I designed the page to not only be inclusive in its content, but to be accessible for students. The colour, layout and font are selected for those students who may have learning differences. There is also an immersive reader function for text to speech included without the need for additional programs. The LCF tech pages are embedded into units so students are used to accessing these pages from year one unit one. QR codes that take students directly to the performance pages are available in all workshops in D Block.
This has been the hardest blog for me to reflect and write about on the PGCert so far due to the nature of the subject and my positionality. There are several interviews in SoN’s Higher Power: Religion, Faith, Spirituality & Belief, where the same question was asked: “Is there a distinct difference between religion, faith, spirituality and belief?”. For me there is a big distinction. Faith, spirituality, and belief is personal to the beholder and comes from experience in life, it is what you feel in your heart. This I have the utmost respect for and those who feel these things. I have had many experiences that I can not explain and struggle to talk about with others through fear of judgement and disbelief. But I know these experiences were true and that gave me faith, belief and spirituality and the knowledge that there is more in this world that we cannot yet scientifically explain. However, I do not follow a particular religion. Religion to me is something else entirely it’s a construct created by mankind. Again, I respect those who follow religion and have no judgement against those individuals, but the hypocrisy and intolerance that many religious institutions preach, the establishments exploiting those with faith in order to gain power, control and finances is a difficult topic for me to openly discuss without fear of offending.
History is a topic I love and it truly saddens me to contemplate how many people have died in the name of religion in the history of religious wars, something that is truly avoidable. Catholics vs Protestants fighting each other for centuries, The Greek War of independence, The Soga-Mononobe conflict and the Reconquista to name a few global “holy” conflicts in history, despite the fact these religious texts say,
“You shall not murder.” Exodus 10:13
Do not take a ˹human˺ life—made sacred by Allah—except with ˹legal˺ right. Quran 6:151
“It is forbidden to murder, as it says “You shall not murder” Deuteronomy 5:17.
Buddha said, “One should not kill a living being, nor cause it to be killed, nor should one incite another to kill.
I am unable to find an academic source that estimates the number of deaths caused by religious wars in the last millennium, because the number increases daily. Religious wars are justified by those who follow as an interpretation of the texts. Yet when questioned why religions are still anti LGBTQ+, those statements within the same texts are non negotiable or interpretable.
The Triumph Of Christianity Over Paganism 1899 Gustave Doré
Intolerance of non believers, equality for women, the LGBTQ+ community preached within the worlds most followed religions is a conflict of interest in terms of the inclusivity we strive for at UAL. When asked “How can religion, race, gender & sexuality intersect” Bridget Crutchfield (2017) responded “Based on the holy books – they can’t” As staff, we must always respect students who are religious as this does not define them as a person, but I question what is UAL’s policy if a devotedly religious student was to be intolerant to another student based on one of these beliefs. Can we be truly inclusive if we punish a student for intolerance if it is preached within their holy book? Do we become intolerant of them in return? I have looked through UAL’s policies and procedures, UAL’s Tell Someone service, and have not found the answer. Thankfully this is an issue that I have not encountered yet, and hope never to, but as Mark Dean stated in his interview with SoN, 50% of UAL students identify as being religious and so guidance on this should be made clearer on this.
Eric Ndawula
As explained by Modood (2015 pg. 9) “While in general, young people are less likely to be religious than older people, amongst ethnic minorities, expressions of commitment by the young can be exceptionally high: more than a third of Indians and African Asians, and two-thirds of Pakistani and Bangladeshi 16-34 year-olds said that religion was very important to how they led their lives” we may encounter more students in the future who may struggle between their religious beliefs and acceptance of other students identities. This also made me question, with the 50 % of students who identify as religious, and religion on the rise with the youth, why is there no multi faith room at LCF’s new building in Stratford. Yes, there are 4 quiet rooms, but this is not close enough to accommodate potentially half the college. A dedicated room should have been in the foresight of the planners.
When reading Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education (2015) the heading “Secular states and public religions” resonated with me. I do not identify as an atheist, however I do agree that religion, schools and politics should be secular. It is my belief that everyone should be free to follow whatever religion they wish to, and worship when they need too. But as Modood points out in the chapter Changes in religious demography, the decline of religions as a whole in the UK census, is there a place for any religion to have a say in politics and school. Religion is a personal choice to follow, it should not be imposed on anyone in any aspect of life. It should be explored during religious education classes to help understand and teach tolerance and acceptance of different religions, but religious specific schools can be divisive. With religious schools having an enforced cap of how many religious students they can take versus non-religious to avoid discrimination, would it not be better to abolish religious schools all together? The problems that can arise if a religious school is the only option due to catchment areas for families, and they follow a different religion, what choice do they have? For centuries, religion as suppressed progression in subjects such as science. For me, religious specific schools create divides between religious people rather than encouraging multifaith environments and acceptance of each other.
When it comes to religion in higher education and UAL, we should support and allow students to practise their religion, to have the freedom to explore how their faith can inspire their creativity if they wish and foster an inclusive environment.
References
Shades of Noir (2017) ‘Interview with Bridgett Crutchfield’ Higher power: religion, faith, spirituality & belief. London: Shades of Noir. p.32-33. Available at
As a someone with a learning difference, I understand the importance of how difficult the world can be for those with seen and unseen disabilities. I understand that this may influence my opinion on this topic. The difficult experience I had through education influences the way I teach today and how I strive to be as inclusive as possible during my workshops.
Having Dyslexia, it has been very important to me to make my classes and resources accessible by all. After watching and reading the resources for this task, it made me question what else could I do to make this better and can I make my classes truly accessible by all? After watching the film by Christine Sum Kim (2012) I considered if I would have to change my technical workshops to accommodate students who may be deaf or visually impaired, something I have not yet experienced. The answer most certainly is yes, but the how is something that that would depend on those students’ individual needs and reasonable adjustments. When asked how I make my teaching inclusive during my job interview for the permanent position, I referred to the LCF technical resource pages I created during Covid. Step by step written instructions alongside diagrams, photos and videos of processes taught within my workshops, would allow students to choose which method suited them for them to learn. This works in an online environment, but not for face-to-face sessions. Is it fair for students with disabilities to have to look at these resources in advance of the class to have the same experience? I know myself that my own disability meant having to work longer and harder to achieve the same as everyone else, and it took a long time to come to peace with that.
The lack of empathy surrounding hidden disabilities explored by Barokka (Okka) (2017) is a subject close to home. My husband has often been confronted on public transport for sitting in a disabled seat while wearing his blue badge. So much, that he now refuses to wear it and will stand and suffer the pain rather than attempt to explain himself. Because of this, I do feel that I have a better understanding of how hard this can be for students who also share this. ISA’s are a great way to inform staff of any reasonable adjustments a student may need while keeping conditions confidential, however this is not always enough information for us to be inclusive. Our student’s model for each other and are often paired up by tutors especially in year one when they may not know each other well enough. We have had situations where students have then informed us that they have conditions such as Autistic Spectrum Disorder and do not like to be touched. This can be very hard for a student to do and an option to disclose conditions with the consent of the student could relieve them of having to do this themselves. A situation where students do not need to disclose any information at all would be the ideal, but reality is that to give students the best experience, adaptations need to be made.
Barokka (Okka) states that “Pain hides in plain sight” (2017) which is my biggest concern with students. I cannot recall how many times I have told them that their health is more important than their projects. There is far more help with the academic side of the courses, but very little with the practical. In my 6 years at the university, only one student had a practical support assistant and fought very hard to get it. I can say that in the same amount of time, at least 15 other students with ISA’s should have had the same level of support did not get it. The Access Support and Facilities Statement for Disabled Students at UAL (2021) document makes the process of getting support look easy. The reality is far difference which I have learned from my own experience. I was diagnosed with Dyslexia in 2007 and had my report to hand, yet it took 3 months from enrolling onto the PG cert get my ISA in place, (They forgot to send it) I had handed in the first unit before I received the specialist equipment from the Disabled student’s allowance and I have still not been able to set up my first one to one study skills session. It is all well printing or publishing on yellow paper, but when the actions written down are not being implemented, there are improvements to make.
Kim, C, S (2012), A Selby Film. Available at: https://vimeo.com/31083172 (Accessed: 8th May 2023)
Barokka, K.( 2017). Deaf-accessibility for spoonies: lessons from touring Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee while chronically ill. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22(3), pp.387-392. (Accessed: 8th May 2023)
It has been a journey this term. Returning to education myself after 14 years has been challenging whilst working full time. Being a student at UAL (again) has had its ups and downs. The face to face classes were engaging and enjoyable, but I do struggle to focus during the online classes. The politics of having to get an ISA and DSA 14 years after my dyslexia diagnoses has been traumatic (3 months and still no one to one support in place), and it is eye opening to see what my students go through. The first few weeks I really struggled. Terminology that I did not understand, yet everyone else seemed too. Keeping up with the reading due to my learning difference. I generally felt like I was always behind everyone else and struggled to understand let alone apply theories to my own practise. I felt like I wasn’t good enough to do this course and that I was not learning anything.
That was until this week.
I was asked to be on a panel for interviews this week for 2 new costume technician positions. During the interview and asking the questions, I suddenly felt an “ah ha!” moment. I found myself answering the questions in my head and wondering why the candidates were giving the answers they were instead of what I was thinking. I realised how similar my answers were during my own interview 2 years ago and how differently I would answer them now. “How do you measure the success of your teaching?” Easy, formative assessments, student feedback forms, questions and answers in classes about previous sessions. Although I have been doing most of these things in my classes, I didn’t realise just how significant these things we do are. “Arguably the most powerful enhancement to learning is feedback during learning”. Biggs and Tang (2011 p64)
I have gained more confidence in my teaching this term, thanks to being observed by a peer and tutor and the microteaching session. Gaining really lovely feedback has been such a positive experience. I consider myself a self-taught technician, having come from industry instead of education, and to hear feedback such as “You are a natural teacher” made me feel really proud of myself and the journey I’ve been on to get here. I love my job, and I love teaching these practical skills to these future costumiers and I can’t wait to continue developing my knowledge on how to do this better.
I may not be the best student and the reading and writing will remain a challenge for me. But I know I am a good technician and I finally feel like I can do this.
References
Biggs, J. and Tang, C., 2011. EBOOK: Teaching for Quality Learning at University. McGraw-hill education (UK). Accessed (12/03/23)
“Objects have the power to inspire, inform, excite and educate; they can be used to acquire subject specific knowledge as well as more generic transferable skills such as communication and teamwork.” (Chatterjee, 2011)
I have always enjoyed the use of objects and artefacts to engage and inspire students to learn through my teaching. Particularly in my practice, to be able to have costumes to show students a physical example of their learning outcomes. I teach technical workshops on how to create a boned bodice and I am lucky enough to own an original Victorian bodice myself. Every year I bring this into the class and allow students to touch and examine this garment (with gloves) so they can see how it was originally constructed by hand. This is usually the first time these students are exposed to a garment that is 150 years old, and the level of excitement is always high. The gasps and smiles are an indicator of how engaged they are, and a memorable event is made.
“The ‘wow’ of an item can create rich, important and fun learning.” (Hardie, 2015(
I ask students to compare the original garment to a costume remake to see how historically accurate we are, or are not and ask them to discuss why there may be these differences. Creating meaning and context of an original historical garments and that of costume remakes which have a different purpose. The aim of bringing this into my workshop is to create a fun, engaging and memorable event and help students to retain the practical part of the workshop.
“…Our aim was to explore innovative teaching approaches which would provide students with an alternative way of connecting with subject-related material. It was important to create a learning environment that invites participants’ subjectivities and lived experiences, and builds on the latter, helping them navigate the process of enquiry, thus leading to a deeper, meaningful learning experience. We were also keen to use an approach that had potential to ignite participants’ sense of exploration and curiosity, and reinforce the enjoyable nature of critical and creative thinking.” (Kukhareva, Lawrence, and Koulle, 2020)
Due to our location at Lime Grove, having access to the LCF archives and borrowing items for classes can be challenging. With the upcoming move to Stratford, I hope to include more original objects within my sessions. The impact of OBL on the students is clear to see through their engagement, enquiry and joy of seeing original artefacts.
Victorian Bodice
References
Chatterjee, H.J., 2011. Object-based learning in higher education: The pedagogical power of museums. Available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315596471-17/object-based-learning-powerful-pedagogy-higher-education-leonie-hannan-rosalind-duhs-helen-chatterjee [Accessed] 20/03/23
Hardie, K., 2015. Innovative pedagogies series: Wow: The power of objects in object-based learning and teaching. Higher Education Academy, pp.1-24. Available at https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.creode.advancehe-document-manager/documents/hea/private/kirsten_hardie_final_1568037367.pdf [Accessed] 20/03/23
Kukhareva, M., Lawrence, A. and Koulle, K., 2020. Layers of interaction: Object-based learning driving individual and collaborative active enquiry. Innovations in Active Learning in Higher Education.
After having a discussion about my previous blog post about employability of students, my line manager informed me that the university was changing its stance on this topic. She had attended meetings where employability was being discussed and said there is a new focus on this. Educational secretary Damian Hinds (2019) said “I want universities to be brave and ask themselves if they’re running courses that really help students gain the skills they need for the workforce of tomorrow – if they’re not they should improve them or end them. But if universities think other options like apprenticeships or technical education are a better fit for a student, they should give young people that advice rather than put them on a course that isn’t providing what they need for a bright future.” Just a few months later the Government released their “Rethink. Reskill. Reboot” poster campaign. One poster featured a Ballet dancer with the slogan “Fatima’s next job could be in cyber. (She just doesn’t know it yet) along with reports that funding to art courses that were deemed low value could have their funding cut by 50%.
HM Government Rethink. Reskill. Reboot advert.
After looking through UALs Creative Attributes framework and the 22/23 Strategy, it is clear this focus of employability has become a major focus, maybe due to the UK government making these statements. This is a positive change that I feel I can support to the fullest. We work so hard to teach skills and knowledge about our subjects areas and embed UALs core values within the curriculum. But it is our students who are the next generation that can make changes for the better. Be innovative, improve sustainability, champion climate justice. But for them to really make a change, they need to be employed in their creative industries to do this. The number of times I have been told in 5 years that we are here to get students a degree and not a career was demoralising. The next time I here this, I will say “our students will have the careers they want and go on to build a better world.” and I would like to be involved with the “Redesign our curriculum, in partnership with staff, students and external specialists, to improve vocational opportunities, and our graduates’ skills and employability.”Guiding policy 1 (2023)
I have unknowingly (until the PG cert) adopted a narrative pedagogical approach in my workshops. Telling relevant stories and experiences in industry in hopes to make the processes memorable and prepare students for industry practices. Getting them excited about the future careers that they will have and give them the skills and knowledge required to succeed in it.
References.
Hinds, D (2019) Education Secretary calls for an end to low value degrees. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/education-secretary-calls-for-an-end-to-low-value-degrees (Accessed 15/03/23)
Swain, M (2020) The government’s attitude to Fatima and the arts will put them on the wrong side of history– they just don’t know it yet. available at https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/cyberfirst-advert-rethink-reskill-reboot-fatimas-next-job-coronavirus-arts-b992467.html (Accessed 15/30/23)
University of the arts (2023) Our Strategy 2022-32 Guiding policy 1. available at https://www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/strategy-and-governance/strategy/guiding-policy-1 (Accessed 15/03/23)
It was raised during our discussion on 24th February 2023, if we
felt that the university were purposely being deceitful to potential students.
My belief is yes, and this is what I’m uncomfortable with. If the framework has
changed, and we are required to give the students the skills they need to pass
the course, rather than getting a job, then why not be more transparent and
open about this? Will students still apply if we focused more on the sense of
creative self-discovery rather than employability, at the cost of
£10,000-£20,000 a year?
Having studied the course I teach on; I can see how it has changed in 15
years. Specific skill-based classes have reduced significantly and been
replaced with units such as Better Lives which is a different subject entirely,
other unrelated workshops implemented only to fulfil unit briefs. Changes should
be made to make the courses better, but this doesn’t need to be at the cost of
employability. Why can we not be a university that promotes creative
exploration and personal growth as well as giving the students the skills
required to increase job certainty after graduation?
I understand we are not a trade school; we are a University, but do students
really know the difference? On the BA costume course, the 2022 NSS scores show
in the free text comments last year that there was a clear expectation to have
more skills by the end of the degree than they did. This was a big contribution
to our very low score and shows that the students have a lack of understanding
about what we deliver in terms of practical employable skills for industry.
A study by Trust for London (2019/2020) shows that Tower Hamlets is the poorest borough in London, with Newham coming in 3rd, Hackney and Waltham Forest only slightly further down the list. Tower Hamlets has 39% of the residents living in poverty with Newham close behind with 36%, with 49% of the boroughs children living in these conditions. This has made me question, why are we trying to recruit disadvantaged poverty-stricken youths to apply for a course that is not designed to help them gain a career, instead get them into debt? So they can find themselves? This may be an option for students who have come from a privileged background but not for many locals in East London. Of course, it is up to the student to decide why they are applying to study a degree at university. But I feel it is the universities responsibility to be transparent about what we are delivering. Browsing through the UAL website for prospective students, I found no mention of the purpose of studying being to “find yourself” or “explore your own creative practice”. However, I found countless references to “employment opportunities” “careers” and “industry” at every turn. Looking at one course that I work alongside, BA Hair, Make up and Prosthetics for performance as an example. The webpage for the course states in the title “BA (Hons) Hair, Make-up and Prosthetics for Performance teaches the specialist skills to enter the performance industry working as a make-up / prosthetics artist as well as hair / wig dresser and maker.” This clearly implies to prospective students that we are giving them the skills for a career, when in reality we are not. Most of the graduates are struggling to find work in industry due to skill gaps, skills that were once taught on the course but were removed.
Screen shot of LCF BA (hons) Hair, Make up and Prosthetics for performance course page.
Real life experience working together in a professional theatre, with a professional cast was removed several years ago and replaced with the Personal Performance Project. A unit where they now have twice as long, to produce half as much.
V4. Acknowledge the wider context in which higher education operates recognising the implications for professional practice
UKPSF 2023
V4. Respond to the wider context in which higher education operates, recognising implications for practice.
When looking at the UKPSF during our class on 24th February, I noticed one word missing in the V4 2023 update compared to the 2011 edition, “Professional”. This sparked an interesting conversation with my peers in two different situations. Many of us, myself included have been told countless times that our purpose is to get students a degree, not a career. The removal of “professional” from this part of the framework enforces this idea that degree’s are not for the purpose of making students employable, but to encourage students to learn for their own personal practice.
This got me thinking about LCF’s move to Stratford. Living in the area myself, I have seen several initiatives set up by LCF to integrate into the community. Fashion studios for locals in Leyton, outreach projects for schools in Newham, Waltham forest, Hackney and Tower Hamlets, open days at Stratford Circus and projects such as East summer school. All targeting young people aged 13-18 since 2018. These projects are welcomed in this area of East London, and I was proud that the college were encouraging young locals to become prospective students in time for the new campus opening in 2023. That was until seeing the change in framework.
When it came to the microteaching session, I wanted to give my peers some insight into the course I teach on as well as costume for performance and its importance, along with a new skill that is also great conversation starter, “hey, I learned to tie a bow tie!” As a technician, I teach practical skills to my students. This is something I find rewarding and so I wanted to do the same for my microteaching session. This is something that I do with my costume students during open access or supervised studio when I can see students feeling demotivated and starring into space. This usually happens around this time of year with 3rd years who start to get a mental block after working on their projects for several weeks. This is a skill that is incredibly useful for when they graduate and it can be a great stress reliever and a form of compassionate pedagogy. 10 minutes away from their work, learning a new skill, feeling more confident so they can return to their work more productive.
As I would usually teach students in smaller groups than the microteaching session and I had no dress stands for them to practise on, I had to change my usual delivery of this. I demoed with a bright red bow tie so it was easy for everyone to see and provided each peer 1 black bow tie along with a step by step diagram as a hand out. I decided to have my peers practise around their own legs (it is not advised to learn around someone’s neck), sitting either side of me to navigate the issue of line of sight. By sitting in a semi-circle, we could use peer to peer learning to reinforce their skills while creating a relaxed fun environment. I am passionate about inclusive learning and as the steps can be tricky, I asked everyone to follow each step one at a time until the bow tie was complete. By then repeating the process again, those that felt confident that they had remembered the steps could do it themselves, and those that struggled could follow me once again, to reinforce the learning. I did not need to encourage continuing practising while answering questions about the session, as everyone seemed very keen to do this themselves.
I really enjoyed delivering this session and in reflection I have been thinking what I could change to make it run better. I was not expecting an almost full group so I had only prepared for 6 peers, 3 either side to be able to see clearly. It was difficult for those who were seated furthest away to be able to see my demo clearly and relied more on the handout. Ensuring the group was no larger than 6 would prevent this issue from arising again.
I received positive feedback from the group and from the tutors. Many comments about the nature of the delivery being “engaging”, “relaxing” “fun” and “satisfying” and feeling “a sense of accomplishment” from learning a new skill while gaining insight into costume and why details can be important. This feedback is important to me as reinforces exactly why I do this microteach session with my students.
