Festival of Learning

On Tuesday 14th September 2010 King's College London, in collaboration with the University of Warwick, hosted the Festival of Learning the culmination of the King's Warwick Project drawing on the outcomes as well as wider examples of innovation in teaching and learning from other universities. During the project King's and Warwick undertook a fundamental review of their approach to undergraduate curricula, to ensure that they continue to be at the forefront of high quality education, offering a distinctive and engaging curriculum.  This unique collaboration between two research-intensive institutions included a major study of 25 research-intensive institutions worldwide, on 5 continents.

Approximately 200 delegates attended the event with representatives from King's College London, The University of Warwick, Birbeck, Goldsmiths, The Institute of Education, Queen Mary, London School of Economics and Political Science, Loughborough University, Durham University, University of Southampton, University of Manchester, University of Glasgow, University of Sussex, University of Belfast, University of Exeter, University of Reading, University of Leeds, University of Liverpool and the School of Oriental and African Studies.

The Principal of King's College London, Professor Rick Trainor, opened the Festival and introduced four national and internationally renowned keynote speakers at the forefront of curriculum change.  Professor Steve Fuller from the University of Warwick, spoke about the role that universities can and should play in society; David Hays, reported on a highly successful initiative at the University of Chicago that has made the idea of serving the community a reality for thousands of students; Professor Bryan MacGregor from the University of Aberdeen explored some of the challenges in changing curricula in a traditional and research-led institution and Professor Amy Tsui, offered a perspective from the Univesity of Hong Kong on the importance of global citizenship and the ways in which universities can foster that ideal.

Professor Eeva Leinonen, Vice Principal (Education) of King's College London introduced the afternoon, which formed a series of poster presentations, table demonstrations and seminars on innovating teaching and learning.  Representation from Kings included Biomedical & Health Sciences, the Dental Institute, Institute of Psychiatry, School of Law, School of Medicine, School of Nursing & Midwifery, School of Social Sciences & Public Policy, Information Services & Systems, Kings Learning Institute through to students and from the University of Warwick.  They all contributed to providing a stimulating festival for all delegates.

The Festival concluded with entertainment from All King's Men, a collaboration of eleven King's students with infectious tunes, fun choreography and tight rhythm sections.  There were no instruments or backing tracks to this wonderful performance, as it was produced with voices only.

Audio visuals of the keynote speaker's sessions will be available on this site soon. 

Our full programme of the day is available to view and download.