Tag: Blog post

Reflections following the interrogating spaces podcast, ‘compassionate feedback,’

This podcast was really insightful in compassion, not only focused on assessment, but within the learning environment as a whole. I believe that compassion is key to building trust with students. The discussion within this podcast really reflected this and made me think of ‘Teaching to Transgress, Bell Hooks,’ a book that has deeply affected and inspired my teaching practice.

The idea of compassion as a collaborative rather than individual process was discussed within the podcast and the notion that it should extend to all members of the learning community, staff and students alike. This helps to embed it as a philosophy within the University environment and to be seen as the ‘norm’. Liz Bunting refers to theorist ‘‘Youssef Wikid, who writes about how teachers can show compassion when they endeavor to see things from the students perspective.’ I believe that this should also extend to technicians and staff members alike which would help all to internalize these practices.

A key principle to this would be the use of non-violent communication (NVC), ‘Nonviolent Communication is a way of being in the world that has the purpose is to serve life and to create connection in such a way that everyone’s needs can be met through natural care.’ [Center for Nonviolent Communication: 09/03.24]. Importantly, within the University setting it’s acknowledging that as a tutor it’s important to be mindful of the language that we use, as well as our body language and intonations of our voice, as all of these can be signals to students about how well their work is being received. Dr Anna Troisi refers to NVC as the point being able to connect to one another in a more conscious way and goes on to say that, ‘ it is more a sort of ongoing reminder to keep our attention really focused on giving from the heart, and at the same time experiencing fully the joy that comes from reaching another person’s life. And to arrive to a mutual desire to communicate with compassion.’

Within the context of assessment, it’s a reminder that as educators we are required to simply evaluate the work by observing what we see in front of us and then make a helpful suggestion as to how the student could improve it. Steering away from emotive language that conveys excitement, negativity or other emotions, such as ‘excellent’ and ‘unfortunately’ as this could be perceived by the students as a judgement on their work or performance, relating to the taste of the tutor. An impact of which could be that the student creates work that they feel the tutor would like rather than what would be personally interesting or beneficial to them and their goals.

Holding space in critique and involving students in that process, encouraging students to share helpful feedback rather than saying something is ‘nice’ or ‘good, and also ensuring that each student gets equal opportunity and time for feedback, is essential to the act of compassion within the classroom. Reminiscent of my learnings from Hooks, ‘As a classroom community, our capacity to generate excitement is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognizing one another’s presence’ and that ‘education is the practice of freedom.'[Hooks, 1994]

When reading the article, ‘Belonging through assessment, pipelines to compassion‘ [Hill et al. (2023)] I was particularly drawn to the chapter on ‘trauma informed policies’: page 67-70 and especially in the context of being a first-year tutor. Although focused on assessment specifically, I was interested in viewing the article as a suggestive piece on how to approach student centered learning embedded with holistic well-being and the importance of a trusting relationship between student and tutor, particularly in the first-year of HE (higher education) as for many students not only are they embarking on a new way of working and learning, but they are often living away from home for the first time, sometimes in an entirely new country, having to learn basic ‘survival’ skills such as cooking/shopping/washing for themselves, paying rent and bills, and living off a budget – some even find themselves in their first part-time job. All of this can be quite hard for them to manage and can impact on their overall happiness and ease in settling into a new environment, causing additional stress and anxiety.

The issues outlined above triggered me to think about Maslow’s theory [Maslow, 1943] and the hierarchy of needs which explores the notion of hierarchal needs and the disruption to life in the sense of satisfaction and fulfilment if those needs are not met. Please see diagram below.

For example: If a student was to have a delay in accessing their student loan and therefore couldn’t afford to pay their rent or buy food, this would mean that their ‘physiological’ and ‘safety’ needs were not being met, which would impact in turn on their ‘love and belonging’, ‘esteem’, and ‘self-actualization’ needs. In the context of university study this might mean that they don’t feel a sense of connection with their class mates or tutors, that they become withdrawn and unable to focus on their studies, their self-esteem might fall resulting in them feeling as though they are not good at their subject (which in design education can be rife because design and product creation is such an extension of the self, sometimes leading to feelings of vulnerability anyway). All of which can impact on their ability to self-actualize and become the very best they can be with regards to their studies as well as in their overall development into adulthood.

Based on the aforementioned article, specifically the chapter ‘trauma informed policies’. I believe that as an educator, it’s really important to build up a trusting relationship with students as well as being present and able to talk, to help to ‘mitigate the destructive nature of trauma’ (in the context of basic needs not being met). In the instance of them not feeling ‘safe’ this trusting relationship would help them to feel supported, held and able to discuss issues, which would help the member of staff / tutor to signpost students to mechanisms and support systems that can guide them.

Ultimately, for a student to thrive and succeed in becoming who they are destined to be, not only do their basic needs need to be met, but they need to feel safe in confiding in their tutors should problems arise leading to instability within their lives. If this is not the case then they may leave the HE system, or their overall results may be impacted, which could affect their viewpoint of themselves/ mental health and well being longer term.

Further references: A video explanation of Maslows hierarchy of needs:

Two things have recently happened to challenge the way I approach and think about assessment, in this article I’m going to review the following article ‘assessment patterns [M.Russell, 2010] in relation to Footwear and thoughts on changes that could be made to the current model of assessment.

This article challenges the typical way that assessment is conducted on arts courses in HE and I could see much similarities with the way that we conduct assessment on LCF, Cordwainers Footwear.

See figure 1 and 2 below:

Last year, I added a formative assessment point to the timetable, situated just before a long holiday to enable the students to show all their work to date, which I believe, helped the overall attainment of their grade. However, I still felt that more could be done, as stakes were still too high and despite regular feedback in scheduled sessions, as these sessions are not treated as ‘deadlines’ students frequently were falling behind and finding it difficult to manage their workload.

I decided to trial a further idea, which was to set a series of mini deadlines, utilising Padlet, setting dates on which students need to upload a specific piece of work to the padlet, that would enable me, as their tutor to give regular feedback.

I found it really interesting on reading Russell 2010, to see this methodology mapped out in the following diagram.

See Figure 2:

Although, I felt that this enhanced student work and attainment even further, I still feel more can be done. Also considering that students have a multitude of needs, including language barriers, neuro-diversities and the pressure of having to manage a job alongside their studies to fund their degrees.

Figure 3 of the article really got me thinking and I think it could be the perfect solution to the challenges and pressure that students face in getting their work completed on time and to a standard that they are proud of.

Some thoughts on the way that this model could work on our particular pathway are:

The input of low stake feedback points (Padlet, formative feedback points), combined with medium stake assessment points, proposed: Sketchbook submission, portfolio submission and final outcome with product development record submission. By breaking it down to the individual elements required of the brief, I feel it may help students to manage their workload better and would reduce the number of referral/deferral as well as to improve the overall grades and attainment.

Some further reading into compassionate assessment – with specific research into pass/fail marking – https://www.qaa.ac.uk/membership/collaborative-enhancement-projects/assessment/belonging-through-assessment-pipelines-of-compassion

The reading of the article, ‘on the spectrum within art and design academic practice‘ (Damiani, 2018) as preparation for workshop two gave me a very different insight to the one I was expecting on picking the article.

As a ‘neurotypical’ person, I selected this article to aid my understanding of ‘neurodiversity’ and how it may be felt and experienced, to better comprehend my students, or at least make a start which should (in theory) then help me to better support them. The included quote, ‘although it is argued that there is no typical mental capacity, no ‘normal’ brain to which all other brains should be compared (Armstrong, 2012) because my thoughts regarding the labelling of differences in neurological thinking have in the past questioned how that can be possible, when we are all so different.

However, upon reading the article and after a recent conversation with my cousin, who was diagnosed with ADHD, I can appreciate the use and helpfulness in a ‘label’ to aid with personal, self-awareness and to enable them to access disability support services, of which can help in the planning and executing of daily life (for both neuro-diverse and neurotypical persons)[Further reference: Disability Inclusion Toolkit UAL] . The author pointed out,’ Educational dialogues around neurodiversity focus on it according to abilities and not ‘disabilities’’, as it really helped to clarify for me that neurodiversity is not necessarily a ‘disability’, rather something that could in some circumstances be advantageous, especially in my cousins career development as she is a natural performer and has an extraordinary voice, a gift that she should share.

It was particularly insightful to read, ’An individual with autism is often labelled a certain way, depicted as the isolated individual who struggles to communicate, has learning difficulties, is socially peculiar and who in certain cases, is a “genius” of some kind.’ because in the past I believe I have been guilty of making this assumption myself. If I were to analyze the reasons why, it would be due to the portrayal of neurodiversity in the media (Imitation Game, 2014, Good Will Hunting, 1997 ). It was striking to read that the author has used his knowledge of his diversity to gain a better self-awareness that enables him to avoid or embrace situations which utilize or exacerbate his autistic qualities. Comparing this to my own reflective journey since becoming a mother in 2020. Although I am not neurodiverse, I recognize a monthly pattern of mood and feelings attributed to my menstrual cycle in which I have different abilities connected to mood patterns which can affect my overall wellbeing, anxiety etc. Towards the latter part of my cycle, I am much more introspective, self-critical, have increased imposter syndrome and find social or outward facing situations more challenging. Whereas, in the middle part of my cycle, I am comfortable being social, and much more confident. Since reading, ‘Wild Power, Alexandra Pope, 2017.’ I have begun tracking and utilizing the different ‘seasons’ of my menstrual cycle to my advantage and have experienced a huge transformation in my overall well-being and productiveness.

Reflecting on this piece and my own self-awareness, I recognize the importance of self-awareness and wonder if more can be done to support students in their own mindfulness journeys, whether divergent or not, to help their interaction with the world on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis and in expressing their individual needs to their tutors and peers nurturing individual journeys in a considerate learning environment.

Further reading: https://www.mooncup.co.uk/blog/the-four-seasons-of-your-menstrual-cycle-how-to-make-the-most-of-them/