Last Blog
It’s been a little puzzling – the consistent message that the pg cert is expecting a different voice, a real voice and though referencing is encouraged, heavy leaning on academia is discouraged.
Do I trust this message?
It’s like being told you can wear shorts to a wedding and when you show up, everyone else is in black tie.
I teach academic writing conventions nearly every day of the week all through the year, so my students can hit their assessment criteria. The new voice, and the focus on decolonising the curriculum is refreshing. It’s been challenging and disconcerting to be asked to explore a slightly different medium or voice. I actually enjoy this writing and have found some relaxation in it, and it makes me feel more centred.
Though it’s true that I have enjoyed the reflective nature of the course writing, I’ve not enjoyed the anxiety that I’m not really striking the right balance in my discussions on relationships between practice and theory. Anxiety over not presenting any theoretical analysis. Anxiety over that last sentence being only a phrase as it is missing a subject, just like this one.
I guess one round of grading at the summative stage leaves me a little in the dark, as I produce one piece of text after another. Formative feedback on micro teaching was excellent though, as was the relatively last-minute feedback of teaching observations.
It was also disconcerting that I work for the UAL disability department, declared my disability at every stage of the enrolment process and induction and didn’t really hear anything from anybody. I guess that’s the procedure in the system? It’s been insightful to be on the other foot, the learner and not the teacher, the disabled and not the disability support role.
Finally, this unit has made consider that I should engage more with the students’ creative practices, if not possible in tutorials as their focus takes priority (the essay!), maybe something like with productions or visiting workshops, getting around campus a bit more, seeing more once I can. I enjoyed the participation on the workflow using images and art and would like to do more of that kind of thing too.