20th February. Cohort seminar.
In this session we discussed the impact of a formal verses informal learning experience – its general characteristics. I feel that teaching has changed a lot in 20 years due to consumerism. I feel I need to deliver more. Attendance is as issue, students see it is optional which I find surprising, especially when you are paying for a service, I would take every opportunity offered. We are asked to think about a positive educational experience from our past that remains memorable and vivid. I had a wonderful art teacher who encouraged me to go to art school and a brilliant physics teacher who taught us practically by doing experiences. She was electrifying in her enthusiasm, and we learnt a lot from the experience. We are asked to think about what we bring to teaching & learning. We require knowledge, professional policy and guidelines. UK PSF – values associated with advanced HE.
What knowledge do you need to teach?
– What do we need to know in order to teach well?
– Knowledge in your subject.
– An idea of what students already know – prior knowledge, who are your students?
– Contextualise your experience/practice – apply it to the industry
– The ability to communicate
– The ability to be flexible – read the room & accordingly
– Adjust the class when needed
– How much time you’ve got – timing & pacing
– Space
– Comfortable with the subject matter
– Customisation to access for individuals
– Equipment & resources
– Lesson plan, materials, strategy
– Empathy, compassion & understanding
– Collaboration with the teaching team
– Knowing what’s happening in the industry and in the future
– An awareness of what’s happening in the real world
What values inform the way we teach?
– Empathy, compassion
– What do you care about? Sharing knowledge
– A sense of community
– A policy
– Diversity in the teaching team – beyond case studies
– Transparency
– Collaboration
– Personal growth & development
– Community of students & tutors
Consider how knowledge and value interact, look for commonalities and alignments.
Values in education policy
Values are more difficult to pin down as we might hold conflicting points of view. Consider our tacit values – not what we teach by saying but by doing. Students observe how we behave and will adopt similar behaviour such as how we interact in a workshop, no running, carefully using equipment based on health & safety training.
What is the difference between values, beliefs, ethics, duties, morals, principles and guiding principles? Your values might actually be your ethics, but it is good to distinguish between them. Is it possible to order them in some way?
Differences in articulated values and tacit values. How these relate to each other in the educational context of teaching & learning. (thereby relating to/including practice based processes and/or disciplines. Belly & Salina.
We look at the UKPSF 2011: Globalised, Education, Values?
Knowledge & values side by side. What does this body add to our own beliefs? We are asked to critique what they have included, what have they added that we’ve not thought about, in relation to our case studies? How do we meet, match or exceed these professional expectations? Limitation of your own knowledge. the importance of interaction between teachers and students co-creates art education. We are not staff as the font of all knowledge, filling students up. Staff have professional experience, but students also have enormous knowledge.
Areas of activity, design, planning, teaching & assessment.
How do we define our core knowledge? Professional values. I teach from my own knowledge of design but also my professional experience – we discuss if you haven’t worked for 10 years does your relevant experience have a time limit? especially in a world of emerging technology that has huge implications for our creative students. How do we teach students something that may not even exist by the time they graduate? Students have changed, they now want something very personal. How will Chat IP affect their career choice? Are we doing the right kind of assessment? Teaching methods. We put trust & value in our students. There is a hierarchy in design education if someone stays in a job for 20 plus years, do they still add value? Contemporary teachers – VPs and ALs tend to be younger, possibly exposed to more up to date practices and technology?
Consider the language behind policy framework, refining key terms and utopian thinking. Policy relates to the work I am doing with students, tutorials, student health, disability. Ethics, risk assessment, quality and inclusion. Academic misconduct, read with a critical eye. we look at Ual guidelines, tutorial policy as a framework on canvas Creative attributes framework. There are legal documents to protect the university and me as a tutor. How do they connect? Sustainability? Climate justice page. a framework for the university strategy principles, and how they are implemented for example in the course handbook, course description, in the unit briefing and in the learning outcomes – the issue of sustainability & climate justice could be embedded and addressed across all of these touchpoints. Look at UAL 22-23 strategy and 3 guiding principles. Climate, racial and social justice principles framework and suggestions for embedding these. We could create a min utopia if everyone followed these it would be fantastic.
– Framework
https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/sustainability-at-ual/sustainable-learning-teaching-and-research
– Strategy
https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/strategy-and-governance/strategy
https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/12839/UAL-Strategy-2015-22-Summary-Spreads.pdf
– Code
https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/43333/Code-of-Good-Conduct-in-Research-2017.pdf
– Principle
https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/climate-action-plan
– Guide
https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/293511/UAL-Student-Guide-2021.pdf
Framework
We consider what is a professional framework. how could you map a teaching practice using the framework? Could you use those steps to elevate or improve? How could they connect to a tutorial or marketing policy? Or mental health? I put the policy of climate justice into teaching, consider environmental, economic, social, cultural sustainability
1. Baseline
Brief students, acknowledge sustainability, what works and what doesn’t. Contextualise climate, racial and social justice principles.
2. Awareness
Talk to them about current methods of design practice, teach sustainability, identify issues, awareness leads to actions being taken, relevant visable knowledge, application of principles from the climate justice policy.
3. Ideation
Ask students to research sustainability, brainstorm concepts, competitor research. Create a course design manifesto written by the students on the issues they feel are important, everyone on the course signs it, creating a new sustainable network. A monthly newsletter written & designed by students for students highlighting key projects, exhibitions and news related to climate justice and sustainability. Hold a yearly college event with an exhibition and guest speakers. Consider current world views. Create work based on sustainable principles, reflecting the new relevant knowledge they have learnt, documented in sketchbooks and project outcomes.
4. Shift
Apply the principles you have created as part of your ‘process’ to all future design projects, manifesto annually reviewed & signed. Embedded in the course culture – handbook, course units, design briefs and briefs and marked against the learning outcomes.
