Campaigning for educational change Kate Little Senior Project Officer, NUS

Session objectives Explore what a campaign is and what makes a successful campaign Think about different campaign methods and tactics Explore available evidence sources Benchmark an aspect of your course Begin a campaign plan to improve an aspect of your course

What is campaigning? “the mobilising of forces by organisations or individuals to influence others in order to effect an identified and desired social, economic, environmental or political change.” – NCVO “If politics is the ‘art of the possible’, campaigning is the science and art of changing what is possible” – Chris Rose

Being evidence-led (definition) The available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid For course reps, being evidence led is increasingly important to ensure that staff take your arguments seriously Ensuring that your campaigns and communications with your institution are based on solid evidence will help you do a better job of representing your students Evidence

What evidence is available? Quantitative NSS ISB PRES/PTES Module evaluation Internal surveys Contact time Staff:student ratio Retention figures Comparator institutions Qualitative Survey free text comments Course rep feedback GOATing Case studies Focus groups Blogs/vlogs Diaries Interviews Policy Committee minutes University policy (yours or others) Union policy NUS briefings QAA/HEA reports Academic research Government reports

Benchmarking tools Principles Levels of Practice

Outstanding practice: Partnership Each of the “outstanding” practices involve staff and students working in partnership. This partnership needs to be meaningful in order to work, which means that both groups must listen and be willing to compromise. Some of the principles may be mutually incompatible in some institutions: for example, it may not be possible to achieve “outstanding” in both feedback timeliness and feedback quality if the institution cannot afford more staff time for marking. Have honest conversations with institutional staff about what is and isn’t possible.

Benchmark Your Course Which box best describes your course’s approach to each principle? Where are the lowest areas? Where is the best practice? Does this tally with what you already know?

Planning Your Campaign Things to bear in mind: You may not be able to achieve “outstanding” in everything at once. What are your priorities? You will only achieve your goals by working in partnership with staff. How will you approach them? Who do you need to talk to? You (or your officers) may not agree with all the principles. That’s OK – make them work for you. What is the impact on postgraduate students who teach?

Planning Your Campaign Write down your aim – and make it SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-defined) Who do you need to talk to? (other students, module leader, head of department) What evidence do you have? What are you going to do?

10 Steps of Effective Campaigns 1.Plan your campaign – resources, goals, timescales 2.Look at your institution’s current policy 3.Engage students – what are their issues? 4.Collate your research 5.Engage with the institution 6.Keep campaigning, keep students engaged 7.Evaluate your campaign 8.Celebrate your successes 9.Monitor policy implementation 10.Make further recommendations