Learning Coaches

Cymraeg

Meet the team: Danny Saunders

Danny Saunders is Professor and Head of Lifelong Learning at the University of Glamorgan

What do you do all day?
I read, write and talk.

What are your work history highlights?
Graduating from Bangor is one, because I was never a confident student. I was also never a very confident teacher/lecturer, so another is when I got my first round of feedback from the first ever group of students I taught. Others are the moment I opened a letter from an editor saying that my article had been accepted for publication; designing and leading a really big project like First Campus; and I can also think of quite a few students who I’ve helped who otherwise would have fallen by the wayside – to see them walk across the stage to get their degrees is the most rewarding thing of all.

What’s the best bit of your job?
Having ideas and people around me who then make them work. It’s all about making imagination reality.

Are there any downsides?
Email! The volume – not being able to read everything – and the irrelevance. People just think they’re covering themselves and it’s silly. Also not being able to get a decent cup of coffee!

What’s your dream job?
On a serious note, it’s writing good stuff and changing policy. On a light-hearted note it’s to be proprietor of the best coffee shop in Wales.

What book are you currently reading?
Preferred Lies – A Journey to the Heart of Scottish Golf by Andrew Grieg. It’s about a man who is recovering from a very serious illness and starts to play golf again.

What do you do at the weekend?
I drive my children to wherever they want to go and hand out ten-pound notes when they get there. I also go to the pub with my friends, do a bit of work and I love to play golf.