{"id":2832,"date":"2018-07-02T00:01:26","date_gmt":"2018-07-01T23:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/?p=2832"},"modified":"2018-07-02T18:31:23","modified_gmt":"2018-07-02T17:31:23","slug":"50-objects-for-50-years-the-cup-which-cheers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/?p=2832","title":{"rendered":"50 objects for 50 years: No. 11. The cup which cheers"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

These images of Student Association volunteers and that cup by the keyboard, remind me of an important aspect of the OU. The cup of tea or coffee brought by the supportive partner late at night when you are completing a TMA. An OU study,\u00a0Enduring Love?<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0assessed over 5,000\u00a0people and found that, as researcher\u00a0Jacqui Gabb noted, \u2018Grand romantic gestures, although appreciated, don\u2019t nurture a relationship as much as bringing your partner a cup of tea\u2019.<\/p>\n

Haven in a heartless world?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The word ‘tea’ can refer to a plant, a beverage, a meal service, an agricultural product, an export, an industry\u00a0or a range of other notions but for those studying with the OU a\u00a0cuppa can represent how families (in the widest sense) pay an important part in OU studies. Surveys indicate that students frequently acknowledge that their engagement was initially determined by their peers, families and communities as well as their own expectations and experiences. A number referred to how the OU broadened their horizons, increased their confidence and, by enabling them to form communities of learners, helped them become active citizens who could benefit the wider society. It is not always the case. One student recalled her husband\u2019s reaction when he discovered her books and realised that she was studying with the OU:<\/p>\n

He threw them all down the rubbish chute (we live on the 7th floor). I get on well with Ted the caretaker so next morning when my husband had gone to work I went to see him and said I had to go through the bins … there I was with big rubber gloves picking my way through everything but I got it all back and cleaned up. I can leave it at my pal\u2019s flat.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/a>One of the first graduates noted, \u2018students need sympathetic families\u2019.\u00a0Asked to rate the importance of sources of external support OU students placed family and friends at the top of the list. Although some represented their decision to become OU students as individual, often accounts refer to a recommendation from a family member.\u00a0\u00a0Here is the results of a survey of sources of external support.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This has adapted from Simpson’s “Supporting students online, open and distance education 2002, p. 120.<\/p>\n

Once studying began, the support of families remained important.\u00a0George Saint believed that \u2018My wife shielded me from the demands of a young family\u2019; he chose not to study for Honours because \u2018my wife deserved a rest and I wanted to enjoy my children\u2019. Emma\u2019s comment reveals both a realisation about the unhelpfulness of a poor self-image and a changing relationship with a spouse:<\/p>\n

Shouting \u2018I\u2019m fat and stupid\u2019 at your husband will not make you understand the equations needed to calculate the emissions from an incinerator (though speaking to him nicely means he might just sit with you and talk it over in a very calm and patient manner).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For similar conclusions about the significance attributed to kin, see the online accounts<\/a> by Charlene Buckley, Vida Jane Platt, Joanne Greenwood, Jim Bailey, Maureen Bowman, Iain Boyle and Mark Pearce. Kayleigh Carey mentioned her husband; Gwen Rowan her boyfriend, later husband; Claire Smith an OU student who was her boyfriend, later fianc\u00e9. Ian Ellson<\/a> was encouraged by his wife and her family, and Patricia Palmer by her husband and children.<\/p>\n

Study aid<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pausing for a drink might be when, as you sip you reflect on how tea, coffee and chocolate, initially\u00a0exotic commodities which arrived in\u00a0Britain in the seventeenth century, have\u00a0become drinks of British people of all social classes. Might this help you with your sociology or history assignment? If your beverage is sweetened you might want to consult Steve Pile\u2019s two-part guide to the \u2018cultural paradox\u2019 of the \u2018geography of sugar<\/a>\u2019. You might consider the US-based\u00a0Tea Party. These conservative citizens were\u00a0funded by Republican business elites,\u00a0bolstered\u00a0by a network the conservative media\u00a0and\u00a0campaigned against Obama.\u00a0Might be useful\u00a0if you are studying politics?<\/p>\n

To prevaricate\u00a0by making one more cup of coffee before entering the \u2018valley below\u2019\u00a0of actually completing that TMA\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0ritualistic delay immortalised by\u00a0Bob Dylan (One more cup of coffee<\/em>) who went on to note that you might find that \u2018You\u2019ve never learned to read or write. There\u2019s no books upon your shelf\u2019. Tea<\/a>\u00a0has also been presented criticised as\u00a0a barrier to work.<\/p>\n

Slogans and reminders<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the possibilities for wandering off the point, and not focusing on getting that essay completed, within the OU tea drinking has been encouraged with specialist mugs. This is one produced for the students’ Psychology Society. While there were also mugs made to after the OU had been open for a quarter of a century.\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/a>\"\"<\/a>The ‘Keep calm’ one was produced for a staff member by a spouse during a period\u00a0perceived as being a time of existential crisis for the institution. Alongside it are some cups, also for staff, which remind imbibers of the importance of the UCU trade unio<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mugs of tea\u00a0cheer staff and help students storm to success. As the Kinks sang, ‘have a cuppa tea, Halleluja, halleluja, halleluja, Rosie Lea’.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These images of Student Association volunteers and that cup by the keyboard, remind me of an important aspect of the OU. The cup of tea or coffee brought by the supportive partner late at night when you are completing a TMA. An OU study,\u00a0Enduring Love?\u00a0\u00a0assessed over 5,000\u00a0people and found that, as researcher\u00a0Jacqui Gabb noted, \u2018Grand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[201,122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-50-objects","category-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2832"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2868,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2832\/revisions\/2868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/History-of-the-OU\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}