LTHEchat: Extending Communities through Networks and Frameworks

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Last week I took part in my first ever #LTHEChat.  I’ve been a huge admirer of LTHEChat for years now but I’ve never really been able to take part before, primarily because the timing doesn’t usually work for me. Occasionally I manage to catch the final questions and I often enjoy catching up with the tweets afterwards.  Last week’s chat was a little different though as it was led by the #Femedtech collective. A group of us (Sheila MacNeil, Frances Bell, Maren Deepwell, Laura Czerniewicz and I) worked together to frame the questions and provide some contextual information in this blog post #LTHEchat 155 with #femedtech. The theme of our chat was Extending Communities through Networks and Frameworks and these are the questions that we posed. 

Q1. Inequality affects all of us. Can you share examples of how inequality affects you in your professional practice?

Q2. Can you share any experiences/comments on gender inequality in your workplace? Here are results by role from ALT2018 survey.

Q3. Can you share other networks and/or people that have influenced your thinking/practice about inequality and how/why?

Q4. Various initiatives aim to address inequalities, led by institutions, unions and informal groups eg Athena SWAN (ASC), Race Equality (REC) and De-colononizing the Curriculum. Can you share comments/examples of how these have influenced you, or not?

Q5. What (small) changes have you made to your practice /would you recommend making in order to challenge inequalities?

Q6. In what edtech situations have you found a feminist framework useful?

Despite having helped to draft the questions I found it quite challenging to come up with rapid answers on the spot as the chat was moving so quickly and I was really enjoying reading other people’s respnses.  It was really great to see so many people so engaged with these topics.   You can see all the answers here #LTHEChat 155 Wakelet and I’ve copied my responses below for reflection. 

Q1. Inequality affects all of us. Can you share examples of how inequality affects you in your professional practice?

Simon Lancaster and Michael Seery picked up on this answer and expanded on this theme.

This answer also generated some discussion with Sheila and Su-Ming Khoo adding that they struggle to be seen and heard at times.

Q2. Can you share any experiences/comments on gender inequality in your workplace?

Q3. Can you share other networks and/or people that have influenced your thinking/practice about inequality and how/why?

Q4. Various initiatives aim to address inequalities, led by institutions, unions and informal groups eg Athena SWAN (ASC), Race Equality (REC) and De-colononizing the Curriculum. Can you share comments/examples of how these have influenced you, or not?

Q5. What (small) changes have you made to your practice /would you recommend making in order to challenge inequalities?

This simple suggestion generated a predictable response…

Unfortunately I had to duck out before we reached the final question so I’m going to take the opportunity to answer it now. 

Q6. In what edtech situations have you found a feminist framework useful?

I’ve found a feminist framework to be useful and important because it reminds me of my own privilege, reinforces the importance of inclusion and diversity, and provides a valuable support network at times of stress and uncertainty. And if I was to pick one very specific edtech situation where I found the support of a feminist network invaluable, it would be this one: Nudging the Door Open.

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