Final Report on Spaces and Stories of Higher Education: an Historical
Investigation
November 2010
Prepared for HEA History Subject Centre by the research team. For enquiries
regarding the research please contact Dr. Cath Lambert, University of Warwick
(cath.lambert@warwick.ac.uk).
Introduction
This research project began in March 2009 and ran for just over one year,
culminating with a public research exhibition entitled The Idea of the University, in
June 2010. Proposed by The Reinvention Centre for Undergraduate Research, the
rationale behind the study was twofold: (1) to carry out a historical investigation into
Higher Education paying attention to space, and (2) to undertake a venture involving
students and staff working together to investigate and produce scholarly research.
Both of these strands represented ongoing concerns for the Reinvention Centre. The
HEA History Subject Centre funding enabled a significant opportunity to add a
historical dimension to existing work on educational spaces, and to build and
maintain a sustained collaborative research team which would itself provide an
important case-study of research-based learning in action.
An open invitation to apply to be part of the research team was distributed to all
Sociology and History/Sociology undergraduates in February 2009. This was felt to
be an important strategy in keeping the process as transparent and open as
possible. Fifteen candidates were shortlisted and interviewed, and from these three
students were appointed: Laura Evans (1st year Sociology), Laura Moorhouse (1st
year History/Sociology) and Hannah Lever (2nd year Sociology). The students were
recruited to undertake paid work on the project for up to 7 hours per week. They
were joined by Sociology MA Student Danny Wilding, and Sociology Lecturer Cath
Lambert: their time was provided by the Reinvention Centre.
Although the empirical focus of the project – The Spaces and Stories of Higher
Education – was established at the beginning, how this would be translated into
specific research questions and methods was left for the team to decide together.
Methods and Methodologies
Although members of the team took on different tasks at different times, a spirit of
collaboration informed the distribution of work-load, decision making and analysis.
We all participated in academic conferences, giving joint papers (see appendix for a
full list of events and outputs). We met frequently to monitor progress and feedback
findings. We maintained a shared database where all data was stored, and had
‘analysis days’ which enabled us to bring all the materials together and work on
emerging themes.
Three interrelated methods were decided upon:
1. ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
The Modern Records Centre (MRC) at the University of Warwick houses a number
of excellent archives relating to higher education. We made particular use of
materials from the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals of the Universities
of the UK (CVCP) and the University of Warwick Archives (UWA) which includes
extensive material relating to the development of Warwick University itself including
architectural designs, press reports, photographs of the university before and during
its (ongoing) construction, financial information and masses of contextual documents
providing information on the expansion of HE and the localised impact of national
political interventions. Although we didn’t set out to focus on Warwick, it became
evident that this aspirational university – built from scratch in the 1960s – provided
an interesting and useful case-study for exploring wider questions about ‘the
university’. It also made an excellent focus for the exhibition.
Through the MRC, we also accessed all the back copies of the University’s
prospectuses. These were particularly useful for cross-referencing the spatial
developments with curricular and pedagogic growth and change. We integrated
these into the social reading space at the final exhibition.
There were challenges associated with working in the archives. None of us were
experienced in archival research and we were learning as we went. This made
progress slower and at times frustrating but it also made the learning more
democratic, as there were no experts amongst us. Hannah became the expert,
through her dedicated visits and time spent reading and cataloguing the materials.
We gained scanned copies of some wonderful images from the UWA, and these
formed part of the final exhibition. However, the quality was not great for enlarging
and displaying the images. This resulted in them being much smaller than we had
hoped. Finally, the archives we were using were put away for storage during the
research, as the MRC was being refurbished. This limited our access and meant we
had to be more strategic and make quick decisions. All these contingencies are, of
course, part of the messy process of doing research of any kind. The experience
also led to many critical discussions about the kinds of knowledge ‘hidden’ in
archives, who can and does access it, and what can be done with the materials.
2. INTERVIEWS
Our overall methodology was attentive to the value of understanding space through
stories. This is because although we can learn a great deal about the original
intentions of the planners and architects of educational spaces from visual and
textual designs and descriptions, students, teachers and other users have their
actions, relations and emotions shaped by the spaces but also appropriate space for
their own requirements, shaping the learning landscape through collective memories
and stories which the formal representations in the archives do not always tell. Some
of the photographs we found in the archives were used in photo-elicitation interviews
with members of the university, who, in different ways, could offer the long view back
to the university’s formative years. We undertook six such interviews and we talked
with the University’s current Master Planners – MJP Architects, at their
Spitalfields offices in London.
All interviews were recorded and transcribed. They were analysed alongside the
other materials and extracts selected and approved with the interviewees for use in
the exhibit.
3. READING, WRITING, PRESENTING AND DEVELOPING THEORIES
Throughout the research we all undertook literature searches, reading of empirical
and theoretical material and visiting and presenting at seminars, conferences and
relevant exhibitions to keep our developing ideas under discussion and review. We
wrote reviews or detailed notes of readings, seminars, conference feedback and
shared these via the database and via discussion on the analysis days.
Key findings
We identified the following key themes or lines of analysis:

Locating the University in Time and Space
This strand deals with the specific (and fascinating) historical and geographical
locations of the University of Warwick. It opens up important discussions about the
growth of the HE sector in the UK in the 1960s (with the concomitant economic and
political concerns) and the (also economic and political) decisions over where the
University was built. This themes feeds into both the next, on Community Relations,
and also connects with the issues around student engagement.

Community Relations
Prior to 1964 the space where the University was located was a vast expanse of
Warwickshire meadows and farm land. When building began Mike Shattock
described the effect as being as though a ‘space ship had landed’ as the white
modernist blocks of the library, science and humanities buildings appeared on the
landscape. The impact (or multiple, diverse impacts) on the local communities at the
time emerged from our readings of the press reports and from Ruth Cherrington’s
lovely reflections of being a child growing up on the Canley estate next to the
University. The University has continued to expand and the issue of relationships
with communities far and wide is integral to its development and identity.

Architecture, Art and Affect
Here we considered the specific forms of art and architecture, and why these, and
critically examined the affect (the emotional effect of the architectural forms and
spaces) on those who study and work at the university.

Staff and Student Relations and Student Engagement
Archival material and interview data gave us great insight to the conflicts which the
built environment caused, and students’ responses at the time. Architectural designs
and the occupation of the buildings both reflected and created relations of knowledge
and power. Students have been, and continue to be, engaged in the space and
structure of their campus.

Teaching and Learning Spaces: Continuity and Change
A lot of the things we consider ‘new’ seemed quite continuous with the past when we
looked at the old photographs of students and teachers at work.

Contradiction, Struggle and Dissensus
There was not one story to emerge, and many stories contradicted each other. The
University is not one community, and the buildings reflect and shape the multiple
discourses and modes of subjectification and embodiment possible to those who
work with/in it. The University’s development is not based on consensus but on
struggle and dissensus – a creative, generative force.
Outputs to date
We have, as a team, contributed to a number of academic conferences: these have
documented ongoing findings and analysis as well as presenting on the collaborative
methodology and the experiences of being active researchers from the students’
perspectives. Please see the appendix for a full list of conference papers.
In addition we curated a public exhibition The Idea of a University (2010) to
showcase the findings. An online version of the exhibition is almost completed and
will be available at
www.warwick.ac.uk/go/reinvention/filmspublications/theideaofauniversity.
Reflections and future work
Individually and collectively we are still responding to requests to present at
conferences and intend to use the material to write for publication.
The Undergraduate Team members have provided specific reflections on their
involvement:
Why we got involved…
L.M: Despite pursuing the same goal as members of the project, we all
had diverse reasons for initially choosing to take part.
L.E: For example, I was looking for a way to further my studies and feel
more involved in the Sociology department, whilst providing me with
relevant experience for a future academic career and employment that
would be flexible around my studies.
H.L: I wanted to develop and use my research skills to the benefit my
degree specialism in research methods. Also, prior to working on the
project I had conducted some field work in a primary school looking at the
use of space and so I felt I had some prior knowledge that would be useful
to the ‘Spaces and Stories’ team.
L.M: In my case, the project demanded skills from both of the disciplines I
study – History and Sociology – therefore it was a perfect opportunity to
synthesise the two through a collaborative research journey. Also,
research is an area I wish to pursue beyond undergraduate level.
Reflections on Methodology
L.M: During the first stages of our research we identified a number of
sources and allocated them in relation to our own individual interests and
strengths.
H.L: I wanted very much to play an active role, physically finding primary
sources, making links and building up our own archive by using the
facilities of the Modern Record Centre.
L.E: In my case I was intrigued by the theoretical underpinnings of the use
and organisation of space. This entailed examining critical literatures on
pedagogy and the politics of university development such as the work of
Catherine Burke, Mike Shattock, and Trevor Fisk in an attempt to locate
the design and implementation of architectural settings in teaching in the
intellectual frameworks of the 1960s. I then compared this to the pedagogic
trends of today to examine the continuity and change in these themes.
L.M: I was drawn towards contextualising the documentation we found.
By placing the sources in a political and social context via looking at the
press reports surrounding Warwick’s initial development and investigating
the policy and University Grants Commission impact upon this, it allowed
us to identify the stability and contestation encompassing the ideas/ideals
of the university and the university student.
H.L: From our archival research in the University of Warwick’s Modern
Record Centre we discovered the Committee reports and buildings
archives which gave us a firsthand glimpse into the internal politics and
difficulties in the development of the University. The Vice-Chancellors
meetings minutes provide a historical narrative from primary sources which
allows for comparison with the rhetoric in the early University
Prospectuses. The Press Reports provide a more community based
perspective towards the development of the University. Overall these
records were a key component in shaping the direction of our project.
L.M: We then carried out a number of interviews to tell the ‘stories’ of these
university spaces. One such interview was with Ken Flint, a current
member of academic staff in Biology who joined the university in 1976.
Another was a walking interview with Hugh Gaston-Hall, a now retired
Emeritus Reader of French who was one of the first academic staff at the
university. Furthermore, local community member Ruth Cherrington was
questioned, who grew up in the area surrounding the University as it was
being built. Other interviews were conducted but for the purposes of this
presentation we only focus on these three.
L.E: Furthermore, we visited the Royal Institute of British Architecture and
attended higher education conferences on pedagogy and the use of space.
This was to place modern Warwick in the context of architectural and
teaching method development of British Universities as a whole. We have
also undertaken background reading of policy and theoretical literature in
relation to the design and building of schools and universities from a
sociological perspective.
Thanks
We could not have achieved so much with the project without significant support
from Lisa Lavender, Melodee Beals and Dr Sarah Richardson at the HEA History
Subject Centre, Adam Cartwright and other members of the Reinvention Centre, Liz
Morrisson at the Modern Records Centre, and of course all our respondents.
APPENDIX 1 List of Events
2 April
2009
Paper presented at HEA Teaching and Learning in
History Conference, Oxford University
ALL
6 April
2009
Workshop at the Fourth Symposium on Social
Learning Space, Oxford Brookes University
Cath,
Danny,
Hannah,
Laura M
7 April
2009
Tour of spaces and seminar with Nicky Lees, (Swinbourne)
at University of Warwick
ALL
11 June
2009
Workshop at Evolution Teaching and Learning Conference,
Coventry
Cath,
Danny
7 July
2009
Attended Making Space: Our Teaching, Learning and
Making Spaces in the 21st Century. Conference at
University of the Arts London and Chelsea College of Art
and Design
Hannah
23
September Attended RIBA HEDQF exhibition, Gallery 2, RIBA, London
2009
ALL
13
November
2009
Presented paper at Student Teaching and Learning Network
conference, The University of Manchester
Laura M,
Laura E,
Hannah,
Danny
4-6 Dec
2009
Presented paper at Putting Education in its Place HES
annual conference,
http://www.historyofeducation.org.uk/HEScfpRevised.doc
ALL
29 March
2010
Presented research installation at the Fifth Symposium on
Social Learning Space, University of Warwick
ALL
April 2010
Presented paper at HEA Teaching and Learning in History
Conference, University of Oxford
Laura E,
Laura M,
Hannah
June 2010
The Idea of a University: Public Exhibition in Mead Gallery
ALL