And then Simon Ensor issued his picture and blogpost challenge - and I had to jump in and write
a brief blogpost in response to his image – cos it’s an image we use in book.
It’s where we talk about having the ‘big picture’ or overview of a course. We
say:
“Whilst it is true that
we tend to learn things in pieces, one step at a time, this is helped if we
have the big picture first; if we know how the subject will be covered. It’s
like a jigsaw puzzle, it is much easier to put the pieces together if we have
the picture on the box. Similarly, if we understand how universities work and
how our courses have been put together, we will be able to achieve more, more
swiftly.”
Obviously that is meant
as useful advice to all people coming to university – but especially for those
whose family might not have been able to give them the gen – the inside track –
on what university is all about: if they have not been groomed from birth to succeed
in that system (if they don't have the cultural or academic captial - Bourdieu, Passeron, Wacquant…).
The picture on the box is
a shorthand for saying that universities are systems and have systems – and if
you understand them you can make them work for you. But it can be seen as
really unhelpful – as Maha Bali points out – there is only ONE true solution to
a jigsaw puzzle – and we do not want to trap people into thinking there is only
one true way to survive at university – and one true way to get it ‘right’.
We have another chapter
in the book: Make university positive – where we try to indicate all the other
things that universities are beyond the merely academic – beyond the merely ‘get
your head down and work the system’ system. We suggest that our widening participation
students also join the Clubs and Societies – that they make friends – that they
do not just rush off home to family duties – or rush off to work for work
duties – but they spend time ‘being with’ their fellow students. That they hang
out in the canteen chatting to people – that they become Peer Mentors. That they
believe in themselves and develop their self-confidence and self-esteem – after
all – that is what the traditional middle class student does know about
university. As Stephen Fry said recently on Desert Island Discs – he only
attended about three lectures in all his time at Cambridge – but he put on
several plays a year – he joined Footlights – he made enduring friendships… and
we want to get that across the our students too.
Sandra Sinfield 
Georgia Power 
Rachel Wenstone