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This event will critically consider what it means to meaningfully engage students and staff in increasingly digital communities of learning. Keynote speaker: Karen Gravett (University of Surrey, UK).

‘Mattering and Belonging in and for Student Engagement’

Our recent times have upended the way we think about student learning. With the shift online and now to increasingly blended teaching practices, or following increased concerns about students’ attendance, educators have focused upon questions relating to students’ engagement and sense of belonging. In this keynote presentation, I will share some of my recent research and practice examining belonging and student engagement, enabling participants to think about students’ experiences of higher education in new ways. Specifically, I consider how we might think about belonging as a process, thinking about how belonging evolves, what belonging makes possible, and why it might be that some students do not wish to belong. I will consider different perspectives on belonging and argue for the value of an approach to teaching that notices the situated, day-to-day, practices of students’ learning. I will think about how belonging plays out in the ‘micro moments’ of learning and teaching, and how relational pedagogies may be helpful in fostering engagement and connection. I also explore the concept of mattering in learning: thinking about who and what matters within these learning moments. This presentation will conclude with exploring practical approaches for supporting students, as I explore how we can draw upon evidence-based research to assist our work in maximising students’ potential and fostering belonging for a diversity of students in contemporary higher education.