hopefully finding one to suit their particular aptitudes and interests?

Keywords: quality management, higher education, professional identity

Colin Raban and Jon Renyard, ‘Quality Risk management’, Quality Strategy Network Annual Conference 2006

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 11:33:30 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/132356.html

Quality risk management is:

• Predictive rather than reactive
• Integrates quality processes with other processes such as planning
• Takes a selective, developmental, context-specific approach to manage identified risks
• Concentrates upon enhancement
• Relies upon dialogic accountability with a culture of no blame, shared responsibility and support as well as scrutiny of high risks

 

Bournemouth has implemented this approach for annual monitoring of programmes:

• Developing a set of quality indicators with a ‘band of normality’ – if the programme is within the band of normality then no explanation is required, simply a 500 word report on the year
• focusing on one aspect per year on which additional reflection is required, e.g. internationalisation
• with SWOT analyses and action plans.

The result has been a time-saving, positive reactions to the approach from academics, a higher quality of reporting and increased confidence.

 

Edge Hill allows academics themselves to identify the risk factors following training. Again, the focus is on annual monitoring – as this is the process that most staff engage with. Staff perceive an enhanced value to the reports and this colours their perception of the quality system as a whole.

 

The following discussion raised additional points:

• questions about the level at which quality and planning are or might be joined – departmental or institutional?
• The need for an institution to develop confidence in its own approach as a basis for negotiating modes of engagement with external bodies
• The need to get beyond the rituals of scrutiny to full engagement
• The importance of training and development to support implementation.

 

Again, it will be worth returning to this in the context of next year’s consideration of review and monitoring mechanisms – not least how to integrate levels of review. At an operational level – we currently have a set 5 year cycle of degree scheme reviews – how far could the formulation of this cycle and the handling of requests for deferrals be improved by taking account of an appreciation of risk?

 

For me, this reinforced a number of themes:

• The setting out of principles and framework while allowing local flexibility
• The adoption of a framework which is fit for purpose for the individual institutions, that is adopted with confidence and then explained to external bodies
• The encouragement of self-regulatory approaches and the adoption of responsibility.

Keywords: higher education, quality management

John Hostler, ‘Building a new quality framework’, Quality Strategy Network Annual Conference 2006

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 10:59:27 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/132355.html

In creating a quality framework for ‘Manchester United’ University, the following principles were identified:

• The framework should lead to enhancement
• The framework should lead into planning of learning and teaching
• It was recognised that staff genuinely wanted to improve the learning experience
• And that staff were subject to a range of other pressures
• And that staff could generally be relied upon to give an honest assessment
• That serious mistakes were those that the institution failed to learn from
• Peer review was important to the university as a learning organisation
• Processes should be collective, reflective and respectful
• Information should be reused where possible
• Achievement should be emphasised – using narratives as well as judgements in order to promote practice

 

Resulting from that:

• Responsibility for operational level quality management was located at faculty level
• A student satisfaction survey is undertaken every semester centrally by the university using standard questions
• Ultimate responsibility for quality was located with a Vice-Principal advised by an advisory group rather than a committee; the advisory group being composed of those involved in audit and professional bodies
• Rather than an annual monitoring report, it was recognised that annual monitoring of programmes generally took place within a programme team, so the Board only required the minutes of these bodies to show that the issues had been considered and a short report.     

 

Again, I need to return to this in relation to quality strategy, definition of roles and responsibilities for quality and monitoring and review mechanisms.

Keywords: higher education, quality management

Anne Ruston ‘Institutional frameworks and departmental reality’, Quality Support Network Annual Conference 2006

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 10:56:47 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/132354.html

A recent review at the University of Birmingham of the function of periodic reviews was undertaken from that starting point of wanting a flexible system that was relevant to the institutional context, and made use of the information and skills that were already in place.

 

The University asked, what is the function of the periodic review:

• Review of systems, processes and procedures?
• Review of programme content and structure?
• About training and education?
• A means to manage risk?
• An opportunity for reflection?
• Improving the experience of students and staff?

 

The resulting system set out a series of principles in accordance with which periodic review should be conducted:

• Built-in rather than bolt-on review
• Drawing upon and re-using existing information
• Reducing duplication
• Separating out reviews of programme and school
• Seeing periodic review in the context of a suite of review mechanisms that included spot checks and thematic reviews
• Emphasising involvement and constructive dialogue.

The precise detail of the operation of reviews was left to departments to conduct in accordance with a set of given principles and in consultation with a set of named people, putting control of the review process in the hands of the people responsible for the programme. The only requirement being that the review should take place and be reported upon and should be shown to have worked. This has resulted in enhanced engagement between departments and the quality team, and consultation with external colleagues as to process.

 

It will be useful to return to this when we start to review our own monitoring and review mechanisms in 2007.

Keywords: higher education, review and monitoring, quality management

Sir David Watson, ‘Who killed what in the quality wars’, Quality Strategy Network Annual Conference 2006

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 10:55:31 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/132353.html

The quality wars had been about the location of regulatory power – variously, between the funders and self-regulation, an agency vs a disciplinary approach, a conflict with an increasingly regulatory audit society. Watson argued that during the conflict time positions had become entrenched and compromise had been impossible – but taking a historical perspective of developments in quality, it was now possible to take a more generous view on what had been gained during processes such as TQA.

 

He argued that there had been casualties in the course of the quality wars:

• Self-inflicted wounds as the sector colluded in the taking of responsibility by politicians
• The development of a culture where criticism was mistaken for resistance, and where crude academic populism reigned at the expense of the critical faculty
• Sectoral solidarity
• The reputation of UK HE may have been undermined overseas
• The interests of students had been neglected because the war had distracted from full concentration on improving teaching.

 

He pointed to the long traditions of collective responsibility, mutuality and self-regulation that had characterised the HE sector, and that the key was to work ‘with the academic grain’. He postulated that the route to the restoration of the culture of self-regulation in HE required:

• A return to earlier values such as mutuality
• Recognition of new circumstances which should be approached in a more generous spirit
• Responses to be cultural not procedural
• Approaches to be updated e.g. to assessment
• The relationship of research to teaching to be explored
• Collaborative provision to live up to intent and expectation
• External intervention was calibrated by risk rather than reputation.

 

I liked the two key ideas here of the need to work with rather than against academic culture in quality management, and of regaining confidence and taking responsibility for ourselves as a sector in order to break a cycle of disempowerment. It fits in well with the approach we are trying to take institutionally to promote peer review and working in partnership with academic departments.

Keywords: higher education, quality management

What do universities do?

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 10:54:12 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/132352.html

Nick Harris at the Quality Strategy Network offered some priceless quotations from European Commission documentation that are designed to truly inspire those involved in higher education.

 

Forget the historic statutory function of Oxford and Cambridge to promote learning, scholarship, research and religion – that is SO last century (or possibly the century before…). Apparently, universities are involved in ‘upskilling the citizens’ and providing ‘real qualifications for live learners’. Glad we got that sorted.

Keywords: rants, quality management, higher education

Things that sound better than they are

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 10:52:30 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/132358.html

http://elgg.net/frelgg/weblog/132351.html

At the Quality Strategy Network conference, Sir David Watson started a list of things that sound better than they are, starting with:

 

• Lighter touch audit
• English middle order batsman
• Gastro-pub

 

I would like to add:

• ‘Fresh coffee’ when served on a train 
• ‘One size fits all’ clothing
• Organic ‘deodorant’

Lunar Park, Bret Easton Ellis

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:13:25 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/131761.html

 

This book starts with a thirty page autobiography of the author as its starting point for the story – at least it seems like autobiography. The whole basis for the narrative is the exploration by the author, Bret Easton Ellis, of the experiences of the character, Bret Easton Ellis. The line between authorial and character identity being constantly blurred – further complicated by the appearance of passages and characters from Ellis’s other works. It is never entirely clear what is fact and what is fiction; what is reality and what might be delusion.

 

The heart of the book may be a puzzle, but that in itself would not sustain a whole book. This also offers a moving account of personal failure and a chilling portrait of a respectable, suburban society that regards as normal the use of drugs to control child behaviour and a lifestyle accessorised by household staff, multiple types of therapy, sedation and the ‘right’ school. This is the thirty-something, family-first, consumerism that is the natural sequel to the metropolitan materialist individualism described in disturbing detail in American Psycho.

 

Disturbing, amusing and saddening in equal parts….and sadly the end of my vacation – back to quality assurance and enhancement….

Keywords: reviews, books

Arthur and George, Julian Barnes

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:11:31 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/131760.html

 

After the poor writing of Fowler, I cleansed my palate with this. Less than a paragraph into the text and I could relax into beautifully crafted prose like this –  describing a baby as moving with ‘the instinctive tourism of infancy’.

 

The book is a mixture of biography, detective fiction and romance, but also subverts each of these genres. For example, the process of detection is not brought to a neat Holmes-ian conclusion; the limitations of the application of the impressionistic approach of the fictional detective and the teleological approach of the author being illustrated in connection with a ‘real case’.

 

The book is built around the perspectives and experiences of two contrasting Victorian characters. This device means that the reader receives the narrative through the partial and personal views of Arthur and George, and occasionally from a few of the other protagonists, so that the pieces of the picture are only slowly revealed, are distorted through personal perspective, and sometimes only suggested rather than explained. Thus the reader is teased and left to draw his/her own conclusions. For example, during the first thirty pages of the book, a picture is drawn of George’s childhood in what seems like a typical Anglican parsonage – only then to reveal an additional element that the vicar in this seemingly idyllic parish is Indian by birth. Raised  in England and regarding himself as an Englishman, George finds it difficult to conceive that any of his subsequent experiences might have a racial dimension, even though he is constantly confronted with his ‘otherness’ in other people’s eyes by their inability to pronounce his Indian surname correctly and questions as to his place of origin.

 

For the second time within a week, my choice of fiction has touched on psychical research – in this case, not such a surprise as one of the subjects here is Arthur Conan Doyle. These connections with the subject of my thesis, combined with the Venn diagram in the Guardian on Saturday, would probably have been taken by Susanna Venn (wife of John Venn) as evidence of psychical phenomena. Being of a more sceptical nature, I would conclude that a) I am at the obsessive PhD student phase, b) I have a seriously guilty conscience at reading for fun when I should be crafting perfect footnotes.

Keywords: reviews, books

Seventy Seven Clocks, Christopher Fowler

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:05:47 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/131759.html

A Bryant and May mystery set in the 1970s but calling to mind Victorian gothic in its subject matter – an upper class family being picked off one by one, with theatrical costumes and settings, and suggestions of imperial and Masonic traditions.

 

While it isn’t necessary for all 1970s set police crime fiction to read like the Sweeney, this annoyed me on a number of levels:

-         the combination of cosy crime set up and police procedural simply didn’t work, it was as if the writer couldn’t decide what to offer, rather than creating something new by blending established traditions of writing together

-         the introduction of a superfluous young woman as an adjunct to the detective team. The one element of suspense in the book was the hope that she might be the next victim

-         the author used the poorly executed device of an opening chapter which set up the case as a policeman’s reminiscence to a journalist as the basis for clumsy and heavy-handed contrasts between the 1970s and the current day. Not all readers may be intimately familiar with 1970s London but with a reasonable standard of description, a reader can be trusted to draw their own contrasts without having them underlined twice and signalled with neon lights.

 

In a foreword, the author indicates that this edition was an improved, reworked version of a previous novel with which he was dissatisfied – one can only imagine how poor the original version must have been.

Keywords: reviews, books

Sacred Monsters – Sylvie Guillem and Akram Khan, Sadlers Wells

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 14:32:58 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/131752.html

 

After a slightly slow start, Sacred Monsters was truly amazing. Guillem’s first solo threatened a ‘greatest hits’ of her signature moves, the audience got what it expected when her legs first passed through 180 degrees, but the performance rapidly became more than that, moving rapidly through a number of styles and offering moments of breathtaking virtuosity.

 

There appeared to be a loose themes of exploration and boundaries – Guillem searching for a dance identity that allowed her to ask ‘why?’ rather than requiring strict obedience to classical tradition, and Khan searching for an identity that would allow subversion of traditional dance images, allowing him to be a ‘bald, beautiful Krishna’. The theme exploration took place in an abstract polar landscape of sweeping curves where a variety of boundaries were subverted and blurred:

-         the dancers spoke, linking the different elements of the performance – okay, the script could have dome with some work, but Guillem showed an aptitude for comedy in her combination of monologue about learning Italian and kinetic movement where she used one hand to move and position her other limbs through a variety of poses.

-         The musicians and singer were on stage with the dancers, integrated into the performance – Khan adding to the percussion by wearing bells strapped to his legs for certain of his pieces, and entering into a percussive competition, in the style of a tap-dance at one point.

-         The individual pieces traversed dance genres – drawing on elements of Indian, modern, jazz and mime traditions, while illustrating the discipline and control that underpins all professional dance. The most incredible illustration of this was a duet calling to mind a multi-armed Hindu deity; Khan supporting Guillem’s weight while she held herself in place purely on the basis of her legs around his waist and stomach muscles of steel!

Keywords: reviews, dance

The Black Dahlia, James Ellroy

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:07:35 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/130876.html

In advance of seeing the film later this week, I decided to read the book.

 

With a story set in Los Angeles, the story and the familiar iconography of mid 20^th century film noir are strongly intertwined – the backdrop of Hollywood, the first person narrative from the perspective of the weary detective working in a corrupt hierarchy, where the action fades to black when he is punched unconscious. Through the haze of stale cigarette smoke, one can see the outline of Humphrey Bogart in the distance and hear the echo of the words of Raymond Chandler. It certainly evoked a strong sense of period – but whether that period was the 1940s or thriller writers’/Hollywood’s portrayal of the 1940s, I’m not sure.

 

For me there was little sense of identification with the characters; what was engaging was the rapid twisting and turning of the plot even if by the end this felt somewhat contrived. Even then there was amusement to be gained from wondering how many of the ‘requirements’ of the genre would be followed – of what would the rich and damaged femme fatale be guilty? How innocent were the innocents? Which members of the investigation team would  be implicated?

Keywords: reviews, books

Vulcan’s Hammer, Philip K. Dick

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:06:16 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/130875.html

More science fiction. More Philip K. Dick.

 

The concept here is the totalitarian state controlled by computer – stimulated no doubt by the Cold War, but with contemporary resonances in a society that has become so computer dependent in a very different sense (the strengths and vulnerabilities of the network rather than the single, all powerful computer). There is a question too about the nature of consciousness – if a computer starts to think, at what point does it become more than the assemblage of parts that create the machine? At what point will it (or he?) too become part of the Darwinian struggle for survival ?

 

I enjoyed the exploration of the idea through the plot – the characterisation was sketched only lightly. As with Ubik, I enjoyed the writing, the small touches and wordplay – the irony of the paranoid suspicion that was part of the administrative culture of Unity; and the Psychological Correction Laboratories where ‘treatment’ ensured that ‘Sanity came quickly’ (p.7).

Keywords: reviews, books

Ubik, Philip K. Dick

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:04:14 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/130873.html

A week’s leave, so a chance to read books that don’t immediately relate to educational development, quality assurance or dead clergy (aka PhD thesis)!

 

It is rather a cliché to say that Dick is able to paint a picture of a dystopian future. Many science fiction writers can claim that. Dick’s strength is in taking intriguing concepts (the relationship between life and death, metaphysics, manipulation of multiple realities, or even the door that demands a tip before opening) – in themselves strong enough to sustain many a novel – and concentrating less on their articulation and elaboration – but using them as a hook for illustrating humanity. Dick posits a vision of the future (1992) that remains plausible in 2006 not because his technological guesses are correct, but because it is a slightly dirty, messy future – a future a human can understand because it resonates with the experience of the present.

 

The quality of the structure and the writing is striking. The headers to each of the chapters are advertisements for Ubik, the ubiquitous brand, which itself becomes a key plot device – the existence of the text on the page being not only a line of communication between the writer and the reader but also a concrete manifestation of attempted communication between realities within the plot. There are also deft verbal touches – the Moratorium, where those who are physically dead are kept during their half-life.

 

As an aside, this particular edition (Gollancz SF, 2006) was very elegantly produced – minimalist design, matt card, paperback, with curves rather than corners on the open edge of the text block; and text on the back cover rotated ninety degrees. I had a choice of two editions in the bookshop and had to have this one!

 

After all that I didn’t quite get to escape the dead clergy – the idea of communication between the living and those in ‘half-life’ called to mind the late nineteenth century efforts of the Society for Psychical Research to find a scientific/rational basis on which to sustain belief in a life after death.

Keywords: reviews, books

Cafe Culture

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 16:39:00 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/130498.html

As a fan (addict?) of coffee culture, I was interested to come across two variants:

a) Use of knowledge cafes at Roehampton and Surrey to involve staff and students in a debate about the characteristics of excellence in learning and teaching, in order to support a ‘joint culture of educational development’ and inform practical steps in professional development

Burden et al, ‘Defining excellence in learning and teaching’, Educational Developments (Issue 7.2, May 2006, pp.8-10)

 

b) the first meeting of the Bath Science Café in the Raven on 11 September

http://www.cafescientifique.org/bath.htm 

Possibly something to be considered during our next Innovations in Learning and Teaching Week…Innovations Café?

Keywords: learning and teaching

Campus Novelty…or things to do when I finish The Thesis

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:18:14 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/130393.html

Paul Greatrix on the campus novel:

http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/paulgreatrix/entry/the_end_of/

I’ve only read a few of these…

What this list doesn’t include is the sub-genre of the college (rather than the campus) novel – typically Oxford or Cambridge – which brings back fond memories of a summer I spent reading crime novels in the lower reading room of Bodley in order to create a Fictional Crime Map of Oxford.

Keywords: books

PhD (Lack of) Progress report – 3

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:40:53 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/129838.html

Bad week – no further progress on writing, although I did a little more work on planning and scoping out what needs to be done, which was probably even more depressing!

I will be requesting suspension of my student registration for a quarter for personal reasons. The disappointment at not submitting at the end of this year is immense.

Keywords: PhD thesis, John Venn

One Trick Words….and other word play

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:36:58 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/129965.html

http://elgg.net/frelgg/weblog/129837.html

For word enthusiasts and Radio 4 listeners:

http://www.onetrickwords.com/

…for words in the English language that don’t earn their keep.

PhD progress report- 2

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 17:41:10 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/129180.html

PhD progress report- 1

MY CURRENT PROJECT IS ABOUT:

Completing a final chapter on Venn’s acquired intellectual networks and academic identity in relation to 19th century university reform and nascent concepts of academic professionalism.

 

THE STAGE I AM AT:

I am still completing the writing of my final chapter prior to assembling a full first draft of my thesis.

 

THE NEXT STEPS ARE:

So my targets remain the same as last week:

• Submitting my final chapter on acquired academic networks and identity to my tutor;
• Assembling my very first full draft in order to identify gaps and remaining questions;
• finish reading of PhD text. 

I AM INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT:

See blocks of text within body of chapter.

‘ORIGINAL’ MEANS:

In relation to concepts of academic professionalism, I am seeking to interpret aspects of the current literature in relation to Venn’s experience in order to make the point that academic identity and professionalism is made up of a number of elements (teacher, researcher, college fellow, member of professional societies, social and family identity) which in turn signal changes, connections and continuities in late nineteenth century academic professional academic identity.

IN THE PAST WEEK I HAVE PROGRESSED THE PROJECT BY:

In the past week I made progress on aspects of family life and chapter conclusions- the word count is impressive even if the quality of the writing isn’t! –  but did not achieve my target of submitting the chapter to my supervisor, largely because of the need for writing on the literature of professionalism and drawing conclusions on it in light of the body of the chapter.

IDENTIFIED A PROBLEM WITH:

Gaps:

• overview of Rothblatt on academic professionalism;
• Thompson on definitions of occupational professionalism. 

FREE-WRITING: WHAT DO I WANT TO WRITE ABOUT NEXT?

The historical debates regarding the development of academic professionalism in the context of University reform and the general development of professional identity in the late nineteenth century. Venn’s career spans this development and embodies some of the contradictions and overlaps in definition. This exploration will encompass a number of elements: Venn as teacher; as researcher; as personal tutor; as published author; as gentleman; as member of clubs and societies; and as husband, father and friend in a University community.

Keywords: John Venn, PhD thesis

Irish Museum of Modern Art, Kilmainham Hospital

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 10:10:39 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/128938.html

The location of the Irish Museum of Modern Art in a 17^th century home for retired soldiers is an interesting combination, which calls to mind other adaptations of space for museum/gallery use, such as Tate Modern, the Saatchi gallery at the GLC and the Montemartini power station. With the externally located pieces, one is conscious of the juxtaposition of abstract shape against imposing, traditional building within elegant parkland and imposing vistas, but inside, the austerity of former charitable and military purpose lends itself well to housing a series of simple, white, interconnecting gallery spaces around the original central courtyard. The space and the art co-existed quietly together – in one particular instance, the building literally framed the art as I looked down the length of one wing through seven inter-connecting rooms, the doorways of which drew the eye to a single canvas located at the end…think of a courtier approaching an enthroned monarch through a series of ante rooms. There is a sense of discovery to peeping into individual rooms that had been designed for communal living rather than throughput of tourist numbers. This impression of peace is probably helped by a singular lack of tourists – most probably distracted by the attractions of the Guinness Storehouse en route.  There was space to appreciate the art of the moment in a setting where the historical continuum seemed to have paused.

I sometimes get distracted by the juxtaposition between the art and the space without sufficient concentrating on the art…. A collection of bronzes by Barry Flanagan was enjoyable without being too taxing – hares/rabbits echoing Frink in form (and also, more flippantly, the Bath Ales logo – or more seriously if I think that one through, primitive cave drawings and the chalk pictures on Wiltshire hills). One painting by Louis Le Brocquy really lingered in my mind – Sketch of Self. A pale grey canvas with what first looked like a textured scar running down the centre – actually a highly impressionistic face emerging – concentrating on emotion rather than form; conveying distance and anguish.

The collection actually owned by the Museum isn’t large – about 4,000 pieces (Saatchi probably has that in storage as part of his personal collection!) but the collecting policy isn’t just to buy and borrow but to encourage the creation of and interaction with art. The stable block has been converted into apartments and studio space for visiting artists in residence. Artists are encouraged to interact with visitors and a space called the process room is set aside to allow access to developing projects. One item (Now and Forever: Vanessa O’Reilly) currently installed is a techno vinyl record being played in staccato to imitate a firework display – the artist draws a distinction between how a sound is created and how it actually sounds. The building is relatively quiet and so the sound echoes through the entrance like a stuttering pulse, and it’s not often that the curatorial description of the medium of a work of art includes the word ‘12” Mix’.

Keywords: reviews, art

PhD progress report- 1

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 15:12:45 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/128398.html

MY PROJECT IS ABOUT:

John Venn (1834-1923) was born into an Evangelical family that was part of a broader network of associates at the very core of the Evangelical party in the Church of England. His father was the long-serving Secretary to the Church Missionary Society; his grandfather a member of the Clapham Sect; and his great-grandfather had set out the Evangelical schema of salvation in his Complete Duty of Man. Beyond that the family’s clerical line could be traced back to the sixteenth century in a succession that reads like an Old Testament genealogy. It was this twin heritage of a clerical and Evangelical dynasty that was key to John Venn’s upbringing and early contacts; and to what was expected of him in later life. To a certain extent he followed the pattern. He took orders, spent time as a curate, preached before the University, and wrote for the Evangelical Christian Observer. Yet in a memoir of the 1880s, he was to describe his Evangelicalism as being little more than a natural inclination to be religious, bound up with a set of inherited beliefs and a large amount of respect for his father.

Active as one of the emerging type of teaching and lecturing dons, Venn simultaneously established an enduring academic reputation in the field of logic, most notably as the creator of the Venn diagrams that bear his name. However, the 1880s saw the public manifestation of a change of direction. Venn resigned his clerical status in 1883 and in 1888 he donated his collection of logic books to the University Library, signalling the effective end of his commitment to original logical researches, although he retained his College lectureship until 1897, and was still active in the field of anthropometrical and statistical studies. It was also in the 1880s that he began to devote much more time to another pursuit  - research and documentation of the histories of his family, his College, and the University. To historians and genealogists he is probably best known for his later work, as co-editor with his son of Alumni Cantabrigienses.

My interest is in the religious journey made by Venn, explored by building up a picture of the series of family, religious and academic communities of which he was a part – from the institutional structures of the Church and the University, to more informal networks of friends and professions; and to virtual communities of ideas and intellectual influence. It is here that Venn’s own symbolic representation of intersecting sets seems to provide an apt historical analogy. One strand of my research has been to seek to define the nature of John Venn’s Evangelicalism and in so doing to trace the nature of Venn’s departure from the beliefs and networks that he inherited. My focus today is upon the other strand of Venn’s experience, his ‘acquired’ intellectual outlook, with its associated ideas, networks, institutional backdrop and distinct professional academic identity.

THE STAGE I AM AT:

Completing the writing of my final chapter prior to assembling a first draft in preparation for a further week away in September to fill in remaining pieces of research and reading.

THE NEXT STEP IS:

This week I have some identifiable targets:

• Submitting my final chapter on acquired academic networks and identity to my tutor;
• Assembling my very first full draft in order to identify gaps and remaining questions.

…and some performance measures:

• Hours spent writing per day;
• Word count per day (these are my variations on Bridget Jones’ cigarettes, calories and units of alcohol!!);
• Start regular blog reflection on qualitative progress.

I AM INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT:

See blocks of text within body of chapter.

‘ORIGINAL’ MEANS:

I am currently writing about family life and later career. This utilises material that has not been published before regarding the mastership of Caius; information about Venn’s later development that has only been used once before – in a thesis about the Venn family; places emphasis upon the social aspect of University life – through the experience of Susanna Venn – and how this post-Evangelical family experience contrasts with the family ideal within which Venn was raised. It is also a contribution to historical writing about the post-Claphamite cousinhood – picking out strands of common experience, isolation and common family bonds. Much of the existing historical writing about Cambridge and about the post Clapham cousinhood concentrates on a small number of figures – men like Stephen and Sidgwick – with contemporaries like Venn have walk-on parts. There is an opportunity here to explore the experience of a less prominent figure and test the hypotheses that have been formulated mainly with reference to men who might be considered exceptional rather than the norm.

IN THE PAST WEEK I HAVE PROGRESSED THE PROJECT BY:

·         Reading about how to write a PhD thesis;

·         Reading OU regulations;

·         Using these to outline a structure for introduction and conclusion;

·         Re-commencing writing about academic identity.

IDENTIFIED A PROBLEM WITH:

Gaps:

• Shorthand letters from SCV to JV;
• Final resting place of Cambridge set – Sidgwick, Seeley, Stephens, Dicey.

FREE-WRITING: WHAT DO I WANT TO WRITE ABOUT NEXT?

The historical debates regarding the development of academic professionalism in the context of University reform and the general development of professional identity in the late nineteenth century. Venn’s career spans this development and embodies some of the contradictions and overlaps in definition. This exploration will encompass a number of elements: Venn as teacher; as researcher; as personal tutor; as published author; as gentleman; as member of clubs and societies; and as husband, father and friend in a University community.

Keywords: John Venn, PhD thesis

Recording PhD progress

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 15:09:32 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/128396.html

I’m currently working my way through a couple of textbooks on writing a PhD (Rowena Murray, How to Write a Thesis; Patrick Dunleavy, Authoring a PhD) and the Open University’s Research Student Handbook – needless to say I ought to have read these at the start of my doctorate rather than four months before submission. Thankfully, most of it makes sense and so far there are no horrendous surprises. The time spent reading has actually been time well spent – I will be attempting draft introductions and conclusions at the end of this week. Having  an outline structure and some key questions to answer means that  I am not starting with a completely blank page – always helpful.

One other point that I am picking up on here is the need to keep a constant check on progress – having rituals for getting started and treats for achievements; trying to set SMART-ish goals and checking that activity undertaken is not displacement activity but contributes to the main routes of enquiry and writing.

Keywords: books, PhD thesis

Dun Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 15:07:19 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/128394.html

If the County Council was trying to encourage people to spend time in Dun Laoghaire, rather than drive to and from the ferry terminal, the Festival of World Cultures seems to have been a success.

A number of sites were squeezed along the coastal edge and scattered throughout the town, with outdoor stages for music and dance displays, art displays, craft fair and stalls selling items from different countries, and children’s workshops. This scattered layout meant that at the start of the afternoon there was still space to move around and one got drawn through various parts of the town, although it was sometimes hard to locate individual events and by the end of the afternoon, pressure of numbers meant it had become impossible to move. The publicity for the event claimed that 200,000 people would pass through the town in the course of the festival and I can well believe it.

The majority of the outdoor activities were free, but according to the free handout, there were a number of ticketed gigs – some of the prices for which seemed quite substantial (28 euros). I didn’t go to any of the headline gigs and am particularly annoyed to have missed Ska Cubano. On the Sunday afternoon I spent there, the look and feel was very much of a family day out from Dublin and therefore different from many of the stops on the summer festival circuit. Not all the visitors had quite caught the festival vibe – one older woman stopped to ask about the price of balls of wool on display on a stall. Her embarrassed granddaughter tugged her away explaining that the wool was there for hair wrapping not knitting.

Considerable effort had been put into transforming the People’s Park into a world family area – the trees were festooned with ribbons and silk and areas were cordoned off for different workshops with brightly coloured graphics to highlight a particular country. The presentation was nicely done right down to the detail of placing foliage around the stage to integrate it into the park environment. The content may have needed more work – the most popular elements, other than the face painting, were the existing children’s playground, a fountain into which someone had emptied washing up liquid. I also wasn’t sure why a local organic fruit and vegetable stall was placed in the middle of this section of the festival and not down the road at the ‘Global Village’ of craft and food stalls.

As the name suggests, the festival celebrates a variety of cultures – an aim I have no problem supporting and which had attracted the name of Oxfam in support of the ‘Global Village’ element. It would be interesting to know how far Oxfam had had an input into the ethical policy of the festival. Some elements seemed to be Fair Trade and Organic, others scraped in under the International theme – one ‘Chinese’ stall appeared to consist of cheap imports of day to day goods. You could argue that this highlights my own cultural narrowness in imposing an artificial standard of ‘cultural authenticity’ upon what participants were offering and it is a slippery slope from there to ‘ye olde traditional goodes’ available in airport souvenir shops and manufactured en masse on a different continent. After all, the modern English approach to heritage has so often been characterised by a wish to preserve a culture or an artefact at a particular moment of time rather than allow its organic development. However, what was apparent in parts of the festival, and was surely in keeping with its aim, was a recognition of cultural difference and variety. That sensibility was delivered for me in the dance displays – in the space of two hours, I saw Chinese fan dancing, Tai Chi, Tibetan dancing and afro-Caribbean acrobatic performers

Having been involved in organising a festival, I can’t help but take a critical interest in the supporting structures of what was presented. In contrast with my own experience of working on a self-funding festival put together by a collective of volunteers, this was a festival sponsored and organised and part-funded by local government. This showed through in the level of support received – professionally produced banners on each lamppost in the main streets, closure of at least one road and prominent police presence to redirect traffic – items that are too costly to be on the shopping list of smaller community festivals. There were a number of stewards around and there was a useful free handout about the main events – curiously not handed out at the DART station where most people were arriving – but no advertisement of the full programme brochure that was presumably available for sale – which would have been useful for checking out the details of events and participants. For an event backed by the Council and Arts Council, some of the event management was amateurish. There were large gaps between dance displays on the harbour stage, with no MC filling in, just music from the sound system (when I arrived I recognised the soundtrack from Oh Brother Where Art Thou – I hate to think what the public broadcast fee on that must have been).

An added highlight to my day  was a swimming race for those brave enough to swim in the sea. I’m told that this was not part of the festival itself – but the sight of a large group of men and women awkwardly changing into swimming costumes under towels and rubbing their bodies with goose fat could easily be translated into a piece of modern choreography.

Not the Leamington Peace Festival (I know, I’m biased) but a worthwhile event and good afternoon’s entertainment nonetheless.

Keywords: festivals

Course representatives

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 10:42:54 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/128135.html

Excellent conversation with Students’ Union sabbatical in which interest was flagged in using PDP and social networking tools to support course representatives and enable them to record their attendance of courses and achievements and track their skills development. This has potential to be an important element in supporting and engaging with course representatives and in strengthening student feedback mechanisms.

Apparently Wolverhampton Students’ Union provides fora and links to ‘what your course rep has done for you’, and also accredits the personal development/contribution undertaken by course representatives:

http://www.wolvesunion.org/main/studentvoice/forums/scit

http://www.wolvesunion.org/main/studentvoice/school/becomearearep

Keywords: PDP, student voice

Explaining and presenting PDP to staff and students

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 13:06:05 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/128006.html

Thinking about induction presentations to new undergraduates and research postgraduates – taking a look at practice in other UK HEIs:

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/pdp/

http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/ssdu/pdp/students/index.html

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/pdp/

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/asd/registry/sas/student_guide/c5.html

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/dfee/heqe/roaproj.htm

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/asd/registry/sas/student_guide/5.doc

http://www.open.ac.uk/validate/ai/pics/d43730.pdf

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/PDP-UK-NETWORK.htm

Keywords: PDP

Kenneth Williams Diary, (ed.) Russell Davies

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 08:53:23 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/127386.html

Very acidic, funny and shocking, as well as incredibly sad.

The recording of daily reactions to events and people captured the mercurial temperament in which opposing views of the same person or production could be held days apart depending on mood or immediate perception.

Towards the end, the daily chronicle really conveyed a sense of the way in which pain can distort perspective and overwhelm all other sensations and obligations.

Would I have wanted to meet him? No. Worth reading? Yes.

Keywords: reviews, books

professional academic identity as a social identity

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:22:17 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/127322.html

I need to be more coherent in my final chapter on the aspects of 19thC. professional academic identity that might be termed social identities:

• the continuity of collegiate life – dining and praying together as well as a community of study – with a deliberate cultivation of the sense of collegiate identity fostered through new college magazines and a greater emphasis on college registers and sports teams; 
• the increase in the number of married academics – possibly detracting in one way from the first in that more academics lived outside college, but adding at least four new dimensions – the possibility of a lifelong university career, the creation of a university dinner party ‘circuit’ and the sharing of academic interests and campaigns (such as women’s education, liberal unionism) with wives and family, dynastic interaction through intermarriage;
• interaction fostered through professional societies, e.g. from the most formal and public like the Royal Society to the select private groups such as the Ad Eundem  - a self-selecting intellectual grouping brought together with academic purpose – nominees being proposed by contacts and supporters, the meetings fostering personal contact – echoes of the older gentlemanly tradition, the ‘right sort of chap’ – a collegial tradition outside collegiate boundaries.

Keywords: PhD thesis, professional identity

One small step….

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:50:23 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/127150.html

Good news – our institutional audit will not take place until Autumn 2008, meaning we can actually spend some time on the quality enhancement agenda for which our office was established.

Bad news – I won’t have the excuse to buy audit shoes until next year.

Keywords: quality management

Progressing personal development planning

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 10:18:45 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/127073.html

Progressing personal development planning

Following on from my previous post about recognising the currency of certain tools such as MySpace, perhaps we have to be less concerned as an institution about control and direction of students towards particular pdp tools. Yes, provide a number of internal tools with resources that enhance their utility in an academic environment, but also recognise that students may have a number of online identities and communities outside the University and that the process of personal development planning, if well-promoted and understood, could equally take place in those external environments. If the institution wishes to gather data on this broader take-up then a re-worked supplementary to existing questions on pdp in student experience surveys may provide a means of picking up on this.

Keywords: PDP

Personal Learning Environments

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 10:10:58 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/127072.html

Personal Learning Environments

- the reference to the rigid database/cv builder approach to e-portfolios struck a chord.

Keywords: PDP

Progressing personal development planning

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 12:29:21 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/126837.html

Quick thoughts on where to go next on refocusing and re-presenting PDP in the light of the first year of offering a PDP system:

• facilitating a range of relationships (personal reflection, social, interest group, student/staff, academic group)
• portfolio of flexible tools (SITS, Moodle, Elgg) to support a variety of purposes (auditing skills, reflecting on progress, recording progress and achievement, building learning and support communities, recording for employability)
• the need for a student focus – moving on from provision of a PDP system to integration into the educational experience (generic skills development, evidencing learning outcomes, recording interactions and progress with academic staff, logs for professional accreditation)
• drawing students into the process of personal reflection through informal as well as formal routes – requiring understanding of the movement in technologies that have currency in student communities (e.g. MySpace) – and how student familiarity with these might translate into use of similar tools for academic reflection.

Keywords: PDP

Links to Nancy White’s Commentaries on Blogging and Community Building

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 11:40:38 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/126729.html

Links to Nancy White’s Commentaries on Blogging and Community Building

- potentially useful for forthcoming presentation to Directors of Studies, Placement Tutors and Personal Tutors on PDP, as well as for planning future of PDP communities.

Keywords: PDP

Personal Tutor Network

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 12:42:58 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/126363.html

Personal Tutor Network - interesting to see Elgg being picked up by Brookes as well as by Leeds – and also an example of a shared tool.

Keywords: PDP, personal tutors

Reflection

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 13:35:26 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/126157.html

Interesting post from Mark Thomas on the process of reflection that may be useful in future presentation of PDP to students as a reflective process:

http://elgg.net/markthomas/weblog/126149.html

Keywords: PDP

The Torment of Others, by Val McDermid

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 13:31:38 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/126155.html

Creepy and disturbing. Well-written as ever – there is wonderful use of the first person to disguise a number of twists with regard to character identity. If there is a criticism, it is that each of the Hill/Jordan books is best read in isolation – if you read the whole series altogether then the combination of all the traumatic events that happen to the lead characters and their immediate teams becomes repetitive and detracts from the general believability.

Keywords: reviews, books

Habeas Corpus, by Alan Bennett (Bath Theatre Royal)

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 12:44:57 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/126053.html

An enjoyable trip to the theatre on Saturday to see Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus as part of the Peter Hall season at the Theatre Royal in Bath (http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,1821106,00.html).

It was beautifully and very simply staged - with the multiple exits that supported the genre of farce, but discarding the traditional accoutrements of the drawing room backdrop.

The writing was excellent - the usual Bennett acuity of observation, blending the comic and the tragic, e.g. the description of the human body as  “a sagging parcel of vanilla blancmange”.

It was hard not to draw mental comparisons – James Fleet teetered on the edge of the mannerisms of Basil Fawlty; while Annette Badland was closer to Hyacinth Bucket; and the seaside postcard effect intermingled with bursts of song recalled ‘Oh What a Lovely War’.

The addition of the male actor dressed as a cleaning lady as a grotesque chorus added to the comedy, while James Fleet’s final mime/dance of the cycle of life drew proceedings to a poignant end.

Keywords: reviews, theatre

Something for the weekend

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 17:54:03 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/125863.html

It’s 6.50pm on Friday afternoon and I’m still in the office having said that I would leave at 2pm. Not even shoes could make that better…

Keywords: objects of desire, shoes

With No One As Witness by Elizabeth George

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 12:59:06 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/125850.html

If you want well-written crime fiction about an aristocratic detective, read Dorothy L. Sayers. If you can’t sleep on a Thursday night and it’s too hot to do anything useful, read Elizabeth George. The American depiction of English life isn’t quite as jarring as in the work of Martha Grimes, but the derivative ‘cosy crime’ set-up doesn’t quite gel with the attempt at interpolating first person narrative from the serial killer – an approach done to much better effect and with far more literary style by Val McDermid.

Keywords: reviews, books

Communities of practice

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:28:00 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/125659.html

Following on from yesterday’s post about communities of learning (http://elgg.net/elliec/weblog/125537.html) which looked at student interactions in order to think about relating e-tools to PDP, I’m now starting to think about communities of practice. The starting point for this is the need to make presentations to role-based groups of new Directors of Studies, new Personal Tutors and new Placement Tutors. Some initial thoughts:

- the need to signpost sources of good practice, guidance and support, including the role of peer support through groups like the Directors of Studies Fora.

- Personal tutors in particular will receive a lot of information about how to deal with and refer on students who require additional support. There is scope here for some general points on enhancing the student experience generally (which may lead on to discussion of the role of personal development planning, monitoring and feedback).

- Directors of Studies play a key role at departmental level in a number of key areas, such as curriculum design and approval, monitoring and review and assessment. In lieu of a role description for Directors of Studies there is scope for picking out some of these key themes and relating these to a bigger picture.

- emphasis upon the role of the LTEO in being consultative, seeking to base work on sound educational principles, sharing good practice and seeking to enhance the student experience. These principles apply to ALL our activities – whether that is the policy and regulatory structures that underpin elements of the QA Code of Practice; the encouragement of innovative and good practice through the Teaching Development Fund and Good Practice Discussions; or provision of PDP and e-Learning tools.

Keywords: PDP, professional identity

Communities of learning

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 13:07:09 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/125537.html

Dave Tosh’s post on Ellg, the learner and the institution http://elgg.net/dtosh/weblog/125110.html which places Elgg within the context of other tools, started a train of thinking about how these tools might relate to and support particular communities of learning at my own institution:

• the individual reflecting at a personal level, potentially beyond the confines of a particular programme of study;
• interaction between individuals by personal choice on the basis of shared interest, again, not necessarily bounded by a programme of study;
• interaction among members of the same student cohort, encouraged and facilitated by a course tutor in support of acknowledged learning outcomes;
• one-to-one interaction between a student and personal or placement tutor in support of the personal and academic development of a particular student.

The functional analysis then follows on from the identification of these communities  - in relation to levels of formality, distinctions in function (academic record-keeping, personal reflection, portfolio or cv-building) as well as relationships to particular supporting e-tools.

Keywords: PDP

Not Buying It: my year without shopping, by Judith Levine

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 11:57:40 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/125403.html

Just read a review of this in The Times (http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17909-2278390,00.html). Leaving aside the obvious irony that it would take an act of consumerism to buy a book about a year spent avoiding consumerism, this sounds fascinating.

Where does one draw the line between essential and non-essential spending? I could probably just about go cold turkey on buying shoes for a year, but a life without coffee (organic, fairly-traded, extra strength, please) is absolutely unthinkable. My point is not entirely flippant – my parents regard my coffee habits (with associated gadgetry) as an incomprehensible extravagance. Within the parameters of the type of project defined in this book, is it the act of buying coffee (when one could simply drink water) that is the act of consumption or the lifestyle decisions and values which mean that I make a detour to the particular shop for a particular blend at a premium price?

There is a continuum between the things that are essential to existence, such as water, heat, food – those that are necessary to an enriched life, such as books, good wine, chocolate, meals with friends - and those items that are superfluous – were the three pairs of shoes I bought last month really essential? The line one draws is a purely personal choice – perhaps the process of the experiment is not an end in itself (i.e. how far one can stick to a given line) but is actually meant to lead one into making a positive choice about where to draw that line.

Of course the next decision is should I buy the book or should I make the effort to borrow it from a local library??

Keywords: books

Preparations for institutional audit, part the first

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 17:17:40 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/125124.html

Wouldn’t these just cheer up your day? And the name of these shoes (yes, shoes have names….)…Courtesan.

 These may be the shoes to help me survive the initial briefing visit with the QAA – further (and extensive) research will be needed.

Keywords: quality management, shoes, objects of desire

What makes a good academic administrator?

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 13:35:31 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/125003.html

Paul Greatrix, the Deputy Registrar at the University of Warwick, has asked what makes a good academic administrator:

http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/paulgreatrix/entry/what_makes_a/

with particular reference to the Warwick tradition of having generalist administrators who move around the different administrative functions of the University on a rotational basis – the trade-off being between specialist expertise and an appreciation of the relationship between the parts combined with an ability to apply generic skills.

 This led me to recall my own experience of interview for my first administrative post at Warwick where questioning revolved around the role of the administrator. My first reaction to the question was to emphasise the facilitative role – the ultimate civil servant – enabling the learning, teaching and research functions. The counter argument from my interviewer concentrated on issues of academic identity – the majority of academics identify firstly with their research group, their department, sometimes with their faculty and occasionally with the institution – and so if the administrator is purely a facilitator where does the institutional cohesion, direction and memory come from if not from the skeletal framework provided by the administration? The balance probably lies somewhere in the middle with a creative tension between the cohesion provided by ‘The Administration’ and the need to recognise that the fundamental functions of the University are academic.

One further question – where do the boundaries of ‘The Administration’ as a corporate body lie (leaving aside formulations of personal professional identity that are related to particular career goals)? Is a pro–vice–chancellor who spends most of his or her day in committee any less an academic; is an academic–related educational developer who works directly to support learning and teaching still as administrator?

BTW the hallmark of a good academic administrator is the killer high heels (and today I am mostly wearing www.irregularchoice.co.uk)

Keywords: professional identity, higher education

Knowing me, knowing you

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 15:51:59 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/124805.html

An interesting session today with colleagues from UWIC which explored aspects of the creation of a learning and teaching enhancement team and the creation of an institutional profile for learning and teaching:

- the variety of levels on which engagement with academic departments needs to take place – through centralised documents and events; through interactions on an individual or case-by-case basis; and through role-based groups, such as Directors of Studies Forum – and the way in which these parallel contacts need to interact and mesh together in order to create impact;

- how a learning and teaching strategy needs not only to address a number of audiences but also needs to provide appropriate ‘nuggets’/ideas from which other more detailed documents stem and in which meaning is illustrated;

- the use of team seminars to supplement team meetings as a staff development tool and as a means of raising a deeper level of awareness about particular projects and initiatives with which individual staff members may be involved.

Keywords: learning and teaching, higher education

Why blog?

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 17:20:42 GMT

http://eduspaces.net/elliec/weblog/124624.html

My first blog entry – having lurked for a while in Warwick blogs (http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/caseyleaver/) and seen just how blogging could support personal reflection and community building, it was time to jump in.

 There are elements of professional interest here – I work alongside an e-learning team (www.bath.ac.uk/learningandteaching) in which discussion of e-tools is a live issue; and my own team is involved in delivering personal development planning (http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/PDP.htm).

 There is also a personal element, I’m at the stage of writing up my PhD for submission in December and need a space in which to track developing ideas and draw together disparate resources.

Keywords: PDP