So, I’ve covered how I got into this work. But why is it so appealing to me? Why do I love it?
School’s out for ever
I loved my undergraduate university experience. But that had little to do with my course.
When I think back to what it felt like to be in education pre-18, mostly I remember how deeply bored I was. I yearned for freedom. Intellectual freedom. I had been one of those kids in primary school who tries to read a more interesting book under the desk because they’ve already read the textbook cover to cover. I’d got through my GCSEs with a minimum of effort, preferring to spend revision time reading novels, then battled my way through A Levels (willpower vs boredom), and by the time I got to university I was determined to finally enjoy my life and completely undaunted by being a first-generation ‘traditional’ (my dad is an OU grad) university student.
It didn’t even occur to me I was at any disadvantage. I was too busy revelling in the glorious, glorious freedom. The optional reading lists were so long! I got to read multiple books every week! Possible essay questions filled a page! The Students Union offered so many societies! The library was full of books and films! There were masses of choices and most importantly, many, many of them were mine to make! I was finally in control of my learning and it was bliss.
Community by accident, not design
On the other hand, my social life was stalling. My coursemates didn’t seem social at all. After seminars everyone walked off in separate directions and I never saw them around campus or in the students’ union. I joined a couple of societies but didn’t make any lasting friendships.
I know I’m not the only one whose social experience at university went like this. I was very lucky and made friends almost immediately when I finally moved into halls in the second term. We made our own mini-community and we’re friends to this day. Still, at the time, I felt like something was missing.
I found it when I started my MA. Same university. Entirely different attitude from my fellow students. After our very first workshop, someone said ‘Shall we go for lunch together?’ and we all went to the refectory as a group. I almost cried with delight.
And it didn’t stop there. One of my peers organised an additional weekly workshop session so that we could critique more of each other’s work. Another worked at the British Library and took us on a backstage tour. We worked together happily to organise the launch of our online magazine, running a cake sale and book sale to help stock the bar. One of the other students introduced me to my future partner. A group of us continued to meet once a month for over a decade.
I haven’t seen any other students from my undergraduate degree since my MA graduation – the one other student from my BA personal tutor group who came to our BA graduation also went straight on to an MA at Goldsmiths.
Community by design, not accident
So what was different about my MA? First of all, as MA students of creative writing we all had a very strong interest in common. On my BA there were definitely people there who had chosen the course because it was their last chance at a free/low-cost education (2005…) or because they felt they ‘had’ to go to university and the course sounded okay. This wasn’t the case for my MA – I think the number of students who study creative writing as postgrads because they don’t know what else to do with their lives must be extremely low!
Secondly, we had a number of students who were socially confident and proactive. Born organisers, who would take the lead, and happy volunteers, like me, who were reliable supporters.
But also, community was baked into the course design. You couldn’t just show up when it was your turn to get feedback, as that only happened a couple of times a term. You were expected to be there every week to give feedback to the other students, and prepare for it by doing the reading. And we were encouraged to spend time together outside of the official workshops, to run peer seminars and additional critique groups, to work together on our end of year publication and its launch event. Our tutors put the structures in place and gave us the info we needed, then it was over to us to take responsibility and make it work.
This is something I’ve seen many other course leaders do successfully over the years, but I’ve also seen a lot of unsuccessful attempts, where there wasn’t quite the right scaffolding to develop a community. It’s not easy. I’ve also made lots of unsuccessful attempts to build communities. Sometimes they just don’t stick because people have too much else going on. Other times, the community has grown and developed beyond my wildest dreams!
Endlessly fascinating
I don’t think there is a foolproof method of community facilitation. Every single community is going to be an experiment, with different people, different priorities, and a different setting. But I think what is crucial, every time, is designing the scaffolding necessary to promote community development.
How we do that is something I don’t think has been studied enough. When I go to talks by people who have designed successful student engagement activities or built communities within their institutions, I often find the practical parts are sidelined in favour of outcomes. Presentations gloss over what the presenter did to get people talking, relating, and building things together – I think this is often because of time, but I find it disappointing! I can read about your outcomes on a slide. Tell me how you did it!
The detail is endlessly fascinating to me, and a vital part of the story. Outside of HE, there’s a lot more practical advice readily available, and I love to read and listen to it. But applying it to HE is fabulously challenging. Honestly, I adore how difficult it is! How do you build communities when students and staff have such varying levels of personal investment and interest? When many potential members may not yet have the necessary skills and self-confidence, and others assume competence that isn’t there? When institutions can be vast and hugely diverse and have many other problems that get in the way?
I’m passionate about this because I know what a difference a community can make to the learning experience, and I think that as the typical university experience changes more and more, thanks to demographic shifts and political developments, community building will only become increasingly important. I want to know what I would say if I could go back in time and talk to my undergraduate tutors. I want to know what we can do to improve things for students and staff now. I want to help figure it all out.