rbrownPGcert

I was most interested in the aims of education, examined in workshop three, as this is something I have not thought about on a fundamental level. The combination of activities revealed some overarching themes, which were led in some sense given that the words were chosen for us, but nevertheless acted as good catalysts for helping with definitions. The less expected of these included ideas around equality on a societal scale, fostering ‘cross cultural understanding’ and ‘leveraging diversity’. 

I enjoyed the mediation between the macro topic of education and the granular analysis of existing frameworks we currently find ourselves working within. It feels like the first step in interrogating these things. I have frustrations with marking practices which Addison examines in great detail in ‘Doubting learning outcomes in higher education context’ (Addison, 2014). I was hoping this ‘doubting’ would lead to a viable alternative model, but the Vygotsky and cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) alternatives seems to hinge on large societal changes that include very different ways of measuring what good education looks like (Addison, 2014). I find myself oscillating between utopian ideas of entirely inclusive practices, open ended exploration, shredded up assessment forms and having to reconcile this with the realities of equipping (all) students with the many specific vocational skills needed for the workplace as demanded by the machine industrial. Ironically, I think the way spatial design tailor’s assessment outcomes for the purposes of architecture and squeezes projects into these key criteria, do include the main hallmarks of a good architectural project, only that the packaging and resulting systems could be at odds with creating a fulfilled learner. I feel that outcome-based learning, especially in the now student-as-consumer paradigm is increasingly unhelpful as it seems like yet another transaction. Never before have I wanted to such an extent, to journey with students into a forest to build a cabin. For people to come together to make something that is enjoyed in the making and enjoyed in the use of it, the learning of which, allowed to sink into the essential parts of us.

References

• Addison, N., 2014. Volume 3 ed. Doubting learning outcomes in higher education context: from performativity towards emergence and negotiation: International journal of art and design education.

Part One

The assigned readings and workshops one and two of the PGCert have given fresh perspectives into specific areas of my teaching practice.

Engagement in the classroom has been unpredictable in the years since the pandemic, its destabilising effects evident in student behaviours and yet I and my students alike have found it difficult through our conversations to understand the root cause of them. How essential is it to understand these causes? Sharing work and opinions seems to be a particular ongoing challenge, where, in an oppressive digital age so many images are consumed after the heavy edit, leaving little room for confidence in showing critical development of ideas and the messiness of the design process.

A breath of fresh air then, when discussion in the first workshop centred on the principles of creating a safe and brave learning space, a relief to have some theoretical underpinning in the face of such challenges. Intuitively many of the principles are happening in my teaching practice and yet I found myself expressing a desire, but not knowing how to ‘acknowledge and address power dynamics’ (Arao, 2013) and ‘employ active listening and empathy’ (Arao, 2013) within the ever-tightening constraints of my role. I found myself asking whether the safe space might be one of the single most important things to foster, particularly given the current educational landscape where acute ‘fight or flight’ (Canon, 1929) reactions seem inherent in successive new year groups.

There were some fascinating ways the workshops facilitated a safe working space. Tasks were light on outputs but heavy on thinking which made room for the formulation of new ideas both individually and co constructed within groups. Silence was observed and held by tutors after questions to the group, which pointed ownership of the conversation back towards us, but also, as Harris says of silence, allowed ‘processing, considering and reflecting’ (Harris, 2022) to take place simultaneously. Another was to position the act of listening or non speaking as a generous act, rather than a signal of lack, which encouraged some particularly interesting insights from some self confessed introverted members of the group. This was achieved through a keen sense of timing and only when a solid foundational safe space had been made; at the very end of the day ‘good listeners’ were specifically encouraged to contribute. One insight was that the person tended to assimilate and reflect on information away from events themselves, needing time to balance intellectual and emotional inputs. This is echoed by Harris when she asks ‘might those periods of apparent ‘‘inactivity’’ actually be where a learner is at their most intellectually active?’ (Harris, 2022)

Part Two

Could it be that a section of the educational experience is missing with twenty minute tutorials serving only to encourage, the kind of ‘banking education’ (Friere, 2005) Friere talks about in ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ (Friere, 2005) where students voices are cut short in favour of the tutor moving projects forward more quickly? The ideal model, as put forward, is one where ‘the quest for mutual humanisation’ (Friere, 2005) must be strived for by tutors being the ‘partners’ (Friere, 2005) of students, where ‘authentic thinking’ (Friere, 2005) happens through effective ‘communication’ (Friere, 2005). I may be guilty of working to a pre pandemic model, tried and tested through measurable results and one that I am trying in vain to reproduce because I know what it should look like. Am I one of the brutes Friere refers to, or are these feelings inevitable when alarm bells suggest shifts in practice that encourage new responses to ingrained frameworks?  

I think some of the themes of compromise have to be balanced with the recognised growing pains of creative practice. Guidance must be useful through the general ‘stickiness’ (Shreeve, 2017) students encounter with the realities of undergraduate studies, one example being ‘where no known specific factual outcomes are envisaged’ (Shreeve, 2017). Learning is a ‘process of discovery’ (Shreeve, 2017) which they will have to ‘manage and work through ambiguity to succeed’ (Shreeve, 2017). At once space must be made for newly sensitive facilitation and sometimes reluctance in tutor groups (brought about by external societal forces perceived especially in first year) but still hold firm the integrity of good creative practice. 

I don’t yet know how to reconcile some of the above into my practice, within the constraints of my role, but maybe awareness is a good starting point.

References

• Arao, B. a. C. K., 2013. From safe spaces to brave spaces; a new way to frame dialogue around diversity an social justice. Sterling: Stylus.
• Canon, W., 1929. Bodily changes in pain, hunger, fear and rage. Appleton : s.n.
• Friere, P., 2005. Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York City: The continuum international publishing group plc.
• Harris, K., 2022. Embracing the silence: introverted learning and the online classroom. London: UAL.
• Shreeve, O. &., 2017. Art and design pedagogy in higher education: knowledge, values and ambiguity in the creative curriculum. Milton: Taylor & Francis.

Like Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’ I begin at the end, ruminating on conclusions and trying to locate the subject for the first case study. The others came more easily because they are subjects that have already had an effect at the core of my educational sensibilities. This first PGCert module, like the film, has been a non linear process, the larger challenges having had a voice in me that found suitable homes in case studies two and three. Asked what this module was like in our final session, I thought of the embers of many scattered fires as the subjects we have touched upon, not knowing which ones will cool or which ones will ignite into longer and more sustained pursuits of learning. Much of it is important in growing as a practitioner, but can in the end, be encapsulated by one of the first quotes we received in class, that ‘education is an act of love and thus an act of courage’ (Friere, 2005). These kinds of messages have been the most helpful for me, as they can often be lost in the pressures of a results based system. The experience has been a supportive one, a relief to know that the work of others can be used to help in the challenges we face as practitioners. Seeing behind the curtain to be shown that others critique current systems as much as we do, in alternative modalities suggested by Vygotsky and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), gives confidence to be the ‘maverick’, Annamarie Mckie suggests in her lecture ‘Reflect on This and That’ (Mckie, 2024). Not as an agitator mind you, but as a professional committed to challenging and supporting the core dimensions of ‘value, knowledge and activities’ (HE, 2023). The module brought about some surprisingly existential realisations, namely that we are part of a continuum of conscious human experience of which learning and teaching make up some of the richest and most critical currencies.

‘to learn is to accept… that life did not begin at my birth. Others have been here before me and I walk in their footsteps’ (Wiesel, 2001)

References

• Friere, P., 2005. Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York City: The continuum international publishing group plc.
• HE, A., 2023. Professional standards framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education 2023, s.l.: Advance HE.
• Mckie, A., 2024. Reflect on this and that, enabling space for meaningful reflectivity in the creative arts. PGcert creative practice. [online lecture] (UAL 14TH February ).
• Wiesel, E., 2001. Faith and doubt: The divine beauty in learning. Harvard : Commencement speech.