Themes

Foundation Degree

Future visions
The future, as the lead singer of the Clash, Joe Strummer, once mused, is unwritten. These four simple words are a beautiful statement of the obvious which can be read in two ways. Firstly, what lies ahead cannot be foretold (if it’s not been written yet, how can it?). And secondly, tomorrow is there for the taking. As we begin a year which looks set to be one of the worst on record for the global economy, we could be forgiven for not wanting to look into our crystal balls, even if they were able to offer us an insight into the future. We might not like what we see. The future is something I have been thinking about quite a lot recently. In fact, it’s at the heart of a recent essay I have been working on as part of my foundation degree in sustainable communities.I have alluded to it in previous blogs but finally handed it in early in January. We were asked to consider the “ orthodox (capitalist) reading of ‘the economic’ and crucially its promotion of competition and self-interest over cooperation and mutual aid. And “what are the implications of this when promoting social and economic sustainability?
The dark art of project management
In the wonderfully weird American indy movie, Donnie Darko, a cool American high school teacher informs the film’s teenager hero that one phrase is objectively the most beautiful in the English language. No, it’s not ‘I love you’. It is ‘cellar door’. Opinions on the subject may differ; but I’ll guarantee some of the phraseology I picked up last week at Sheffield Hallam University won’t be giving ‘cellar door’ a run for its money anytime soon. Take ‘logical framework sequences’ for example. If ‘cellar door’ is beautiful, ‘logical framework sequences’ are not. It’s exactly the sort of syntax that would get blood boiling at the Plain English Campaign . But given the phrases which have crept into common parlance during the recent financial crisis (‘collateralised debt obligations’ anyone?) perhaps fewer eyebrows would have been raised than six months ago!
Breaking through the 'us and them' barrier
In my last blog I confessed that my approach to assignments usually involved ‘leaving everything until the last minute’. Well, I am pleased to report that I did indeed break the habit of a lifetime in September. Working together as a group finally forced me to reconsider the merits of the cramming technique. So my last piece of solo written work for my foundation degree course in sustainable communities was finished two weeks before the deadline. The fact that I was on holiday for a fortnight prior to the due date should perhaps be taken into account. Still, it’s an achievement I’m somewhat proud of! We had a choice of five questions to round off our module in economic sustainability and I opted for: How can community self-help best be harnessed in deprived neighbourhoods? I couldn’t have found a question more interesting or relevant to my current line of work – or one closer to my heart. (For those of you who haven’t read my earlier blogs I’m a client support officer for Apprenticeships for All, a scheme run by Burngreave New Deal for Communities in Sheffield.)
The first step
My introduction to the Academy’s foundation degree in sustainable communities has so far been gentle. This is something I am definitely not complaining about - especially considering I haven’t been in formal education for about a decade and this is my first degree course. Going back to school at 32 will take some getting used to I think. However, I’m under no illusions. I recognise that this is just the beginning and I fully expect things to shift up a gear very soon. My first impressions of the course at Northumbria are good. First there’s all the new ways of working to get used to. These include fairly alien concepts like academic referencing – designed among other things to prevent plagiarism I’m told. And then there’s the university way of setting out reports and assignments. All very new, but not too difficult to get your head around.
Interesting times
There is an old Chinese proverb (though some believe it may also have been a curse) which says: “may you live in interesting times”. I suspect people have always thought their own times are interesting – after all, they are the only times we will ever know. But the events of the last few weeks - the near collapse of the global financial system and the looming possibility of a deep recession - may prove to really live up to the proverb. There’s a sense that we really are at a turning point in history. As always though, just how interesting will be for the history books to judge. It’s certainly given an interesting and relevant context to my summer assignment. You may remember from my last blog, but I had chosen to get to grips with question 5: “The orthodox (capitalist) reading of ‘the economic’ is one which promotes competition and self-interest over cooperation and mutual aid. What are the implications of this when promoting social and economic sustainability?”
A balancing act
The summer term at Sheffield is over, so by my reckoning that’s one year down, two to go. Well, not quite. Although we had our last teaching session in July (with none pencilled in until October) there was no quick end in sight when it came to studying. For a start there is the small matter of a paper to finish – for the social and economic sustainability module.
Breaking the habits of a lifetime
The latest module on my Foundation Degree in Sustainable Communities has thrown up a number of interesting lessons. Not least is that just because a module isn’t of interest to me – on the surface at least – it doesn’t mean it won’t be useful. I’m discovering that the subject matter of an exercise isn’t necessarily the most important element, it’s more about the skills you pick up as you progress through and complete the piece of work. That’s something I really didn’t expect. The module in question – Social and Economic Sustainability – is looking at issues such as alternative economics and how they can feed into sustainability. Not an area that really grabs me, I have to confess. I’m more interested in the bigger picture of sustainable communities and how everything fits together. The nuts and bolts of smaller, grassroots projects I find less stimulating.
Busybodyocracy
The novelist Dr Graham Gardner, who in 2006 completed a fascinating research project on behalf of Defra, coined a phrase last year which I just love. Gardner had been tasked by Defra with assessing the success, or otherwise, of neighbourhood devolution – that is, handing the running of local services down, as far as possible, to local people. The ‘busybodyocracy’ was often the unintended consequence of such a policy, he argued. Instead of handing power to local people, neighbourhood devolution often resulted in the delegation of powers to a handful of well-meaning busybodies.
Assignments, analysis and action plans
In my first blog entry I wrote that our tutors on the ASC foundation degree in sustainable communities were breaking us into academic life “fairly gently”. After two months I may have to revise that position; the pace having upped considerably in recent weeks. And coming as it has done at a particularly hectic time at work that means I’m pretty busy right now. For a start, assignments have been coming at us thick and fast and we’ve been out on our first field trip – as it happens to the Burngreave area of Sheffield where I already work as a client engagement officer for one of the area’s New Deal for Communities programmes. Despite being on home territory, it was no pushover. Especially given we had to carry out a group analysis of the area’s strengths and weaknesses – and then deliver a presentation on it – all within the space of an afternoon.
Finally facing my Waterloo
My second blog comes to you from the south bank of Lake Mälaren in Stockholm; the city known as the Venice of the north. It’s my first visit to Sweden and I have been struck already by an immediate affection for the place. My impressions may have been influenced by the good weather, excellent restaurants and fine company and hospitality on display. However, they certainly haven’t been influenced by alcohol – given the prohibitive cost of a pint here (upwards of £6 a time). But it hasn’t all been r & r. No, I’ve even found time to consider Stockholm’s sustainability credentials while I’ve been here.
Communities have the answers
I’m a firm believer in the idea that regeneration and community development has to come from the bottom up. The drive and the enthusiasm to deliver change, the local knowledge and the skills needed to make things happen; these things can all be found in our local communities – if we know where to look. Local people know what their community needs, what has to change and, by and large, how to make it happen.
Searching for the bigger picture
As a student on the Foundation Degree in Sustainable Communities , you might expect me to already work in regeneration – or have ambitions to. However, that’s not really the case; well, not exactly. I currently have my own jewellery-making and gallery business and changing careers is not really my motivation for undertaking this degree. The course, which I recently started at Sheffield Hallam University , might lead me to a job in a relevant sector, or it might just give me a better understanding of how to get more involved with making my own community – Bridlington – more sustainable and integrated within the East Riding of Yorkshire. Only time will tell but not knowing where I am going to finish up is what makes it so exciting. Whatever I do I hope it will be motivated by trying to make a difference to people’s lives.
First impressions
Life as a student again is definitely a case of so far, so good. The plan seems to be to ease us into academic life fairly gently, which is great. At the moment, the emphasis is on getting everyone up to a reasonably competent and confident level in basic skills such as IT and research methods. We’re definitely getting time to adjust to our new life as undergraduates on the foundation degree . I think the biggest challenge is going to be finding time to study as I will still be working full time as a client support officer for an apprenticeship scheme being run by Burngreave New Deal for Communities in Sheffield . But ultimately that’s why I’m here – to improve my ability to do my job out in the real world.
Places, architecture and Yorkshiremen
I’ve only been on ASC’s Foundation Degree course a few weeks but I’ve already been asked a rather strange question by one of my peers. Over dinner, I was asked to consider this: do you think of yourself more as a man or a Yorkshireman? Not an easy one, I have to admit. But what the question triggered was an interesting discussion on the part played by place in one’s identity. Why is it so important?
Short-term thinking = long-term problem
As I start ASC's foundation degree in sustainable communities , I find myself in between jobs. After 15 years working at the coal face of regeneration I’m having an unplanned few months off as one job ends and another begins. In a way, perhaps it’s come at a good time, in that it has given me the chance to adjust to my new life back in education. From April to December last year, I worked as a community development worker for a Leeds-based charity called Resourcing the Community . My focus was on helping small, community based organisations to find their feet – and crucially help them secure long-term funding. Then in December – ironically I suppose - we lost our funding and all 10 staff members were made redundant.

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