Tag: whats

  • HESA’s AI Observatory: What’s new in higher education (January 31, 2025)

    HESA’s AI Observatory: What’s new in higher education (January 31, 2025)

    Transformation of education

    Leading Through Disruption: Higher Education Leaders Assess AI’s Impacts on Teaching and Learning

    Rainie, L. and Watson, E. AAC&U and Elon University.

    Report from a survey of 337 college and university leaders that provides a status report on the fast-moving changes taking place on US campuses. Key data takeaways include the fact faculty use of AI tools trails significantly behind student use, more than a third of leaders surveyed perceive their institution to be below average or behind others in using GenAI tools, 59% say that cheating has increased on their campus since GenAI tools have become widely available, and 45% think the impact of GenAI on their institutions in the next five years will be more positive than negative.

    Four objectives to guide artificial intelligence’s impact on higher education

    Aldridge, S. Times Higher Education. January 27th, 2025

    The four objectives are: 1) ensure that curricula prepare students to use AI in their careers and to add human skills value to help them success in parallel of expanded use of AI; 2) employ AI-based capacities to enhance the effectiveness and value of the education delivered; 3) leverage AI to address specific pedagogical and administrative challenges; and 4) address pitfalls and shortcomings of using AI in higher ed, and develop mechanisms to anticipate and respond to emerging challenges.

    Global perspectives

    DeepSeek harnesses links with Chinese universities in talent war

    Packer, H. Times Higher Education. January 31st, 2025

    The success of artificial intelligence platform DeepSeek, which was developed by a relatively young team including graduates and current students from leading Chinese universities, could encourage more students to pursue opportunities at home amid a global race for talent, experts have predicted.

    Teaching and learning

    Trends in AI for student assessment – A roller coaster ride

    MacGregor, K. University World News. January 25th, 2025

    Insights from (and recording of) the University World News webinar “Trends in AI for student assessment”, held on January 21st. 6% of audience members said that they did not face significant challenges in using GenAI for assessment, 53% identified “verifying the accuracy and validity of AI-generated results” as a challenge, 49% said they lacked training or expertise in using GenAI tools, 45% identified “difficulty integrating AI tools within current assessment systems”, 41% were challenged in addressing ethical concerns, 30% found “ensuring fairness and reducing bias in AI-based assessments” challenging, 25% identified “protecting student data privacy and security” as a challenge, and 19% said “resistance to adopting AI-driven assessment” was challenging.

    Open access

    Charting a course for open education resources in an AI era

    Wang, T. and Mishra, S. University World News. January 24th, 2025

    The digital transformation of higher education has positioned open educational resources (OER) as essential digital public goods for the global knowledge commons. As emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), reshape how educational content is created, adapted and distributed, the OER movement faces both unprecedented opportunities and significant challenges in fulfilling its mission of democratising knowledge access.

    The Dubai Declaration on OER, released after the 3rd UNESCO World OER Congress held in November 2024, addresses pressing questions about AI’s role in open education.

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  • What’s New at InsightsEDU 2025? Key Updates You Won’t Want to Miss

    What’s New at InsightsEDU 2025? Key Updates You Won’t Want to Miss

    With InsightsEDU 2025 just around the corner, we’re excited to share some of the key updates and new features coming to this year’s conference, happening February 12-14, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. As the premier conference for higher education marketing and enrollment management, this year’s event promises to be our most engaging yet. Attendees can expect immersive experiences, innovative sessions, and exceptional speakers, all aimed at equipping higher education leaders with the skills and strategies needed to serve today’s Modern Learners. From the welcome reception to our new customized workshop experience, InsightsEDU 2025 is full of exciting opportunities. Read on to see what’s in store!

    This year, we’re embracing the vibrant culture of New Orleans with the Bourbon Street Bash, a celebration that will give attendees the perfect opportunity to unwind, network, and experience NOLA in style. The evening will kick off with a second-line parade, leading attendees through the historic streets of New Orleans to the iconic Bourbon Vieux venue. With a live jazz performance, this event promises to be a memorable way to start an exciting conference experience with the higher ed community.

    For the first time, InsightsEDU is offering a hands-on, interactive workshop led by Dr. Jodi Blinco, Vice President of Enrollment Management Consulting at EducationDynamics.

    The workshop, “Unlocking Enrollment Success: A Customized Consulting Workshop Experience,” is designed specifically for higher education leaders who want to explore the complexities of enrollment models. The workshop provides an opportunity to enhance strategies for attracting, enrolling, and retaining students.

    This session will foster focused discussions, tailored insights, and actionable takeaways, allowing attendees to apply the knowledge gained from the conference directly to their own enrollment strategies.

    This year, we are excited to welcome Po-Shen Loh, an acclaimed entrepreneur, mathematician, and Carnegie Mellon University professor, to the InsightsEDU stage.

    His keynote session, “The Power of Reinvention: Unlocking Innovation to Inspire Action,” will challenge attendees to rethink problem-solving, leadership, and innovation in the ever-evolving higher education landscape. Drawing from his diverse experiences in academia and social entrepreneurship, Po-Shen Loh will explore how institutions can apply startup strategies to innovate and create programs that resonate with students’ needs. His unique experiences throughout higher ed and entrepreneurship make him uniquely qualified to address the conference’s innovative goals and inspire strategies for institutions looking to drive meaningful change.

    Expect to hear from top industry leaders at InsightsEDU, with companies such as EY Parthenon, Slate, Google, Meta, and Reddit, joining to share their expertise in digital engagement, advertising, and marketing strategies. These sessions will help institutions stay ahead of emerging trends, enhance their online presence, and develop strategies to connect with students in innovative ways. Attendees will gain exclusive insights into how leading platforms are shaping the future of student engagement and higher education marketing.

    With RW Jones Agency recently becoming a part of the EducationDynamics team, InsightsEDU 2025 will feature even more expert-led sessions and strategic insights. RW Jones Agency’s expertise in public relations, crisis communications, and higher education marketing is sure to provide valuable perspectives for attendees.

    Here are some of the key sessions featuring RW Jones Agency’s team:

    • A Roadmap to Marketing Transformation: Learn how to implement a marketing maturity model to enhance strategy, optimize resources, and gain real results for your MarCom division. This session will provide insights from experienced professionals who have successfully implemented maturity models to drive impactful results at institutions.
    • A Behavior-Informed Approach to Prospective Student Engagement: Discover how student personas can transform outreach efforts. Building on insights from a recent nationally representative survey of high schoolers, this session explores students’ primary motivations and factors surrounding decision making, offering key insights for higher ed marketers, communicators, and enrollment leaders.
    • Lights, Camera, Connections: How to Produce Compelling Videos That Connect: Join Karolyn Pearson, a former network news producer, and Morgan Aguilar, a former TV reporter, for an exciting session on crafting engaging and authentic visual storytelling to captivate student audiences and enhance your institution’s brand.
    • The Art and Science of Why People Care: Learn how to create audience-centered messaging that aligns with students’ values, increases engagement, and builds lasting relationships while authentically marketing your brand.
    • From Interest to Enrollment: Building Real Student Connections on Social Media: Explore the latest tactics and insights to address an evolving social media landscape and cater to Gen Z and Millennial audiences. This session will explore the latest trends, engagement strategies, and creative tools to foster meaningful interactions on social media that lead to enrollment.

    With an impeccable lineup of sessions, RW Jones Agency’s expertise will provide valuable new perspectives at InsightsEDU 2025, ensuring that attendees leave with actionable strategies to better connect and serve Modern Learners.

    With immersive experiences, groundbreaking discussions, and an incredible lineup of speakers and sessions, this year’s conference is shaping up to be the best one yet. Whether you’re looking to refine your enrollment strategy, explore new marketing tactics, or simply connect with industry leaders, InsightsEDU 2025 is the place to be for higher education professionals.

    We look forward to seeing you at InsightsEDU 2025!

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  • HESA’s AI Observatory: What’s new in higher education (January 17, 2025)

    HESA’s AI Observatory: What’s new in higher education (January 17, 2025)

    Transformation of education

    The McDonaldisation of higher education in the age of AI

    Yoonil Auh, J. University World News. December 11th, 2024.

    Reflection on how AI’s impact on higher education aligns with the principles of McDonaldisation (efficiency, calculability, predictability and control), what opportunities and challenges it creates, and how institutions are responding

    Decolonization

    AI and digital neocolonialism: Unintended impacts on universities

    Yoonil Auh, J. University World News. July 12th, 2024. 

    The evolution of AI risks reinforcing neocolonial patterns, underscoring the complex ethical implications associated with their deployment and broader impact

    Workforce preparation

    As workers seek guidance on AI use, employers value skilled graduates

    Ascione, L. eCampusNews. December 9th, 2024.

    A new Wiley survey highlights that 40% of respondents struggle to understand how to integrate AI into their work and 75% lack confidence in AI use, while 34% of managers feel equipped to support AI integration

    California students want careers in AI. Here’s how colleges are meeting that demand

    Brumer, D. and Garza, J. Cal Matters. October 20th, 2024. 

    California’s governor announced the first statewide partnership with a tech firm, Nvidia, to bring AI curriculum, resources and opportunities to California’s public higher education institutions. The partnership will bring AI tools to community colleges first.

    Let’s equip the next generation of business leaders with an ethical compass

    Côrte-Real, A. Times Higher Education. October 22nd, 2024. 

    In a world driven by AI, focusing on human connections and understanding is essential for achieving success. While AI can standardize many processes, it is the unique human skills – such as empathy, creativity, and critical thinking – that will continue to set individuals and organizations apart.

    How employer demand trends across two countries demonstrate need for AI skills

    Stevens, K. EAB. October 10th, 2024. 

    Study reviewing employer demands in the US and in Ireland to better understand how demand for AI skills differ across countries, and examine if these differences are significant enough to require targeted curricular design by country

    Research

    We’re living in a world of artificial intelligence – it’s academic publishing that needs to change

    Moorhouse, B. Times Higher Education. December 13th, 2024.

    Suggestions to shift mindsets towards GenAI tools to restore trust in academic publishing

    Teaching and learning

    The AI-Generated Textbook That’s Making Academics Nervous

    Palmer, K. Inside Higher Ed. December 13th, 2024. 

    A comparative literature professor at UCLA used AI to generate the textbook for her medieval literature course notably with the aim to make course material more financially accessible to her students – but the academic community reacted strongly

    GenAI impedes student learning, hitting exam performance

    Sawahel, W. University World News. December 12th, 2024.

    A study conducted in Germany using GenAI detection systems showed that students who used GenAI scored significantly lower in essays

    The renaissance of the essay starts here

    Gordon, C. and Compton, M. Times Higher Education. December 9th, 2024. 

    A group of academics from King’s College London, the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Sydney and Richmond American University came together to draft a manifesto on the future of the essay in the age of AI, where they highlight problems and opportunities related to the use of essays, and propose ways to rejuvenate its use

    These AI tools can help prepare future programmers for the workplace

    Rao, R. Times Higher Education. December 9th, 2024.

    Reflection on how curricula should incorporate the use of AI tools, with a specific focus on programming courses

    The future is hybrid: Colleges begin to reimagine learning in an AI world

    McMurtrie, B. The Chronicle of Higher Education. October 3rd, 2024.

    Reflection on the state of AI integration in teaching and learning across the US

    Academic integrity

    Survey suggests students do not see use of AI as cheating

    Qiriazi, V. et al. University World News. December 11th, 2024. 

    Overview of topics discussed at the recent plenary of the Council of Europe Platform on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education

    Focusing on GenAI detection is a no-win approach for instructors

    Berdahl, L. University Affairs. December 11th, 2024

    Reflection on potential equity, ethical, and workload implications of AI detection 

    The Goldilocks effect: finding ‘just right’ in the AI era

    MacCallum, K. Times Higher Education. October 28th, 2024. 

    Discussion on when AI use is ‘too much’ versus when it is ‘just right’, and how instructors can allow students to use GenAI tools while still maintaining ownership of their work

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  • NM Vistas: What’s New in State Student Achievement Data?

    NM Vistas: What’s New in State Student Achievement Data?

    By Mo Charnot
    For NMEducation.com

    The New Mexico Public Education Department has updated its student achievement data reporting website — NM Vistas — with a renovated layout and school performance data from the 2023-2024 academic year, with expectations for additional information to be released in January 2025. 

    NM Vistas is crucial to informing New Mexicans about school performance and progress at the school, district and state levels through yearly report cards. The site displays student reading, math and science proficiency rates taken from state assessments, as required by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Districts and schools receive scores between 0 and 100 based on performance, and schools also receive designations indicating the level of support the school requires to improve.

    Other information on the site includes graduation rates, attendance and student achievement growth. Data also shows rates among specific student demographics, including race, gender, disability, economic indicators and more. 

    PED Deputy Secretary of Teaching, Learning and Innovation, Amanda DeBell told NM Education in an interview that this year’s recreation of the NM Vistas site came from a desire to go beyond the state’s requirements for school performance data.

    “We knew that New Mexico VISTAs had a ton of potential to be a tool that our communities could use,” DeBell said. 

    One new data point added to NM Vistas this year is early literacy rates, which measures the percentage of students in grades K-2 who are reading proficiently at their grade level. Currently, federal law only requires proficiency rates for grades 3-8 to be published, and New Mexico also publishes 11th grade SAT scores. In the 2023-2024 school year, 34.6% of students grades K-2 were proficient in reading, the data says.

    DeBell said several advisory groups encouraged the PED to report early literacy data through NM Vistas.

    “We were missing some key data-telling opportunities by not publishing the early literacy [rates] on our website, so we made a real effort to get those early literacy teachers the kudos that they deserve by demonstrating the scores,” DeBell said.

    The PED also added data on individual schools through badges indicating specific programs and resources the school offers. For example, Ace Leadership High School in Albuquerque has two badges: one for being a community school offering wraparound services to students and families, and another for qualifying for the career and technical education-focused Innovation Zone program.

    “What we are really trying to do is provide a sort of one-stop shopping for families and community members to highlight all of the work that schools are doing,” DeBell said.

    The updated NM Vistas website has removed a few things as well, most notably the entire 2021-2022 NM Vistas data set. DeBell said this was because the PED changed the way it measured student growth data, which resulted in the 2021-2022 school year’s data being incomparable to the most recent two years. 

    “You could not say that the schools in 2021-2022 were doing the same as 2022-2023 or 2023-2024, because the mechanism for calculating their scores was different,” DeBell said.

    However, this does leave NM Vistas with less data overall, only allowing viewers to compare scores from the latest data set to last year’s. 

    In January 2025, several new indicators are expected to be uploaded to the site, including:

    • Student performance levels: Reports the percentage of students who are novices, nearing proficiency, proficient and advanced in reading, math and science at each school, rather than only separating between proficient and not proficient.
    • Results for The Nation’s Report Card (also known as NAEP): Compares student proficiencies between US states.
    • Educator qualifications: DeBell said this would include information on individual schools’ numbers of newer teachers, substitute teachers covering vacancies and more.
    • College enrollment rates: only to be statewide numbers indicating the percentage of New Mexico students attending college after graduating, but DeBell said she later hopes the PED can narrow down by each K-12 school.
    • Per-pupil spending: How much money each school, district and the state spends per-student on average. 
    • School climate: Links the viewer to results of school climate surveys asking students, parents and teachers how they feel about their school experience.
    • Alternate assessment participation: Percentage of students who take a different assessment in place of the NM-MSSA or SAT.

    “We want VISTAs to be super, super responsive, and we want families to be able to use this and get good information,” DeBell said. “We will continue to evolve this until it’s at its 100th iteration, if it takes that much.”

    This year, the PED released statewide assessment results for the 2023-2024 school year to NM Vistas on Nov. 15. Results show 39% of New Mexico students are proficient in reading, 23% are proficient in math and 38% are proficient in science. Compared to last year’s scores, reading proficiency increased by 1%, math proficiency decreased by 1% and science proficiency increased by 4%.

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  • HESA’s AI Observatory: What’s new in higher education (December 1, 2024)

    HESA’s AI Observatory: What’s new in higher education (December 1, 2024)

    Good evening,

    In my last AI blog, I wrote about the recent launch of the Canadian AI Safety Institute, and other AISIs around the world. I also mentioned that I was looking forward to learn more about what would be discussed during the International Network for AI Safety meeting that would take place on November 20th-21st.

    Well, here’s the gist of it. Representatives from Australia, Canada, the European Commission, France, Japan, Kenya, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the UK and the US gathered last week in San Francisco to “help drive technical alignment on AI safety research, testing and guidance”. They identified their first four areas of priority:

    • Research: We plan, together with the scientific community, to advance research on risks and capabilities of advanced AI systems as well as to share the most relevant results, as appropriate, from research that advances the science of AI safety.
    • Testing: We plan to work towards building common best practices for testing advanced AI systems. This work may include conducting joint testing exercises and sharing results from domestic evaluations, as appropriate.
    • Guidance: We plan to facilitate shared approaches such as interpreting tests of advanced systems, where appropriate.
    • Inclusion: We plan to actively engage countries, partners, and stakeholders in all regions of the world and at all levels of development by sharing information and technical tools in an accessible and collaborative manner, where appropriate. We hope, through these actions, to increase the capacity for a diverse range of actors to participate in the science and practice of AI safety. Through this Network, we are dedicated to collaborating broadly with partners to ensure that safe, secure, and trustworthy AI benefits all of humanity.

    Cool. I mean, of course these priority areas are all key to the work that needs to be done… But the network does not provide concrete details on how it actuallyplans to fulfill these priority areas. I guess now we’ll just have to wait and see what actually comes out of it all.

    On another note – earlier in the Fall, one of our readers asked us if we had any thoughts about how a win from the Conservatives in the next federal election could impact the future of AI in the country. While I unfortunately do not own a crystal ball, let me share a few preliminary thoughts. 

    In May 2024, the House of Commons released the Report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities regarding the Implications of Artificial Intelligence Technologies for the Canadian Labour Force.

    TL;DR, the recommendations of the Standing Committee notably include: to review federal labour legislation to protect diverse workers’ rights and privacy; to collaborate with provinces, territories and labour representatives to develop a framework to support ethical adoption of AI in workplaces; to invest in AI skills training; to offer financial support to SMEs and non-profits for AI adoption; to investigate ways to utilize AI to increase operational efficiency and productivity; and for Statistics Canada to monitor labour market impacts of AI over time.

    Honestly – these are quite respectable recommendations, that could lead to significant improvements around AI implementation if they were to be followed through. 

    Going back to the question about the Conservatives, then… The Standing Committee report includes a Dissenting Report from the Conservative Party, which states that the report “does not go sufficiently in depth in how the lack of action concerning these topics [regulations around privacy, the poor state of productivity and innovation and how AI can be used to boost efficiencies, etc.] creates challenges to our ability to manage AI’s impact on the Canadian workforce”. In short, it says do more – without giving any recommendation whatsoever about what that more should be.

    On the other side, we know that one of the reasons why Bill C-27 is stagnating is because of oppositions. The Conservatives notably accused the Liberal government of seeking to “censor the Internet” – the Conservatives are opposed to governmental influence (i.e., regulation) on what can or can’t be posted online. But we also know that one significant risk of the rise of AI is the growth of disinformation, deepfakes, and more. So… maybe a certain level of “quality control” or fact-checking would be a good thing? 

    All in all, it seems like Conservatives would in theory support a growing use of AI to fight against Canada’s productivity crisis and reduce red tape. In another post previously this year, Alex has also already talked about what a Poilievre Government science policy could look like, and we both agree that the Conservatives at least appear to be committed to investing in technology. However, how they would plan to regulate the tech to ensure ethical use remains to be seen. If you have any more thoughts on that, though, I’d love to hear them. Leave a comment or send me a quick email!

    And if you want to continue discussing Canada’s role in the future of AI, make sure to register to HESA’s AI-CADEMY so you do not miss our panel “Canada’s Policy Response to AI”, where we’ll have the pleasure of welcoming Rajan Sawhney, Minister of Advanced Education (Government of Alberta), Mark Schaan, Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet on AI (Government of Canada), and Elissa Strome, Executive Director of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy (CIFAR), and where we’ll discuss all things along the lines of what should governments’ role be in shaping the development of AI?.

    Enjoy the rest of your week-end, all!

    – Sandrine Desforges, Research Associate

    sdesforges@higheredstrategy.com 

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  • What’s love got to do with neurodiversity and HE art and design?

    What’s love got to do with neurodiversity and HE art and design?

    by Kai Syng Tan

    A loveless storm and a love-filled symposium

    On 18 November I was ill. I recovered in time to travel to Helsinki for a symposium two days later, but winter storms shut down the airport, delayed flights and lost luggage, including mine. The symposium director Dr Timothy Smith (image 2 below, to the left) had to step in to act as my wardrobe assistant. Like many neurodivergent academics, Tim works across an astonishing range of knowledges, including political science, fine art, public policy and pedagogy. But I’m quite certain that sourcing for clothes to fit 155cm grumpy people isn’t part of their typical repertoire.  

    Image 2: A symposium with person standing to the left holding a microphone; another in the middle, seated, in front of a projection with book cover and QR codes and next to a screen showing live captioning; more people in the foreground on different forms of seating and being

    Image 3: Fidget toys placed on top of a paper file that reads ‘UNIARTS HELSINKI’, with a name tag with a lime green strap and name ‘KAI’. 

    Tim’s Neurodiversity in the Arts Symposium, which took two years of advocacy and planning, and draws on several more of research across neurodiversity and art education, took place at the University of the Arts Helsinki, modelling best practices for inclusivity, not just for neurodivergent folx. Universities, watch and learn. Yes it can be done. So, what does a symposium led by love look like in action? Let’s spell out a few ways how:   

    • Programming not to neo-liberalist but ‘crip time’ (Kafer 2013), enabling us to process our thoughts, with 30 minute breaks between sessions, and a 2-hour lunch break;
    • Employment of live professional CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning – not the still racist AI captioning that does not grasp ‘non-standard’ accents (image 2, to the right);
    • Where divergent modes of being – including horizontally, in motion etc, not just seated or erect – are affirmed (image 2, foreground);
    • Inclusion of fidget toys in the goody bag (image 3);
    • Provision of quiet spaces – no, we’re not talking about a broom cupboard or first aid room doubling, but a (care-)fully decked out sensory rooms for group or solo use, with low lighting, different soft furnishings as well as more sensory objects for people to shut off, calm down and/or regroup (image 4);
    • Detailed maps, diagrams and instructions for ‘walking or wheeling’ to venues; including for a dinner, at a five-star hotel, which was a delicious vegan spread – and entirely free of charge;    
    • Priced at less than one-third the fee of a usual conference at €100 – and that’s for ‘participants receiving full institutional financial support’; otherwise, ‘please select the €0 fee option’;
    • Elevating and celebrating diverse body-minds-worlds whose research, creative and professional practice gather, collide and transcend disciplines, fields of knowledge, cultures, geopolitical borders, and specialisms and in the lineup. This includes shy*play, a pedagogical platform, collective, and art practice comprising teacher-researchers from Netherlands-Spain Antje Nestel and Aion Arribas, who invite us to ‘do neurodiversity’ (images 5a-5b); Estonian-UK PhD candidate Iris Sirendi discussing their Curating for Change curatorial fellowship at the Museum of Liverpool and urging – no, daring – the arts and cultural sector to step up and ‘crip the museum’ (image 6); US-Canadian-Polish feminist researcher and author of several books including Asexual Erotics Professor Ela Przybylo disclosing their new identity/positionality of being autistic, and inviting responses Towards a Neuroqueer Conference Manifesto/a/x.

    Image 4: Sensory room, with low blue-green lighting, soft furnishings and soft toys

    Image 5a: shy*play’s Antje Nestel and Aion Arribas, both holding microphones and reading from papers strewn on a long table

    Image 5b: people ‘doing neurodiversity’ in different ways, including by displaying their creations on a wall that acts as a shared canvas

    Image 6: Estonian-UK PhD candidate Iris Sirendi at a long desk speaking to a projection with a slide with the heading ‘What’s Next?’ and a logo that reads ‘The Neurodiverse Museum’

    The above are just a few of the highlights from the in-person session on 22 November 2024, which complements an online symposium with a different programme a week prior on 15 November 2024 for those who prefer the digital interface, both of which are recorded with transcripts which all participants can freely access. 

    I’m not singing the praises of the Neurodiversity in the Arts Symposium because I was the keynote speaker.

    I’m saying the above as I’ve been a keynote as well as participant in more than 100 conferences – and I’m still allergic to them, not least as someone who is hyperactive and literally cannot sit still. I’m also saying this as someone who’s curated several, including one on running as an arts and humanities discourse that a 2014 Guardian article said ‘other conferences could take a leaf out of’, for its 8-minute sprint formats and multi-modal approaches including film screening, meditation sessions and run-chats.

    But Tim’s conference was way better. The symposium is prioritising not just neurodivergent and queer – neuroqueer (Walker 2021) – perspectives. Following the positionality of multiply-minoritised researchers in higher education Angel L. Miles, Akemi Nishida and Anjali J. Forber-Pratt at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Vanderbilt University as expressed in their powerful open letter to White disability studies and ableist institutions of higher education (2017), the symposium focuses on research that counter ‘white supremacy and racism; colonialism and xenophobia; ageism; sexism and misogyny; cisnormativity and transphobia; and heteronormativity and heterosexism’.

    And I’m sure that Tim, like me, wants other conferences to come, to even better ours. 

    So, take our baton. Run with it.

    Why neurodiversity? Why now?

    ‘Neurodiversity’ – broadly the coexistence of different ways of processing information, learning and being – has exploded as a buzzword in the past few years. If you didn’t know that 15-20% (Doyle 2020) of humans are autistic, with dyslexia, Tourettes, ADHD and other forms of neurodevelopmental processes, you will have run into the extensive media coverage, or seen your Gen-Z students or kids declaring their ‘neuro-spiciness’ on Tik Tok.

    It is well-established that neurocognitive variants like dyslexia, ADHD and autism are over-represented in the arts and culture (above 30%, eg RCA 2001; Bacon and Bennett (2013); Universal Music (2020)). This is unsurprising, given how neurodiversity, innovation and change-making are powerfully entangled, being essential for human’s evolution, inventiveness, creativity and more. Networks, academic publications, research centres, educational research centres and conferences by/with/for neurodivergent creative researchers have been emerging in the last years too.

    This year alone, I was external examiner for two creative PhDs by/for/with neurodivergence, and helped deliver one PhD candidate to the finish line and whom, since 28 November, can now add ‘Dr’ to their name, likely to the chagrin of those who think that only clinicians are ‘real’ doctors and experts. Collectively, these efforts are countering medicalised and deficit approaches to cognitive difference. By 2050, 1.94 billion of the 9.4 billion population will be neurodivergent – making neurodivergence far from a ‘niche’ phenomena or area of research, but one with substantive critical mass.

    Those with social capital wear their difference as proud badges of honour. So far so ‘authentic’. 

    But surprise, surprise – for the multiply-minoritised, their difference continues to be demonised, pathologised, infantilised, and/or policed. This includes teachers and researchers who draw on their neurodivergence in their teaching and research. That’s also why many aren’t out – or have/want access to diagnosis (which themselves have long waiting lists, are costly and more), etc, and often aren’t reflected in the official figures and studies. It’s also only recently been understood in leadership studies that when a white heterosexual cis-man expresses his ‘true self’, it’s just not acceptable, or even laudable. For those who are not straight, not white, not of the right class, or the right skin tone etc – authenticity comes at a high cost – including literally so. Being dyslexic, I struggle with normative approaches to reading and writing – but reading and writing are literally bread and butter for an academic! Disclosing that you cannot read or write would be tantamount to career-suicide, especially if you are on a fixed-term contract – if you have been able to survive the ableist, racist and sexist HE system at all, that is.    

    Harvard, World Economic Forum, NESTA and other global bodies have been selling neurodivergence as the ‘next talent opportunity in the workplace’, ‘competitive advantage’ and a ‘neuroleadership’ antidote to in tackling wicked challenges for the Fourth Industrial Revolution — but without neurodivergent voices in this discussion, isn’t this objectifying and othering?

    Then, there’s a certain cartoon-tycoon who has been dominating the headlines. When not firing their critics from their factories and firms, or firing rockets to colonise the moon and Mars, this person is firing spats on social media — before buying up the site to make it their temple for ‘unmoderated toxicity’. After firing pot-shots at child-free cat ladies, they’re asking ‘high-IQ revolutionaries to work for no pay for an incumbent government. The latter call is interesting because this person had announced that they are ‘with Aspergers’, using the outdated terminology still instrumentalised by certain ‘high-functioning’ autistic people, to denote that they are a genius — ie a high-IQ revolutionary themselves!    

    Why neurodiversity, love and HE art and design?

    As an autistic child-free cat lady, it’s my duty to ask other neurodivergent artists, academics, activists and allies within Higher Education (HE) to do more and do better, to call out on dangerous neurodivergent figures and approaches, and to counter that with love. If Machiavellian misfits and messiahs weaponise their neurodivergence, so must neurodivergent movers and shakers dis-arm them.  

    Image 7

    Caption: Love-led guidelines for to make spaces more inclusive, in diagram form with 8 blocks of texts. From Tan, Kai Syng. Neurodiversity In/& Creative Research Network shared, LIVE, CO-CREATED Community Guidelines since 2022

    For several years, I’ve researched into and discussed the need to dismantle harmful narratives of neurodiversity. Through an art-psychiatry project, founding of a global 435-member network for neurodivergent innovators, I’ve urged for a decolonial  — ie shift of focus away from knowledge and practices in the West and global north — and intersectional — ie consideration of a how multiple, complex contexts interact and intersect  — approach. We’ve come up with love-led guidelines for activities (image 7). I’m editing a publication with a major academic publisher, which is possibly the first book with openly neurodivergent academics ranging from early career researchers to established, newly-‘out’ professors, to discuss our research through the prisms of neurodivergence and creativity (c2027). Along the way, we are introducing and foregrounding neurodivergent approaches to knowledge, creative research and writing with play, lived experience and more, thus challenging the dominant, normative habits demanded by the academic publishing industrial complex that emphasise the linear, causal, and ‘neutral’.   

    On this SRHE platform, I’ve previously discussed a neurodivergence-inspired pedagogical approach to transform HE culture, illustrating how this isn’t just an armchair exercise or a theoretical pontification from the ivory tower, with examples I have led, such as a four-day festival for Black History Month 2020 in Manchester. To mark Valentines’ day this year, I discussed the need to build love into HE curricula – standing on the shoulders of great artists, activists and teachers before us, like bell hooks, Paulo Friere and James Baldwin.

    My keynote at the Neurodiversity in the Arts Symposium was entitled ‘Neuro-Futurism and Reimagining Leadership’.  My performance-lecture was based on my book of the same title, subtitled ‘An A-Z Towards Collective Liberation’. Grasping how systemic oppressions are interconnected and how liberatory approaches to education must be joined up is vital in this discussion. I postulate a new intellectual agenda and action plan for ‘leadership’ as discourse and practice anchored in visual arts and arts education. Re-claiming the subject from business or arts management, and away from a trait/talent hinged on individualism, hierarchy, genes or luck, the book – and my performance – entangles critical leadership studies with socially-engaged art and relational aesthetics, embedding neuro-queering, futurity, and Chinese Daoist cosmology for the first time, to introduce ‘neuro-futurism’ as a beyond-colonial, (co-)creative change-making framework.

    The participants of the symposium grasped this, responding by describing the performance-lecture as ‘phenomenal’. Brazilian artist-researcher Fran Trento, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Geosciences and Geography at the University of Helsinki, even took live notes and pictures to add to their mobile participatory art installation, and wheeled it around, further spreading love in HE – literally (Image 8). If it hadn’t been snowing so heavily, Fran would have wheeled their installation outside, beyond the ivory tower, to make visible what the abstract yet very simple four-letter word – love – can look like.  

    Image 8: Dr Fran Trento standing next to their mobile installation that comprises a jacket onto which participants can make marks onto, scrolls of film, and a pail with cameras and other creative and critical tools to dismantle harmful narratives and approaches

    Image 9: A signboard ‘Neurodiversity in the Arts Symposium’ covered in snow, in a street raging with a snow-storm with cars passing by in front of a building across the road

    And love is critical if we want to dis-arm and dismantle violent master (sic) narratives and approaches of neurodivergence. If neurodivergence is a superpower — a trope I have also critiqued as, while useful, it can be reductive/fetishistic, and capitalised by the ‘high-functioning’ to self-select into an elitist club that excludes others — then there are also villains and Machiavellian messiahs who abuse their (super)power. The irony is — and yes, autistic people can grasp irony — is that these self-proclaimed ‘anti-establishment’ ‘outsiders’ are often the very personification and product of the system,as poster boys of capitalism and more. Remember the call for ‘weirdos and misfits’ outside the Oxbridge set to join Number 10 – by figures whose pedigrees were archetypal of the ruling class — private education, Oxford degree, political strategist to a prime minister similarly outfitted?

    Now that’s weird!

    Braving storms ahead

    My luggage got lost – again – on my way back to the UK, but academic and arts and cultural workers must lose neither our focus or hope. As hatred becomes even more mainstreamed and normalised, minoritised body-minds and approaches will remain hardest hit. There will be storms ahead (image 9). We – and that includes you – must step forward and step up. As US author Octavia E Butler (1947–2006) warns, unless we build ‘different leadership’ by ‘people with more courage and vision’, we’ll ‘all go down the toilet’. That’s why the Black science-fiction bestseller, who was also dyslexic, wrote story after story that reimagined different, better realities. 

    To not go down the toilet, we must disarm those who weaponise their neurodivergence. Here are some of the things that neurodivergent academics, artists, activists and allies can do:  

    • Shift your curricula to elevate and celebrate efforts that are truly leader-ful, joy-ful and equitable, and directed towards collective liberation. I’ve named several in this article. No excuses.  
    • Stop the hierarchy of normality – within neurodiversity groups in and beyond HE too – that props up antics that are white supremacist, patriarchal, misogynist, racist, transphobic, homophobic, xenophobic, colonialist, capitalist, ableist and extractive. Stop fuelling the misfits and messiahs with ill-intentions. 
    • Instead, invest in and donate your time, energy and skills to support love-led efforts. If you have a voice/ platform and can afford to, mobilise it to push back against the violence. People in senior management paygrades, make use of your position/proximity to the top of the food-chain to action positive change beyond lip service or generic policy statements about the civic duty of HE, and bring to life its promises about equity, social justice and inclusion.

    On that latter note, I’m seeking to curate a 3-day international summit in 2026 that re-imagines HE art and design as a change-making and future-making force through neuroqueer, social justice and leadership prisms. This welcomes anyone with a stake in the arts and culture, higher education, social change and inclusive futures, to get together to explore the coexistence of different ways to (un-)learning and being in the world, to share best practices about inclusion, and to collectivise and co-create action plans for more inclusive futures within and beyond the art school and HE. Through quickfire provocations, transdisciplinary speed-dating, reverse-mentoring, co-creation of toolkits, skateboarding tours, running-discourses and other embodied forms of engagement, we will not just learn about ways to make ‘reasonable’ adjustments for neuro-divergent students and staff, but to learn about their innovative approaches, and thus reimagine ways to understand and do ‘leadership’, so as to make positive changes, within and beyond art and design and HE. This shift in paradigm to position art and design higher education is aligned with – and can amplify – other ongoing efforts in the sector, such as the Creative Education Manifesto. Get in touch if you’re keen to help do the work.

    All that said, clearly, neither Tim’s symposium or my proposed summit are the only or last word in this matter. You, too, can lead with love, if you don’t already. Prioritise an intersectional approach to neuroqueer the curricula, towards dis-arming stories and approaches that are white supremacist, racist, colonialist, xenophobic, ageist, sexist, misogynistic, classcist, transphobic and heteronormative.

    CREDITS: Photographs by Kai. Photograph of Kai by neurodivergent artist-curator-activist-PhD-candidate Aidan Moseby

    Kai Syng Tan is an artist, academic, author, and agitator who adores cats and alliteration. Their book Neuro-Futurism and Re-Imagining Leadership: An A-Z Towards Collective Liberation re-imagines leadership as a co-creative, neuro-queered practice centring anti-oppression and futurity: it was published in Summer 2024. See here to join the book tour. Sign up here to participate in the CHEAD Leadership Programme taster entitled What’s love got to do with leadership? led by Kai as a new CHEAD Trustee, which will feature a response by Pascal Matthias, Associate Vice President EDI and Social Justice, University of Southampton and Co-Founder at FACE (Fashion Academics Creating Equality). Kai is Associate Professor in Arts and Cultural Leadership, University of Southampton, UK. All views here are their own.

    Author: SRHE News Blog

    An international learned society, concerned with supporting research and researchers into Higher Education

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