Contextual Background
I am a Transition Tutor for BA Illustration, and focus my teaching on supporting students with progression aims. As a programme we constantly reflect on how the practice of illustration is evolving and encourage peer working to support this discussion in relation to potential progression routes for illustration students.
Evaluation
To support the diverse needs for our students and support their progression aims:
- 3rd year students attend a mandatory Concrete Future progression workshop. Students respond to tasks in the session interactively with tutors and through peer exchange. Engagement can be patchy depending on the student groups.
- Students are required to make notes and engage in group tasks to provide peer feedback. Again, engagement is varied with some students sticking to peer friendship groups and others less confident about conversing with students they don’t know.
- Students demonstrate individual progression aims in workshop outcomes in both their final units for summative assessment points. Not all students record these.
- 2nd year Students attend a year group workshop to support the development of their progression aims in year 3.
- Students are prepared for the next year’s units through interactive workshop and group tasks. There are varied amounts of engagement with interactive tasks depending on year group.
- Workshop outcomes are reviewed in their first year 3 tutorial through formative assessment.
Moving forwards
After reading Embracing the silence: introverted learning and the online classroom, I have reflected on how some students may feel more inclined to attend an online version of Concrete Future. Currently, all the sessions are studio based, however a number of students do not attend. Therefore an ‘in-person’ and interactive element may dissuade less confident students. Harris describes how the online space for teaching may be more beneficial for some, as this may ‘mitigate the anxiety which might arise in a deathly quiet, nowhere-to-escape, real-life classroom’ (Harris, 2022).
After reading ‘The Value of Silence in Schools‘ I also noted how supportive silent, reflective moments were for students in the micro-teaching session, which allowed time to generate ideas and promote confidence in sharing them.
To take these ideas forward I will:
- Add additional online sessions of Concrete Futures to engage with students who may find a less distracting and quiet space a more beneficial working environment.
- Allow more quiet/silent reflection points between staff and interactive peer tasks in the workshops to enable students to process the session without having to perform in front of others.
- Develop strategies for peer feedback alongside verbal communication such as writing anonymous notes to relieve the pressure of commenting in peer situations.
Reflection:
I have introduced more silent reflection points for students in group tasks before encouraging discussion. This has mostly proved effective and students have been interacting with more confidence.
Asking students to provide written feedback alongside verbal comments was effective however less confidence was demonstrated. This highlighted that students with English as a second language may not find this a comfortable exercise, so considering how to make this more inclusive will be a strategy moving forward.
‘Offering opportunities for students to sit without distraction helps them absorb content and remember it and think about additional questions.’ (Weeks, 2018)
I want to continue to reflect on the above quote and create situations within my teaching practice for students to have time and space to engage more deeply with workshop content.
With further reading of Digital Pedagogies Open Studio’: disruptions, interventions and techno-empathy and Home sweet home: achieving belonging and engagement in online learning spaces, I hope will develop deeper insight into how to incorporate an online space for learning within Concrete Futures with focus on how to simultaneously connect students in this virtual environment.
‘Successful virtual environments are spaces where students feel a shared sense of connection and ownership. But it’s often what we do in a space that connects us to it‘ (Leewis, 2022).