Tuesday, June 24
4:45pm - 6:00pm EDT
3:45pm - 5:00pm CDT
2:45pm - 4:00pm MDT
1:45pm - 3:00pm PDT/MST
3:45pm - 5:00pm CDT
2:45pm - 4:00pm MDT
1:45pm - 3:00pm PDT/MST
These concurrent sessions will take place in different Zoom rooms.
Session Description
In Ruha Benjamin's recent book, Imagination: A Manifesto, she defines an "imaginary" as "collective projections of a desirable and feasible future" (p. ix). To that end, in this session, workshop attendees will have an opportunity to engage in some short, fun writing activities where they can respond to prompts about an imagined future for higher education and educational development work. The workshop will begin with a few "quick reaction" chat waterfall prompts with "what if" sentence stems. Then, workshop attendees will have a more concentrated chunk of time to freewrite a response to a speculative fiction prompt of their choice, giving them permission and space to let their imaginations run wild about how their work, for example, might change if the time of educational development work changed, if the space of educational development work changed, or if the relationships endemic to educational development work could be somehow different. From there, workshop attendees will be invited to share their ideas in a shared slidedeck (where they have the option to share their imaginings in narrative prose, graphics, or other multimedia forms). By the end of the workshop, participants will be invited to consider what they can do to maintain a mindful writing practice and what kinds of response prompts they can use for themselves to notice, observe, and reflect on their writing experience.
Key Takeaways
Recognize how story-crafting as a practice can be a way of rethinking entrenched narratives about the value of education and/or educational development work.
Reflect on your own narratives about higher education, using prompts from speculative fiction to defamiliarize yourself or re-shape your own understanding of your work and practices.
Adopt a reflective writing mindset focused on observation rather than judgement.
Give yourself permission to take up time and space to imagine what you'd like to see built in the future of educational development work.
Breakout rooms: optional; Written engagement: optional; Spoken engagement: optional
Session Description
Aster has built and supported a number of workplace-based collectives which focus on equitable practice and supporting marginalised humans. These include representatives for insecure workers, groups advancing allyship and influencing educational practice towards accessibility and inclusion. In this session, we will collaborate together to explore for yourselves what might be needed within your own workplace (the who and why of it), how to ensure these are sustainable and how to build those groups with the likely members. The approach of the session will include a mix of sharing some of my own experiences as well as opportunities to discuss and explore your thinking with fellow participants and learn from their collective wisdom. By the end of the session, the goal is that you will each have ideas you can take back to your area and put into action.
Key Takeaways
identifying the needs within your own workplace or area
ways of ensuring such collectives are sustainable over time
ways of ensuring collectives operate in ways the work for their members