Contextual Background
In the last year, being able to consistently plan for improvement in the effectiveness of my teaching practice hasn’t always been easy. This is because a lot of my technician role involves being physically available for students, and the demand has increased since we moved to the Stratford campus. There are times when I am not actually available to support students, and so I sit in the studio space away from others. However, this still makes me visible to students and I get interrupted.
My role involves supporting academics, checking hardware and software are working, planning workshops and student resources, which I find gives little time to reflect and plan effectively. As we work with multiple courses with various submission dates, sometimes we offer additional supervised studio sessions. This also takes time away from planning, and sometimes means I have to plan workshops outside of working hours.
I recognise the need to be more disciplined when supporting students, as I tend to take extra time to support them, which eats into my planning time. I understand that without proper planning, I cannot effectively refine my teaching methodologies, or ensure learning outcomes are clear and match up against the curriculum standards.
Evaluation
To combat these issues, I often try to go to a quiet space and use any spare time I have to improve my teaching practice. Upon reflection, this is not always successful as we no longer have private offices in our studio spaces, and therefore I can be easily interrupted by students and staff.
Also, should an urgent hardware or software issue arise, this pulls me away from planning which reduces my ability to improve my teaching methods.
When there is more than one technician available on site, sometimes we allocate one technician to catch up on admin tasks and planning. This sometimes works, unless the work demands are too much for a single technician.
During quieter periods, usually Saturdays, I am able to plan better and reflect on my teaching methods. I then try to pull it all together between Monday to Friday when I get a chance.
I have also tried to block out time in my diary, but if there are urgent technical issues, outside of my control, then I have to attend to them.
Moving forwards
To reduce interruptions, I will explore moving to another location in the building or a different floor where I am not visible to students. I will also discuss with my line manager, whether I can have an allocated day once a fortnight, to visit another UAL site with a library, to plan more effectively. I will also discuss with them whether we can introduce hybrid working and allocate a day to work from home if I can’t visit those other sites.
I will seek to continue to improve my knowledge and skills. For example, one of the reasons I am on the PgCert course is to formally learn about how to improve my teaching practice methods.
I will also look into short courses, as I would be interested in a refresher course on pattern cutting knowledge. Any areas to strengthen my knowledge will ultimately help me improve my teaching practice.
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” This thought-provoking quote by Benjamin Franklin inspired me to think about how I can effectively move forward when planning and teaching. I then searched for theories to develop a framework and structure that aligns with my teaching practice.
References
Christie, F. (1993) The Powers of Literacy (RLE Edu I): Curriculum Genres: Planning for Effective Teaching. 1st Edn.,Routledge. Available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203149812-8/curriculum-genres-planning-effective-teaching-frances-christie (Accessed:3 April 2024).
Grant,L.,Hindman,J. & Stronge,J.(2010) Planning, Instruction, and Assessment: Effective Teaching Practices. 1st edn. New York: Routledge.