Tag: 4posts

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)

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%.

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)

UKPSF 2011

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 24^th 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.

To be continued at https://sarahmasters.myblog-staging.arts.ac.uk/2023/03/15/uk-professional-standards-framework-and-employability-blog-2/

References

Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in
higher education 2011 https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/ukpsf-2011-summary-document
Accessed 5/03/23

Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in
higher education 2023 https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/teaching-and-learning/psf#psf2023
Accessed 5/03/23

Cross program event 1th January.

“You walk into a classroom and everything looks the same. All of the furniture — the desks, tables and chairs — is of a uniform style. Maybe there are student desks arranged in neat rows, or maybe there are tables clustered together in groups of four. Regardless of the layout, it doesn’t matter where you plop down: Every seat is exactly alike.

Or, you walk into the room and see a variety of seating types. There are tables arranged in groups of three or four, but also soft seating options. There are traditional plastic chairs, but also stools that swivel or rock.

If you’re a student, which scenario would get you more fired up to learn? Which classroom environment is more likely to unleash students’ creativity and individualism? Which one sends a subtle message that independent thought and activity are discouraged?” Lock 2020

I had never given much thought to the furniture within a classroom, and how this can impact a students learning. During James Corazzo’s talk about pedagogic research, I did think back to a former MA costume student who looked at why people choose the sofa’s they do. She pointed out that so many TV sitcoms have a sofa as a major focus within the shows. Friends, The Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, Fraser, How I met your Mother, the list goes on. Why is the sofa so important? This is the focus of comfort within your home that you share with the family and people who come to visit. Th choice of the sofa we choose inside our homes reflect who we are, what our personality is. We make this decision, not only for ourselves, but also based on how we also want to be perceived by guests that visit us. This is not a private piece of furniture, but one that we invite others to sit on and feel comfortable within our homes. This is what gives us insight to characters in all these T.V shows, its where the most important dialogue takes place. This subconscious association with comfort is what allows students and staff to feel more relaxed whilst on a sofa within a learning environment.

‘At the risk of sounding sedentary, I spend most of my teaching day in this zone [sofa]. I’ve never in any previous studio had “official sofas” … There’s something where its therapeutic and that whole language of couch. People seem to talk easier, they come over, they sit down, the feel comfortable. Things are passed between, laptops are passed across, student might show you something and you put it on your knee.’ Tutor 2

It makes me wonder why I have not seen more comfortable learning spaces within the site I work at? (LCF Lime Grove)

References

Lock, D. 2020. 4 Reasons to Build Choice into Classroom Design — and How to Make It Work for Students Available at https://spaces4learning.com/articles/2020/04/01/4-reasons-to-build-choice-into-classroom-design-and-how-to-make-it-work-for-students.aspx Accessed 5/2/23.

Tutor 2. 2023. Part of the Furniture UAL available at https://moodle.arts.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/1494137/mod_label/intro/PRES_Part%20of%20the%20Furniture%20UAL.pdf Accessed 5/2/23

Malenfant, M 2020. Couch available at https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/london-college-of-fashion/stories/lcfma19-costume-design-for-performance-part-one Accessed 5/2/23.