Hearing student voices

Abstract

“In our culture, we understand each other, we don’t say a word but we understand …but here, if you don’t tell, they don’t know.”

This Workshop will introduce a set of audio materials (‘podcasts’), featuring mainly international students talking about their journeys to and through UAL and including the obstacles and discoveries along the way. The original audio material has been edited into three versions, the purpose of which will be reviewed and discussed.

The overall aim of the Workshop is to explore the value of such material to engage listeners (university staff or students) and to inform their teaching or learning; also, to consider whether this is a useful step towards understanding how we might develop a more inclusive environment for all students.

This might also facilitate a wider discussion about the potential of audio recordings as an adjunct to systematic research, and the value of such (apparently ad hoc) materials to express some of the diverse thoughts and feelings of our student body – in students’ own words.

The popularity of ‘podcasts’ generally, the effectiveness of such recordings and the value of hearing students’ voices and stories - will be put to the test.