Farrell (2001) helpfully defines critical friendship as ‘friends as people who collaborate in a way that encourages discussion and reflection in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning’.
The emphasis with Farrell’s definition on improving the quality of teaching highlights the focus of critical friendship and the micro teaching event certainly demonstrated the group’s focus on assessing the value of each session, as well as excitement around opportunities to improve each one.
Collaboration increasingly receives due attention for its contribution to effective teamwork. The British Council (2022) cite having open communication lines as an essential component for its effectiveness, and I think the micro teaching sessions really did provide authentic communication lines in its turn taking, positive feedback with sincere acknowledgement on each participant’s contribution and with genuine attention to what could be done to improve the quality of teaching for each.
No.1 Shahpar
An excellently planned and considered presentation that aimed to reach its audience through diverse activities, student participation, vibrant visuals, and relevant theory. The interactions were engaging and enjoyable. The amount prepared far exceeded a 20-minute slot, but I believe it’s better to overprepare than under prepare.
Points to consider moving forward would be for Shahpar to develop a more measured pace of delivery and this will come with experience, as Shahpar becomes practised with a range of audiences. Listeners need time to listen and digest material, but it is nerve wracking for a tutor who is presenting and wondering if the students just need time for the material to sink in, or worst case scenario! They aren’t comprehending the material.
No.2 Lana
This provocative micro teaching session dared to ask uncomfortable questions about media and its underlying intents upon its audience drawing upon a relevant image and challenged the advertising corporation’s manipulation of the audience’s emotions for its profits. This was an exciting venture in mico teaching that was refreshing, contemporarily thought provoking in its presentation. Lana draws upon Hook’s reference to people from limited economic positions feeling pressured to purchase companies’ merchandise which seems deliberately costed out just of their reach, but nonetheless, make sacrifices and compromises in order to dress themselves or their children in coveted brands. Ken Loach’s (2019) recent film ‘Sorry we missed you’ has a brilliant reference to this condition, interestingly from the teenage son’s point of view, so Hooks isn’t the only person to recognise the twisted capitalistic cultural squeeze on families’ budgets – we are all in good company.
Moreover, Lana’s chairing of the questions and dialogue was carefully balanced as Lana gave plenty of room for people to respond in different directions, and this is important, Lana made participants feel their range of contributions were valuable in their varied focuses. In taking the initiative to create open forums on the topics around the presentation, Lana will have to continue to draw upon her strong facilitator’s skills to support constructive participation in these important dialogues around race, gender and economic disparity.
No.3 Luke
This was a polished and clear presentation on the topic of lighting and gave another perspective on object analysis that I enjoyed for its focus on the very physicality of an object’s lighting, and how features of lighting can contribute to meaning and messages.
I enjoyed learning about the power of the light’s angles upon objects/people on the stage to tell a story just with a particular angle, the moods or tensions that could be evoked. In the story telling of a light’s angle, the quality and construction of the light is constructing meaning around the object lit up. This is an example of how through light design we can socially construct meaning with deliberate attention to how we choose to frame or display an object on stage in subtle or explicit ways.
My critical friendship comments are, perhaps in the micro teaching, Luke could consider asking how the students/group feel about the different effects of the lighting a bit more throughout the presentation? Though I had to leave a little early to teach and may have missed this.
No 4 Hunter
Good ice breaker and acknowledgement of the relationship between oxygen and human attention, as we were encouraged to stretch and move around. Hunter paid excellent attention to sensitive content, and forewarned his audience of his material, as well as provided an overview on his lesson. Learners like to know where there learning journey is going. Also, putting things into your own words is excellent advice as this transforms knowledge into our own.
References to mentioning climate emergency were relevant and appreciated as recognition of this emergency has been painfully slow. Recently the guardian reported in the context of classroom school teaching that the DFE has advised, ‘In teaching of scientific facts around climate change, teachers are told they should not provide balance in the form of misinformation or unsubstantiated claims.’ Adams (2022), writing for the guardian continues, citing the DFE, “where teaching covers the potential solutions for tackling climate change, this may constitute a political issue”. I don’t think we can afford to be shy in referencing the climate dialogue in our teaching.
I enjoyed the personalisation of Hunter’s first smart phone as examples of real or personal experiences can bring the learning alive. I absolutely loved the discussion of our changing emotions to our phones in the context of new replacing the old. It highlights human consumption behaviour, signifying that mass consumption is a two-way street and that corporations are not the only guilty party, but shoppers too are accountable for perpetuating the cycle of ‘use and throw away’.
I agree with Hunter that break out groups are worthwhile as that frees up articulation of the content in another way. I only wish I had figured out how to do that myself.
Here comes the friendly critique! I would have liked to have lingered a bit over the second to last slide of the disagreeable men. They were criticised for negative reasons but I didn’t really get a glimpse of them or their publications/theories, so I am excluded from judging the ideologies.
Farrell’s (2001) recommended article to support learning within this micro teaching session highlights some challenges to critical friendship, one of which is the practitioner’s readiness for reflection. To engage in critical friendship requires efforts to listen to critique and take time to digest it – and resist the urge to defend your position. It can be uncomfortable, but we should never be too comfortable in our teaching as this means we lose opportunities to develop.
Finally, the Open University’s (2021) recent research report on optimal learning conditions, highlights how ‘we need to focus on when an individual is experiencing higher-than-average feelings of interest, skill and challenge during a specific task and in relation to feelings such as happiness, enjoyment, confidence and a lack of boredom or confusion’ and I felt the micro teaching participants in general came across with feelings of interest, of being challenged by the brief as well as employing Farrell’s (2001) friendly collaboration.
Costa and Kallick (1993) emphasise that the critical friend, because they are trusted and good listeners, take the effort to question practice in order for the teacher to envision constructive development and move on, much the same many reflective theorists advise in their models (Gibbs, 1988; Schon, 1999).
References
Adams, R. (2022) Guidance on Political Impartiality in English Classrooms Confusing Sys Teachers Unions. In the guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/feb/17/guidance-on-political-impartiality-in-english-classrooms-confusing-say-teachers-unions [accessed March 3, 2022]
British Council (2022) Effective Collaboration. Available at: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/business-english/business-magazine/effective-collaboration [accessed 13.02.22]
Costa, A.L., Kallick, C. (1993) Through the Lens of a Critical Friend. Available at: https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/through-the-lens-of-a-critical-friend [accessed 09.02.22]
Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by Doing, A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods Available at: https://thoughtsmostlyaboutlearning.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/learning-by-doing-graham-gibbs.pdf [accessed 05.03.2022]
Farrell, T., (2001) Critical friendships: colleagues helping each other develop, ELT Journal, Volume 55, Issue 4, October 2001, Pages 368–374, https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/55.4.368
Loach, K. (2019) Sorry We Missed You. Film.
Open University (2021) Innovating Pedagogy. Exploring new forms of teaching, learning and assessment, to guide educators and policy makers Available at: https://ou-iet.cdn.prismic.io/ou-iet/4e498b2d-4ed4-4991-ae20-e1e0f5975cfd_innovating-pedagogy-2021.pdf [accessed 13.02.2022]
Schon, D. (1999) The Reflective Practitioner.