See student experiences in full colour

Colleagues are invited to hear how a creative collaboration between staff and students captured perspectives on belonging and inclusion at Reading in an eye-catching way.

The Student-led Zine Launch Event, from 11:30-13:45 on Tuesday 27 February, will share some of the colourful sketches and collages created by students in workshops to express their thoughts, feelings and lived experiences of teaching and learning at Reading.

The ‘zine’ (short for fanzines) workshops allowed a safe space for students to share honest feedback and personal accounts of issues related to decolonisation, diversity, community and inclusion.

The presentation will cover how you could use this model in your own role, and there will even be a chance to have a go at making your own zine afterwards to see the creative process in action.

About the zine workshops

More than 30 students were invited to zine-making workshops during the summer term last year.

The interactive workshops were led by colleagues in the Centre for Quality Support and Development (CQSD) and Student Success and Engagement, in collaboration with the UoR Student Panel and Inclusion Consultants – a team of students who provide advice to staff on making services and resources more accessible and inclusive.

Why zines?

The workshops showed zines were an effective way of authentically engaging with students on a range of issues.

They give participants a voice in a collaborative setting, allowing unfiltered dialogue that can be used to improve our teaching or support services.

They can also help to connect theory with everyday life, offer equal opportunity to share thoughts, and are engaging finished resources that bring often abstract themes to life.

Victoria Grace-Bland, Student-Staff Partnerships Manager in CQSD, said: “We are looking forward to sharing the zines with students and colleagues, with the aim of inspiring dialogue in the classroom around diversity, inclusion, community, belonging and decolonisation.

“Hopefully we will inspire colleagues to think about creative ways to engage with their student cohorts and introduce inclusive approaches to student voice and partnership activities.”

A full case study was featured in the new Decolonising the Curriculum Resource (pages 30-34) in September 2023.