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<\/span><\/span><\/strong>Dr\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Doron<\/span>\u00a0Cohen is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Psychology and Mental Health (School of Health Sciences, FBMH).\u00a0<\/span>In the words of one of his students,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201cHe is the Widening Participation\u00a0<\/span>L<\/span>ead<\/span>\u00a0for Psychology and is totally committed to ensuring that irrespective of a student\u2019s ethnic or religious background or sexual orientation they can enter\u00a0<\/span>u<\/span>niversity and feel safe and secure once\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em>they are here.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/span>In this post<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0he talks about\u00a0<\/span>winning two\u00a0<\/span><\/span>UMSU Education Awards 2021<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>, what the students appreciated in his approaches, and what it means to him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nWhat are the UMSU Education\u00a0Awards?<\/h5>\n
The\u00a0Education Awards\u00a0are\u00a0Student Union-led awards<\/a>\u00a0that are\u00a0made annually\u00a0in response to an open call to\u00a0students\u00a0across the entire university.\u00a0Nominations are made in the relevant category (such as the ‘Above and Beyond’) via an online proforma.\u00a0UMSU\u00a0received over 350 nominations across\u00a0the suite of\u00a0Education Award\u00a0categories.\u00a0The categories change over time depending on student priorities.\u00a0This year,\u00a0the\u00a0categories<\/a>\u00a0were:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Award winners are picked by a panel of students\u00a0independently\u00a0based\u00a0purely\u00a0on the\u00a0strength of\u00a0written\u00a0nominations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yes, I am very lucky to do well at these awards. Over the years I have picked up a few, including Innovative Teacher of the Year, Best Lecturer, 21st\u00a0Century Curriculum Creator and\u00a0Supervisor of the\u00a0Year.\u00a0This year I won awards\u00a0for\u00a0\u2018Diversity in the Curriculum\u2019\u00a0and for\u00a0\u2018Excellent Academic Advising\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n I teach\u00a0Social\u00a0Psychology<\/a>\u00a0to a large year 1 cohort\u00a0of around\u00a0400 students.\u00a0In looking at interpersonal relationships\u00a0and the social self\u00a0I\u2019ve chosen to focus on themes\u00a0like racism, discrimination, LBGTQ+\u00a0rights, mental health and stigma, and\u00a0I\u00a0have\u00a0made it more diverse over the years.\u00a0I\u00a0think students have\u00a0grown\u00a0much more\u00a0aware\u00a0about the social and political world in which we live\u00a0over the last five years,\u00a0especially since\u00a0Brexit, and\u00a0they\u00a0used my course as an\u00a0example\u00a0to say,\u00a0\u201c(we want)\u00a0more of this sort of thing\u201d.<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Our students\u00a0themselves\u00a0are very diverse\u00a0\u2013\u00a0they come\u00a0from all over the world\u00a0with different cultural, religious and\u00a0linguistic backgrounds.\u00a0Whereas psychology, like much of academia,\u00a0is\u00a0born out of a very\u00a0western,\u00a0white,\u00a0male-dominated\u00a0tradition\u00a0and research is\u00a0typically\u00a0conducted\u00a0on western\u00a0undergraduate students. As such,\u00a0it just doesn’t reflect the diversity of the world around us.\u00a0There are\u00a0so many fascinating cultural differences in the way that the world is perceived by different groups, and that’s one of the things that I want to capture.\u00a0<\/p>\n We\u00a0explore implicit bias, as one example \u2013 we\u00a0still live in a world where your name has a massive or a significant impact on labour market access. Your social group will, to some extent, determine the quality of housing you live in, or the amount of money you’ll earn over your lifetime, the degree you’ll get or even the type of university you attend. I am very proud to work at Manchester with its Widening Participation framework and having Social Responsibility as a key goal. And so I tried to align\u00a0the content of the course\u00a0with the university\u2019s\u00a0strategic goal as well,\u00a0and just really be very explicit about tackling these issues.\u00a0I\u2019ve always tried to develop students\u2019 critical thinking skills by\u00a0dismantling headlines and\u00a0encouraging students to take a scientific, critical perspective to assessing the evidence for every claim they read. I think\u00a0\u00a0this is particularly important for claims made about\u00a0minoritized\u00a0or underrepresented groups.\u00a0I begin\u00a0by\u00a0asking\u00a0‘What\u00a0do we know?\u00a0And then what can we do about it?\u2019<\/i>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0trying to encourage positive action.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In one lecture I talk about social isolation and how, for elderly\u00a0people in particular, this\u00a0has real consequences for their cognitive and physical health, and then I flash up information on befriending charities,\u00a0and\u00a0quite a lot of students have been motivated to become a telephone friend to an elderly person.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m\u00a0a\u00a0teaching-focused\u00a0lecturer\u00a0and\u00a0passionate\u00a0about giving\u00a0our students\u00a0the best experience at\u00a0Manchester. They can feel anonymous,\u00a0and\u00a0I am\u00a0very aware that I am\u00a0a conduit to\u00a0\u2018Manchester\u00a0University\u2019 for them\u00a0\u2013\u00a0I\u00a0try to help them feel\u00a0genuinely\u00a0valued and\u00a0create opportunities for them to come to me. Trivial things matter \u2013 if they tell me they\u2019ve got a pet I will make a note\u00a0of it and\u00a0remember. You have to\u00a0take\u00a0steps to\u00a0build a relationship with\u00a0them. After all, at first you are just two strangers put together in a slightly odd context \u2013 academic advisor and student. I will be nosey\u00a0and\u00a0if I\u00a0notice\u00a0they\u00a0seem\u00a0out of sorts I\u2019ll mention it and ask if they\u2019re okay.\u00a0It\u2019s not\u00a0about\u00a0me\u00a0solving\u00a0their\u00a0problems but working with them. I try to send them emails\u00a0and have an\u00a0open-door\u00a0policy, but I\u2019m also open about lead-times for non-urgent things.\u00a0I am their advisor not just in the 15 minutes allocated, but throughout the year and around the campus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s an honour!\u00a0There are so many\u00a0gifted and talented educators\u00a0here\u00a0\u2013 to be nominated is enough, to win makes me feel proud and it\u2019s so good to know that the students are resonating with the course\u00a0and my approach.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=”3.0.106″ in_same_term=”off” show_prev=”on” show_next=”on” prev_text=”Previous” next_text=”Next” locked=”on” parent_locked=”off” \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=”3.17.6″ show_count=”off” header_font_size_tablet=”51″ header_line_height_tablet=”2″ custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#ffffff” button_use_icon=”off” locked=”on” parent_locked=”off” button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” 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This year you won TWO\u00a0awards!\u00a0\u00a0<\/h5>\n
Firstly, can you tell us a bit about your course? \u00a0Was diversity \u2013 in content\u00a0or\u00a0in delivery\u00a0\u2013\u00a0inherent from the start or is it something you thought\u00a0about introducing retrospectively, through a particular lens?\u00a0<\/h5>\n
And\u00a0students\u00a0value your approach to\u00a0advising\u00a0\u2013 what can you tell us about your approach that makes it stand out?\u00a0<\/h5>\n
What does it mean to you to be nominated by students?\u00a0<\/h5>\n
Related<\/h1>\n
Related posts:<\/h3>
Demystifying Dual Delivery<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
FOMO, burnout, and how to help students do less, better!<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
I am your patient today! Part 2 of 2: Drama in Medical Education<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>
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