Steve Rooney: finding freedom in constraints

Show notes In a values-driven profession like Learning Development, pedagogies and praxis must almost by necessity go beyond the activities and practices of the classroom, to embrace the socio-political structures in which those pedagogies are situated. By discussing agency (of students, but also of Learning Developers) in relation to structure – whether institutional, ideological, or both – Steve Rooney is able to explore the interplay between the two: how one is informed, constrained, and even liberated by the other, in an educational ecosystem conceptually much bigger than any classroom. Temporally, too, when we think about our own praxis, ‘the past lingers in the same “present” in which the future tries…to take root’ (Bauman, 2010: 38); as we strive to support our students’ agency, so we also acknowledge where they are coming from and what they are bringing with them, even whilst we must negotiate our own part in the structures in which we operate.  Any anxiety this might engender can be tempered by understanding and accepting what is within our control – in writing as in life. Steve reminds us – in his work but also in his conversation – that none of us are alone in feeling this way and that we are part of a compassionate and kind community that offers solidarity. To write is to think and to share and be part of that community, so recognise your anxiety and respect it, and take a chance. Write.  The resources we mentioned Archer, M.S. (2000) Being human: The problem of agency. Cambridge: CUP. Bauman, Z. (2010) Living on borrowed time: Conversations with Citlali Rovirosa-Madrazo. New Jersey: Wiley Danvers, E. (2018) ‘Who is the critical thinker in higher education? A feminist re-thinking’, Teaching in Higher Education, 23(5): 548-562 Fanon, F. (1961) The wretched of the Earth. London: Penguin Books Rose, G. (2011 [1995]) Love’s work: A reckoning with life. New York: NYRB. And the chapter we talked aboutRooney, S. (2023) The mess we’re in: LD pedagogies and the question of student agency. In Syska, A. and Buckley, C. (eds.) How to Be a Learning Developer in Higher Education: Critical Perspectives, Community and Practice. Routledge.