The immorality of being ‘on the too difficult to do list’: eliminating structures which exclude engagement

It was a real surprise to us that it appears to be accepted wisdom that some students are considered to be ‘on the too difficult to do list’ in some universities. We wanted to challenge this orthodoxy. This was based on our experience of working with part-time in-work students undertaking an undergraduate leadership programme. Part of the immediate challenge arose from assumptions found in the tense triad between in-work students, their employers who perceive they ‘own their time’ and HEIs who want to ‘transform them’. This three-way tension increases the stress for all and adds to the challenges of providing meaningful learning opportunities.

With the support of HEA funding, we set out to do something about the status quo by launching our project: ‘Going beyond you said we did: exploring effective engagement for part time students’. This co-design project adapted the work of Boyd et al (2010) by recruiting students who were prepared to share their lived experiences in order to shape the curriculum. Initially, we had grand notions of a student engagement toolkit but as the project unfolded it soon became apparent that the students had quite different ideas which, over a fifteen-month period, emerged as an animation and accompanying manifesto.

So Maggie, Julie, Jenn, Lorna, Teresa, Tracy and Julia went beyond the impersonal, in becoming real characters in the animation, telling their own stories. Their stories provide clear messages to both policy makers and students (wouldn’t it be great if they were one and same?) They identified some excluding structures to their engagement which might be considered as ‘wicked issues’ – those things that feel too daunting to solve – but they felt many could be tamed. Here are some of the things they identified and what we then did collectively to address these aspects:

“They do not want to stand out as different” in practice this means informing pre-entry requirements such as providing detailed and unambiguous programme information. As an outcome, we introduced a more prolonged induction process including some very pragmatic experiences like rehearsing library access and loaning procedures.

“They identified the emotional labour of being an in-work student” in practice this means developing strategies for resilience which recognise the highs and lows of learning. As an outcome, we mapped the possible peaks and troughs in the programme, in order to plan for and then pinpoint tangible enhancements.

“They found the pacing of assessment and lack of ownership difficult” in practice this means co-creating assessments. This entitles students to have direct influence over the scheduling of assessment, engagement in peer-review, and in negotiating more personalised assessment for learning. As an outcome, the whole assessment process was revisited to incorporate more realistic hand-in dates and the addition of peer-led assessment workshops.

“They wanted to hear positive but realistic messages from other students which help to manage expectations” in practice this means ensuring that voices are heard in order to challenge the rhetoric that some voices are difficult to hear and in some way ‘wickedly’ different? As an outcome, collectively we have produced an animation and manifesto aiming to raise awareness that many of these issues can be tamed, so acting as conduits for structural change.

“They found their own way to engage” in practice, this means challenging assumptions about valid ways to engage. As an outcome, we recognised that their identified methods of engaging were effective for them, for example using Facebook as their preferred Virtual Learning Environment rather than the university’s official platform.

Our intention is that these outputs do not become quaint artefacts. We challenge you to consider their messages and reject the notion that being ‘on the too difficult to do list’ is a plausible excuse. We suggest that the points raised here are all about inclusivity not marginalisation.


Stella Jones-Devitt and Ann-Marie Steele, Sheffield Hallam University