uTube is not my spiritual home for learning… I watched the videos and decided to think about what these individuals (just realised that studying at UAL made me an individUAL… that’s amused me today) were communicating through their work…
I went to Peckham library (that’s another blog post) and read Cyborg Cat by Ade Adepitan
I browsed Christine Sun Kim’s portfolio and read several interviews with her…
and i started working through the resource page on Chay Brown’s TransActual project
By doing so I started to understand themes that emerged from all of their lived experiences…
Fear
Safe Space
Acknowledgement
Clear positive communication
Advocating / sharing
Authenticity
… and a plan!
I loved how Ade introduced himself as the author at the beginning of the book… I found it much easier to process than the uTube video, which wasn’t all bad as it had inspired me to walk to Peckham not get the bus to the library. I was engaged by the authenticity and continued reading.
Moved by Christine Sun Kims honesty about free childcare in Berlin, I perused her portfolio and read some interviews she had given about her work, keen to read in preference to listening to them. A lot of her work echoed with my recent experience and becoming a mother. Her acknowledgement, understanding and ability to communicate her lived experience created a safe space for me to explore.
I then spent many hours enjoying navigating through TransActual website, celebrating the direct call to action, clearly communicated issues and the fear that has permeated the community and positive ways to navigate that. I wanted to thank Chay Brown for such a brilliant website, for personal reasons I chose to change my name. The process has been and continues to be one of the most frustrating and exhausting I have been through… I wish I had found this website in July 2021. The clear steps of actions that are required is poetry to someone that needs to use them. I am going to share this website with the panel of experts through experience I sit on as in my opinion good practise for survivors of lived experience of intersectional trauma. I particularly liked this section… and the use of pronouns….
I felt inspired by the repeated requests if you are not sure… just ask… a sentiment that applies to my situation similarly… *safe space* is echoing in my head
With renewed confidence I spoke to my course leader and other tutors on my course about disability considerations that have needed to be made on the course… as an AL, I am not made aware of any details of an ISA or EC’s. For a term I facilitated learning experiences for a student, I had absolutely no idea they were using technology to transcribe lectures, that they were able to lip read or they required additional support. I was already in awe as they were studying an MA in a second language. I have since imagined how my facilitation would have changed had I been aware of the students requirements. Sharing the incredible support that UAL has given me to study… the conversation developed into unchartered waters and my mind wandered back to TTP and creating brave and enchanted learning experiences…
I misunderstood persona pedagogy to begin with thinking that it would be related to the signature pedagogy in TTP and started off really interested until the pages started to sink in and then as it went on it started to irritate me… and as I read more i found it hypocritical… I may have misunderstood and reserve the right to revisit the paper at a later date!
Safeguarding is a very hot topic in my household…. pioneers like Crenshaw, advocates like Ade Adepitan, Christine Sun Kim, Chay Brown and ME, endeavour to communicate their lived experience or that of others to assist learning and so hopefully improvements in systems and policies can be made but Thomas 2022 suggests using a persona pedagogy to safeguard identity. I could attach police reports and witness statements here about how abusers can use adopt personas to emotionally and physically torment their victims but I wont. I will raise my head above the parapet and advocate for authenticity, however hard it may be in new safe and brave spaces where all people are acknowledged and their opinions taken into count.
For starters “experiences another’s lived experience expanding understanding of difference… “
authentically how can you experience another’s lived experience?
then to assume a persona to experience another’s lived experience?… please…. I do not yet have the words….
Not required to reveal self lived experience – can self protect….
there is no requirement for anyone to disclose anything however in my experience I have found sharing my situation and acknowledging the barriers I face to be helpful and hopefully in doing so I have open doors for more support for people who face a similar situation to my self. This is something I choose to do, I choose how much information I share. I could choose for self protection to share nothing… however assuming a persona to empathise with or enable transformative learning is something at the moment I do not have the capacity to do hence the reason I will sign up to further empirical research required….
… feeling guilty for missing the first lecture I signed up for a recommended one to fill a gap… thanks Lindsay! Really enjoyed considering the physical barriers a classroom can bring and how solutions can be found to overcome them…
Dr Kevin Merry / De Montfort University
Return to in person teaching / guidance for online teaching
Context and environment – what and how is learnt
The logistics determine the learning enviroment
Do we consider the learning space at all?
What could the learning space look like not what should it look like…
maybe some of this today will be idealism…
5%-40% time spent thinking about learning space by webinar participants
Learner variability…. Those things that make learners different from each other
Difference between primary school space…. An immersive space v HE classrooms
Reflective activity
Hands on activity to close computer – online learning issue… ideas to be trialled
Show information to inform
I would like to discuss this with students
takeaways
goals of learning work backwards to create pathways
intentional
methods
materials
assessments
how are the learning spaces supporting your teaching methods?
spaces designed to match your learning goals
Optimal space configuration for the learning goals
Adaptable spaces to serve all of the learning goals
physical or virtual space must be considered an potential barriers identified
physical learning resources ie books / virtual good WiFi required
Harvey and Kenyon 2013 – trapezoid tables
how you feel about the space will be how you feel about the learning eg. Exams in a sports hall
Consider how many ways you could arrange the furniture in your classroom
Moving the furniture learning laboratory…. Speed dating icebreaker… moves the energy
Reflective activity – yes and yes
Memory prompts displayed on walls… more effective in the physical space.. add to kit
make no assumptions… repeat the message in multiple formats
Negotiate learning commitments at the start of a cohort… latecomers had to sit on seats next to the entrance to minimise threats and distractions for self regulation… cohort contract… hummm idea… student contract…
Clarks Elements of psychological safety 2020…
reflective activity… made me think about creating safe space in HE was positive for learning experience but could potentially be detrimental for employability… but I’ve just thought role play could be used to break down these barriers
Gallaudet University Washington brilliant example of intentional designed space for students that predominantly use sign language.
exit box… brilliant… tokens
hummm… play spaces ???
a typical learning environment on MA Global
the environment has been a key deciding factor in my choice for daughters nursery and school…
The purpose built nursery bringing the indoors outdoors the brainchild of the pioneer Margaret McMillian in 1914… unchanged to this day at the rachel mcmillian nursery in deptford
followed by the attention to detail and careful curation of the Steiner Kindergarten to inspire curiosity and learning…
Playing catch up… spinning plates read Mapping the Margins shortly after watching Chay Brown on Disability & Gender speak about empowering a community by talking out loud…. I felt uncomfortable just reading the title, I started to highlight and make notes but had to turn to a red pen to make sense of how and where I was triggered… My recent lived experience has meant that my privileged walk has taken a different path. A proud survivor of domestic abuse, I feel privileged that my experience of surviving and that of the panel of experts by experience survivors that I sit on has been very different from that of the people referenced in the paper. Like Chay Brown said by talking about lived experiences we can improve and change them for others. UAL has provided a safe space to do this and enabled me to study with the support of the disability team. For the time being I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for other papers on a similar theme and potentially at a later date look at unpacking them in much more detail. Domestic Violence can happen to anyone.
Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color Author(s): Kimberle Crenshaw Source: Stanford Law Review, Jul., 1991, Vol. 43, No. 6 (Jul., 1991), pp. 1241-1299 Published by: Stanford Law Review
Really unsettled by this paper, I dug a little deeper and felt much more at ease after watching Crenshaw Ted talk on intersectionality recorded later in 2016, the clearly defined description and the recognition that we need to vocalise the problem is the beginning of finding solutions resonated with me and I was metaphorically able to join the cacophony of sound. I noticed similarities between cPTSD and intersectionality which I am looking forward to exploring.
a delayed but exciting start… I began preparing for a catch up workshop 1&2… running the privilege walk…
”this activity was used to start conversations” Dr Jane Bryan, Warwick University and exactly that it has done… it made me consider that at different times in my life I have taken different steps… so I started to map this visually…
A thousand thank yous for an awe inspiring term, once again UAL has put my head through the washing machine and I am currently stuck on spin… thinking that I had extenuating circumstances but am not convinced due to my extenuating circumstances I crossed all the i’s and dotted all the t’s! Tomorrow maybe my submission deadline… its Easter weekend and the panic was unbearable so I formulated a plan!
Plan A
Publish all of the blog drafts as they currently are in the hope that their maybe enough and at least show my thanks to my group and tutors and hopefully show how much I have enjoyed this term and the positive affect that it has had on my sessions and the confidence and courage it has given me to persevere on this journey
Plan B
Stick to my originally plan which was to scaffold my notes with notes taken whilst reading the papers… oh I should attach photographs and make it a game… On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week I have booked childcare to do exactly that…. And I was hoping if time and technology allowed to check and tidy up my blog and work out how to use some of the features….
anyone like to guess in which posts these gems will end up?!
Following my observed teaching session and feedback from the staff and students, I was delighted to be asked to join a research laboratory by the team which will enable me to trial my micro teach across different platforms and learning groups. I am inviting participants to join me for My Cup of Tea.
I accidentally had an enchanting learning experience, detailed in my review of Adams lecture… but it was too good not to remember it properly somewhere… especially telling people about it I learnt that in a university in Melbourne they have timetabled open lectures so this can actually happen….
And it reminded me of having to attend a film festival in New York and having to report on 9 films… it had been a long tour from home and myself and my assistant decided that if we ran fast without anyone noticing we could make the last 15 minutes of each film that we had to report on… oh what a festival… the reports went down a treat…
I joined the lecture in the main lecture hall in Wilson road 5 minutes after it started believing it was an introduction to AI
At the end of the brilliant lecture Gerhart when I asked him where Adam was informed me his lecture had been on Art History and mark making
I ran across the road to the main lecture hall, green coat building, Wilson road just in time for the delayed start of adams lecture on an introduction to AI which started almost where Gerhart had finished
This adventure should be available to all students!… but have parked that here for now
Record of Observation or Review of Teaching Practice
Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: Project Management MA Global Collaborative Design Practise
Size of student group: 12
Observer:Adam Cole
Observee:Liz Hayden
Note: This record is solely for exchanging developmental feedback between colleagues. Its reflective aspect informs PgCert and Fellowship assessment, but it is not an official evaluation of teaching and is not intended for other internal or legal applications such as probation or disciplinary action.
Part One Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:
What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
The MA GCDP students are preparing for their final major project and preparing for their grad show. This session has been devised to remind and refresh basic principles of project management. Deliver an overview of current project management methodology’s and look at some real examples of different creative projects and the successes and challenges they encountered through a project management lense.
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
Over year 1 and year 2 I have guided about 5 sessions as an AL
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
This session has been devised for student to gain knowledge of the current methodologies of project management. They will gain insight into the process of embedding project management into their projects and how project management is an effective tool in communicating their project to peers and stakeholders. The session will conclude with opportunity to realise project management techniques intosee their projects, working with myself and peers to overcome any blocks they may be facing.
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
The students will participate in an action plan workshop and make a cup of tea as a team
The students will be given a cup of tea to reflect on the workshop
The students will plant a seed to take away with them
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
MA GCDP is taught in 2 locations and a proportion of the cohort are in Japan. As English is a second language I must be aware of the speed at which I speak. I find the relay on the screen at times difficult to hear and sometimes it is confusing.
I have really benefited from the workshops examples we have done on the PGCert and wanted to bring some of this into my preparation. With the Action plan I believe this will be possible. With the seed planting I plan to do this with the help of an assistant but am quite excited to have Adam observe as I think he may be able to feedback some potential AI solutions having really enjoyed his lecture.
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
Peter, the course leader will inform the cohort.
What would you particularly like feedback on?
I would appreciate any feedback on improving delivering a session on multiple channels
Overall thoughts on content and delivery would be great
But…
Adam shared a drawing AI experience which I observed a really high engagement with, which I think could work really well on multiple channels but I am not familiar enough with it to take that further at the moment but would value his thoughts on that.
How will feedback be exchanged?
Via the observation document
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:
Due to time zone and scheduling issues, Liz and I did a debrief after the session where she walked me through the lesson plan and reflected on what worked and what was challenging.
The word that came up while describing the lesson plan was enchanting and I would have to agree!
Liz opened the class with students “planting a tea seed”. When I first read that in the preparation document, I thought that might be purely abstract exercise, but I was delighted to find out her students were actually given a seed and soil to plant in the class. Liz used this hands on object-oriented construct to motivate the idea of project management: the need to structure, cultivate and adapt your plans to have your creative ideas grow and flourish. This sounds like such a delightful way to engage and reinforce the material, and it sounds like it was incredibly well received by the students as well. This exercise was followed by the engaging “make a cup of tea” exercise which I experienced firsthand in the microteaching session.
I find two interesting facets of this teaching strategy: 1. Finding useful metaphors to encourage learning: I have found this to be such an important tool in my own practice and am inspired by how creatively you were able to engage with this technique. With coding, it can often be challenging to map dry technical knowledge to more relatable metaphors, but it’s always so useful when we can make those connections. Your use of both “planting a seed” and “making a cup of tea” are incredible structures to motivate learning around project management and breaking down complex tasks.
2. Object oriented teaching: I’m impressed by your incorporation of physical objects in your lesson plan. Something I particularly appreciate is that not only did you bring an object into the class to focus their attention, but students will be taking something home from class which will help them continue to reflect and meditate on the underlying lesson of this course. It’s something that I’d like to consider for my own teaching practice.
During our discussion, the largest challenge you seemed to be dealing with is the hybrid learning structure across vastly different countries. The physical layout of the space, the relay delay of the video stream and lack of access to the same in class materials are all very real concerns that are tricky to navigate. I can tell you are aware of all these considerations and are doing your best to mitigate them. I’d make sure to keep that in mind when making lesson plans, for example, if it was possible for remote folks to purchase tea seeds in advance to follow along at home.
Lastly, I appreciate the degree to which you seem responsive and adaptive to the needs of your students always seeking evidence that learning outcomes are being achieved and engagement is high.
Overall, this seems like a lovely, well planned and executed learning session!
Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
I have been thinking a lot about how to engage an audience when delivering a lecture online and in the classroom… I have made myself a list of experiments to try on different platforms, I would also like to produce a simple kit and report back on these trials.
The technology has greatly improved however is still challenging without training, I know that this is being researched and will find out what the current thinking is and look to other external organisations to see what and how they achieve a similar experience.
