Dr Matt Slater
Dr Matt Slater, Lecturer in Sports and Exercise Psychology at Staffordshire University, guest blogs about the upcoming Christmas Jumper and Social Identity event held in the School of Psychology, Sport & Exercise:
Christmas is a time of year we value at Staffs. Staffordshire University will be lit up with festive spirit on Friday 11th December when staff and students alike don their favourite Christmas jumper. Conservative or overly zealous, traditional or contemporary, we can all get into the festive spirit by pulling on our favourite Christmassy pullover. Our Christmas Jumper event at Staffs is now in it’s third year and, once again, will be raising money for Save the Children.
The traditional Christmas jumper has had a resurgence in recent years with celebrities, professional athletes, and Staffordshire University (to name but a few!) seeing the funny side and collective benefits of wearing woollies displaying reindeers to Christmas puddings and everything in between. At Staffs University we help students to feel part of 
what we do, to connect with us. This is the vision of the Social Identity Project. It’s based on our own research here in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Staffs University that has shown that social identity (or belonging) improves students’ approach to their studies (e.g., motivation), the support they gain from their peers, and the students’ overall experience. We actively encourage a shared social identity at Staffs University through activities that strengthen student belonging with “us”. Inviting all staff and students to wear their favourite Christmas jumper will further strengthen this bond and is one way that we are demonstrating, as a group, that we have common values about the festive period.
The Staffordshire University Christmas Jumper Day will involve fun-filled activities including Dr. Matt Slater’s traditional Christmas Jumper Lecture full of festivities (10am in LT3, Ashley Building), a cake and Christmas bauble sale in the Brindley Building, a prize for the “most creative” woolly worn by a student or member of staff, as well a raising lots of money for a worthy cause.
Let’s have a “woolly” good time together.
Dr. Matt Slater
Email: m.slater@staffs.ac.uk
Twitter: @DrMattSlater
For more information or details of the wide range of Psychology degrees on offer at Staffordshire University please visit our website and our courses page.