Human Relationships in Higher Education: The Power of Collaboration, Creativity and Openness

Abstract

We educators may have been obsessed with perfection, expertise, polished experiences and performances too much for too long. Where is the human? Ironed out? This provocative opinion paper is a collection of the authors' reflections based on experiences, observations, ideas and readings. We invite educators to consider and explore what may help them (re-) connect with their inner selves and others socially, emotionally and cognitively in the context of learning and teaching in HE during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. With reference to a collaborative creative initiative that was implemented under the auspices of the Global OER Graduate Network, the paper aims to instigate a discussion around the importance of building and sustaining effective relationships in HE. These are perceived as the drivers that potentially boost participation and student success using collaboration, creativity and openness. Working in partnership with students, recognising and accepting individuality as well as creating opportunities for connection can support the operationalisation of these reflections in practice.

Responding to the Initial Challenge of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of International Responses and Impact in School and Higher Education

“…Open education accommodates innovations in learning processes, roles and pathways and can be seen as an ecosystem that thrives when there exists a general open mindset for such approaches [8,19,[24][25][26][27][28][29]. For that to happen, all relevant stakeholders need to be identified to gain their attention in order to promote the benefits that follow [30].…”

“…Open education has its foundation on the principles of sharing knowledge, information and insights freely with others [8,25]. Likewise, open science resides in sharing the scholarship and scientific knowledge through collaboration.…”

Gems, buds and slippers or what a series of visualisation tells us about the Learning and Teaching in Higher Education tweetchat (#LTHEchat)

“…What needs to be noted is the affective nature of the #LTHEchat community as highlighted in the findings under the "caring" theme. The human relationships created within this community seem to create a social glue that has brought diverse #LTHEchat participants closer together within this open space, to learn with and from each other, dare new approaches and be creative (Nerantzi, Chatzidamianos, Stathopoulou, & Karaouza, 2021).…”

Revitalising Higher Education: Insights from Te Puna Aurei LearnFest 2022

“…Playful approaches in higher education include games but also involve many other elements such as alterations of mental or physical space (Nerantzi 2019;Haughton & Sarwar 2019), units training playfulness and creative approaches (Loudon 2019), and use of physical materials in creative explorations (Williamson 2019). Games are only a subset of playful approaches, and scholarship on play highlights that there are always potential conflicts between ludus (more rules-based play) and paidia (more improvisational, free play) (cf.…”