To prepare for the Micro-teaching sessions I watched Judy Willcocks video on Object-Based Learning in the Modern Art School Curriculum. I found a sentiment that had great impact on the significance of OBL and resonated with my own understanding of what this means. Judy references Scott G Paris who coined the phrase Object-Centered Learning to address objects engagement in museum setting. She explained his perspective on this as the following:
“The meaning of an object is not held within the object itself, rather a transaction between the object and the learner allows a space for meaning construction.”
(Willcocks quoting SG Paris, 2019)
I used this as a focus for my micro-teaching session plan, with the aim of allowing room for the students to take on their own meaning from the objects presented, with no introductory contextualisation given. As an Illustration tutor, the importance of narratives and how these can be explored from different perspectives is a focus of my teaching. In the session I aimed for the students to read the objects like they were detectives, looking at them from multiple angles to investigate what they could be. The objects would be able to give back to the observer in a way that echoes Paris’ idea on ‘transaction’, by revealing clues within its appearance. For example, the wooden darning egg that I presented was scoured for marks that gave indications on its use, such as the pin pricks in its surface and the initials scratched with pen. This reinforced my aim for students to construct meaning in through narratives surrounding the object. They also approached the deciphering of the darning egg to suggest it might be an artist tool or guide that could be used as a measurement for accurate drawing. I loved how the meaning was attributed in a way that offered some kind of help or reference to whoever used it and that within the session all students seemed to be keen to identify further opportunities for learning tools. The wooden house presented as a second object was approached in a similar way, but instead it’s use was suggested for a younger audience as a toy.
This idea on the Model of Personal Reflective Space from David Clutterbuck mentioned in the The Critically Reflective Practitioner also resonated with what I learnt from delivering my session and I will continue to reflect on this within my teaching practice. Providing both personal and group space for the students to reflect during the micro-teaching session encouraged problem solving and dynamic group discussion. Further reading of this can be found in his article Learning Alliances: Tapping into Talent’ from the Journal of Communication Management.
“An important factor here is the creation of reflective space – time to focus on thinking, understanding and learning instead of doing. Reflective space is important at three levels: personal (quiet thinking time on one’s own); dyadic (one-to-one); and as a group or team.”
(Clutterbuck, 2019)