Liberating Learning - new special edition by UCL and KCL

A new special edition of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education (put together by colleagues from UCL and KCL) brings together a range of voices that ask how joy, compassion, inclusivity and play can be incorporated into our educational practice and what difference it might make to staff and students.

Professor Cathy Elliott (UCL Political Science and Vice-Dean Education in the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences) was one of the editorial collective behind the special edition. It includes a new article by her, another co-authored by two former undergraduate students from UCL Political Science, articles by academic colleagues, as well as other voices from around the sector, the UK and the world.

This special edition started life in April 2024 when a group of colleagues from UCL and KCL hosted a conference entitled 'Freedom to Learn'. It was a day that attempted to turn all our preconceptions about Higher Education on their heads, starting with the questions "who it is important to listen to" and "how do prestigious invitations get handed out"? 

Two keynote speeches were delivered by undergraduate and postgraduate taught students from our two institutions. Those speeches were fascinating, invigorating and, in some cases, humbling: the students called upon us to rethink our practice as teachers and to work with them to embed more joy, trust and care into our curriculums and our classrooms. We attended numerous panels bringing together dedicated, enthusiastic and motivated educators intent on focusing on the joy of education, creating an empathetic university and busting some myths about what is (and is not) possible. We knew that the conversation couldn’t stop there.

Dr Martin Compton and Dr Rebecca Lindner from KCL therefore worked with the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education to develop this special edition on "liberating learning". A group of ten colleagues from our two institutions supported them in all the various tasks needed to bring such a publication to fruition, marking what we hope is just the beginning of a significant collaboration between our two universities and the starting point of a wider community of practice.

In this edition, you will find 39 articles by a total of 99 authors, from 40 different institutions in the UK and around the world. These authors range from students and recent graduates, to senior leaders and emeritus professors, to colleagues in professional services and third space roles. This wonderful diversity of voices asks searching questions about the purpose of Higher Education, and challenges us to imagine a kinder, more playful university which would simultaneously promote more intense and focused learning.

Prof Cathy Elliott says "One of the most powerful ideas that I came across in my own undergraduate education – and that has motivated me and stayed with me ever since – is that the world does not have to be the way that it is now. However, changing it requires imagination and ideas. We also have to stay motivated even when times are hard and the road ahead looks unpromising. For this, we need collaboration, community and trust, bringing together everyone who inhabits the university. I hope that by reading the many case studies, opinion pieces, research articles and calls to action in this edition, we will draw more people to come along with us and free us all to learn joyfully, creatively, compassionately and with delight."

Prof Elliott and colleauges are hoping to continue the conversation in a variety of forums over the next few months, including at our next in-person event at the UCL Centre for the Pedagogy of Politics on 6 June. Everyone is invited to join them on this journey to freedom.