After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, after submitting a Senior Fellowship application to the Higher Education Academy (HEA) in January, I found out the application had been successful last week. I had previously completed a PG Cert in Teaching and Learning, which provided a HEA Fellowship, so undertaking the Senior Fellowship application in the form of a portfolio was quite different. Whilst writing the application portfolio was challenging it was an enjoyable experience and I benefited from reflecting back on the many pedagogic innovations and interventions I have developed and supported over the last 7 years. It also offered a chance to think back to how I have developed over my teaching career and the many inspirations and people who have challenged and developed my thinking. So not only was the outcome fruitful, the experience was too. So here is looking forward to the next 7 years of teaching and pedagogic innovations and developments.
Robin Goes to Hollywood: The USASBE 2018 Conference
I have just returned from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) conference in Los Angles. The conference was held at the Lowes Hollywood hotel and ran over four days. The focus of the conference had been adjusted from being focused on research, to be having an increased focus on entrepreneurship education. This mix of an educational and research focus, made the conference very interesting. So I decided I would attend for my first time. It was also my first time visiting LA, so it made attending the conference even more interesting. I was presenting a developmental paper entitled ‘Challenges to Implementing Experiential Entrepreneurship Education in China’. The paper was based on a reflection of the challenges I have previously faced when trying to implement experiential curricular in China. The conference had a range of tracks and sessions, including tracks of experiential activities. I focused my attendance and participation on the experiential activity sessions as unfortunately it was not possible to attend everything. The conference venue was on Hollywood Boulevard, which gave me the opportunity to walk up and down Hollywood Boulevard several times each day and experience the atmosphere of Hollywood. I also had half a day free to walk up to the Griffith Observatory and get a view over LA.
Founding Conference of China-UK Innovation & Enterprise Vocational Alliance
At the start of December, I headed back to China for the concisely named ‘Founding Conference of China-UK Innovation & Enterprise Vocational Alliance’, to deliver an enterprise training session to vocational educators. The session was included some practical activities and some underpinning pedagogic theory. The conference was hosted by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission and held at the Beijing College of Commerce and Finance. This meant I had the opportunity to return to Beijing and see colleagues and remind myself of winter in Beijing, which didn’t feel as cold as I remembered. After the conference I went to Wuhan to visit Wuhan City Vocational College and got to enjoy some reganmian street noodles.
Filming Enterprise Activities
While in Beijing as part of a new National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education (NCEE) China venture I took part in the recording of some short enterprise education activity videos. An initial batch of ten videos were filmed, which were focused on demonstrating and highlighting ten key enterprise and entrepreneurial concepts. The videos introduced enterprise and entrepreneurial concepts, then demonstrated the concepts and their importance through short practical class activities before linking the practical activities and their outcomes with real world enterprise.
The filming took place at CCTV7, and was done very professionally. It gave me the feeling of being a (Chinese) chat show host. Undertaking the filming of the videos helped to highlight and demonstrate how much I like to move when teaching. I had to create an imaginary square on the floor to bound my movements and stop my flailing hands going out of shot. I am looking forward to seeing the edited versions of the videos and am hoping the Chinese polo shirt provided doesn’t look too big on me, as to get the right length I required an XXL.
Chengdu and Beijing Enterprise Education Trip
The end of August and September provided the opportunity to travel to China to provide some enterprise education consultancy and training. Plus, with the added benefits of meeting with friends and research colleagues based in Beijing, which was good timing as I am currently working on two revise and resubmits with colleagues in Beijing This trip led me to Chengdu and Beijing. The time in Chengdu was spent at Chengdu Polytechnic and Sichuan Post and Telecommunications College.
The visit to Chengdu provided the perfect opportunity for spicy food and hotpot. Over the course of the 17 days in China I managed to have hotpot on four occasions, so there was lots of excellent spicy food. I enjoy visiting Chengdu as it is a vibrant city with lots of colour and light, but it is still possible to find some quiet spots to watch the world go by. Whilst, there was no time to see pandas, there was time to watch a Bian Lian ‘Face Changing’ show and drink tea and have my ears cleaned in Renmin Park.
The trip provided a good bump into the new academic year, which I am now preparing to head back for.
OBTS Teaching Society for Management Educators Conference 2017
After my trip to China (and a short stopover in London) I headed to, Providence Rhode Island, for my first OBTS Teaching Society for Management Educators Conference. I try and attend one research and one education/educators conference each year. This helps to inform both my practice and research, plus helps to link and develop innovative education research. I submitted to the conference based on a recommendation of a colleague, who had previously attended an OBTS conference in 2016. The conference was held at Providence College who did a fantastic job of hosting the event. The accommodation was nice (my first time staying in student halls, although we did not share rooms) and the breakfast and lunches were nice with the whole student cafeteria opened up and on offer. After coming back from China I was happy to just eat pizza and BBQ chicken all day.
I ran a session on applying innovation in the classroom, which was scheduled for the first morning of the conference. This worked out quite well as the conference was very sociable and ran late into the evening on most nights, so I was happy to get my session out of the way and relax and engage with the conference. I attended several very useful sessions, the highlight being a session on stacking cups applied to scaling up entrepreneurial businesses. The conference was mainly focused on traditional management subjects rather than enterprise and entrepreneurship, so the amount of directly relevant sessions was limited. But it was good to see all the different sessions and see how others teach management.
Enterprise Education Workshops in Wuhan, Qingdao and Changzhou
My trip to China gave me the opportunity to visit four higher education institutions across three Chinese cities to deliver workshops. The workshops were a mix of enterprise education pedagogy and enterprise curriculum design workshops, both of which were designed around practical participation and input.
I had only once previously been to Wuhan to visit the Chinese University of Geosciences, so it was nice to get the opportunity to visit the city again, this time to visit the Wuhan City Polytechnic. It was great to see the support and development of an enterprise agenda at the college, having recently opened a state of the art entrepreneurship and innovation school. Luckily my worries of visiting Wuhan, a notoriously hot city in June did not play out. The new entrepreneurship and innovation school had great facilities and great air conditioning. Whilst, there was not too much time to explore Wuhan itself, it was great to see many of the bridges and urban development being created around the numerous waterways.
The second stop was Qingdao, which is a city despite being told many times I should visit, I actually never have had the opportunity to do so previously. So it was great to be able to visit the city and the China University of Petroleum and Qingdao Technical College. The trip finally offered the opportunity to drink Tsingtao in Qingdao and also the opportunity to explore the coast. I learnt that Tsingtao produced in Qingdao can be identified by a slightly different label compared to Tsingtao produced in other regions. The China University of Petroleum as well as having wonderful facilities, was located adjacent to the beach so it was possible to walk along the seafront and explore the bars along the seafront. I also found time to have a quick swim at the beach on the final morning before we left, which I think is actually the first time I have ever gone swimming in the sea in China.
After leaving Qingdao we flew to Wuxi and then drove to Changzhou in a terrible storm. The flight from Qingdao to Wuxi was delayed and very bumpy, although after my early morning swim I managed to sleep through most of the flight, so only heard stories of terrible flight. It was the first time I had ever been to Changzhou, excluding passing through it on a train. It is located between Shanghai and Nanjing; two cities I have been to numerous times. Although Changzhou itself, as could be expected is a lot sleepier than its loud and busy neighbours. Its city centre and ubiquitous tower does not have the same impact and lasting impression as Shanghai. However, it does have some nice parks and a Buddhist temple (Tianning Temple).
After the workshop in Changzhou the fun started. Our flight from Changzhou to Beijing was first delayed and then cancelled and rescheduled for the next day. Booked on the early morning flight out of Beijing to Zurich and then on to London meant that I missed this flight and had to be rebooked on to a later evening Air China flight to London. With an already tight schedule before heading to the US for the OBTS conference, it meant only a McDonalds at Heathrow and a few hours’ sleep before heading out again. As always, I seem to never accurately know when I will go to China and when I leave.
Research Methods in Bielefeld: It does exist (honest)!
I spend this weekend in Bielefeld, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia Germany. A city which is not so well known to many outside of Germany, and maybe not the first port of call for many within Germany. So much so, a satire conspiracy exists (the Bielefeld Conspiracy) claiming that the city does not exist but is an illusion or fake place. This conspiracy theory is based on the premise of:
Do you know anybody from Bielefeld?
Have you ever been to Bielefeld?
Do you know anybody who has ever been to Bielefeld?
Well at least I can say I have been to Bielefeld (in fact this is my second time), plus I know other people have been. The city itself doesn’t have as much to offer as other German cities, although it does have a castle and some nice streets.
The purpose of the visit was to teach on the Worcester Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program. Completing the second and final teaching block of the second module, focusing on research philosophy and methodology. It is always a pleasure to teach this module with an engaged cohort, as there is so much discussion to be had. Plus, it is great to see the development of research ideas and plans from an embryonic stage to something action ready. Unfortunately, I lost my voice the night day before the teaching, so my presence was somewhat muted. Although, this didn’t seem to affect the sessions too much.
Helsinki – Final EBBD Project Meeting
At the start of the week I ventured to Helsinki for the final European Business Baccalaureate Diploma (EBBD) project meeting. The meeting brought down the curtain on a three-year EU funded project, which focused on developing a European award which recognized business and international skills and competences. The final meeting was focused on reporting and evaluation and discussing the sustainability of the project. The meeting took place at the lead project partner Suomen Liikemiesten Kauppaopisto (Helsinki Business College). Running next door in the national exhibition center was the Taitaja -skills competition, the largest vocational education event in Finland, which brought together more than 500 competitors and 80,000 visitors and exhibitors. The event promotes vocational education, highlights key skills required in the economy and connects vocational education with entrepreneurs and companies. This made it possible to dip into the event in the afternoons and during breaks. It was nice to explore all the stands and workshops focused on a range of industries and skills, including a typically Finnish Rovio Angry Birds stand, highlighting programing and coding skills.
The evenings provided the chance to explore Helsinki a little, a city which seems to have some similarities to Moscow but with a coastline and harbor. The similarities include a love for the sun when it emerges and some of the architecture. Helsinki is a relatively low rise capital city and one evening we found the time to have a drink at the Torni hotel’s Ateljee rooftop bar, which has an uninterrupted view over the city from the 14th story.
Booked for OBTS 2017
I am all booked and ready for the OBTS 2017 conference in Providence, Rhode Island. This will be my first OBTS conference experience and my first time in New England, excluding a connection at Boston airport on the way to Nova Scotia for a conference. The conference is a teaching conference for management educators and is focused on practical teaching ideas and demonstrations, so I am looking forward to seeing and exploring some new teaching ideas. I am set to give a 30 minute session entitled ‘Flying High in Innovation Space: Exploring innovation opportunities’. June looks set to be a month with lots of travel, but I am looking forward to the adventures and the development of my teaching and research practices.
Robin Bell 