Diana Munoz from Oxford Business College shares her inspiring insights on the transformative power of education for underprivileged students, many of whom have fled conflict or difficult circumstances in their home countries. The college offers a unique environment tailored for mature students, providing them with the opportunity to earn a degree in business management while balancing work and family responsibilities. Diana emphasizes the importance of creating a supportive and open atmosphere where students feel heard and valued, highlighting the college's commitment to listening to the student voice. She recounts touching stories, such as that of a 75-year-old graduate who overcame language barriers and personal challenges to achieve her academic goals. Through innovative teaching methods and a strong community spirit, Oxford Business College aims to empower its students to change their lives and futures, fostering entrepreneurial aspirations and personal growth.

Takeaways:

• Diana Munoz emphasizes the transformative journey of adult students at Oxford Business College.
• The college provides opportunities for underprivileged students to gain degrees in business management.
• Learning at Oxford Business College fosters critical thinking and leadership skills among diverse students.
• The college's open door policy allows students to seek help and support whenever needed.
• Diana mentions the importance of knowledge as a powerful tool for personal growth.
• Student life at Oxford Business College includes flexibility to accommodate work and family responsibilities.

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https://oxfordbusinesscollege.ac.uk/

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We're talking about students who come from an underprivileged background, who have run away from their own countries due to war or political reasons, who have come to the uk, who are working here very hard indeed to bring up their families.

We expose them to a world of leadership skills, digital skills, thinking skills, critical thinking skills, reading skills, and all of a sudden you have these people who are maybe in their 40s or their 50s, and most of them have only just finished their school and they had no opportunity to go into further education back home.

A college cannot succeed without listening to the student voice.

One of our students, 75 year old lady who graduated after four years with us and she almost got a distinction and when she came here five years ago, she didn't even speak English very well.

Going from lecturer, where I had my group of students or my groups of students, to taking over the entire student population of 7,000 students, it was a wonderful, wonderful opportunity for me.

The admissions process is actually quite strict.

It has to be really, because the student is going to do four years of a very difficult course.

Oxford Business College is very famous for its open door policy.

So all our doors are open.

Everybody, not just mine.

Knowledge opens your mind.

It doesn't matter if you're going to put that knowledge into practice in the future, it's just having that knowledge, it just makes you a better speaker, it makes people listen to you more, it makes you more interesting at dinner parties or, or, you know, in family parties, whatever.

But knowledge is very powerful and knowledge can open many doors.

The funny thing is that I'm here to teach them, but they have taught me, you know, they have taught me and I've changed a lot.

Now those are the insights and wise words over Diana Munoz and she's from the Oxford Business College.

And also, thank you so much again to the national association for Primary Education for their continued sponsorship and support of this Education on Far podcast.

It really is such a wonderful organisation.

Please do check them out@www.naep.org.

hello, my name is Mark Taylor and welcome to the Education On Far podcast.

The place for creative and inspiring learning from around the world.

Listen to teachers, parents and mentors show how they are supporting children to live their best authentic life and are proving to be a guiding light to us all.

Hi Diana, thank you so much for joining us here on the Education On Far podcast.

The different types of establishments and organizations and way of learning is something that we're really passionate about here.

So I'm really delighted to be able to chat to you and talk about your organization, the way it works.

Yeah.

Thanks so much for joining us.

My pleasure.

Thank you for inviting me and on this very cold day, actually.

So, yes, it's a pleasure to be here with you.

So take us into the Oxford Business College.

Tell us what it is, how it works, how it's slightly different from anything else which is available for people.

So Oxford Business College is an independent college of higher education and we are based in Oxford, but we have actually about six, seven campuses and we have 7,000 students.

We are, our mission is actually to change the world of students who are not really your typical student profile, who are 18 years old, who don't have a rent to pay, who can come into college at all times and even go home late.

We're talking about students who come from an underprivileged background, who have run away from their own countries due to war or political reasons, who have come to the uk, who are working here very hard indeed to bring up their families.

Some of them work in nighttime and night shifts at warehouses, they're raising a family, they work, some of them seven days a week.

And they are trying to establish a much better life for them and certainly for their children.

So we provide them with an opportunity to have a degree.

Usually the degrees are in business management.

They have to be with foundation year because obviously they don't meet the criteria of having a British curriculum in their past.

So they, they, they don't have the A levels and so on, but they are all people who are working very hard in the United Kingdom who all have, you know, all have, who are all dedicated in their jobs and they make this special commitment actually and they dedicate some time to coming into college twice a week and that can be at weekends or it can be during the week.

And they study business management and the objective is so that when they do complete their four year course, they are able to definitely change their career path.

That's what we do, what we do.

We want them to change their career path, to change their future.

And many of them do actually become entrepreneurs.

So we are very proud of the fact that, yes, there are many colleges in the UK at the moment who are offering the same kind of business module.

We are probably the one with the highest number of students or one off.

Our students are looked after, they are cared for, they have tremendous opportunity to change everything in their life, not just to acquire an education, but they all develop new skills which is going to help them anyway in their future.

So we expose them to a world of technology, we expose them to A world of leadership skills, digital skills, thinking skills, critical thinking skills, reading skills.

And all of a sudden you have these people who are maybe in their 40s or their 50s and most of them have only just finished their school and they had no opportunity to go into further education back home.

And yet here they are in the uk, which is renowned all over the world for their education and they are studying, you know, at one of our campuses and they end up with a degree, they end up with new skills.

I mean, I always tell them that they are like butterflies.

They go through a metamorphosis and they become, you know, educational butterflies.

And they, they really are so grateful after that.

And, and I think it's wonderful that we're part of their growth and their student journey.

So that's basically what we do.

So you've mentioned there about the idea of it being an independent college.

What's sort of the difference or the perception or difference of what that is compared to what people might believe a college is more traditionally.

So the independent colleges at the moment, they partner with universities in order to have the, in order to be able to award degrees.

So they can't award degrees, so they go into partnerships with universities which are all award, you know, award giving universities.

And we have at the moment four partnerships and we are able to award our students with degrees.

So colleges, the independent colleges in the UK now that's how they function.

They go into a partnership with a university and then they're able to teach the student, the student is a student of that university.

We provide all the tuition, we provide the premises, we provide all the resources, learning resources, everything.

But the student is a student of that university which is in our partnership, which is basically our partner.

This is how it works at the moment.

So compared to the colleges of when I was younger, you still couldn't get a degree, obviously university degree from a college that wasn't possible, it's still not possible.

But we, you know, it's, it's a different kind of concept.

So now it's more people who come from abroad who are working here have decided to make their life here vulnerable students we call them.

Because as you know, in the uk, education is for everybody in the uk.

Irrelevant of age, irrelevant of status, irrelevant of nationality.

Everybody is completely inclusive in the uk.

That is not the case back home in their countries.

So it's more like education is for the young ones, education is for when they leave school.

So I think that it's a fabulous idea, it's a fabulous concept that we are giving opportunities to These people that did not have an opportunity.

And it's wonderful when you are part of that tremendous change in their own life and in their own future.

And I completely understand sort of that format.

I went to music college and so I think we were then affiliated with Westminster University.

I was the first year that was able to do what was essentially the old performing course with various modules and academic stuff, which was then sort of reinforced with that.

So, yeah, I can, I can sort of see how that, how that works and how those things came together.

So tell me about your job specifically.

What's your role within the college and.

And what you love so much about it.

And so I joined the college in the middle of COVID So it was quite.

It was quite a.

An experience, unforgettable experience, because I was actually, at the time I was living abroad.

I was offered this position and of course I did move back to the uk, but I was recruited as a lecturer for the business management course and I had to lecture on Zoom.

So I had like 40, 50 students online.

Okay.

And I did that until Covid ended.

So for about a year and a half, 18 months, something like this, myself and my colleagues, we were all recruited and we had to teach our students online.

And we, we did all manage to.

I mean, that was very successful.

You know, we were all getting to know how to use Zoom and the techniques of Zoom.

So did they, by the way, because they had to connect and there was all sorts of, you know, it was a trial and error at the time because, you know, we had to learn how to use Zoom.

They had to learn how to use Zoom.

So it was a very.

It was a collective experience and it was wonderful.

And so that went on for 18 months.

And then after that I was a lecturer, and then after that we started coming into the campus.

At the time we only had two campuses.

I mean, now, like I told you, we've got seven campuses, we are acquiring more campuses and.

But it was quite exciting, you know, because when it was, it was a momentous affair because when we came into the classroom with all the 40 or 50 students that I had got to know online and suddenly see them in front of me, some were shorter than I remembered, some were taller than I expected, and.

But it was like a family reunion, you know, of.

Of people that you have grown very fond of for 18 months and suddenly you were in the classroom with them.

I mean, I think nothing beats the classroom experience.

I Know that virtual reality is the future.

I know that virtual teaching is the future, but I think that nothing beats the classroom.

You know, the feeling of being in a classroom and, and having that, that control over your students and having that kind of personal experience where you can face to face or give them a hug if they're a bit feeling, you know, down in the dumps or praise them and clap, you know, with them and rejoice any of their achievements or performances or anything that they have got, you know, good grades on.

And that was a fantastic opportunity for me to get even closer to the student population.

And because we were growing in numbers and so it involved myself traveling to campuses and I always enjoy walking into a classroom and just sitting on a table and just chatting with them because we need to listen to them.

So the student voice, A college cannot succeed without listening to the student voice.

So it was wonderful to hear their perspective because for them it's a new experience.

I mean they're coping with a new country, a new language, new ways of doing things.

They're coping with a new educational system.

I mean the majority of our students come, come from ex communist countries.

And as we all know, education in ex communist countries can be quite strict and there's very little interaction between the professor and the student.

You know, like it's a little bit robotic, dare I say.

And so these students to actually sit down with us and have a coffee with us or come to us and, and tell me, you know, Diane, I'm just, I'm, I'm doing something wrong, I need some extra help.

Can you tell me, for example, what does the assignment brief mean?

It's a little bit difficult for me to understand that is unheard of back home for them.

So it was a new experience for them in all aspects and to be part of that growth.

Having said that last, I can give you an example.

Last June, one of our students, 75 year old lady who graduated after four years with us and she almost got a distinction, she just, you know, just failed to get a distinction.

And when she came here five years ago, she didn't even speak English very well.

And here she was speaking fluent English and obtaining her BA Honors degree.

And I was there with her at the graduation and I mean I had tears flowing, you know, I couldn't believe it.

She just, she just, you know, went up on that stage, bowed to everybody, the audience took a hat off like a, you know, like a 18 year old youngster and then went back home on the train with her cape and a hat on, with the gown and the hat, very proud of herself.

So it is wonderful to be part of their journey.

It's an experience that I would even say is.

You can't describe it and you're, you're not just being part.

I guess all teachers understand me and I guess all people who are involved in the development of a person's education, like for example, you know, dissertation supervisors and professors and all these wonderful people who spend so much time and they are so passionate about education.

But it's just wonderful.

So going from lecturer where I had my group of students or my groups of students to taken over the entire student population of 7,000 students, it was a wonderful, wonderful opportunity for me.

And only recently in the summer, I was now moved to head of events, which is also involves of course, being very much in touch with the students, but it also involves being in touch with the faculty just to provide inter, you know, very interactive events for students.

Giving our students a little bit of protagonism in order to organize events because we know education is important.

But of course being a different kind of student profile here we need to make their lessons engaging.

So we're not talking about future doctors or future surgeons.

You know, that if you put them in a classroom it has to be quite academic.

We're talking about students that they need some kind of other type of engagement.

It make it interesting.

If I take out a.

If I show them about Chaucer, how to read a couple of passages, they're going to probably fall asleep.

So, you know, so just interactive.

Like for example, the skyscraper event, you know, like leadership where you know, you, you do kind of tasks in class, like role plays, you know, make them be like a board of medical directors deciding on which students take priority, things like this, you know, so it's.

So now I'm doing events, but basically I'm still very much involved with, with students.

And of course my, my ex students who are still in contact with me and you know, they look up to me and I'm always there to help them.

And because of like say the circumstances of the students as well.

You sort of mentioned about classes being sort of not join the school.

What would be the traditionally the, the sort of, the normal sort of day, weekends and that kind of thing.

How does that work in terms of timetabling?

They still have to sort of come around, obviously the schedule that you're, that you're setting.

But how does that flexibility then work with staff as well as students as well, because that'll be interesting.

Yeah.

So the college provides, so students, they're all full time students, but they only have to attend two days per week.

So our students are either weekend students, which means Saturday and Sunday attendance, or they come on a Monday and Tuesday or they come on a Wednesday and Thursday.

Their choice is theirs.

So they have to look at their own timetable, how they can fit it in around their employer, how they, they've also got families they have to juggle, you know, it's a huge challenge for them because they have to juggle family, they have to juggle work commitments.

So they do succeed in doing so.

So the College has over 200 lecturers and some of the lecturers, some are full time, some are part time.

So you know, lecturers will come in to teach them and you know, we, we have the faculty members and we have excellent faculty members and the majority of our lecturers are all doctorates and they're all PhD holders in, in very, you know, in fantastic subjects.

And so they're able to supervise our students with their dissertations when they get to level six.

So that's how the college works.

And that's how they work.

And you know, for the students it's like a little outing.

They actually, some of them come together in a car, you know, if it's people that live next to each other.

Some campuses have local students, other campuses, the students are not so local and they have to drive a little bit to come.

But they enjoy it, they see it more, they see it as a break from their work, from their daily work, you know, from the daily work schedule.

They come together and they enjoy that.

It's like, because they're very social people, you know, they're, they're sort of Europeans.

So, you know, they, the majority.

So we do have some English students as well, of course, who maybe were living abroad.

So they didn't complete the, you know, British curriculum.

So they, they have to do the foundation year.

And we have a total of, I think it's about 50 nationalities or something like that.

So we do, we're very inclusive and completely diverse.

But also the staff is very diverse.

So we've got staff members that speak multiple languages and it's a wonderful, wonderful place to work in because everybody comes from a different background.

I mean, for me that's always been important.

You can't grow as a person if you're always with the same people that you grew up with, all the same people you went to school with.

I mean, I've, I've lived in eight countries myself.

And so I think that you need this in your life.

You become very rich culturally.

And I think that our college is a testament to, to this, you know, cultural wealth that we have.

And, and we all have a great, you know, rapport between us and we all work very well.

And it's a very different perspective, I think from a student point of view, isn't it?

I've.

Yes, as opposed to.

I've just done my A levels, like you said, I'm 18, 19.

I'm going in that sor.

Traditional different.

When you've got a family, when you've got a reason to really want to educate yourself, like say, to change your opportunities and whatever's going to be happening, going, going forward.

I think your starting point is very different.

Yeah, it is very different.

Because, you know, if you're 18, I mean, I have an 18 year old who's at uni, they can hang out after their last class, they can go to all these clubs, they can go to the student union, they can, you know, not even go home if they don't want to, you know, but I mean, our students, they, they need to get home to cook for their families, they need to drive home, they need to travel home.

Some of them will even go to work, to the, you know, evening shift after class.

So that's why all the events that we create are, they are created around their availability, which is usually at lunchtime.

So when we do events like we just had a.

Halloween parties, the Halloween party will be during their lunch.

We will provide the food and the drinks and we ask them to come in costume if they want to.

For those that are more daring, we're now going to have Christmas fairs and that will be.

We don't obviously want to disrupt the classrooms because the academic value of the classroom is very important.

But you know, we tend to do things either during their breaks or during their lunch because we don't want to keep them because we know that they have responsibilities.

That's, you know, that's basically the reason.

Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense.

And I'm curious about the funding aspect as well because normally as a student goes to college or university, there are certain things that you have to pay for certain fees and that kind of thing.

How does that work for you?

So some students do receive the student loans.

That's not my department, but I do know that some students do receive student finance from the government as all the other students across the uk.

And then they know very well, and they're very well aware of this, that when they complete their four year course, they need to pay it back and they're fine, you know, it, they all, you know, they enjoy that facility as well because it does help them, you know, some of them, as I said, they have to travel and as we all know, in the United Kingdom, traveling by train before 9 o'clock in the morning is so expensive.

So that does help them with their travel costs.

And, and then because they're all, you know, they all work very hard, they're all extremely diligent, you know, they, they know that when they complete their course they will have to pay that back.

And that's fine, that's how it works.

You know, some of them, like the 75 year old lady that I, I referred to before, she funded her own cause.

Imagine, imagine she funded four years, you know, of tuition, which it was over 40, 50,000.

Right.

So she, I think she, I, I don't know what the circumstances were, but she founded it, you know, and now she's seeking to do a master's in artificial intelligence.

Incredible.

So, you know, we, we have both cases like, like most colleges across the UK and most universities, should I say some, some students do receive student finance and some students, they do actually fund their own degree.

And so in terms of sort of students coming to you, I mean, obviously things like these conversations are obviously going to be impactful because people are going to hear what it is that you're doing.

But is it very much sort of word of mouth within certain communities and they suddenly realize there's opportunities.

Is it a question of you going into the communities to sort of, to spread that word, to give them the opportunity to come in?

Sort of.

How does that sort of work from that perspective?

Do you mean how do we recruit students?

Yes.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, I mean, we have a great week, we have great marketing campaigns and we've got a very good social presence.

I would say we're very good on LinkedIn as well.

And of course, as well, you know, some students are so happy that they will say, oh, you know, I would love my, you know, maybe my, my sister to join as well.

And you know, that's fine.

This is how, you know, we would look into it, obviously, you know, because we have to admissions is a very strict process.

Students have to have a minimum of a B1, B2 English to join the course.

And the admissions process is actually quite strict.

It has to be really, because the student is going to do four years of a very difficult course.

I mean it's, the course is not easy.

It's a business management course.

So they need to be able to be capable to understand what goes on in the classroom.

So it's a combination of, you know, very strong marketing, increasing per day.

You know, we've, we've got some.

It's only just, I think over a year that we started with graduations because, you know, up until during COVID we didn't have any level six students.

So we've only just recently had some students that graduated.

So student testimonials, good marketing strategy.

We do a lot of advertising as well, open days, you know, things like this.

So.

And it is word of mouth, you know, all the colleges know each other in the uk.

It is word of mouth.

You know, it's like, oh, I went to Oxford Business College.

Oh really?

Or maybe I, I try and register.

We get a lot, a lot of students just registering online.

You know, they register online and of course we need to be able to decide which cohort they should join because it all depends when we're taking new students in.

You know, somebody, if I register today, it doesn't mean I'll be in the classroom tomorrow or the 1st of December.

You know, everything is carefully looked at and all the data is there.

So yeah, we do it the, you know, the, the normal way.

And I'm interested in sort of your role, like I said now with events, but as we were before in terms of that sort of student welfare and everything, in terms of the collaboration between the students and the college and the staff.

Because I think that cohesion is what really sets the environment, which is obviously so important for people that are attending your college.

Yes.

So Oxford Business College is very famous for its open door policy.

So all our doors are open, everybody, not just mine, but the tutor's door is open, the receptionists are always there.

It has to be an open door policy.

These students need to feel they're not like they're going back to the typical 18 year old that don't really want to seek any help because they think they know everything.

These are students that, you know, they're mature students, so they're vulnerable students, so they do need help.

So we've also got counselors in two or three campuses and they, she also has our Main counselor also has an open door policy and can always be reached, you know by phone, by, by emails when she's on the campus.

Students know we've got another counselor because, because our, one of our main campuses is Nottingham.

It's a huge, huge, huge campus.

It's beautiful campus and it's got three or four buildings.

Know I'm talking to you from the Oxford campus where I'm based east.

But we've got Nottingham, we've got Slough, we've got West London, we've got Brentford, we're in Oxford.

In Oxford we've got two or three campuses so we've got quite a few campuses.

Another one in Croydon now I think.

So we do have counsellors everywhere.

We've got welfare staff, we've got student support officers who speak to the students with their first name.

Very important you need to identify students, you need to make them feel that they are known, you know.

So we've got student reps for example that represent the voice of each classroom and these student reps have meetings with their campus president because all the campus have a president.

Then the campus presidents has meetings with the faculty.

So we don't ignore any voice that comes through from the students and students.

In fact the reason we have these meetings, I'll give you an example.

In this building where I am, which is only like a year and a half old, this building is quite a new building.

You know, students will say oh we need a vending machine because you know, sometimes it's too cold to go out and get coffee or to get a snack.

So we, we got vending machines, oh can we have a student canteen?

Because we want to sit and have a relaxed coffee.

So we got the microwaves, we got them, we turned one into the rooms into a student canteen.

We got new screens for them.

We have laptops as well where you know, if a student doesn't have a laptop they're very welcome to use one.

We learn them.

We have got an amazing assortment of very expensive books for them to use for their, for their projects, you know, project management for their business consulting projects for dissertation of course we also created very important IT rooms where there is an assortment of PCs and again books for them to use.

So we're constantly catering for their needs.

We can't be very successful if we don't have happy students.

So we need to cater to careful their needs.

You know we have a lot of students that will say to us, oh you know, well I, I need, I need for example to take a day off Maybe because, you know, my child needs to go to the hospital, then we're understanding, you know, we'll say of course, you know, just, you know, take, take the day off and, and they come in next week.

So they're very much in touch with us when they're going to be away, you know, because things happen to you, you know, your car mate breakdown or you may have a sick child or you may yourself need to go to, you know, a doctor's appointment.

We have some ladies as well that are pregnant.

So we work around their pregnancy with the academic year.

So we like to believe that we are making students our priority and that we're making them, you know, think that, that they, that they feel very comfortable and we like the campuses to be their comfort zone.

Actually a lot of them make friends along the way, you know, from back home, you know, their own country.

So they do have a wonderful student experience, which is our objective.

And I guess that's the thing, isn't it?

You have a shared learning journey with people within your class and you're sharing an environment which you don't get like say within your life outside of that, I guess us.

Yeah.

And we do have students, I'm telling you.

Well, when my car broke down two years ago, one of the students was my mechanic.

Did a wonderful job.

We have another student that has a wonderful coffee shop in the covered market here in Oxford and we go there.

Why should I go and, and buy a coffee somewhere else?

That I don't know.

I'd rather go to my student and make sure that I have a coffee there to help their business.

We have another student that runs a pizza place.

We have another student that is now starting with a beauty business.

So you know, we have another student that has a well being academy.

So we're all, and we, and in fact we do have a department called OXPIC which is like a business incubation hub.

And we are coaching students who want to become entrepreneurs and we are advising them about how to go about it, you know, which agencies to contact had to go about government funding and so on.

So we are there.

We'd like to think that we're holding their hand to prepare them for the big bad world.

Even though the reason why they're in the UK is because they are victims of the big bad, you know, big bad world.

Which is sad actually because a lot of us can't imagine what some of these students have been through.

And I guess that's where the entrepreneurship is a really valuable thing because it might be like Say because of their personal circumstances, having a traditional job isn't necessarily what's going to be supportive for them.

So understanding the world at large with their own experience, understanding the business elements from what they're being taught, actually being able to create something that fits around what they're doing, their families, their.

Their opportunities, actually, I can see how that can be a real benefit because you also taking control of your life in a way which is different than having a job.

And that must be a really positive thing for them as well.

Yeah.

And you know, it's.

They also remember that these people, they live in minorities here in communities.

Right.

So when they come here, they only sort of hang out with their own kind of community that speaks their language.

So they're integrating here.

So they'll come to the college.

They'll see so many different types of nationalities here that you'll have maybe some Pakistani students that are sitting with some Romanian students, or they go out for coffee or for lunch, or you'll see some Brazilian students.

We have a lot of Brazilian students.

And you know how happy they are.

They always come into the college with their own.

They bring cakes and they bring sweets and they're forever bringing, you know, trying to organize food events, you know.

So you'll get the Brazilian students sitting here and mixing with maybe some Italian students or some French students or, or some Bulgarian students, you know, and all the students, they are so grateful, actually, to be honest.

They are so grateful for the attention that they're getting from us and the attention they're getting from the, from the college that they always want to bring gifts into the college and they will always be there if you need them.

So for Christmas, we let them do the Christmas decorations and they're just willing to help all the time, you know, and that's, it's, it's.

It's quite a human touch to it as well.

There's a.

That is definitely an element of, of humanism, you know, in our, in our teaching methods here, I would say.

And is there a piece of advice you, you share a lot with people.

Is there sort of a common theme that comes up in terms of the sorts of support that you've actually doing in terms of whether that's how to study, how to make it fit within their lifestyle or, or anything like that?

But, but something which you think maybe people wanting to attend or thinking about this kind of life change, that would.

Be helpful advice I can give is that.

Well, I mean, my own personal opinion is that education is everything and you may not become the billionaire that maybe you want to become.

But having received education as a person just completely opens your mindset.

And I always tell students a piece of advice is knowledge is power and knowledge opens your mind.

It doesn't matter if you're going to put that knowledge into practice in the future.

It's just having that knowledge, it just makes, makes you a better speaker, it makes people listen to you more, it makes you more interesting at dinner parties or, you know, in family parties, whatever.

But knowledge is very powerful and knowledge can open many doors.

So I always tell them, I have so many young students here and I always tell them, we're going to prepare you for an entry level job.

We're going to prepare you to start, I don't know, as a receptionist, as an administrator, as an office clerk.

But you need, you've got all, you've got the future ahead of you.

You've got so many.

And, and the uk, whatever is flawed, people are always in a rush to criticize the uk.

It is still a country of many opportunities like this, like, you know, offering education to underprivileged students.

So I always give them advice, you know, change your life, change your career, but more importantly, change your mindset, Learn, open your mind, open your mind to knowledge.

You have all of this.

We've got so many resources here.

Our libraries are almost as big as the National Library.

We've got amazing books here that cost a fortune.

You know, our chairman invests so much in library resources.

I mean, any scholar of, of any university in the world would feel very comfortable sitting in our libraries, you know, so you've got this at your fingertips.

Just take advantage.

And I tell them, after four years, my plan is to change your life.

If you don't want to take that advice, that's up to you.

But I do tell them, and I have, they have already come back to me that when they do complete their course, they are different people.

Yeah, I can really imagine.

And of course they've also different, they've also got a network of contacts as well, haven't they?

That's, that's the other thing you've got, you've got the support from the college and the staff, but you've also got this group of people that can be helped, helpful and supportive, whether it's on a social level, whether it's a professional level, whether it's a business level and you're starting something together.

It's an opportunity that you don't get in any other way.

And they've made friends from back home.

Imagine some of them are from the same village and they never even knew each other before.

Yeah.

And all of a sudden they have a great social life together.

They go on holiday together.

So it is, I mean, it is so important to be part of this.

It's like bringing up children.

When you bring up children, I mean, I'm a mother.

And then you see them become adults and you see what they're doing with their lives.

You know, you will always be so proud of what you have produced.

And so it's that I use that feeling with the students that I have taught and now the majority have graduated and they're always in touch with me.

One of them opened an accounting firm.

Many of them receive awards as well.

You know, they, they travel the world.

We've got one who is an expert, expert karate black belt and he's traveled the world.

And so it's.

We've got another one that's a singer and I put his songs on in the classroom, you know, so it's, it's.

And it's very important.

I also, when I was teaching, I was teaching them about respect.

Respect is important, you know, you have to respect each other every.

Each other's religion.

Because we've got so many different religions.

Some religions is not.

Some religions, they're not as tolerant as other religions.

So we do teach them, be respectful, be tolerant.

You know, you're living in a very diverse country.

The uk, if anything, is super diverse.

The college is very diverse.

All your lecturers are from different walks of life, different countries, you know, respect that.

And it's lovely when the, the immense experience of our lecturers bounces on the students.

That's amazing.

Yeah, I can really imagine it.

And I like the sort of, the sort of, the holistic in sort of 360 idea of what learning is all about.

Because, yeah, obviously the acronym FIRE is really important to us here at Education on Fire.

So we're sort of talking about feedback and inspiration, resilience and empowerment.

And I can see how a lot of these things sort of fit in with the sorts of things that you're talking about and how you're learning as well.

I mean, the feedback.

Yeah, it's not just Academic feedback, where you have to tell a student, oh, okay, well, your assignment was not this good because you didn't include this.

But the feedback is also on their own kind of, you know, lifestyle, you know, well, why don't you do this, you know, so that you can come to the college earlier?

Why don't you change your.

Your schedule?

Why don't you ask your employer?

So it's feedback and advice, really.

You know, it's all looped together.

You know, we're always doing that constantly.

Yeah, I think that's really true.

And I think.

I think for me, it very much is the fact that it.

It's elements of all the things that we're talking about that makes the progress and the success of any given student, isn't it?

Because, like I say, it's not just one element.

The.

The academic side and the social side and the ability to, I guess, sort of the impact on you as a human being to begin with, which then takes you forward in those things.

The funny thing is that I'm here to teach them, but they have taught me, you know, they have taught me, and I've changed a lot in the.

In the.

I'm definitely not the same person.

I have the advantage that I have worked in, in many countries, and I've been exposed to many, many cultures, so I have that cultural wealth anyway, but it's just been accentuated even further.

And to feel part.

You know, when students.

The other day, I had four or five students that received their degrees from one of the universities, and they sent me their degrees because they felt so proud.

They wanted to include me in their pride.

And I just.

That for me, that's touching.

Yeah.

So it's.

It's great.

And like I say, when you've got your own children, and you can understand that from a very personal point of view, and then you sort of realize that that relationship extends, like you say, into.

Into your students in that life.

It's like, say the impact's incredible.

Yes, it is.

It really is.

Diana, thank you so much for chatting to us.

It's been absolutely fascinating, and I think that's why I love the podcast.

Getting these insights into, like I say, different educational experiences and environments and how people can take that into their own environment as well, I think is incredibly important.

So for those listening who want to find out more, who may want to enroll, be involved, where's the best place for them to go?

So for Oxford Business College.

They can go onto the website and they can register there.

Fantastic.

Diana, thank you so much indeed.

And look forward to keeping up with the story and the students as they go.

Thank you for inviting me again and I hope that people enjoyed it and that they come to us.

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.