This session explores what it means to connect with students from the start of a course or module, using a relational pedagogy lens. It centres on three tensions that many of us experience in our practice: imagined learner ↔ real students, mattering ↔ prescribed belonging, and care ↔ capacity.
We will consider how we often design for students we haven’t yet met, and what it means to respond to the students who actually show up. We’ll also look at how to help students feel that they count, without telling them what belonging should look like, and how to offer meaningful support while working within real constraints of time, workload, and scale.
The session will include short prompts, reflection, and discussion. A key part will be a live Padlet activity, where participants will add ideas, questions, and examples from their own practice. This shared space will grow during the session and remain as a resource that participants can take away and build on.
By the end of the session, participants will have:
– reflected on how they respond to differences between planned and actual learners
– considered ways of helping students feel that they matter
– thought about what sustainable care looks like in their own context
– contributed to a shared collection of practices and ideas via Padlet
The session is participatory and discussion-based, in keeping with the MyFest spirit of sharing and learning together.
