Overview

This year the QMU Festival of Learning focuses on the theme of belonging. Belonging is a social and relational phenomenon and can be viewed as a powerful affective state and a basic human need. It can be lost and found on a student journey. It speaks to ‘students’ feelings of being valued, respected, supported, included, and that they matter by teachers and peers, so that they feel part of the university learning community’ (Hill et al., 2020, p.4). Across the higher education sector, correlations between belonging and success (Goodenow, 1993), retention (Kane et al, 2014), engagement (Thomas, 2012) attainment (Mountford-Zimdars et al., 2015) and emotional wellbeing (Strayhorn, 2008) have been well documented.

During the Festival of Learning we will ask: What does it feel like to belong? How do we foster a sense of belonging within our teaching, learning, assessment, curriculum and learning spaces, whether digital or in person? What roles do we play in generating cultures of belonging? There are many ways that belonging exists within and across learning, teaching and assessment.

We are delighted to host our two keynote speakers: 

• Dr Javaria Shah, Associate Director of the Centre for Inclusive Pedagogy and Practice and Senior Lecturer in Education and Inclusion at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Javaria is also Director of the Social Performance Network
   
• Professor Theo Gilbert, Professor of Compassion Focused Pedagogy, University of Hertfordshire. Theo is the network leader of Compassion in HE

We will build on the QMU Enhancement Themes work around Community and Belonging (part of the current Resilient Learning Communities theme) and is also aligned to the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion theme of the QMU student Experience Strategy.

The Festival of Learning: Recipes for Belonging invites you to bring questions, approaches, opportunities and challenges of belonging (and unbelonging) into a discursive and experiential space. Abstracts are welcomed from all members of the QMU community.
 

The date of the conference: Tuesday 21st May, 2024

The Festival of Learning will be hybrid (on campus and online) so please indicate whether your proposal is for an online or on campus activity.

Cost to present or participate: None

Lunch included (for dietary requirements, please contact Gia Longo: glongo@qmu.ac.uk) 

Themes

• Cuisine & Customs This theme encourages the exploration of the diversity of experiences that exemplify facilitation of belonging (ingredients) and/or the reduction of existing barriers (allergens) to belonging. It emphasizes how diversity broadens our understanding of each other and the world we live in.
• Sauces & Seasoning. This theme welcomes small bite size contributions designed to open up conversations around belonging and what it means to belong at QMU.
• Starters. This theme welcomes the sharing of ideas, plans or projects that are in their early stages of implementation, and which could use this ‘course’ as a safe, nourishing, and exploratory space for learning and development.
• Main Course. This theme encourages the sharing of how existing educational and supportive practices that provide new insight are being used to foster belonging, including examples of processes, practices and policies that facilitate everyone having a place and a voice at the table.
• Dessert This theme reflects new ideas and opportunities for ‘sweetening’ staff and students’ experiences of inclusion and belonging including building compassionate and relational approaches.
• Food insecurity A reliable access to affordable, nutritious, and healthy food is a privilege that many people don’t experience. This theme is an opportunity to recognize and address the social injustices and inequalities that create unbelonging and how we can respond to alleviate those in our teaching, learning and assessment contexts.

We look forward to welcoming our student and staff community from all departments and disciplines.