Faces of Reading

Collaboration was never something we planned, it was more of a way of doing things that seemed practical to us. But, when it came to finding institutional support for our work, particularly in academia, we found that it was quite difficult to square this way of working with existing frameworks. 

Few universities were willing to take us on as joint lecturers, so we were delighted to find the University of Reading more open-minded. Here, our collaborative approach is not only supported, but reflected in the teaching in the Department.

The Art Department offers many opportunities for students to work collaboratively and really fosters an engagement with practices that challenge the idea of individual authorship.

As well as working students in the studio, we have had several opportunities to run projects offsite as mini-residencies with students in collaboration with various venues both nationally and abroad, from the Merzbarn in Cumbria to Nova Perla on the outskirts of Prague. In these less formal environments, we have found group work to be particularly useful as a way of instilling the mutual support that we hope will serve our students as well when they graduate as our collaboration has done for us.

My role is now "teaching intensive", which means research is only a minor part of what I do.

As an 18-year-old student, the last thing I thought I would be doing was standing up in front of people giving talks. Showing off my project to prospective students gave me the confidence to do it. I get a buzz out of it now, the different ways of teaching things, thinking about technology and what we can use.

I was made Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2014. I have been Head of Department, Director of Teaching and Learning and Senior Tutor and am now School Director of Technology Enhanced Learning in the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences.

How we do things has changed considerably. We used to have mobile robots to promote our courses, which were part of our outreach activities, now we use massive open online courses (MOOCs). You get people of all ages all over the world doing them. I’m the lead educator for the MOOCs Begin Robotics and Begin Programming; the latter teaches you how to write a game on your mobile phone.

It's great to be in an exciting subject area where there's constant innovation and new technology, and where things are continuing to develop.

For example, there are days when I work at home so I can pick up my five-year-old son from school. My electric car cuts down on carbon emissions but unfortunately not on travel time; I still have at least an hour-long commute each way, so being able to work from home on certain days really helps to fit everything in.

There’s a lot of support for doing things differently at the University, and from my mentor and manager. In addition to flexible working, I also benefit from interdisciplinary research interactions through my work with the Centre for Past Climate Change, and I’m co-chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee in the School of Mathematical, Physical, and Computational Science.

Read more about flexible working in the School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences.

Last year, I worked with the International Study and Language Institute for the first time. I taught BSL and its history, and had very positive feedback.

I'm originally from London and my parents were from the Middle East; my father was born in Egypt and my mother in Syria. I remember seeing Arabic, French and Hebrew being spoken, I knew a little, however I fully absorbed the Middle Eastern culture, particularly cooking.

I'm the only deaf person in my family - the cause of my deafness hasn't been confirmed. My family never learned any sign language, so I relied on lip reading. I've always been interested in drama. I taught various different workshops for different people, teaching them drama and sign language so they could express themselves. I've also done acting myself.

I've had some fantastic students; most aren't deaf, but have a passion for drama and a passion for teaching and learning sign language.

A lot of students have become teachers, usually in special needs education. Others have become interpreters, actors and drama therapists. I'd like to think I've played a small part in their career choices.