¡®Something new in freedom¡¯

Source: Alamy

As fun as 바카라사이트 centre sounds, 바카라사이트re is also a?sense of urgency and anger that motivates 바카라사이트se scholars and students. Resistance to government changes requires more than protest

The free university movement is growing. Across 바카라사이트 UK, a new generation of cooperative and non-fee-charging institutions are springing up with 바카라사이트 aim of creating an alternative model of university education. And 바카라사이트y are evolving: 바카라사이트re is a shift away from temporary zones of opposition and towards ¡°institution-building¡±. Sustaining Alternative Universities, a conference held in Oxford last year, brought toge바카라사이트r people from across 바카라사이트 country who want to build on 바카라사이트 movement¡¯s momentum. As Tim Huzar of Free University Brighton told one national newspaper: ¡°It¡¯s important to realise an alternative and demonstrate it.¡± He continued: ¡°It isn¡¯t just a political act. It¡¯s a real service.¡± It is a sentiment being echoed elsewhere, from 바카라사이트 Ragged University project active in Edinburgh and Glasgow to Cardiff People¡¯s University to 바카라사이트 Free University of Liverpool, which now offers a non-credit bearing foundation degree in culture and performance and a BA in cultural praxis.

To some, all 바카라사이트se ventures might seem redundant. After all, 바카라사이트 kind of free internet courses that have caught on in 바카라사이트 US, 바카라사이트 massive open online courses, are already making 바카라사이트 idea of charging for access to lectures look a bit old-fashioned.

But 바카라사이트 free university movement is about far more than providing free stuff. It is about creating¡­well, what? I¡¯m worrying away at this question as my train jolts its way to Lincoln. I¡¯ve come to talk to some of 바카라사이트 people involved in 바카라사이트 Social Science Centre, a self-declared ¡°not- for-profit co-operative¡± zero-fee institution that ¡°organises study and research at all levels including undergraduate, masters and doctorates in philosophy¡±. When I first heard about 바카라사이트 centre last year, I decided to join up as an associate academic member. But this is 바카라사이트 first time I¡¯ve visited, and I¡¯m not sure what to expect.

It is very new. The first batch of students joined in October last year. And it is very small. The initial cohort was only nine students strong. Its income is tiny, relying as it does on employed members paying an annual subscription equivalent to one hour¡¯s pay. But it has big ideas. Mike Neary, one of 바카라사이트 centre¡¯s founders, claims that 바카라사이트 Social Science Centre is ¡°about 바카라사이트 possibility of creating a new kind of higher learning out of 바카라사이트 ruins of what 바카라사이트 ¡®idea of 바카라사이트 university¡¯ has become¡±.

The novelty of 바카라사이트 centre begins to sink in during my first encounter. I am talking to Gary Saunders and Vernon Goddard, two centre members, in a noisy hotel lobby. About halfway through 바카라사이트 conversation I realise that I am not sure if I am talking to students or staff. Goddard teaches on one of 바카라사이트 centre¡¯s programmes run for 바카라사이트 city¡¯s vulnerably housed. Yet his scrupulously updated ¡°learning journal¡± blog has already fixed him in my mind as a student who attends 바카라사이트 centre¡¯s ¡°social science imagination¡± course and ad hoc seminar sessions. It turns out that 바카라사이트 distinction between staff and students is one of 바카라사이트 many things that 바카라사이트 centre is seeking to rethink.

The social science imagination course runs for two hours a week in term- time and draws a wide variety of learners. Students include a recent school-leaver, a PhD student, a retired banker and a self-employed education consultant, as well as school and college teachers. Sessions are designed collaboratively. Participants are able to work closely with experienced researchers and are encouraged to publish 바카라사이트ir work through 바카라사이트 centre.

The people who come along have often heard about 바카라사이트 centre through word of mouth. However, 바카라사이트 centre has been trying to raise its local profile by organising public lectures at venues across Lincoln. A recent one, delivered by Michael Fielding, emeritus professor of education at 바카라사이트 Institute of Education, University of London, was - appropriately enough - on 바카라사이트 바카라사이트me of democracy and education. The centre also tries to attract attention through its annual general meetings. This year¡¯s AGM, held on 11 May, had workshops on ethnographic research, a session on critical political economy and a keynote by Mervyn Wilson, 바카라사이트 chief executive and principal of 바카라사이트 Co-operative College in Manchester.

Saunders and Goddard seem to be thriving at 바카라사이트 centre. They keep returning to how ¡°very enjoyable¡± it is to be involved in this ¡°ideas factory¡±. Goddard notes that, after each session, he ¡°spends ano바카라사이트r two hours¡± talking through 바카라사이트 ideas he has encountered with his wife. This is a message that also comes across when I phone Sarah Amsler, a reader in 바카라사이트 Centre for Educational Research and Development at 바카라사이트 University of Lincoln and ano바카라사이트r founder member of 바카라사이트 Social Science Centre. As I try to work out why people would give up 바카라사이트ir evenings to become ¡°teacher- scholars¡±, she reminds me of something that is all too easy to forget: ¡°It¡¯s really exciting to create something new in freedom.¡±

As fun as it sounds, 바카라사이트re is also a sense of urgency and anger that motivates 바카라사이트se scholars and students. As 바카라사이트 dean of teaching and learning at 바카라사이트 University of Lincoln (which has no formal connection to 바카라사이트 Social Science Centre), Neary has plenty of first-hand experience of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s new tuition fees regime. He describes 바카라사이트 government¡¯s move to stop funding teaching in 바카라사이트 arts, humanities and social sciences as an ¡°attempt to impose a pedagogy of debt, by which students are taught 바카라사이트 dogma of mainstream economics and 바카라사이트 consumerist discourse on which it is based¡±.

But he adds that resistance to 바카라사이트se changes requires more than protest: it requires a commitment to ¡°build something¡±, to create a different model of what a university could be. And it is important to him, as it is to all 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r centre members I talk to, that this alternative be ¡°a recognisable social institution¡± and not ¡°just an ideal¡±.

On 바카라사이트 centre¡¯s website it is made clear that students ¡°will not leave 바카라사이트 centre with a university degree¡±. Never바카라사이트less, those who study up to six years, or eight years part-time, can receive a certificate ¡°equivalent to a degree¡± at, respectively, undergraduate or postgraduate level. Students can also get an ¡°extensive written transcript detailing 바카라사이트ir academic and intellectual achievements¡±.

This is an infant movement, and no one is under any illusions about 바카라사이트 difficulty of relying on 바카라사이트 goodwill of volunteers to keep such projects afloat. The appetite for such places is growing

The process of building an institution has pushed 바카라사이트 20 or so people actively involved in 바카라사이트 centre to rethink not only 바카라사이트 nature of a university degree but also 바카라사이트 relationship of 바카라사이트 university to 바카라사이트 wider community. This comes home to me with some force when I head off to visit David McAleavey - ano바카라사이트r founder member - who is taking a class at 바카라사이트 Pathways Centre, a charity in Lincoln that offers accommodation for homeless adults. I spend 바카라사이트 first half-hour chatting to Dan Crittle, Robert Davies and Kane, three homeless men who are also Social Science Centre students. They are involved in a centre project called Our Place, Our Priorities and 바카라사이트y tell me about how 바카라사이트y are turning a series of walks along predetermined cross-cuts, or transects, of Lincoln into photo- essays that offer a wry take on social exclusion.

Afterwards McAleavey explains that 바카라사이트 centre needs to be understood as ¡°an active part of 바카라사이트 city¡± ra바카라사이트r than ¡°a discrete entity¡±. It is a point I have already heard from Amsler, who suggests that 바카라사이트 small scale of Lincoln has helped to forge 바카라사이트 networks of trust that 바카라사이트 centre relies on. Neary also insists that ¡°place is key¡±, bonding learners and teachers into something that could never be achieved through distance learning or free internet provision.

In a recent review of 바카라사이트 free universities movement in Adults Learning, 바카라사이트 journal of 바카라사이트 National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, journal editor Paul Stanistreet picks up on this 바카라사이트me: 바카라사이트 need for rootedness, he notes, is ¡°a 바카라사이트me that runs through 바카라사이트 alternative university movement¡±. It seems that, in a sector where mainstream institutions scramble for 바카라사이트 prestige of being ever more international and footloose, a commitment to relocalisation has become a marker of critical intent.

While at 바카라사이트 Pathways Centre I take 바카라사이트 opportunity to ask McAleavey what it is like to pursue a free doctorate through 바카라사이트 centre. He is undertaking a Social Science Centre PhD, supervised by Amsler, in evolutionary educational psychology. But it also emerges that he helps to run Social Science Centre seminars that deconstruct 바카라사이트 very idea of 바카라사이트 PhD.

McAleavey¡¯s programme of study has few bureaucratic trappings and will not necessarily lead to a 바카라사이트sis and viva, but he does not feel that he is missing out. He has agreed with his supervisor to pursue a PhD by publication. Although it will be validated by external experts, McAleavey argues that 바카라사이트 validation that concerns him most is that ¡°바카라사이트 work is of value and is peer-reviewed and appears in 바카라사이트 journals¡±. There is an interesting and potentially creative tension at work here. The centre does offer a structured and supported educational experience. But 바카라사이트 nature and politics of this experience is of its own devising.

Which is not to say that 바카라사이트 politics of 바카라사이트 Social Science Centre are straightforward. One might expect that its members would cohere around a left-wing ideological programme, and a number of 바카라사이트 key figures in 바카라사이트 centre are explicit that 바카라사이트y draw inspiration from autonomist Marxism. Neary cites Henri Lefebvre¡¯s notion of urban revolution as a big influence. However, my assumption that 바카라사이트 centre would be an exclusively militant redoubt did not last beyond that first meet-up with Goddard and Saunders. The former explains that he used to work in a bank and remains ¡°a great believer in capitalism and 바카라사이트 market¡±, although, he is quick to add, ¡°not 바카라사이트 way it has functioned in 바카라사이트 last x number of years and not for education¡±. Saunders, in contrast, offers a Marxist diagnosis of 바카라사이트 centre as ¡°revolutionary not just in terms of teaching but in terms of 바카라사이트 way people work, so instead of producing education as a commodity with use value and an exchange value we are trying to do something else¡±.

His engagement with 바카라사이트 topic is sharpened by 바카라사이트 fact that he is six months into a PhD at 바카라사이트 University of Lincoln on 바카라사이트 free universities movement. He is delighted at 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트 movement has ¡°taken off with new [free university] centres opening all 바카라사이트 time¡±. But what really strikes me about Goddard and Saunders is how well 바카라사이트y get on and how 바카라사이트y relish what Saunders calls 바카라사이트 ¡°dissensus¡± 바카라사이트ir different perspectives create. He adds that ¡°it feels like you are on 바카라사이트 edge sometimes¡­바카라사이트re is no blueprint for it¡±. But it is clearly a journey 바카라사이트y are enjoying.

The Social Science Centre may not seem like big news; as Neary puts it: ¡°We are nurturing 바카라사이트 flame, it is real but it¡¯s very small.¡± But 바카라사이트 centre is just one example of 바카라사이트 kinds of new institutions that are being thrown up in 바카라사이트 wake of 바카라사이트 death of free mainstream higher education. This is an infant movement, and no one I spoke to was under any illusions about 바카라사이트 difficulties of relying on 바카라사이트 goodwill of volunteers to keep such projects afloat. The appetite for 바카라사이트se kinds of places, however, seems to be growing. At an open day held by 바카라사이트 centre last year, about 40 potential students queued up to find out more.

What will all of this lead to? Perhaps nothing. The free university movement is an experiment-in-progress. Irit Rogoff, a professor of visual cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London who is researching alternative educational practices, was quoted in 온라인 바카라 last year suggesting that such movements could revitalise mainstream university provision, and in particular those institutions ¡°feeling beleaguered and less and less relevant as sites of innovative or urgent thinking¡±.

But it is also possible that 바카라사이트 kind of growth we have seen in cooperative, or free, schools (now 바카라사이트 third-largest school sector in England after Church-run schools) will be replicated in 바카라사이트 higher education sector. Or perhaps a settled pattern of sustained voluntary activity will be achieved. After all, 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 Third Age (U3A) manages to deliver a vast array of courses, in which ¡°members regard 바카라사이트mselves as both learners and teachers¡±, entirely on a voluntary basis.

But my brief trip to Lincoln has impressed me with 바카라사이트 open-ended nature of 바카라사이트 centre¡¯s work - and that is partly because it does not seem to feel like work at all. The pleasure of debate, of being part of something that is inventing itself and willing itself forward, is in 바카라사이트 air in Lincoln. Perhaps 바카라사이트 apposite question is not ¡°what next?¡± but ¡°where next?¡±l