Large higher education institutions can be exciting and energising places to work, but they can also feel fragmented and, at times, isolating. Learning and teaching work happens everywhere across schools, faculties and central teams, often driven by care and a genuine commitment to students. Yet that work does not always align and connect. There is no lack of interest or goodwill, but good ideas can stay local, and people who care deeply about similar challenges can end up working alongside one another without ever really meeting.<\/p>\n
In 2022, as an educational designer in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences<\/a>, Faculty of Science, I noticed how easily work supporting learning and teaching could become disconnected from broader University priorities. Aligning school initiatives with central team goals was often challenging, not because of a lack of effort, but because people were busy, distributed and rarely had regular ways to connect with peers working on similar challenges elsewhere. When I moved into an educational designer role in 2023 at the Division of Teaching and Learning<\/a> (formerly Educational Innovation), similar patterns were visible from a different perspective. Colleagues across school and faculty\u2011based roles were often working on related initiatives, but without a consistent way to share context, build trust and learn from one another.<\/p>\n In practice, this kind of disconnection quickly becomes a belonging issue. When people do not have a place where they feel known and connected, collaboration can start to feel like an extra step rather than a natural part of work. Belonging matters because it shapes how people show up when work becomes challenging and complex. When staff feel part of a wider community, connection becomes easier. People reach out earlier, share what they are learning, and ask for help without worrying they are \u201cbothering\u201d someone. Shared purpose becomes something lived through relationships rather than stated in documents, and empathy grows as colleagues better understand the pressures others are working under. Recognising that a more connected community could help bridge these divides, I began to focus more intentionally on fostering connection.<\/p>\n The \u201cbelonging first\u201d initiative was inspired by a transition program<\/a> focused on supporting first year university students by helping to build a sense of belonging. At the time, I worked at the Division of Teaching and Learning as an educational designer supporting this program. I reflected on my own journey to university as a first in family student from a migrant family, living away from home for the first time. I remember how challenging it was to make friends and understand how university works. Supporting students in the transition program to build a sense of belonging made me realise that staff belonging is just as important. Work that relies on people and relationships is difficult to sustain if the staff supporting it do not also feel connected. Building staff belonging is not separate from learning and teaching; it creates the conditions where good work can be shared, adapted and sustained.<\/p>\n The initiative began as a place for professional staff working in and around learning and teaching, including educational designers, learning designers and education support staff, to connect. Conversations about learning and teaching came alive when people had the chance to talk across roles and teams. What was missing was space: simple, low\u2011pressure opportunities to connect as people, rather than as representatives of a project or unit. Creating those opportunities was not about aligning with strategic initiatives; it was simply about human connection, and the belief that belonging makes shared purpose possible.<\/p>\n In May 2024, I worked with my team at the Division of Teaching and Learning to create a set of informal monthly gatherings for educational designers, learning designers and education support staff working in and around learning and teaching. They were intentionally closer to a coffee catch\u2011up than a meeting. There were no standing agenda items, no papers to read, and no expectation that anyone would report back or produce an output. The intention was simply to create regular, low\u2011pressure opportunities where people could talk and get to know one another across schools, faculties and central teams. Keeping the gatherings agenda\u2011free mattered. Having a consistent time and place meant people could drop in when they had the time and energy. That sounds small, but it created space for the meaningful interactions that are often missing in distributed teams. Those interactions helped people feel part of something bigger than their immediate role and made it easier to assume good intent, stay curious, and approach differences in context with empathy rather than frustration.<\/p>\n To make the gatherings easier to attend, days and campus locations were rotated. Logistics were kept simple and the approach prioritised inclusion: asking about availability, following up, and making sure new staff and quieter voices were welcomed. Over time, the catch\u2011ups became a place where colleagues could share insights, talk about what was happening in different parts of the University, and build confidence to reach across organisational boundaries.<\/p>\n Over time, the gatherings became a familiar place where colleagues from across schools, faculties and central teams could connect. New staff, in particular, valued having somewhere informal to meet peers, understand how different pieces of work fitted together, and feel part of a wider professional community. What felt most significant was that the catch\u2011ups kept going. They no longer relied on one person to organise or host them, and people continued to show up. That shift suggested the gatherings had moved from being something arranged to something shared: a habit the community itself wanted to sustain. A colleague’s reflection captured what that looked like in practice:<\/p>\n These [monthly catch ups] have been a much needed forum for connection and sharing, and the collegial relationships I\u2019ve made as a result have made me more confident to reach out and collaborate …<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The educational designers\u2019 monthly catch\u2011up is still going strong and coordinated by the Division of Teaching and Learning<\/a> team. The gatherings bring together educational designers, learning designers and education support staff from across the University, including colleagues from the Division of Teaching and Learning, the Library, and faculty and school teams. The purpose remains the same: to create a space where people working to support learning and teaching can share experiences, learn from one another, and build meaningful connections across different contexts.<\/p>\n The gatherings are open to anyone involved in supporting education, including educational designers, learning designers, educational design managers, educational design officers, and similar roles. They run monthly, with days and times varied to support attendance, and are held on the Camperdown and Darlington campus at the University of Sydney with locations rotating over time. If you\u2019d like to join, you can subscribe to the mailing list<\/a> using your University of Sydney login.<\/p>\n Informal community\u2011building can help break down silos by making it normal and easy for people to connect across roles, share local context and learn from one another. It also supports something more fundamental: a sense of belonging<\/strong>. Without belonging, shared purpose can remain abstract. With it, people are more likely to reach out, build empathy and keep showing up for the work. For those interested in trying something similar, this does not need to be large\u2011scale or formal. It can start small:<\/p>\n Where could you make a little more space for people to connect and what might become possible if they did?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Large higher education institutions can be exciting and energising places to work, but they can also feel fragmented and, at times, isolating. 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Creating space to connect<\/h2>\n
What began to shift<\/h2>\n
Making space in your own context<\/h2>\n
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