Thirty years on: time for rethinking- a blog for SEDA in its 30th year

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Professor Sally Brown

SEDA is 30 and my career as an Educational Developer and someone who used Ed-Dev within a leadership role is even older than that. In fact, a lot of Educational Developers like me took up that mantle in the decade before SEDA came into being, and hence a lot of us (those who have not yet retired completely) are contemplating when the right time might be to stop doing the kind of Ed-Devy things we’ve been doing for decades. Some are easy to cast aside: there are not many days that co-author, co-educational developer and husband Phil Race and I don’t agree that we don’t envy those who are still working full-time in Higher Education. Some are harder to relinquish: only yesterday I co-led a workshop on authentic assessment with dear friend and long-standing colleague Kay Sambell and today I am still buzzing from it, and looking forward to the next live event.

This is particularly true as my in-person activities have been somewhat curtained in the last year or so by ailments that fabulous surgery has remediated (artificial hips take ten years off one!) All praise to the UK NHS! But thinking about the different elements of my erstwhile role has caused me to re-evaluate what I do. I do this every year to some extent, when I participate in my annual SEDA Fellowship CPD conversations, but here I thought I would set out some of the things I still enjoy doing, and some I have completely stopped. A fuller version of this conversation with myself is in the table that you can access here (also available on my website at sally-brown.net). It’s designed to assist not only those who are approaching retirement, but also for current and future Educational Developers to support your thinking about what you do and don’t get a buzz from and thereby guide your choices.

In essence, what I don’t do is anything that requires hassle, and excessive levels of work and activities that benefit institutions rather than individuals. My commitment to academic citizenship doesn’t extend to:

  • responding to peremptory commands from HEIs wanting me to give a neutral comment on a teaching and learning professorial application for someone I don’t know (I have been known to respond with a short email back saying that they would have more chance if they asked nicely) unless they make a cash payment to the foodbank I support;
  • reviewing journal articles (because publishers make profit from the free labour of reviewers);
  • PhD examining (unless I just can’t bear not to, if the topic is really interesting): it is so much work for so little pay, and besides younger people can get benefit from putting it on their CVs while I don’t need to;
  • editing books (it’s a soul-destroying task especially if working with lackadaisical chapter authors who should know better);
  • writing any more books from scratch (I’ve done enough!) although I am still going to work with Phil on his 6th edition of the Lecturers Toolkit.

What I still do includes:

  • workshops and keynotes, virtual and (occasionally) in person mainly with Kay Sambell, because its, great fun and helps me buy treats for my grandchildren;
  • mentoring a limited number of mid-career colleagues aiming for more senior teaching and learning posts or professorships (because it’s important to champion teaching and learning routes);
  • creating resources for universities (paid) for or unpaid to go on my website, because it still excites me to do so, and makes me work at keeping myself up to date;
  • Reviewing grant applications (as it similarly keeps me on my toes).

So, that’s where I am up to! And where will I be in another 5 or 10 years? Will I still be continuing any of these activities? It’s not as if I am short of hobbies and interests (see @ProfSallyBrown for evidence of these). But health and energy permitting, I very much hope I will still have some things on my agenda. The main thing is that now I only really do what I enjoy a lot. What a fortunate position to be in!

Professor Sally Brown is an Independent Consultant in Learning, Teaching and Assessment and Emerita Professor at Leeds Beckett University where she was, until 2010, Pro-Vice-Chancellor. She is also Visiting Professor at Edge Hill University, and formerly at the Universities of Plymouth, Robert Gordon, South Wales and Liverpool John Moores, and at Australian universities: James Cook, Central Queensland, and the Sunshine Coast.

She holds Honorary Doctorates from the universities of Plymouth, Kingston, Bournemouth, Edinburgh Napier and Lincoln.

She is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) Senior Fellow and a National Teaching Fellow.

Twitter: @ProfSallyBrown

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