Hello and welcome to Talk About Teaching and Learning (“TATL”), published by the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Team at York St John University.

First of all, thank you for getting this far – I’m acutely aware that, in publishing this site, we are entering a space already richly occupied by many other successful teaching and learning blogs. I hope that adding the York St John perspective to these conversations will be beneficial for students and practitioners both within and beyond our small corner of UK academia, at once amplifying the voices within our community and enabling links to be forged with other communities. You can find out more about the origins of the blog on our About TATL page.

As a team, we are excited about using this new platform to create opportunities for conversation and collaboration. Since the Covid19 pandemic and the rise in flexible working and learning arrangements, it can be common to go weeks or months without seeing people from outside our immediate teams or areas, and it’s hoped that this blog can go some way towards filling the gap in ‘corridor conversations’ that these changes have left. Moreover, we aim to provide space for consideration of important HE topics with which there is often simply not enough time to grapple in the context of the busy academic calendar.

For me, one of the joys of the blog format is that it is free from the constraints of the academic register; you can choose to write in first, third or even second person; you can share your own thoughts and experiences or assume a different perspective – the topic and tone are up to you. It’s an opportunity for you to find and use your own voice.

Indeed, voice is central to this endeavour: this blog is for you, as readers, and it’s important that you have the agency to influence the content that appears. For that reason, I’d like each one of you reading this post to give serious consideration to contributing. The beauty of a blog is that it doesn’t need to contain fully formulated thoughts; you might be right at the beginning of working on a teaching project that you wish to share, or you might be stuck on a particular idea or theory. Those sorts of ruminations are great conversation starters, and are exactly what we’re looking for. We would like to hear from all voices in the community, regardless of role or position.

So, if you’re wondering whether or not you have something valuable to say, or whether you’re qualified to write a post, then stop wondering! We would love to see your ideas or to talk further about what you might like to produce. Simply contact the TLE team to submit a post or discuss your potential contribution.

And in the interests of sharing a range of voices, that’s my cue to sign off and give you space to browse the inspiring contributions we’ve already received! Happy reading.