PGCert Investigation

This was another set of interesting workshops where we talked about learning outcomes and assessment criteria. There were some intense and productive conversations around the challenges that we come across and how we can support students when a lot of the times the learning outcomes can be too open for interpretation. Whereas, assessment criteria can too ambiguous or complicated without reflecting the learning happening in the class.

I haven’t done a lot of assessing and marking work but feedback exchange is a big part of my teaching. When you’re trying to support your students and give productive and structure feedback, it can be challenging to map them with the outcomes and criteria as well as confusing!

Davies mentions how it needs to be a holistic approach to evaluate student work that goes beyond the standard measures of assessment and allows space intricacy of the creative learning process (Davies, 2012) which we have been embracing more currently.

On of the activities that I enjoyed was the ‘Aphorisms’ where we had to guess and figure out more details about them like in which era each aphorism belong to. In my team we decided to categorise them based on the themes and how well they were related to each other which was a great team building exercise!

We also mapped challenges and opportunities that came across our teaching process and some of the common themes were around engagement and building a community which was encouraging to see a lot of us are dealing with similar challenges and had the opportunity to share practices that have helped.

References

Davies, A. (2012) ‘Learning outcomes and assessment criteria in art and design. What’s the recurring problem?’ Networks (18) Available at: http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/networks/issue-18-july-2012/learning-outcomes-and-assessment-criteria-in-art-and-design.-whats-the-recurring-problem (Accessed: 10 March 2024) 

Aesthetic Learning About, In, With and Through the Arts: A Curriculum Study by Lars Lindström

That was really interesting reading and it put things that I already do as part of my practice in context so I can I understand which things I need to work on and incorporate more in teaching but also learning.

 Lindstrom talks about the different ways and approaches of aesthetic learning and outlining four distinct modes of learning: learning about, in, with and through the arts (Lindstrom 2012).

These four modes of learning are looking into developing research skills and contextual awareness, experimenting with different techniques, materials, concepts and approaches, critical thinking skills and how art has impacted other areas like history or culture. Lindstrom also mentions how students should also be able to develop life skill such as collaboration and problem solving (Lindstrom 2012).

I relate a lot with Lindstrom views on the four modes of learning and how important they were when I was studying photography as well as now as a teacher. I deliver a lot of portfolio advice sessions as well as 1-1 feedback on portfolios for students wishing to create work in order to apply for university.  Lindstrom mentions how the form of portfolio of work is relevant across all modes of learning but focuses a lot on “learning in” the arts (Lindstrom 2012). I focus a lot on the idea development and experimentation part of the project as you can all the different stages and how the outcome developed, an insight to the students journey.

Learning outcomes and assessment criteria in art and design. What’s the recurring problem? by Allan Davies

Davies, critically explores the complicated process of creating learning outcomes within the art and design education.

This is a really interesting read as Davies reflection is based on a project funded by the Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN) which aimed to support art and design educators in developing learning outcomes and assessment criteria.

The main points that I took from Davies reflection:

There are challenges in articulating learning outcomes in art design. How to you measure creativity, imagination and intuition when they are really important part of the process. Davies talks about the need to adapt learning outcomes based on the exploratory and dynamic nature of art and design and the importance of mapping LO’s with assessment criteria (Davies, 2012). 

Ensuring that the students understand what is expected of them and support and communicate with them through the learning process and accommodate for the different needs of creative disciplines. 

Finally, to embrace the complexity of the creative learning processes and accommodate for the different needs of creative disciplines. 

References

Davies, A. (2012) ‘Learning outcomes and assessment criteria in art and design. What’s the recurring problem?’ Networks (18) Available at: http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/networks/issue-18-july-2012/learning-outcomes-and-assessment-criteria-in-art-and-design.-whats-the-recurring-problem (Accessed: 10 March 2024) 

Lindström, L. (2012),  Aesthetic Learning About, In, With and Through the Arts: A Curriculum Study, Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1476-8070.2012.01737.x (Accessed: 10 February)

I really enjoyed the first two workshops and they were great introduction to the course and of course meeting all my peers.

We started talking about equal participation and what it means. Through the conversations we started seeing that there are a few themes that were coming up like inclusivity and engagement. I realise that a lot of us were dealing with similar changes and one of the main one was engagement and how to support your students for a better learning experience; creating a safe space for them to express their creativity which led really well to another discussion around social justice.

What is social justice and how does it become part of teaching and learning? It was a really interesting conversation trying to define social justice and purpose and what it means to each one of us; we’re talking about equity, accessibility, active listening and creating safe spaces. We came into conclusion that this is not something that you can read about it and then move on; it’s lifelong journey that needs to be part of our teaching practice and students learning experience that it will then becoming part of their practice and mindset.

Creating safe spaces are really important for me; an environment where students can freely express themselves without fear of being judged or discriminated against for who they are. This is something that I would like to explore and learn more in order to expand my knowledge around it as part of this lifelong journey mentioned above; but also to be able to pass it on to the students and become their own journey.

Signature Pedagogies in Art & Design – Chapter 6: Teaching practices for creative practitioners, Orr & Shreeve

It was a really informative reading and reflected my own teaching practice, opportunities and challenges. It’s really interesting to see things that you have been doing to be put into context. 

On Chapter 6 investigates the concept of signature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005, cited in Orr and Shreeve, 2017), focusing on their application in creative arts disciplines within the university environment. The main purpose of these pedagogies is to prepare students for real-world situations such as creative industries and are unique to different professions and disciplines.

One of the pedagogies mentioned in the chapter that relates to my teaching practice is the studio. It mentions how it is more than just a physical space; it is a mindset (Fiona Peterson personal communication, 2015, cited in Orr and Shreeve, 2017). I really like that idea as I think studio pedagogy is so important for the students learning and experience in a collaborative environment. ‘Ideally the studio is an active, busy and social place where learning is visible and open to discussion through active participation’ (Orr and Shreeve, 2017).

One of the things that I like to try more as part of my teaching practice and as part of the studio pedagogy is the dialogic exchange (Orr and Shreeve, 2017); the discussion and knowledge exchange between students which I have been struggling to incorporate in my sessions as they tend to stay in their groups or work independently. When I was a student that kind of exchange and collaboration really helped me to understand my practice but also support my research, though process and experimentation.  I will be exploring these challenges and opportunities further through the case studies.

On the spectrum within art and design academic practice by Luca M. Diamani’

The above reading that I chose talks about being a neurodivergent artist and academic and the role of art and design practice within neurodiversity (Diamani, 2018). It’s a reflective piece which I could relate as a neurodivergent myself. It was interesting to see the different approach and open a discussion about the different types of thinking and learning within the art and design practice; ‘art and design, at all levels of academic practice, can explore the potential of inclusive creative thinking on neurodiversity’ (Damiani, 2018)

References

Damiani, L.M. (2018), On the Spectrum within Art and Design Academic Practice, Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal, Vol 3 (Issue 1) pp. 16-25

Orr, S. & Shreeve, A. (2017), ‘Teaching practices for creative practitioners’ in Art and Design Pedagogy in Higher Education: Knowledge, Values and Ambiguity in the Creative Curriculum, Taylor & Francis Group, Milton. Available from :ProQuest Ebook Central. [25 January 2024]