This symposium focuses on how we can proactively harness the idea of complexity as a pedagogic principle in curriculum design to prepare students for real-world challenges. With global issues such as health equity and digital transformation demanding holistic solutions, higher education must equip learners with the ability to think across boundaries. The event will feature examples of how academics are working with ideas of complexity to provide for authentic, future facing learning opportunities that foster creativity, adaptability, and critical thinking. Discussions will explore learning design and practices that support integrative learning and assessment strategies for complex problem-solving. The symposium will encourage participants to reflect on their own practices and consider how to design learning experiences that cultivate future ready graduates who are able to navigate uncertainty and change.
Sector perspectives, disciplinary Insights – sharing practice!
The symposium comprises a keynote address from Professor Simon Thomson (University of Manchester) followed by a panel discussion component bringing together colleagues from across the university to discuss a range of practice-based work aligned to the broader symposium theme.
Simon’s keynote talk takes the theme of “Curriculum for Complexity”, the outline for which is below.
We live in a time of accelerating change – it’s becoming more difficult to tell fact from fiction, where technological disruption and social transformation are intertwined and where complexity increasingly defines our world. Education must evolve to meet this reality. Traditional curricula, built on standardisation and certainty, no longer serve learners who must navigate ambiguity, synthesise diverse knowledge, and act with agility. Instead, we need a curriculum for complexity – one that prepares students not just to absorb information, but to adapt, critique, create, and persevere in uncertain environments. Such a curriculum positions learners as active participants in inquiry and problem-solving. It integrates disciplines, blending science, art, and ethics to spark creative thinking. It values systems understanding and metacognition, teaching students how to learn, unlearn, and relearn. It fosters resilience by normalising failure and uncertainty as essential parts of growth. And it connects learning to authentic, real-world challenges, emphasising collaboration, empathy, and social responsibility.
When learners are adaptive, creative, and resilient, they are not overwhelmed by change; they become its most capable navigators and compassionate shapers. This is the curriculum our future demands and our students are relying on us to empower them to thrive within it.
Reimagining Complex Learning Through SPaM
In a change to our usual symposium format, and as an extension of Simon’s talk, he will be guiding us in a subsequent collaborative exploration of how the SPaM (Subject, Pedagogy, and Modality) framework can be used to rethink learning experiences in a post-digital, complexity-aware context. Through this guided exploration, you will be provided with the opportunity reflect on your own practice to understand the opportunities emerging when balancing subject, pedagogy, and modality. This collaborative reflective exercise will be equally valuable for professional services colleagues, encouraging us to critically consider how the choices we make support learning in navigating complexity.
Meet our keynote
Simon Thomson is currently Professor of Hybrid Learning at the University of Manchester with a research interest in mixed-modal education through which has emerged his openly licensed Subject, Pedagogy and Modality (SPaM) framework for hybrid education.
In his current role as Director of Flexible Learning he is supporting the strategic development and UoM vision for Flexible Learning across the university. Through his various roles he has supported institutions to better understand the symbiotic relationship between digital tools and pedagogic practices for the enhancement of teaching and learning.
Simon holds a PhD from Lancaster University and was awarded an HEA National Teaching Fellow in 2014, is Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, SEDA accredited in Embedding Learning Technologies and an Apple Distinguished Educator.
To book your place on the Symposium (online) please click here