Initial thoughts on the first reading given for Wednesday – boy oh boy I’ve not read an academic paper for some time…
It is strange to see practices and methods which you have been unknowingly using described in such detail. It was a very insightful look into what pedagogy is and how it is utilized in the arts teaching environment. After reading it a couple times I am still a bit confused on the exact definition between pedagogy, teaching method, teaching practice, teaching strategies etc. But hopefully with some more work I’ll get there. The part I found especially interesting was the crossover between being a teacher and practitioner and how this interacts and overlaps. As well as this idea of internal higher education views on the ‘how it’s done industry’ line. Something I have come across for years (and do myself) but never given any thought too. This idea that the education sector feels subservient to the arts industry was such an insightful view to me, as it’s so prevalent it seems to have sunk into every part of the fabric of the education machine.
I must admit though I struggled with some of the structure and the overwritten style of the paper. I was at times somewhat lost in the extremely long sentences that seemed to drift on. I hope I’ll get better/faster at deciphering the jargon through some more reading and practice on my part.
It has helped me start to identify some techniques I’m using and how I might look to improve my own teaching practice (if that’s the correct one) in the future.
As a media technician my workshops range from either teaching how to operate a piece of equipment or a technique or idea (how to light a set, or how to correctly operate a dolly as a unit).
Model for most workshops currently:
- Set goal/objective of the lesson – (LV4 with be a single part usually, LV5/6/7 can become multiple sessions)
- Introduce some background use of the item or technique – depending on time/subject matter I will try to give some context for the students as to why they need to care about this.
- How to build/how to use/what to do – Then usually following the show and tell method the students will build and feel their way through how to safely operate the given equipment. Or I’ll show them the technique and an example of how it can be utilized for helping to create their work.
- Exercise/development – I will then give them some kind of exercise for the students to undertake to practice using this kit. If it is technique they will have an exercise which is recreation/challenge for them to undertake.
- Conclude/Reflect – When this has been developed enough by the students we’ll conclude with some reflections on the session/what they have learned.
From looking back across my work at UAL so far, what largely gets missed in practice is the reflectionary part of the session for students. Due to many material quirks or issues with some of the current set up in FTV, often the reflection I set out in a workshop plan is missed due to time constraints.
Looking ahead I plan to look at how I can take ideas from these signature pedagogies and teaching strategies into my own work. At this moment in time I see a few issues to fix in my teaching execution:
- The reflective element – this I plan into the structure of the session but is often missed
- More techniques in the development stage – write down more of the exercises that I plan to deliver and review them. Currently a lot of this is created ad hoc or on the fly due to how much planning time I have available.
- A broader understanding of how the skills I’m delivering applies to the module – This requires effort from myself and the academic team to work more collaboratively, so we are in agreement of how these sessions can support the module.