Event date and time: Wednesday 11 February 2026 1pm – 2pm
Learning Developers all know what it’s like to experience doubts about what we are doing in our work: Is this possible? Am I allowed to do this? Is this the right thing to do? We are continually coming up against the limits of how we understand our practices, and how our practices are viewed by others – academic and professional staff, university administrators or the students themselves. Why won’t you proof-read my work? Could you please teach my first year engineers report writing in a 50 minute lecture slot next week? What impact does your work actually have on retention? We can feel misunderstood.
In the face of these pressures, we may feel the urge to better define Learning Development so that we know where we stand and can better characterise and defend our practices to others: “This is what we do, not that…”. If only we could clarify what Learning Development is all about with more certainty – surely then we could present ourselves as more confident professionals?
But what if these doubts and ‘crises’ we continually face are not a problem with an understanding of Learning Development at all? What if they *are* Learning Development…?
Join Jason Eyre from De Montfort University as he talks about his new book, Learning Development in Higher Education: Crisis, Practice and Power in the 21st Century University, part of Springer’s series ‘Debating Higher Education: Philosophical Perspectives’. In the session, Jason will summarise the ideas developed in the book and provoke a discussion about what it really means to be a Learning Developer.