Contextual Background
For this case study, I am going to focus on how gather and communicate the contextual reference points that I offer to students and how I prepare for running short courses. I am going to consider how I deal with uncertainty as tutor and how I can change my relationship to it.
Evaluation
My experience as an HPL has been really rewarding and I feel that I have a good connection and understanding with my students. I feel confident working in my role as a Tutor on the Camberwell Foundation course.
However a short course tutor I feel less confident and more anxious. This is in part the added pressure of being the only teacher on the course and also the multitudes of uncertainties that come with short courses. One of the difficulties I find is the uncertainty around what the level and knowledge of students on the course will be.
I find this unknowable makes it hard for me to plan the level at which I offer my contextual references e.g. for an abstract painting course, do I offer up Mark Rothko or Thomas Nozkowski?
In many ways for me this is a question about accessibility and engagement. It is also a task for my self, to work on being okay with uncertainty in my teaching practice and to be able to be relaxed enough and trust in myself to adjust, in the moment, my teaching and contextual sources according to the levels of my students.
Moving Forwards
PowerPoint presentations: language used and visuals
I often use PowerPoint as a resource for my short courses to offer up an overview and context of artists working in a particular field. These PowerPoints include images of the artist, basic facts about the artists, images of the artists’ work, and writing on what the artist is doing with their work that I think is relevant to the course and of interest to the students.
I think I often over prepare for the short courses and try to load too much information into these presentations. This is through a combination of wanting to feel confident in what I am offering and to try and control the uncertainty I feel running a course. I think it is also important to give space and time for students to sit with something, for it to gestate and for the students to begin to internalise their learning: I guess you could call it thinking space, as Dana Weeks says:
“Offering opportunities for students to sit without distraction helps them absorb content and remember it and think about additional questions. They can process the feelings and ideas expressed by their peers and consider the importance of other perspectives.” (Weeks, 2018)1
I would like to build in more time for students on the short courses that I run to have space between receiving information and making. A space for thinking and pondering. This space as Alerby and Elídóttir say: “it is in the silent reflection that our thoughts take shape and make the experience into learning”2 (2003, p.46, cited in Fox-Eades, 2015).
On a more basic and practical/less holistic level, I often refer to art movements and particular terminology which is specific to the field of painting or art. Going forwards, I will make a conscious effort to always explain any terminology verbally, practically (through making/technical demonstration) if necessary and to also offer out a printed glossary of terms that are used.
Demonstrations of technical skills
I think there is also the potential for students to be intimidated by some of the work they see in these PowerPoints. I have recently experimented by offering more practical demonstrations on how to handle/use paint to get certain effects.
Whilst I may have felt self-conscious and unsure of myself whilst performing these demonstrations, I think it was useful for students to see this and to de-mystify the act of making and perhaps break down some barriers in place with the teacher/student dynamic.
Going forward, I will offer more practical demonstrations of how to use different painting techniques e.g. impasto, transparency, opacity, pouring, flicking etc. And to continue to always encourage students to test out different ways of mark making and to not worry about the outcome.
My own experience as a learner and maker
I think my own experience as a maker has shown me that when I make my “best” work, I am not thinking about the outcome, instead I am invested in my connections with the materials that I am using.
I hope to create space for students to feel free from their own self judgement and any outside criticality and to feel able to create and investigate their own, individual ways of making and languaging their inner worlds. Weeks states:
“Listening without anticipating and articulating an immediate response provides space for understanding ideas, perspectives, and experiences that may differ from one’s own. In this way, deep listening and silent reflection can help eliminate fear, bridge perceived divisions between individuals, and serve to support conflict resolution.” (Weeks, 2018)
I think making more space for contemplation will allow students to feel less pressure to perform, to promote a less call and response situation. There will be less of a demand to show that they are attentive learners, which may allow students more time for introspection or gestation – of journeying through ideas in their own, internal worlds. This should then lead to greater personal engagement and self-directed learning with will lead to my main teaching goal: to enable life long learning for students.
References
Weeks, D. (2018) ‘The value of silence in schools’. Available at: https://www.edutopia.org/article/value-silence-schools/
(Accessed: 28 February 2024).
Fox Eades, J. (2015) ‘Silence and stillness in the classroom’. Available at: https://jennyfoxeades.com/2015/02/12/silence-and-stillness-in-the-classroom/
(Accessed: 28 February 2024)