Sign the Declaration

08 August 2024

Collective action & collaboration: What is in it for us?

A banner image with a purple background with a light blue KEN cog logo on the right hand side, with light blue text on the left which states the title and author, 'Collective action & collaboration: What is in it for us? by Chrissi Nerantzi'

Inspired by and reflecting on a recent conversation with Professor Anne Tallontire about collaboration, I felt the desire to capture my related meandering thoughts which grew further after our trigger conversation. So thank you Anne.

As human beings we enjoy the company of others. We seek to be with others when we feel happy and excited, unwell or down, but also when we realise that our life experiences are so much richer and we can achieve so much more when we are part of something bigger than ourselves, a diverse group, a community or even a movement… with a purpose. Can something similar be said about education and learning?

Learning is relational, at least for many of us. We regularly search for learning relationships of trust with our peers, students, educators and researchers. But also, with others outside a course we study for example, friends, family and work colleagues as well as the discipline or professional area, the place we study, work and live and the environment. Digital networked technologies and participatory media and open educational practices create new opportunities for human connection beyond boundaries and geographical limitations. We can meet others and we do, regularly and harness opportunities for human connection, for sharing, for growth.

While we must acknowledge the important role our inner glow and drive to learn, develop and progress play, feeling part of something bigger, were our contributions matter and having a shared purpose and contributing to the wider good will propel us further. It can bring personal and collective fulfilment and create a sense of dynamism, agency and empowerment that will make everyday life more enjoyful (yes, full of joy!) and meaningful and do I dare to say happy and hopeful. We see this in the open educational movement and open scholars who are united by social justice. Young people also seem to be motivated to make a real difference to the world they live it. In a study conducted in the UK for example young people expressed their desire to learn together creatively and across disciplines when at university to solve some of the biggest challenges of our times (British Science Association, 2022).

Collaboration while often seen and experienced as challenging, also among students and still under-used (Jisc, 2023), is the vehicle that can lead us to a life that places our collective interests, curiosities, imaginations, priorities and gains before individual ones to achieve something we wouldn’t be able to on our own. Nobody says it is easy. But it is worth it and can be so rewarding! In a world where competition is king and primarily individualism is celebrated and rewarded collaboration may seem like an impossible endeavour, something that could easily and quickly be reduced to wishful thinking, an idea we should abandon.

However, we can model a collaborative alternative throughout education (it is our choice) and illuminate what is possible and the real difference it can make to us collectively. When we stop thinking about what is in there for “me” and what is in there for “them” and start thinking and focusing on what is in there for “us”, me and them, all of us, collectively, we may be getting to a new place. Will such an approach enable us to move beyond expected reciprocity, perceived obligation and blind loyalty? It may sound like a utopian proposition, but is it? Does it have to be? Should it be? Remember, we are all here for a little while only… travellers, explorers and adventurers. The true richness in life is not really what we accumulate, that turns to dust anyway (we easily seem to forget!), but what we give, what we share… and the experiences we have together. The memories we co-create. Our smiles, our tears, our ups- and downs. The difference we can make to others, when we work together in harmony.

Opening-up to genuine connection, otherness, people, perspectives, experiences and ideas is vital for collective growth, freedom, solidarity and respectful and equitable communities and society. We are all unique, and that is the real beauty as Treviranus (2016, 7) highlighted that “it is this variability that gives as collective strength”. When we focus on what we have in common, what unites us instead of what divides us, and celebrate our differences as opportunities for enrichment, could this help us also to co-create a more respectful, caring and compassionate world and a healthy, embracing human race and planet for current and future generations?

Let’s work towards a more collaborative higher education, a higher education for good (Czerniewicz & Cronin, 2023) and harness the power of diverse togetherness instead of territoriality, egocentricity, exclusionism. How can we genuinely transform higher education into a fountain for and of more diverse and boundary-crossing collaborative experiences and model a way of being and becoming that is truly embracing of otherness within the curriculum as well as in co- and extra-curricular learning experiences we co-design and offer with and for all our students, staff and the wider community to make a real difference and positive contribution based on equitable togetherness, collaboration and partnerships?

References

British Science Association (2022) Future Forum: Creativity in STEM: Young people’s views on using collective collaboration to build a better future. British Science Association in collaboration with Unboxed Creativity in the UK,  https://www.britishscienceassociation.org/News/future-forum-report-2022-published

Czerniewicz, L. & Cronin, C. (eds.) (2023) Higher Education for Good: Teaching and Learning Futures. Open Book Publishers. https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0363

Jisc (2023) Student digital experience insights survey 2022/23. UK higher education (HE) survey findings. Bristol: Jisc. https://repository.jisc.ac.uk/9224/1/DEI-2023-student-he-report.pdf

Treviranus, J. (2016) Life-long learning on the inclusive web, Proceedings of the 13th Web for All Conference, Article 1, Montreal, Canada, April 11-13,  https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2899476 

Biography

Chrissi Nerantzi (NTF, CATE, PFHEA) is a Professor in Creative and Open Education in the School of Education, a Senior Lead of the Knowledge Equity Network and the Academic Lead for Discover and Explore at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. Chrissi is a GO-GN alumna, the founder of the international #creativeHE community and has initiated a range of further open professional development courses, networks and communities that have been sustained over the years.