Event date and time: Friday 11th September 2026, 12.00 – 13.00
While we acknowledge work to support student carers within Higher Education, including that of Learning Developers, this seminar will explore what care means to the Learning Developers themselves. In this session, we will look at how caring shapes our roles both professionally and personally and how, with these complexities, we can effectively support ourselves, colleagues and students. Recognising the influence of theoretical concepts around caring and compassionate pedagogies, we’ll explore how this translates to enabling us to be our authentic selves and generate a sense of belonging in a ‘caring’ profession. Drawing on lived experiences and exploring real-world scenarios, we will look to identify some of the key issues and potential opportunities for support going forward.
Speakers: Heather Barker, Rachel Stead & Katie Winter, University of Surrey
Speaker bios:
Heather Barker manages the University of Surrey’s Academic Skills & Development team comprising Learning Development Advisers and Learning Development Librarians. A key research area is inclusive and holistic learning development encompassing cognitive, affective and emotional aspects of a learner’s journey. This informed her contributions to developing an institutional approach to ‘Resourcefulness and Resilience’ (one of five key ‘pillars’ of Surrey’s Curriculum Framework) and the development of team projects exploring learner support for ‘study wellbeing’ and transitions, as well as contributions to student guidance for the effective use of Artificial Intelligence.
Rachel Stead is Senior Lecturer in Learning Development in the School of Health Sciences at University of Surrey. She co-chairs the university’s Women’s Network, and is actively involved in school and university wide Athena Swan, as well as a variety of other EDI initiatives, including the ALDinHE EDI working group. She has a variety of current research interests, including evaluating initiatives to support international student nurses’ success and belonging, exploring the impact of SEND parenting on women’s careers, and building health science students’ assessment and feedback literacy to reduce attrition.
Katie Winter has worked as a Learning Development Librarian at the University of Surrey since 2019, providing embedded support for students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and one-to-one support for students across the University. Katie has a keen interest in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, chairing the EDI group within Library and Learning Services at Surrey and being a member of the ALDinHE EDI working group since its inception. Her particular interests lie in supporting international students, accessible resources and embedding inclusivity into day-to-day practice.