This session was online within our tutor groups, and was about finding out more about each other, and sharing something about pedagogy. We had to make a brief presentation. It turned into a wide ranging discussion about how we teach and how students learn, possible barriers to learning and how to overcome them, power and disempowerment. It was fascianting to ‘meet’ the other students in my group – some very interesting people who I am looking forward to getting to know better.
I chose a cartoon, Death by Powerpoint.
I chose this because sometimes I feel we rely too much on slides and talking when we are teaching, and not enough on student participation and activitiy. You can feel the energy draining out of the room sometimes – it’s worse online because you can’t see or feel what the mood is like. I rarely give lectures, nearly all my teaching is seminar or workshop based, often for three hours at a time so there needs to be a lot of variety and change of pace in the activities.
I’m very conscious of the difference between teaching and learning and try not to assume they are the same – ie is what I think I am teaching what the students are learning? How do I know, minute by minute in the classroom?
This and the other presentations provoked a lot of discussion about notions of power in the classroom, and different approaches of getting people to do things, including how we interrupt. Silence is something many of us are afraid of in the classroom, but it can be very productive.
Tash, who works in theatre, talked about notions of playfulness and ‘What if?’ This resonated with me as journalism is always trying new ways of creating and presenting material, especially now with all the different platforms available.
Tracey Ann, who works within the prison system talked about her experience of barriers to learning, and different types of learning styles. We discussed how these can be helpful but also risk labelling and categorising people who might be limited -self-imposed and externally – as a result.
Makeba – an “international academic” reminded us not to only think about students within UAL but international students who are disempowered by lack of access to technology or materials. This became clear here in the UK too when students were forced to learn online during the pandemic lockdowns, but often with little access to the internet or expensive mobile data.
These are just a few of the presentations that made an impression and reminded me of how diverse UAL is as a community, and the richness of its community.