Students who already feel marginalised before they attend university are being further alienated because of the divides that exist within institutions, a conference has heard.

According to Catherine Cronin, academic coordinator of online IT programmes and lecturer in IT at the National University of Ireland, Galway, many students feel that they ¡°cannot breathe¡± at university because their individual identities are not taken into account.

¡°Our institutions are stratified by gender and race, and that¡¯s evident if we look at who is and who is not employed, at what level, and under what terms,¡± she told the Association for Learning Technology Conference at the University of Warwick on 2 September.

¡°Society has many struggles against multiple forms of oppression ¨C gender, race, sexual orientation, class, imperialism ¨C [and] the veneer of academia doesn¡¯t erase these, so we must recognise that these are in our classrooms, online and offline.¡±

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She said that many aspects of the way universities operate, including standardised curriculum, grading systems and even architecture, ¡°reinforce the power of the educator over the student¡±.

¡°If students are already marginalised in some way, that can [make it] more acute, and students may well feel that they can¡¯t breathe,¡± she said.

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Ms Cronin told the conference that she had ¡°experienced sexism and silencing¡± while in academia, and said that acknowledging students¡¯ identities and creating ¡°welcoming, safe spaces¡± should be a key consideration for the sector.

The ¡°open online space¡± was one area where scholars in particular can help students to develop their ¡°civic and learner identities¡±, she continued ¨C although she warned that many online educational approaches ignore the importance of students¡¯ individuality.

¡°Many online education systems are designed for the roaming autodidact ¨C this ¡®identity-less¡¯ person,¡± she said. ¡°We don¡¯t have identity-less students and learners; we must encourage students to come in with their identities. Learners need to practise and experiment with different ways of enacting their identities.¡±

Elsewhere in her keynote talk, Ms Cronin defended ¡°open¡± scholars who are active online, and who believe in transparent cooperation. She said that she had encountered criticism from ¡°less open¡± academics who told her it was ¡°great that you have the time to tweet and blog and do all that stuff, you¡¯ve really built a brand for yourself¡±.

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¡°I realised that some people may think of openness as a form of hubris ¨C ¡®you think you¡¯re great so you put things out there¡¯. This is contrary to my perception,¡± she continued, adding that she subscribed to the belief that openness and sharing was more ¡°a form of humility¡±.

¡°We can¡¯t know who, where or how someone will use the resources we share. There will be¡­criticism that we don¡¯t anticipate, but it¡¯s only by taking that risk and putting our work out there that we can find out ¨C stretch ourselves and encounter wonder at the unanticipated things that happen.¡±

chris.parr@tesglobal.com