In the end of October 2022, I spent a week at the University of Borås in Sweden as a guest of CPE – the centre for Professional Education, led by Professor Petra Angervall. The trip was multipurpose as I was a guest at a two-day writing retreat and a visiting researcher at the Department of Educational Work which is under the Faculty of Librarianship, Information, Education, and IT.
The writing retreat took place at Två Skyttlar, a conference facility approximately 40 km from Borås. It was the first time that this kind of retreat was organised and both Dr. Melina Aarnikoivu and Eva Medin (Language Specialist at the Communications Office) who were the organisers had carefully planned the retreat and selected the facility which hosted 30 participants.
The retreat started with my presentation on “How to get most out of a writing retreat” and continued with the ‘shut up and write’ sessions. Eva, Melina and I had peer-review/coaching sessions which included the provision of feedback on participants’ writing. Then I attended the workshops of Melina on academic writing and writing in English as an additional language. These topics were stimulating but also very suitable as the majority of attendees wanted to improve their English academic writing skills.
Personally, I am one of many academics who find writing retreats to be motivating and inspiring. Especially writing retreats which are organised off-campus in facilities that include multiple writing spaces and a peaceful working environment. For some academics it’s also an opportunity to develop their writing skills and finalise unfinished drafts but also to come closer to their colleagues.
After the retreat was over my visit continued at the Department of Educational Work. The campus area was modern and in the heart of the city. As Borås is known for its textile and fashion industry, there is the Swedish School of Textiles at the university. The Swedish School of Textiles is in the Textile Fashion Centre that hosts, among others, a textile museum, and exhibitions with students’ textile work.
On the first day on campus, I got to visit the facilities and was introduced to the department’s staff members. After two-years of pandemic it was exciting to meet new colleagues and discuss face-to-face about research and university work. I was especially interested in meeting researchers from the HUPP research group (Higher Education, Practices and Politics) as we share similar research interests. The discussion was both engaging and thought provoking around topics such as internationalisation of higher education and doctoral education. Of course, similarities and differences between the Finnish and Swedish higher education were brought up but also discussions on what the future awaits for a post-pandemic university!
One of the highlights of my trip was visiting the Active Learning Classroom which is used for university pedagogy teaching. I was impressed by this well-equipped classroom as it can be used for multiple purposes in diverse ways with groups of students. The flexibility that this learning space provides to the teachers and students is remarkable.
My visit concluded with the seminar on “Impact on Covid: Academic work, research, learning and teaching in ‘post-covid’ times.” I presented some of the results of our research project with Dr. Suvi Jokila “EqualISM: International students in times of crisis”. The presentation’s title was “International students navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic”.
There were two other presentations by Ai Tam Le on COVID-19 and early-career researchers “The pandemic and the PhD: looking back and looking forward” and then by Melina Aarnikoivu on COVID-19 and its effects on academic work “Academic work disrupted — or existing inequities simply revealed?”. The presentations not only focused on what research has shown us, but they were also future oriented as practical tips for the future and critical questions were raised.
Even though I stayed only for a week at Borås I am grateful for the opportunity I received to visit the university, meet colleagues, and get these new experiences, ideas and relationships that started. I’d like to say thank you to Melina Aarnikoivu for all the organisation and assistance before, during and after the visit.
The writer Kalypso Filippou is an University Lecturer at the UTUPeda Centre for University Pedagogy and Research and the Department of Teacher Education.