02/10/2026
What does it truly mean to see the student behind the seat, or are we simply lecturing empty chambers of compliance?
During a recent Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences conversation titled The Empty Chair, Faculty HP Fellow, Mrs Tania Shrosbree, confronted this exact tension through a practical exercise: placing an Empty Chair at the front of the room to represent a struggling student.
Attendees split into two groups: dehumanising and humanising groups. A robust, insightful and beneficial conversation took place concerning both these approaches.
The conversation ended with this provoking thought : We cannot humanise our classrooms by accident.
It requires a deliberate choice to trade our comfort with compliance for the messy, beautiful reality of connection