The pm skype on
Tuesday was also a great chat (I think I always say that but the chats are
always really interesting and useful so…) We talked about how part of getting
started is about finding your own voice. A lot of module one is about finding
YOU in your practice, YOU in your study. Finding your voice is highlighted in
the blog posts because you have to think about how you want to communicate. We
talked about the issue of not being sure of the style of writing you should use
for blog posts. We came to the conclusion that you can use different styles
according to how you feel, what the subject of the post is, what kind of
writing you want to practice or what response or feedback you want. As you try
different styles you are also practicing different aspects of your own voice.
We talked about how the tasks across the course are part of
the action of observing – observing yourself, observing what other people have
said and done within a subject, observing activity within your practice. We
talked about observing in general (in terms of observations for an inquiry).
This lead us to talk about the importance of both being open to seeing
something new and also be prepared enough to know a little about what you are
observing so you can look for meaning and have direction to the observation.
We also talked about ethics looking at the ethical
implications of situations where a person was teaching an art practice but is not
a qualified teacher. We saw ethical issues both for the person and the
institution where the person was teaching. Ethics teaches us there is no right
answer there is just care and awareness to what you are doing. For instance
there is no right answer here there are problems which ever way you look at it.
In one way there are problems when an artist has a lot of
experience in their field and is very accomplished but because they do not have
a teaching certificate they are not paid the same as someone who does not know
about the practice to the same depth.
In another way there is a problem that someone who has no
teacher training is working with
children - both issues with the well
being of the children and also because a qualified teacher would have had training in a variety of methods and
ideas.
The bigger problem seems to be respect for practice. In both
case there is an assumption that a practice (the art practice or the teaching
practice) is something people can just take on. In the conversation we all had
experienced something similar to this problem in our careers.
The conversation was over an hour and so everyone is posting
on a part of the conversation they want to share or take away to think about.
Have a look at peoples post and comment… Lets keep the conversations going.
Tina www.lynnterry001.blogspot.com
is posting about talking to people from different modules and how useful this is
– how the modules support each other – seeing the course as a whole.
Andrea www.andreamorrison82.blogspot.co.uk
is going to post on tasks and the
usefulness of keeping coming back to them even when you have finished a module.
She also has some Module Two question ideas for people to feedback on.
Stephanie www.stephanieswann02.blogspot.co.uk is posting on seeing the CV as a
self-evaluation tool and the importance of ‘looking back’ and ‘looking forward’
as you are thinking.
Ami www.amikaraevans.blogspot.com is going to post about understanding the
course as a whole and her ‘ahhh moment’ in this…
Darren www.darrentaggart.blogspot.co.uk
is going to post on the importance of thinking about why you are doing something as well as what you are doing. Looking for meaning in the tasks and direction
of the course; not just doing things like steps without thinking about where
the steps are taking you.
Nafisah www.nafisahbaba.blogspot.com
is posting about how it is good to communicate across the learning community –
you are not alone.
OK what do you all feel?
Please comment …
Adesola
Hi Adesola,
ReplyDeleteThe discussion about working as an unqualified teacher really applies to me. I think that sometimes the pressure to be as a good a practitioner as a qualified teacher is sometimes too great. I really believe that having a good subject knowledge is important, but establishing good teaching practice is key when working as an unqualified teacher, so that the school has confidence in you and the students get the education they deserve. I think that ultimately, as an unqualified teacher you have to be especially proactive in developing your practice (through observing others, getting others to observe you and seeking different strategies) to gain the skills you need to become a good teacher. As you said, this is even more the case when students are involved.
Thanks,
Jess.