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Global Connections and Reinventing Education on the Early Career Teaching Fellowship

Bio

Adam Neal was an IATL/IAS Early Career Teaching Fellow during the 2023/24 academic year where he taught on the IATL module Global Connections. His Leverhulme Trust funded PhD thesis concerned the social and interpersonal implications of poverty and understanding poverty using the capability approach. He has published on the philosophy of work and the ethics of relationships. He has co-edited a collection on social rights published with Oxford University Press, as well as published on the impact of the UK Government’s COVID-19 response on people who live alone. He has also lectured on the Ethics of Sociability, and is a member of the Centre for Ethics, Law and Public Affairs.

Summary of PGA Project

Adamcompleted his PGA as part of his Early Career Teaching Fellowship with IATL. He reflected on his development as an interdisciplinary practitioner, teaching on IATL’s Global Connections and Reinventing Education module as well as the EUTOPIA Certificate of Internationalization’s online seminars throughout his completion of the ECTF. In his final PGA portfolio, Adam described his understanding of interdisciplinarity using the metaphor of the smoothie, where purposeful “ingredients” or disciplines are chosen to come together as a coherent, new whole. He applied this metaphor to his thinking for choosing what disciplines to incorporate in his guest teaching session on poverty as part of the Global Connections module, carefully selecting philosophy, politics, economics and sociology to guide his discussion with students. In ensuring his session was inclusive of students coming from various disciplines, not just politics or philosophy, Adam used a student-led approach and accessible academic language. Adam also delved into the process of collaborative teaching on the Reinventing Education module.

While Adam comes from a background in philosophy, he noted that collaborating with a teacher from Education Studies foregrounded the benefits of having an interdisciplinary team. Moreover, Adam highlighted the humanizing nature of interdisciplinary pedagogy in higher education, where students’ own perspectives form the centre of learning discussions and thus de-construct classroom power hierarchies.

Finally, Adam looked at his experience on the EUTOPIA certificate, an online programme with students from around the world that explores interculturalism and reflective writing. Although the online format was at times challenging, Adam found that strategies from his previou facilitation worked to stimulate engagement, such as students working in small groups as well as reflective de-briefs with the class at the end of the session. Adam’s PGA offers a holistic picture of how student-driven, collaborative and reflective teaching are key in developing as a successful interdisciplinary practitioner.