Lucy Bennett & Jenny Kidd Cardiff University In 2015 we were approached by the Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) in the UK to carry out a small research project for the Higher Education Academy (HEA). The project, ‘Teaching and Learning Issues in the Discipline’, was a transdisciplinary investigation into challenges facing Higher Education …Continue Reading

Abigail Gardner University of Gloucestershire Once upon a time there was a King and his advisors who invented a game for their most illustrious scholars and teachers to play. The game was called TEF and it was new and uncalled for. They told the scholars they had to play the game, that it would get …Continue Reading

Janet Jones London South Bank University They say that Justine Greening, the first Education Secretary ever to be educated in a comprehensive school, actually ‘gets it’. She’s part of Cameron’s ‘modernisation agenda’, and as such she understands the problematics of social mobility, and is committed to tackling deep rooted issues like why only 10% of …Continue Reading

Natalie Fenton Goldsmiths, University of London With the recent government cabinet reshuffle came the dismantling of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the return of the higher education remit to the Department of Education. While on one level this would seem appealing – surely education should be addressed from primary to tertiary level …Continue Reading

David Hesmondhalgh University of Leeds Amidst the recent political turmoil, it’s been easy to forget the Higher Education White Paper. Obviously, Brexit will have enormous negative consequences for HE, including the MeCCSA subject areas. But no-one who works in UK universities should overlook the White Paper. The UCU are understandably using Brexit as a reason …Continue Reading