NIAMH GAYNOR

I incorporate a number of social justice themes into my teaching and would like to advance my capacity to do so.  In particular, I would welcome the opportunity to think more deeply about, and to explore with others on the DISCs project, different methods and resources I can use in the classroom to facilitate students’ critical engagement with, and commitment to equality and justice.  While I am aware of the growing instrumentalist pressures within higher education, I am strongly of the view that the ‘higher’ element of education has to be about more than the transfer of knowledge, skills and competencies.  For me, higher education is about engaging students in a transformative approach which aims at both deepening their understanding of the forces and processes which shape our world, and supporting them to actively engage, interact with and, where necessary, to transform this world for the better.  I am hoping that my participation in the DISCs project will help me support students in this way.

I am an active field researcher and I try to bring this experience into the classroom.  However, I find this is not always easy as the contexts for my research can sometimes seem quite remote and alien to students, even though the underlying structural processes can often be the same or similar to challenges students may have encountered here.  I am very keen to avoid this ‘othering’ and am hoping that the ideas and experiences of others on the project might help me think more deeply about how to go about this in a way that promotes solidarity and understanding, and helps students see the global nature of many of society’s challenges, both at home and abroad.