Hearing voices, creating spaces: the craft of the ‘artisan teacher’ in a mass higher education system

In this paper I explore the concepts of voice and space as critical to the issues of widening participation, inclusive learning and teaching and academic engagement. Drawing on research conducted between 2006 and 2008 within two universities in England, and developmental work carried out with some of the teacher participants subsequently, I explore the ways in which teachers can create safe and inclusive spaces in which all voices may be heard and in which meaningful learning may take place. I discuss some of the challenges and complexities of learning and teaching in a mass higher education system that purports to be inclusive yet that often leaves students isolated and disengaged. I illustrate, with reference to classroom observation and interview data, the emergence of a group of teachers that I call ‘artisan teachers', who, whilst navigating these challenges, apply their personal aesthetic to the academic engagement of all students.