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On Monday 15 October, CHEER co-hosted the 'Critical Perspectives on Transitions into, through and beyond Higher Education' conference with the Centre for Teaching and Learning Research (CTLR). The one-day conference, held at Brighton's Jubilee Public Library, was attended by a diverse audience of around 60 delegates, including from research, teaching, widening participation and wide practitioner backgrounds. Conference participants came from Sussex, across the UK, and internationally including from Spain, Chile and Australia.

The Conference included two keynote presentations from on ‘Older and First: Navigating the transitions of older students who are the first in their family to attend university’; and , on ‘Critical Perspectives on Transitions into, through and beyond Higher Education: Learning from the paired peers project’.

Key emergent themes from discussion throughout the day included the ways in which the capitals that different students bring to University are valued, the perception of deficit as lying with students rather than institutions themselves, and the persistence yet often unacknowledged significance of class.

Much of the thinking behind the day was done by doctoral researchers Wendy Ashall, Yasser Kosbar and Rosa Marvell who led a thought-provoking question/discussion session after lunch designed to raise some of the more challenging questions.

Rosa Marvell:
"I felt part of a broader conversation about the more inclusive topography of Higher Education we would like to see which transcended the imposed boundaries between disciplines, sectors and geographies."

Yasser Kosbar:
"The idea of submitting an abstract and talking in public about my research at this early stage used to terrify me. This time, it was different. I felt confident to stand in public and share with others what I have learned so far."

Wendy Ashall:
"The  opportunity it provided to learn from others working in similar areas, albeit in other sectors, made it clear to me that we would all benefit – in terms of research, policy and practice – from more regular cross-sector conversations."

The day received positive feedback from attendees, including the following submitted by Ruth Bowles, Academic Skills Consultant, Careers and Employability Centre, ÄûÃÊÊÓƵ:

"I really enjoyed the event yesterday. Lots of ideas and stimulating discussions. I feel very inspired by all the interesting research that is being carried out."

'Transitions' Programme [PDF 460.16KB]

PRESENTATIONS

• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: Keynote 1 - 

  Navigating the 

  transitions of older students 

  who are the first in their family 

  to attend university

• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: Keynote 2 - Learning from the 'Paired Peers' project
• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: Boys from the black country
• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: Constructions of identity beyond ‘BME’ for architecture students entering HE
• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: Equal practices
• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: Factors influencing the employability of non-traditional students
• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: Learning from autistic students' experiences in transition
• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: Neoliberal transitions
• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: The role of transitions in the mental health and wellbeing of PGR students
• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: The transition from teaching international to home students
• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: Threshold concepts in the discipline of writing studies
• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: Transitioning within and between doctoral spaces for writing
• CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES PRES: Transitions in prestigious education contexts