The week before last my lecturers announced they would be striking once again. These strikes would cancel only the second week of lectures and first week of tutorials. With nothing binding me to Edinburgh, I ditched the forecasted rain for promises of sunshine and €3 beer in Aix-en-provence.
Giving my friend on her year abroad 12 hours’ notice of my arrival, it wasn’t surprising when she had to spend a bit of my time there attending her lectures. Being in a new university city did make me question whether students here had been affected by strike action that made my rendezvous possible in the first place.
I was not surprised that, considering Frances’s heed for protest, the university had seen strike action the year prior. Contradictory to what we have seen in Edinburgh, the strikes in Aix were student led. The involvement of students in protesting retirement reforms and cost of living is very contrasting to the general sense of disappointment and uncertainty that plagues our university cohort when lecturers declare yet enough week of strikes.
The impact of this uncertainty was actualised for many hopeful of attending a year abroad this year when they didn’t know whether they had qualified for exchange until one week prior to expected departure.
A friend I spoke to in Sydney resonates with the clarity and ease of consistent learning yet articulates the complexity of wanting to support the staff and the reasons they strike.
“I obviously support the right of the staff to strike, but from as student perspective, its been great not having the extra burden to worry about”
My friend was not the only one. Everyone I spoke to on a year abroad expressed a support for strikes in Edinburgh, but the change of pace has shown them how much the disruption impacts on education. A friend in Montreal raves of the consistency no strikes has allowed saying that there is much more opportunity to get feedback and have learning checks. Her education feels like more of a priority for staff and she doesn’t feel so forgotten. Another friend in Austin is happy to “receive all assignments back within the week”.
Considering many of us haven’t received a single mark from last semester due to the extensive strike action and marking boycott, the idea of receiving feedback in as quick as a week feels like a dream. From the newfound perspective of people abroad, this is the reality.
So, we can beg the question of why our university system is so broken. How does something that seems so straightforward and imperative to education such as receiving feedback and having consistent teaching occur so effortlessly in other campuses around the world yet is so laborious to actualise in our own university.
*Based on my extensive and thorough calculations. 9 contact hours a week x 20 weeks of teaching per annum / £9250 fees = 51.388888
“Ice cold drinks by the beach” by mac_ivan is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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Girl math is missing my £51* an hour lecture for €3 beers in Marseille
The week before last my lecturers announced they would be striking once again. These strikes would cancel only the second week of lectures and first week of tutorials. With nothing binding me to Edinburgh, I ditched the forecasted rain for promises of sunshine and €3 beer in Aix-en-provence.
Giving my friend on her year abroad 12 hours’ notice of my arrival, it wasn’t surprising when she had to spend a bit of my time there attending her lectures. Being in a new university city did make me question whether students here had been affected by strike action that made my rendezvous possible in the first place.
I was not surprised that, considering Frances’s heed for protest, the university had seen strike action the year prior. Contradictory to what we have seen in Edinburgh, the strikes in Aix were student led. The involvement of students in protesting retirement reforms and cost of living is very contrasting to the general sense of disappointment and uncertainty that plagues our university cohort when lecturers declare yet enough week of strikes.
The impact of this uncertainty was actualised for many hopeful of attending a year abroad this year when they didn’t know whether they had qualified for exchange until one week prior to expected departure.
A friend I spoke to in Sydney resonates with the clarity and ease of consistent learning yet articulates the complexity of wanting to support the staff and the reasons they strike.
“I obviously support the right of the staff to strike, but from as student perspective, its been great not having the extra burden to worry about”
My friend was not the only one. Everyone I spoke to on a year abroad expressed a support for strikes in Edinburgh, but the change of pace has shown them how much the disruption impacts on education. A friend in Montreal raves of the consistency no strikes has allowed saying that there is much more opportunity to get feedback and have learning checks. Her education feels like more of a priority for staff and she doesn’t feel so forgotten. Another friend in Austin is happy to “receive all assignments back within the week”.
Considering many of us haven’t received a single mark from last semester due to the extensive strike action and marking boycott, the idea of receiving feedback in as quick as a week feels like a dream. From the newfound perspective of people abroad, this is the reality.
So, we can beg the question of why our university system is so broken. How does something that seems so straightforward and imperative to education such as receiving feedback and having consistent teaching occur so effortlessly in other campuses around the world yet is so laborious to actualise in our own university.
*Based on my extensive and thorough calculations. 9 contact hours a week x 20 weeks of teaching per annum / £9250 fees = 51.388888
“Ice cold drinks by the beach” by mac_ivan is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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