Playing the University Game: The Art of University-Based Self-Education

Going to university is expensive. It’s an investment of money. It is also a massive leap of faith by everyone connected to your choice. You hope it will be a good experience, but you aren’t sure. You want it to be fair to you and worth the effort, but there are no guarantees. Going to university to study and get a degree or certificate of qualification is as political as it is personal. So beware and be ready! But worry not. You will spend your money wisely for a long-term return. Why? Because there is a game to play, and by picking up this book, you intend to play to win. Playing the University Game shows you the rules of the game, strategies for success on your terms (not those of the university as institution and system) and, most importantly, how to enjoy yourself as a university student, reaping the long-term benefits both during your experience and afterwards. How to win the personal way using political-social knowledge shared with you from inside the university walls. Helen Lees draws on her research and lived experiences of self-care in education, combining this with the voices of established academics, who between them have a wide-ranging and deeply reflective understanding of the university and university student interactions. Helen takes you into the heart of the mechanisms of university life, revealing key moves you need to make to survive and thrive in the game. She shares with you which actions and attitudes matter to win, why winning matters, how you can win without joining a dog-eat-dog competition. Helen empowers you to see why university education is about you and your flourishing, not the graduation prize but nevertheless happily also all about the graduation prize, which really matters. She skills you with the knowledge you need to avoid stress, to enjoy yourself and get true value for money from the educational product you have chosen.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Introducing the Game We Play 1. Navigating the University as Experience and as Idea 2. The Rules of the University Game 3. What Kind of Student Will You Be? 4. Writing is the Way to Win 5. A Fair Deal for Your Money? 6. To Enjoy the University is an Art 7. Believing in the University? 8. Universities Are Us A Serious Game But Not That Serious References Index

About the Author :
Helen E. Lees is an independent scholar based in Italy, and Visiting Research Fellow at York St John University, UK.

Review :
It is a book accessible to all but which, if it is truly understood and absorbed, has the power to transform the way we relate to the university and to shed light on neglected, uncritically accepted aspects. It is especially aimed at students who do not know how to approach university, what to do with a system that seems to work against them in a certain sense. It is an orientation map that allows you to use the university to your advantage and not fall victim to it. It is structured in chapters in which the author interviews academics who explore different themes I recommend it for anyone involved in higher education, whether as prospective student, current student, recovering student, faculty, counselor, someone paying the bills, or (especially) the president of the place. It takes us below the polish and fantasy of the brochures and hype to an honest look at the highs and lows of university life. Universities do both good and bad things with and to their students - though much less is usually heard about the bad than the good. Helen Lees has done university students (and staff) a service by writing an honest user’s guide to both understanding, and coping successfully with, the positives and negatives of life in universities. The book does this by taking a fresh and novel look at both academic evidence on universities as organisations and the personal experiences of those who have studied and worked in them. By putting forward a reasoned and evidenced critique of a complex but important institution she has provided a valuable and useful addition to the global literature on higher education. Helen E. Lees innovatively frames university life as a ‘game’ through conversation with established scholars. A must-read for first-time students before they join the ‘game’. A thought-provoking read to reflect upon for aspiring returnees, as well as students and academics who are in the “game”. I wish my students had read this before going to university; I wish I’d read this before going to university.