Student focus: Changemakers

About Inquilab

This polyvocal podcast tells the story so far of Inquilab / Ink-Lab; an alternative reading group based at University of the Arts London.

Outraged by the brutal murder of George Floyd many individuals within higher education (HE) were incensed, leading to a collective realisation of the imperative for transformative action. In response, Dr. Gurnam Singh, Jheni Arboine, and a small cohort of UAL staff and students made a decisive commitment to establish a distinctive reading group—Inquilab. This group distinguishes itself by embracing an unapologetically radical approach, with its foundation rooted in the principles of decolonisation, anti-racism, and flattened hierarchies. Inquilab's primary objective is to foster an authentic space where UAL staff and students can converge, encouraging the exploration and contemplation of radical pedagogy and practices within a supportive, open, and organic space.

In this podcast we hear from Inquilab’s founders about the context, values and ideas that were behind its beginnings and how it has since developed into its 3rd year. Participants and contributors tell us what brings them back and how the unique qualities and approaches that Inquilab embraces makes it a very different kind of discursive space. We hear about what it means to be able to bring your true self to a studio setting and how that fundamentally reconfigures hierarchies to create a greater sense of belonging and community for both staff and students.

Contributors:
Jheni Arboine
Nadia Idle
Deshna Mehta
Dr Gurnam Singh
Dr. Manrutt Wongkaew

Music:
Thank you to Shaheed Bhai Mewa Singh for allowing us to use their music in this podcast

Sound recordings credits:
Tim Kahn for the recordings of a Black Lives Matter protest in Portland, Oregon, 7th June 2020

Production and Editing:
This podcast has been created and edited by Gemma Riggs

Compassionate Feedback

In this episode of interrogating spaces, Dr Emily Salines takes us on an exploration of feedback practice, and how we might take a more compassionate approach.

The impact of feedback on student learning is well documented in educational literature. We also know that it is a critical area of practice where the emotional impact of assessment is at play. We speak with a number of practitioners, teachers and students to set out to map a framework for compassionate feedback practice and how we might enact it

The questions we are asking are:

• How can we harness feedback to support learning in a way that does no harm and supports students?
• How can we use feedback to foster belonging?
• Can compassion help us? And what would compassionate feedback look like?

This work is part of the QAA collaborative enhancement project on ‘Belonging through assessment: pipelines of compassion’ with UAL, Glasgow School of Art and Leeds Arts University.

Speakers:

Liz Bunting is an Educational Developer at University of the Arts London, where she co-leads a programme of educational development on Fostering Belonging and Compassionate Pedagogy. She supports colleagues in creating educational ecosystems that promote social justice through compassionate cultures, policies and practices. Her research investigates belonging, compassion and trauma informed care in Higher Education.

Vikki Hill is an Educational Developer: Attainment (Identity and Cultural Experience) in the Academic Enhancement Team at University of the Arts London (UAL). A Senior Fellow of the HEA, Vikki works with staff to support equitable outcomes and experiences for students. Vikki’s research is focused on educational development, compassionate assessment, pedagogies and policies through arts-based and posthuman approaches.

Dr Emily Salines is a former member of the Academic Enhancement Team at UAL, where, as Educational Developer she co-led the Enhancing Assessment for Equity strand of Academic Enhancement work until September 22. She is now Head of Education Programmes at Queen Mary Academy (Queen Mary University of London). Her research focuses on assessment design, assessment for social justice and approaches to compassionate feedback.

Dr Anna Troisi is Course Leader for the BSc Creative Computing at the Creative Computing Institute (CCI), UAL. Anna is a member of the UAL Ethics Research committee. Her initiatives to promote social justice with the introduction of non-violent communication enhanced students’ experience and enabled students’ agency in the curriculum.

Dr Victoria Odeniyi is a Decolonising Arts Institute research fellow where she leads the Reimagining Conversations research project which seeks to raise critical awareness of the educational and creative potential of the use of language. She has research and professional interests in educational inequality, linguistic diversity and institutionalised knowledge production and how these issues intersect with race and identity.

Student contributions:
Simbi Juwon-Sulaiman: Graphic Communication, Central St Martins, UAL
Amina Akhmedova: Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL

Creative Shift Takeover: Women+ of Colour in Leadership (full version)

In this podcast we hear from three students about their experience of taking part in Creative Shift’s Women+ of Colour in Leadership (W+CinL) live brief project (2022).

W+CinL is a 10-week project designed to inspire and empower UAL students who identify as female. Giving 15 students an opportunity to develop different aspects of leadership through leadership coaching delivered by Jannett Morgan, Director of JM Learning & Skills, while applying their learnings to an industry live brief. This year we worked with PR agency, Hope&Glory and their client LinkedIn, students designed and presented a PR campaign representing barriers women face in the workplace.

For more about the Women+ in Leadership programme see our webpage here.

Credits / references

Podcast host

Debra Chosen is a highly-experienced communications expert; who has worked across Social Media & Marketing for 8 years including a range of sectors such as fashion and beauty, property and also charity. Carefully crafting brand messages from strategy through to content creation, Debra’s career has orbited around telling stories that engage and provoke human connection. She is currently working as Global Content Manager for Dove at Unilever and hosts Trusting The Process, the podcast that celebrates black women doing big things.

Participants

Davinia Clarke – BA Hons Illustration and Visual Media student
Jade Milton-Baptiste – BA Hons Design Management graduate
Pearl Gerald – BA Hons Graphic and Media Design student

Sound Engineering and Production: Hannah Kemp-Welch

Creative Shift Takeover: Women+ of Colour in Leadership (short version)

In this shorter, edited version of the podcast, we hear from three students about their experience of taking part in Creative Shift’s Women+ of Colour in Leadership (W+CinL) live brief project (2022).

W+CinL is a 10-week project designed to inspire and empower UAL students who identify as female. Giving 15 students an opportunity to develop different aspects of leadership through leadership coaching delivered by Jannett Morgan, Director of JM Learning & Skills, while applying their learnings to an industry live brief. This year we worked with PR agency, Hope&Glory and their client LinkedIn, students designed and presented a PR campaign representing barriers women face in the workplace.

For more about the Women+ in Leadership programme see our webpage here.

Credits / references

Podcast host

Debra Chosen is a highly-experienced communications expert; who has worked across Social Media & Marketing for 8 years including a range of sectors such as fashion and beauty, property and also charity. Carefully crafting brand messages from strategy through to content creation, Debra’s career has orbited around telling stories that engage and provoke human connection. She is currently working as Global Content Manager for Dove at Unilever and hosts Trusting The Process, the podcast that celebrates black women doing big things.

Participants

Davinia Clarke – BA Hons Illustration and Visual Media student
Jade Milton-Baptiste – BA Hons Design Management graduate
Pearl Gerald – BA Hons Graphic and Media Design student

Sound Engineering and Production: Hannah Kemp-Welch

Student focus: International Student Experience

In this podcast we hear from two international students about their experience of studying at UAL, specifically at Central St Martins. They give valuable insights as well as tips for tutors and incoming students. This podcast was made by the Student Imaginators, a cross-college group of students and alumni at UAL, who imagine, create and produce student-facing resources to do with decolonial approaches and compassionate pedagogy.

Credits/ references:

Participants: Mihika Bahety and Vicky Wong

Questions and Facilitation: Dr Amita Nijhawan

Sound Engineering and Production: Hannah Kemp-Welch