As the world moves rapidly into the middle of the twenty-first century, higher education is chasing to keep up with all the changes. From low-tech to high-tech, from transmission-focused to learning-centered, from colonial curricula to curriculum reconciliation, what do our higher education workplaces, classrooms, colleagues, students, and learning environments look like? How might they be different, and more joyful, if we looked through fresh eyes?
In this presentation, I will share research on holistic academic development, and on ‘akoranga’ (a Māori word that acknowledges the reciprocity of teaching and learning). I will highlight various practices and programmes that encourage academic developers and academic staff to find practical ways to work more closely, deliberately, and joyfully, in partnership with students. My goal is that you will leave feeling challenged to seek different ways of being, teaching, learning, researching and working in your university.