Having engaged eight participants in a 20 minute Microteach activity through Object- Based- Learning, my goals were: to facilitate a practical, collaborative drawing activity for students of mixed abilities; drawing from the wisdom of Judy Wilcox in ‘The power of Now’; and Dr. Kirsten Hardies work on innovative pedagogies in Object-based-learning.
With this is mind, I prepared for the OBL framework, mobilising objects to support my teaching objectives through:
- Cultivating engagement through Visual Literacy. (ability to ‘read’ objects and to find meaning from them)
- Bolstering research skills by providing abundant resources and references for inspiration.
- Fostering ‘established knowledge’ to assimilate connections within the second activity.
- Enhancing awareness of everyday ‘objects’ through sightlines, expanding observational skills beyond the classroom.
- Improving drawing proficiency by encouraging participants to work quickly, interpreting personal meanings within a collective space.
- Fostering effective communication.
Delivering the session: The impressions and feelings I had during the activity were pressure as I quickly encountered challenges with time management, nervously having miscalculated the short time allotment for the first activity in its reality. Underestimating the time needed for the initial tasks discussion, ending abruptly. I felt a sense of urgency to cover the following activities, leading me to rush the task prompts and a lack of time for a comprehensive end discussion. On reflection I could have made it an opportunity to flexibly revise the prompts within the tasks. Despite these challenges, I hope I facilitated some positive learning experiences.
Post Reflections: In retrospect, It provided platforms for experimentation and growth. Comparing my classes effectiveness with others and considering feedback from my microteach session, I have identified strengths and areas for improvement.
While peers appreciated the immersive approach, praised its permission giving, richness, resources and collaboration, some felt overwhelmed by the abundance of information and suggested simplifying or allowing more space for individual exploration. I had over planned, needing to simplify activities, recognising that the open nature of my class might have benefited from limiting opportunities too. These key considerations made me reconsider the balance between guidance and freedom in teaching. Striking a balance between providing structure and allowing openness for investigation is something that is key particularly within a Fine art learning environment. To offer guidance and support while also fostering a sense of freedom and autonomy for students to explore their vision.
As well as remaining flexible and adaptable in order to take into account the diverse needs of the students, whilst adjusting the pace and structure of activities as necessary to allow for more effective balance in guidence and freedom. Some suggested longer workshops for deeper exploration. Particularly crucial is managing time effectively to avoid rushing through activities, prompts and discussions. I needed to allow for pauses and reflection to ensure students have time to absorb and process information.
Moving forward, I aim to refine pacing, simplify instructions, while maintaining a rich learning environment to try ensuring more balanced and effective learning. This experience taught me valuable lessons in reflecting on session planning, and teaching practice.
References:
Pekrun. R. 2016 Adaptive Motivation and Emotion in Education: Research and Principles for Instructional Design
https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732216644450 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2372732216644450
Wilcox. J (2018) ‘The power of Now’ Museum & Study Collection: Judy Willcocks Copenhagen Presentation CSM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3O7MM5WuFo
Dr. Kirsten (2023) ‘Innovative pedagogies series: Wow: The power of objects in object-based learning and teaching’, Arts University Bournemouth https://digiknit.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2023/03/06/innovative-pedagogies-series-wow-the-power-of-objects-in-object-based-learning-and-teaching/
One reply on “An Account of running a Microteaching activity for colleagues.”
This is a very neat summary of a whole set of complex issues with some clear ways forward too!:) Nice write up. And, again fantastic art outputs, isn’t it possible how the work also speaks about a type of contribution that you made…only some of the best teaching can produce outcomes of this quality, which might also leave a role for ‘intensity’ and ‘intensification’ in teaching, and wouldn’t that also be interesting if it were the case…?