The Final Day

Well, my four weeks here at the University of Otago are final up and the time has flown by. I've not posted much as (a) I've been very busy and (b) I get the sense that I'm writing into a void and no one is reading!

So, what has kept me so busy since my last posting? - workshops, seminars, meetings and, this Wednesday, my keynote lecture - "A sustainable future for HE: an exploration of the complex and changing world of learning". Given that I had spent so much time thinking and talking about the issues I wanted to cover in the lecture I almost found I'd lost interest or was over-familiar with it by the time I had to deliver it.

After the lecture we went to the High Tide restaurant whose address is Waterfront, which it is, but is in the middle of an industrial estate. Strange location but very good meal. There were wry smiles when I ordered muttonbird as my first course. I explained I didn't know what it was so was going to give it a try. It was HORRIBLE! It's a seabird and very fatty - I've tried it once but never again. The rest of the meal was excellent as was the company.

On Tuesday I had a meeting with Syd King from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and Hilary Branthwaite from the Tertiary education Commission, We were also joined by Bill Rickarts from Alverno College in the US who I was due to meet the following day anyway. I think Alison had mentioned my named to Hilary and, though I kept saying on the phone that I wasn't sure I was the person they wanted to speak to, Bill insisted that they would fly down from Wellington to talk to me. We had a fascinating couple of hours thinking about how best to quality assure/enhance in a system that is undergoing massive change and includes all post-16 providers.

Throughout my four weeks here I have also sat in on Tony's Qualitative Research Methods course which has proved to be very useful to me and got me reading in some new areas. There are only two staff taking the course but that means they have to do teh reading and get their ideas together.

I've a lot to think about and reflect on but I am leaving with a much clearer idea about what the focus of learning and teaching should be about - enquiry (or is it inquiry?). This forms one of the links between research and teaching through to learning and I'll write some of this up when I get back. My discussions with Tony about the nature and purposes of both academic development and higher education have been very stimulating. I'm also even more convinced about the worthlessness of the student evaluations that most people use - but that's a another story.

I've enjoyed and valued my time here in HEDC at the University of Otago and have made many useful contacts which I hope will continue through writing, research and at conferences.