Well, this is it! I’ve still got to post a few bits over on my ALT pages, but essentially, I’m finished. Phew.

Looking at other people’s portfolios, I became a little worried that mine wasn’t particularly ‘media rich’. So, here’s a link to a DVD about gluten intolerance that I filmed in Sheffield a few weeks ago.

http://www.dietaryspecials.co.uk/gluten-sensitivity/experts-opinions/

To be honest, the middle is a bit boring just watch the intro and outro. I did a cookery DVD with a mad chef recently, now THAT was fun! I’ll post the link once it’s done!

Anyway, in all seriousness, I did feel concerned about the lack of ‘media richness’. However, as in the title of this post, media is what I do every day. I film, I edit, I do voiceovers, podcasts, radio shows, and much more. And it’s not (mostly!) a challenge to me. But what is a challenge, has been to write, and specifically, to write academically, and reflectively. So, I’ve stuck to that. I’ve concentrated on that, and I do genuinely feel, like I’ve improved a lot. I read a post on Sarah Kennedy’s blog yesterday, and I thought it was lovely. Hopefully she doesn’t mind me stealing this reference, to Ramsden’s (2005) six key principles of effective teaching in higher education:

1. Interest and explanation
2. Concern and respect for students and student learning
3. Appropriate assessment and feedback
4. Clear goals and intellectual challenge
5. Independence, control and engagement
6. Learning from students

I think these are things I’ve referenced in my previous posts, and also principles that I held prior to this course, without really knowing or thinking about them. Clearly, there is always room for more improvement in every aspect, but it makes me proud to say that I experience/put into practice these principles (hopefully) every time I teach.

In terms of the Core, it’s taught me a lot. And the observations have been immensely useful, and the creator of a much stronger confidence in me as a teacher. I always taught intuitively, and sometimes secretly worried whether I was doing the right thing. The UKPSF Diagnostic Tool scared the life out of me the first time I saw it, as at first glance I was convinced that I knew nothing! However when I calmed down, I realised that I did have considerable experience in a lot of the areas.  Looking back to the sheet I filled in at the start of the Core, I highlighted in particular A1, A2, A3, A4, K1, K3, K4, and V1 and 2, and was delighted to do so.

I believe I’ve evidenced those throughout my portfolio, including the ALT module too, and also undertaken V3 and K5 particularly for example, which I’d not looked at as much in the Core. I almost wish my Core and ALT could be marked together, if you see what I mean, as I’ve done some more recent work for the ALT, including a literature review which I’ve never done before, and was very proud of! There’s a lot more referencing and ‘academic writing’ on that side of things, and looking over some of my postings now from the Core, they seem a little, ‘rough’ in comparison. I also think about my professional discussion, and I feel that I was much more relevant in that – but I guess that’s why we start the blog so early – to see our development.

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed this experience. It’s been tough, and at times I had a lot of self-doubt. But, despite the pressure, the initial reluctance to some of Chrissi’s ideas, and Kevin always distracting me by talking (just kidding Kevin!!! – I take full responsibility for being a chatterbox!) I’ve had a great time, and I miss my Thursday sessions! Thanks guys.

References:

Ramsden P (2005) 2^nd edition Learning to teach in higher education RoutledgeFalmer; Oxon.

HEA. (2011). The UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education   Retrieved from:

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/ukpsf/ukpsf.pdf

So officially, the Core has finished! And, I’m just waiting to submit my 6 postings, which I have completed on here. However, before you hate me for appearing smug, I’ve got a bucket-load of work to do for the ALT module!

Today I’ve been catching up with the work (on a Sunday!) and have realised how easy it is to get out of the habit of working! I’ll admit I’ve not done any PGCAP work for a couple of weeks, since the professional discussions really. I think they may have lulled me into a false sense of security!

I was so excited and pleased to pass that so well, that I think it’s made me overconfident – which is never a good thing! I’ve relaxed a little, and as they say, ‘dropped the ball’. And today, I’m finding it very hard to pick up! I’m struggling with my reading, pulling out references, and generally engaging with the module.

I’m not going to lie, the Core (in my opinion) is a million times preferable to me than the optional module, mostly due to the fact that the Core was so interactive. I really enjoyed the weekly sessions, and the constant engagement. The ALT module requires you to very much work alone. I have found it difficult to get feedback, and I’ve been completely unsure as to whether I’m going in the right direction. That said, I spoke to someone else on the ALT, who loves the fact that we are left to our own devices, as she says she prefers to work that way. Horses for courses I guess!

It is very interesting though, to be doing two very different modules, taught in two very different styles. It’s made me think about how my students must feel, doing 2 or 3 modules at the same time, and trying to juggle the content of each one. It’s not as easy as I thought! Again, as has happened previously on the core, the experience of being a student has made me more sympathetic to my own students. Well, to a point. I found myself very frustrated with a lot of them on Friday.

Friday, was the hand-in date for their TV Presenting assessments. They submit a 5-7 minute DVD of themselves, having filmed, scripted, edited and performed in their own showreel. Unsurprisingly, I was bombarded with emails on Thursday night, and Friday morning, asking me some really (in my opinion) silly and frustrating questions. Questions that have been answered over, and over again. And, questions that should’ve been asked LONG before – not 3 hours before they were due to hand in! Questions such as “where do I hand in my project?” and “what did we have to do for the written work?”…these are not things I expect to be asked a few hours before the deadline!?

Whilst I have learnt to have more sympathy for my students, I have also found myself reflecting on this apparent disengagement – which results in them asking basic questions at the 11th hour. This was something I discussed last night with two friends – a discussion which became quite heated! I suggested that the constant engagement with Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, iphones, and all the app’s…Instagram, Draw Something…etc etc…is contributing to the fact that the younger generation are struggling to give 1 thing their attention. They have so many things going on at once, that they don’t really concentrate on anything 100 percent. They become immersed in their own ‘virtual’ life and bubble, that they lose track of what’s happening in the ‘real’ world, they lose the art of conversation, they lose their social skills.

During the debate, one of the people at the table turned away as I was speaking to them, and started scrolling through their Facebook page on their iphone. I pointed out that this was exactly what I was referring to – and also pointed out that it was rude! The person in question completely disagreed, and said that he was still listening, and that unfortunately for me, I needed to accept that this was simply a sign of the times – people can engage with lots of aspects of their lives at the same time, and it was socially acceptable to do so.

Well – I disagree. It makes me sad that in my opinion, we have a generation of people who will never know what it’s like to not have a mobile phone constantly clamped in their hand. They’ll never understand what it’s like to just go somewhere for the day, get lost in a moment, catch up on the news when they go back to school on Monday – rather than being updated on every second of everyone’s lives every 2 minutes. Anticipation. That’s something we’ve lost, I think. Everything is on demand. It’s now. We can get whatever we want, online, within seconds.

Yes, I see the benefit of the internet – of new emerging social media, and all the rest of it. But, I’m going to stick my neck out, and say that over the years, my students have become more needy, less aware, and less capable that they used to be. And I think the above argument has a lot to do with it.

Ultimately – it’s also about engaging with people. You can sit on Facebook and Twitter etc all day, text your friends, comment on their status’ - but still be lonely. I’d swap that for 10 minutes of face to face time anyday.

Last thought – I saw a mocked-up poster/picture that relates to this, that made me smile. It was in reference to all the ‘apps’ you can get for your iphone. It said:

“Putting your phone down, looking into the eyes of the person who’s speaking to you, and listening? There’s an app for that. It’s called *RESPECT*”.

Very true.

Mentor Observation

Observer’s Name – Annabelle Waller

Date & Time -  30th March, 11.30am.

Location -  Media City

Module & Session title -  TV Presenting – Autocue assessment!

Number of learners – 22

Learners

They are 2nd Year students, a mixture of BAPA’s (BAHons Performing Arts), BAMP’s (Media Performance) and BATAR’s (Television and Radio). They are of mixed ability, and are individually recording an ‘autocue piece to camera’, as part of their final assessment piece.

**************************************

 I had my mentor observation with Annabelle Waller on the 30^th March. The session was more fraught than usual, as it was part of their assessment. The students had to come in individually, and read a script from autocue that they had written themselves, to form part of their overall assignment, which is to create a 7 minute showreel, which would incorporate this autocue reading.

Annabelle’s feedback was initially very positive. She told me that she was very impressed with my energy, and positivity, and was also very impressed with how well I coped with the session, as it was clearly very difficult to organise logistically, and therefore very stressful for me!

She said that my enthusiasm was infectious, and that the responsiveness from my students was brilliant. This is really nice to hear. My confidence has improved since having my observations, as they have all been so positive! My teaching style is very ‘natural’, having come straight from industry with no formal teaching qualification, I’ve always just done what felt right, and it’s been very empowering to discover that I have been doing the right things! I do think that being a second career teacher, has advantages, and indeed, Tigchelaar (2010) highlighted some of those advantages, stating that ‘Second-career teachers brought practical expertise into the classroom ( [Chambers, 2002], [Novak and Knowles, 1992] and [Schwab, 2002]). Schwab, for example, found second-career teachers introducing expert knowledge into the classroom: “When there was a direct connection between previous work experiences and the participants’ teaching field, the experience added a special beneficial dimension to their teaching. They were able to share with students concrete examples of why various concepts were important in the world outside the classroom” (p. 148). In the study by Chambers (2002) on the attractions in teaching for career changers, the ten respondents emphasized another interesting aspect: the importance of helping students understand the real world application of the school subject at hand. One of the participants stated: “It is not what you do inside the classroom. It’s what you do when you leave the classroom” (p. 4).

I do think that this backs up what I already believed, that it’s very important at University level, to have lecturers that have come from industry, and are therefore able to reference the ‘real world’, particularly in my field of performance and media. I think that students in these subject areas, need to know that you have an understanding, and certain level of success in the industry, and are therefore passing on your knowledge.

Annabelle and I went on to talk about how the session could be improved, and Annabelle said the first thing that struck her was how much work I was doing, and she wondered whether I could make things easier for myself?

She referred to the instructions given to each student, as every one of the 20-odd students came into the studio individually, and I had to give them the same talk about where their earpiece would clip, how to attach their radio microphone, and where the autocue pedal was – as this was the first time these students had been into our new high-tech studios at Media City. Annabelle suggested a 20 minute demo to the whole group, so that I only had to do it once. She talked about empowering my students more, by getting them to do more for themselves. I do agree, and I think I would’ve done this initially, had it not been for the fact that I decided to stagger the class, as I didn’t want 20 -something students cluttering up the corridors at Media City. I arranged for 3 or so at a time, to come in each hour from 9am, and I initially felt that running through the prep with them individually, would be fine in terms of time constraints, and would also make them feel more individual, rather than me lumping them together as a group. Yes, it was more work for me, but, due to this session forming part of their assessment, I felt it was important for them to feel like they had some 1-on-1 time with me, in case there was anything they needed to ask/check.

Annabelle said that my feedback was excellent, it was very clear, and positive all of the time, which was quite an achievement! She did highlight the fact that I generally gave them the majority of feedback, rather than asking them how they thought they did after their initial rehearsal reading, and this is a fair point – however this only happened as we were in assessment, and we had very limited time – otherwise I would absolutely get the students to give themselves feedback, as this is something that normally happens every week in session, and I find to be very useful. This module is really a formative assessment, and feedback is something we rely heavily on, so students can progress each week. I was really interested to discover Nicol and Macfarlene-Dick’s  ‘seven principles of good feedback’ (2006) as I thought they were exactly the reasons I was giving such feedback, without even realising it. Their 7 principles are:

1. Helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, expected standards);

2. facilitates the development of self-assessment (reflection) in learning;

3. delivers high quality information to students about their learning;

4. encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning;

5. encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem;

6. provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance;

7. provides information to teachers that can be used to help shape the teaching.

(as cited in Fry, Kettridge, Marshall 2009).

In my opinion, these principles are so important, and really cannot be overlooked, particularly in my field. How else, will a performance student understand their performance, unless they are given feedback each week after rehearsals?

Annabelle and I moved on to talking about the issue of doing too much for your students. Annabelle knew that I’d been checking student’s scripts late at night, etc. She talked about my boundaries being clearer, and more professional. She said it was very obvious that the students really liked me, however, she worried that they may take advantage, as they know that I can be a ‘soft touch’ at times, due to caring for them, and wanting to help as much as I can.

Annabelle pointed out that a level of discipline is good for the students, and I do agree with this. She talked about protecting myself as a lecturer, and keeping professional. This referred to an incident, where a female student was particularly upset just before she was due to perform her assessment. She had had a minor accident in the car park, and was slightly late. She was clearly very flustered, and burst into tears. I took her aside, helped her to calm down, and suggested she go get a cup of tea and relax, while I took someone else in to assess, to give her a chance to compose herself. I gave her a hug, and sent her on her way. Cotton (1995) mentions bodily contact, stating that an old teacher gave a word of warning to ‘never touch a student’. She argues that in some respects, this is good advice, as multicultural society means that many teachers have groups from a wide variety of backgrounds, and that contact which is acceptable and seen as friendly by one student, may be regarded as highly insulting by another, even to the point of being construed as sexual harassment. I take this point, however knowing Charlotte (my student) as I do; I know that she needed a hug, and some reassurance.

But, my discussion with Annabelle left me wondering whether I would’ve done the same with a male student? And if I did, would it be appropriate? I have hugged some male students before, but I wondered whether my comfortableness with being familiar with my students, stems from my performance background again, as drama is quite a unique subject. Several of my PGCAP peers were shocked to hear that I had seen some of my students completely naked! Indeed, this does sound shocking initially, however as part of a theatre performance, it’s not quite so shocking – it can simply be a matter of necessity, if the play requires it. In TV Acting, students have to rehearse very dramatic scenes with one another, some of them require kissing and physical contact, and scripts can be littered with bad language, sexual references, or other uncomfortable subject material. Stucky and Wimmer (2002) state that performance students learn to perform before others, in a variety of modes: cabaret; speech making; improvisatory role-playing; dance pieces; and small and large theatre pieces. This, I believe, makes them unique; they are far more ‘open’, far less inhibited, and generally, confident and physical students.

However, it also made me think about the fact that no-one had ever really drawn the ‘boundary lines’. When I began working at the University, no-one handed me a list of rules, stating what was appropriate, and what wasn’t.  Is it ok to pat a student on the back? Is it ok to hug a student? Is it ok to go to the pub with a student? No-one makes this clear.

This raises some really interesting questions. Speaking to friends in other work environments, they informed me that in their professions, they would absolutely never hug a ‘client’, and could possibly be sacked for doing so.  I’ve known of colleagues having physical relationships with students, and I wondered where do we stand on this? It has been illegal in Britain since 2001 for a teacher to engage in sexual activity with any pupil at their school under the age of 18 – but what are the ‘rules’ for University? It is common practice, certainly in the Adelphi, for tutors to socialise with their students, for example seeing them in performances outside of the University setting, and celebrating the success of the play at the pub afterwards. School teachers are warned never to use Facebook with students, but this doesn’t apply to University – in fact I personally find it the most useful tool in communicating with them, as they simply don’t check their student emails Students create their own Facebook groups for each module, sharing information, scripts, timings etc, and they usually request me to join.  In a study on ‘teacher-student boundaries’,  Aultman (2009) concluded that ‘…practicing teachers reported that they had received virtually no training related to students’ emotions or emotional development, and this gap was seen as an adverse oversight in their teacher education programs. It seemed the teachers felt “out there on their own” attempting to negotiate boundaries…’.

I do think this is an issue that needs to be raised more, as to what is appropriate and what isn’t. Clearly, as adult lecturers, we should be able to use our own judgement as to what is appropriate in the class – but – the lines can become very blurred, particularly when referring to students, who are over the age of 18.

Indeed, the University of Salford itself has no ‘official’ policy on student-teacher relationships. According to an article on the Times Higher Education website, Fearn (2008) states that only ‘half of institutions have guidelines on such relationships’. I find this odd, as surely in every workplace around the country, there are guidelines on workplace relationships? Are Universities the only places where the ‘boundaries’ are so blurry, and what implications does this have for staff and students? Female lecturer Jane Gallop (1997) who was accused of sexual harassment by a female student at a US university (and then reprimanded for engaging in ‘playful, flirtatious relations’) says strict measures barring any relationships between staff and students will not only be unsuccessful but will destroy the pedagogical union between the two. She says she worries that faculties will be wary of any personal or complicated relationships, turning life-changing relationships (between students and lecturers), into a business-like client relationship.

This is certainly some interesting food for thought, and going back to my discussion with Annabelle, I wondered whether there was anything I would’ve done differently. And on reflection, I don’t think I would. I agree with her in terms of making life easier for myself, and not necessarily ‘spoon-feeding’ my students a touch perhaps. However, I also agree with Gallop to an extent, that to bring in strict measures, or impose rules against a quick hug for a tearful student who’s about to give a nerve-wracking performance, will indeed, turn a caring teacher, into a wary one. And I for one, know which one I’d rather be.

References:

Aultman, L. P., Williams-Johnson, M. R., & Schutz, P. A. (2009). Boundary dilemmas in teacher–student relationships: Struggling with “the line”. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5), 636-646.

Cotton, J. (1995). The Theory of Learners. London: Kogan Page.

Fearne, H. (2008). Sex and the University www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=401935. Retrieved 22 May, 2008

Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., & Marshall, S. (2009). A Handbook For Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Oxon: Routledge.

Gallop, J. (1997). Feminist Accused of Sexual Harassment. Durham NC: Duke University Press Books.

Stucky, N. a. W., Cynthia. (2002). Teaching Performance Studies. Illinois, USA: Southern Illinois University Press.

Tigchelaar, A., Brouwer, N., & Vermunt, J. D. (2010). Tailor-made: Towards a pedagogy for educating second-career teachers. Educational Research Review, 5(2), 164-183.

Observer’s Name: Liz Peters

Date & Time: 22/03/2012, 5.30-7.30 pm

Location: Mary Seacole Building MS167/168

Module & Session title: ‘Gait assessment tutorial’

Number of learners: 27

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I attended Anne’s session, not knowing quite what to expect, but excited to see how someone else taught. Coming from a performance background, I was interested to see how Anne ‘acted’, as my big interest is in how effectively lecturers ‘present’ to their class. We had a session that morning for the core module, where several students were invited to give us their opinions on how they were taught, and I thought it was interesting that several of them voiced concerns relating to ‘dull’ lectures, where tutors simply read from a piece of paper, or slide.

Anne had already let me know in advance, that she was very interested in hearing any tips I may have in terms of confidence and presentation, so I did have an inkling that she was feeling a little under-confident in this department.

Anne’s session started with a fairly full room of students. They were evenly spread around the room, and Anne was in one corner, operating the computer to show different slides etc from time to time. It felt like Anne was a little weak vocally, I do feel that a stronger voice would’ve helped at times, as there were members of the group that were a little rowdy. I almost intervened at one point, as a particular student was very disrespectful and disruptive, and to be honest, it took all my strength not to tell her off!

I liked the fact that Anne had the students answer some of their own questions, but it was a double-edged sword. I’m all for making them think, and work things out for themselves, but it wasn’t really clear when the student had given the correct answer. My suggestion would’ve have been to get the student to repeat the answer so the rest of the group could hear, and then reward them vocally, making sure the rest of the group had heard Anne say “yes, that is correct, well done”.  On the flip side of this, there were times when students asked questions, and no-one gave a clear answer, Anne included. I did notice a huge level of frustration from some students because of this. I could see students quite clearly asking each other for help, some were googling things on their phones and passing them around, long after Anne was trying to move on to something else.

In my discussion with Anne, we talked about this, and she pointed out that she was normally used to dealing with small groups of medical professionals, who would answer their own questions, and that at times, there was no ‘absolute correct’ answer, so it was difficult to say “yes, it’s exactly 15”, when in fact, the answer could be anywhere between 10 and 20.

During my observation, I felt that the whole group needed to be brought up to the same level of knowledge and learning. Anne very much stayed in one corner of the room, near the computer. When the group asked a question, Anne would address the same few students in her corner, and move on. Unfortunately, the rest of the group weren’t up to speed, as they were further away, and it seemed to me they hadn’t heard, or hadn’t understood properly.

My suggestion would be to address the room more, come out from behind the computer, and walk up and down in front of the class, therefore keeping their interest. It also means that you can keep an eye on the whole class, and pick up on any potential stragglers. Mandel (2000) also adds that speakers who stand in one spot and never gesture, experience tension. He says in order to relax, you need to release tension by allowing your muscles to flex. Even when ‘stuck’ behind a lectern, he suggests moving around the side of it for emphasis, to help release tension and draw the audience into the presentation.

I think for me, as a performer, Anne needed to ‘perform’ more. She is clearly a very smart lady, who knows her subject extremely well. However I felt that her delivery could have been much stronger, vocally and physically.

I would absolutely suggest that Anne gets out of her comfort zone, and really takes ownership of the room; however I know that this is a hugely difficult thing to do, if you aren’t a naturally confident person.

The discussion with Anne made me think, are we as lecturers, also expected to be ‘performers’?  People may presume that if you’re a ‘lecturer’, then you’re happy in front of an audience, speaking to the masses. However, this really isn’t always the case. There are many lecturers who are experts in their field, who are suddenly thrust in front of a group of students, and expected to perform/deliver a lecture like a master-speaker. Public speaking is a difficult thing to undertake, if you have no training or experience in it. Connecting with your audience is of vital importance, and the non-verbal signs that we all give off play a large part in this connection. Mira (1997 pg.18 ) states that looking at an audience is not an easy task, and suggests people are more comfortable to concentrate on other things and avoid the pressure the audience puts on a speaker. However, he says that doing this can be a big mistake, as it’s important to be continually aware of the mood of the audience. Eye contact is the way to do this, he states that it (eye contact) involves your audience, keeps you aware of their reactions, and identifies friends and ‘predators’, i.e. potentially problematic members of the audience.

I agree with this entirely, and I feel that eye contact is vital during any kind of teaching, as Mandel (2000 pg. 79) states it can also help to relax the speaker, by connecting them to the audience and reducing the speaker’s feeling of isolation. He suggests the rule of thumb for eye contact is three to five seconds per person, focussing on one person at a time, long enough to pull him/her into your presentation, but not long enough to make them feel uncomfortable.

Anne mentioned that due to English not being her first language, she felt at a disadvantage vocally. Shepard, (2005, pg. 66) highlights some of the issues when presenting to an audience when English is not your first language, and says that the process can also be particularly challenging for the audience, as it is extremely difficult concentrating on what a presenter is talking about, at the same time as trying to understand them; because they have a difficult accent; or because their use of English is just not good enough for the circumstances in which they find themselves.

She suggests speaking as clearly as possible, slowing down, facing the audience, and identifying words that are problematic, and writing these on a whiteboard as you say them; or use PowerPoint and point out the word in question as you speak it.

This is all good advice, but I have to say I don’t think Anne is at this level. I think Anne’s English is very good; she is mostly very easy to understand. Some vocal coaching may be of benefit, particularly for Anne, who I think would feel more confident with a stronger, clearer voice.

Talking to Anne about the disruptive students, made me wonder whether we are expected to  discipline? I do find that 1^st year students particularly, can be very much like school children, in their attitude and behaviour. This is a world apart from the medical professionals that Anne is used to dealing with, and I think that at times, they may see her uncertainty, even if Anne feels she is delivering the ‘right’ information. We can send messages to our students about how we are feeling without even knowing, Tiberius (1999 pg. 184) states that our tones of voice, rates of speech, hand gestures and facial expressions all communicate emotional messages. He goes on to say that it is useful to know what emotional messages you are sending so that you can make them more compatible with your cognitive message.

I think this is very true, and on a personal level, we need to share with our students when we may not be on the ball due to outside factors, otherwise they may misinterpret our tiredness etc. Tiberius agrees, and suggests asking students what kind of emotional message you are sending to them. He states that in order to avoid misunderstanding, it’s a good idea to interpret your emotional state before the students do, for example by saying ‘Let me take a few deep breaths and slow down. I have been running around since eight this morning so I’m all geared up. If my speech starts to speed up and I appear nervous, remind me and we’ll take a stretch break’. I think this is a good idea, and it’s certainly one that I use in my own sessions. Students need to understand that you are human too, and that you can’t be on ‘shiny TV Presenter mode’ all the time!

The problem though, is how much discipline do we need to instil into our classes, lectures, or seminars? If we are interacting on a personal level, how will a student feel when you have to reprimand them for their behaviour? Is it our job to ‘tell off’ unruly students, and I suppose the golden question that we’ve all asked ourselves and each other, is – why are they so unruly, when they are paying to be here? Teachers and lecturers are put under an enormous amount of pressure, as we are responsible for other peoples learning, but as Cotton (1995, pg. 121) points out ‘the rights of the individual learner are emphasised, but not the rights of the trainer or teacher’. Cotton goes on to say that under the early influence of the 1944 Education Act, the opportunity to stay on at school and go to University was a privilege. Teachers and lecturers…commanded respect…but today education at all levels is regarded as a right, and teachers and trainers can no longer expect respect.

I think this has an element of truth about it, and I certainly hear students talking about their ‘rights’, and what they should be entitled to, as they are paying for their education. I think sometimes they forget that indeed it still is a privilege to go to University, and that without mutual respect and appreciation, their learning could be affected. This could be why students feel they have a ‘right’ to chat if they want to, be late if they want to, be disengaged if they want to – because they are paying us to teach them, therefore it’s up to them how much they get out of it. I don’t agree with this; however I can see why it would cause such attitudes.

As a current student on the PGCAP course, I’ve started to understand this more I think. I have been the unruly student at times, I’ve been late due to traffic, I’ve had to surreptitiously check my phone, as I’ve got other things happening, I’ve chatted to fellow students while the tutor has been talking. The question is why? And how can my own experience enable me to perhaps change the attitude of some of my students who are disruptive?

I now understand a little more, as I know that there are times when I have no choice but to ‘tough it out’, even if I don’t feel well, or am not in the mood, I simply have to knuckle down, concentrate, and get on with the task in hand. I think some young students, 1^st years particularly, are not as used to doing this, having only recently moved away from home for the first time. They’ve had parents to take care of them, supervise them, motivate them, and ultimately, they’ve rarely had to take too much responsibility for themselves.

Interestingly, I had a call today, as a student had complained, after I’d pulled them up on their unacceptable behaviour. The student in question was over an hour late for an assessment, amongst other issues, and yet apparently felt that me pointing this out, and telling them that it wasn’t acceptable, was unfair of me – this despite the fact that I still let them undertake the assessment. Many colleagues said they would have simply failed them. This seems to imply that the students feel that they can’t be ‘told off’, as they would be in high-school education. However, surely, even in the workplace, a manager would reprimand an employee, for unacceptable behaviour, or underperformance, and be within their rights to suspend, or sack them.

So where do we stand as lecturers? It seems to be a bit of a no-man’s land. They are ‘students’, yet they don’t want to be treated like school students. They don’t want to be reprimanded, or told off, as they’re paying to be here. But we can’t ‘sack’ them, for underperforming.  It really is a bit of a minefield to say the least! I don’t know what the answer is. I try and treat my students as equals, as adults. But this is very difficult at times, particularly when they let themselves down with bad behaviour.  It’s certainly food for thought! Would I have done things differently with the aforementioned student? No. I’m glad that I am fair, and I gave them the opportunity to still be assessed, and I also wouldn’t change the talk that I had with them. I think you can be fair, but there’s a fine line between being fair, and being a pushover. I think we’re doing our students a disservice if we don’t address bad behaviour, as some of them are very young and inexperienced, and need to be reminded of the ‘rules’, as perhaps they’ve not learnt this at home or at school. However, it is important to take into account personal circumstances, and not simply presume that because someone is late, they are deliberately lazy, or a bad student. The PGCAP has taught me that sometimes, life does get in the way – even with the best will in the world.

References:

Cotton, J. (1995). The Theory of Learners. London: Kogan Page.

Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., & Marshall, S. (2009). A Handbook For Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Oxon: Routledge.

Mandel, S. (2000). Effective Presentation Skills. California: Crisp Publications.

Mira, T. K. (1997). Speak Smart – The Art of Public Speaking. New York: Random House Inc.

Shephard, K. (2005). Presenting at Conferences, Seminars and Meetings. London: Sage Publications.

Tiberius, R. G. (1999). Small Group Teaching: Kogan Page.

…is my middle name. Always has been! It drives me crazy. Surely I can simply change this character ‘flaw’, by being more motivated, can’t I? Seems not. Out of 2 hours at the computer, I’d say probably 10 minutes of that equates to me working on my PGCAP!

I wrote an earlier post, entitled ‘Sympathy for my Students’, and this lack of motivation is also something I now have more sympathy for! I’m finding it very hard to be motivated, and it’s quite frustrating. I think part of the problem, is that I’ve ‘dropped the ball’, so to speak. I was struggling with the PGCAP initially, and then something just clicked, and I seemed to be doing quite well. I had some praise, and I think it must’ve gone to my head, because suddenly, I felt very relaxed about the whole process, and I realised a week had gone by without me actually doing any proper work…and now I’m back to square one trying to remember how to reference!

Another issue, is the ALT module for me. In all honesty, I think I’m ok with the Core, I think I am on the right path. The practice professional discussion last week, highlighted some areas of weakness, but that was to be expected. I do think that  the work I still have to do for the Core, is manageable – but add to that the work for the ALT, and well, I’m flagging!

In all honesty though, if I could just stop procrastinating, and actually knuckle down, I think I’d be ok!

Even writing this post was an excuse to do something else…wonder if anyone else feels the same!?

A couple of years ago, I had a student who arrived late to one of my radio sessions. It was the first session he’d attended, which immediately annoyed me, as we’d been running the module for 3 weeks.  He shuffled through the door, a tall, scruffy looking boy. In front of the others, I made a point of saying “Well, this is the first time we’ve seen you Edward!”. He apologised, mumbled something about having to go home for some family business. I brushed it off, rolled my eyes, and we carried on the session.

So many students miss sessions, and give you all kinds of excuses. This didn’t feel any different, and, as annoying as it was, I decided not to make too much of an issue out of it. Anyway, he seemed to be quite a good performer, he was funny, and the rest of the group clearly liked him.

At the end of the session, he hung back, and I was glad, as I wanted to speak to him about his absence. This was back when we had the ’3 strikes and you’re out’ policy, meaning technically he could be about to fail. I started my usual speech about missing sessions, when he told me he’d had to go home due to family problems. “Really?” I said, “what were they then?”. He looked me straight in the eye, and told me that his 12 year old sister had just died from leukemia. My heart sank, and I felt utterly dreadful. I think I looked at him properly for the first time since he arrived late to the session, and I saw the stress and pain on his face, and in his eyes. Of course, I told him how sorry I was to hear that.  We began to chat a little, as he explained the difficulties that he was having at University, having been absent for several weeks. I told him not to worry about that, and asked him how he was doing emotionally.

He got quite tearful, and I have to say that it really upset me to see him cry, I’d only just met this student 3 hours ago, and yet somehow, I felt like he needed my help, and I felt a real sense of protectiveness when I looked at him. He told me that he felt utterly lost, and one of the main reasons he was struggling so much, was that he felt like an outsider, as he was the only person he knew that had lost a sibling, at just 19 years old. He said he’d never met anyone who’d experienced this kind of loss.

At this point, I made a decision that I’d been toying with. I told him that he wasn’t the only one. And I shared with him the fact that I lost my own brother, when I was also 19 years old. He seemed shocked, and immediately questioned me about it. I shared with him the story of my silly, crazy, gorgeous brother, who’d sadly died at just 17, due to experimenting with drugs.

Obviously this was a different experience to his, as his poor sister had tragically wasted away, due to  illness. However, Ed seemed fascinated that I could talk about my brother John, in a perfectly normal way. He was desperate to know if it was possible to ‘get over’ something like that, and desperate for me to tell him how to.

We sat in the studio and talked for a long time. And that night, he sent me an email from his student account, thanking me for speaking to him, and telling me that he felt a lot better for having done so.

Over the next few weeks, we talked a lot. I spoke to a senior colleague, about ‘acceptable policy’ etc, and we decided that as long as I’d already pointed Ed towards the student counselling service etc, if talking to him was helping him so much, and I was comfortable to do it, then it was fine to continue.

I’m not a particularly ‘private’ person, I’m quite happy to chat about any aspect of my life if someone asks, and I felt that this was hugely relevant, and hugely beneficial to this tall, lovely boy, who I wanted to help so much.

Ed would come to see me, and he’d also email me, and pour his heart out. We would chat on-line, and I was so, so pleased to see and hear that he was starting to make progress through his stages of grief. He started to feel better, he began to see things more positively. He didn’t feel near-suicidal on a daily basis anymore. I was so happy, as Ed had become really important to me. I really cared about his well being, and to be honest, he reminded me of my brother.

I know that there may be people who read this, who think that perhaps I overstepped the mark in terms of my caring for my student.  Or that due to my own personal experience, I let myself get too close, or too concerned for him. But I don’t. There was nothing untoward about what was happening. I knew, that I had to help him, and that - at that point in his life - he needed this support from me to get through this as best as he could. There was no way that I would’ve stopped providing support for him that was clearly vital.

One Friday evening, Ed sent me a lovely email. He talked about his sister, and had started making jokes about some of the ways she used to drive him mad, as brothers and sisters do. I was so happy that he was making progress, and I emailed him back that night. I told him I’d see him on Monday, as we had a radio session in the morning.

Ed didn’t reply. I thought perhaps he’d gone home for the weekend, and hoped the explanation was that simple. But I was worried. On Monday morning, I went into the Adelphi building, hoping to see him standing outside the studio, as arranged. But he wasn’t. Three girls from my radio class, were standing further down the corridor, all crying. I asked what was wrong. And one of them managed to tell me that a boy from their year had died that weekend.

The horror I felt at that moment, was something I won’t forget. I manged to get some details from them before I shut myself in the studio in shock, and cried.

Ed had died, early on Saturday morning. He was simply running across the car-park at Castle Irwell student village, when he tripped over, and banged his head. He’d got back on his feet within seconds, and seemed fine, but shortly after, collapsed in a heap on the floor. An ambulance was called, and he was rushed to hospital. He was put on a life support machine, and his parents were called. Ed was brain dead, and the following day his poor, poor parents, had to switch off his life-support, and lose their second child within just a few months of their first. Ed had died, from a simple bang to the head.

I’m not embarrassed to say that Ed’s death broke my heart at the time. This funny, handsome, sporty, talented boy, should’ve had his whole life in front of him. And he was just starting to realise that life was worth living again. At his funeral, I spoke to his father. He told me that he knew about me, as Ed had told him about a teacher at the University who was helping him. He told me that I was the only person Ed felt comfortable speaking to, and that they’d seen a huge change in him since we’d started talking. I told his father what a wonderful young man he was, and shared some of the stories Ed had told me about his relationship with his dad. I know he was grateful for this, and although Ed told me these in confidence at the time, they were positive stories about his family, and I really felt that his father needed to know. He emailed me some time after the funeral, and thanked me for them, as they’d given him comfort.

I suppose, the point of this posting, as well as remembering Ed, is that it could be said that I ‘cared too much’ for my student. I think perhaps we can care too much for our students at times, or risk blurring the boundaries, if we aren’t careful. Students should see us as someone they can go to if they need help or advice, but, we can’t be their parents, as much as we’d like to be at times.

However. Do I regret helping Ed as I did? No. Not one bit. I would do it all over again, just to know that I’d helped him in his final months. It still brings a lump to my throat to think about Ed. And frankly, I’d rather care too much, than not care enough.

Ed Collis

My second observation with Cristina, went very well. She attended my TV Presenting session in the Journalism Suite at the Adelphi Building on Friday 16th March,  and  seemed very interested in what we were doing, without being intrusive to the session. My students were learning how to use the ‘talkback’ system, which is something they were all completely unfamiliar with. It is a system for TV presenters, where they have an earpiece in, which gives them information or instructions whilst they are presenting.

Cristina stayed just for the first hour, and then gave me some verbal feedback while the group re-organised themselves, and then sent me further written feedback, and I have to say I was really pleased with it! She told me that the keywords she would use to describe me and my approach to the session, would be: storyteller, passion(ate), dynamic, energetic, practical, and fun(ny). I’m really happy to hear this, as if I was asked to describe my own session, I would have used pretty much these exact words. This is exactly what I aim for in each session, as, like Cristina pointed out, the sessions are very practical – and I think you therefore have to work hard to make sure that they are also energetic and engaging for the students, particularly as they are all of varying abilities. I always want to ensure that every learner has the same experience and opportunity in my sessions, so that no-one feels inferior to anyone else, in line with the UK PSF V1 and V2.

Cristina referred to me as a ‘true story-teller’, which I was really pleased with. This isn’t the first time someone has said this, and it makes me think that being in front of an audience really is my natural home! I do think this is important in what I teach, as you need to lead by example in a performance based degree, in my opinion. Derek Bowskill talks about the role of a teacher in drama, (Bowskill, 1974, pg 124), and says that part of the essential functions of a ‘director’, are to create opportunities for creative growth in the group…to bring together all the ingredients and methods previously taught. This is what I like to do, as I feel that the real ‘special something’ comes from within the students. I can teach them all the practical elements of being a presenter, and I can coach them on their voice, gesticulation, body-language etc, but sometimes if someone simply lacks that ‘certain something’, it just cannot be taught to a professional level. For example, you may have a young person who’s never had a singing lesson in their life, but can sing like an angel, whilst others are completely tone deaf. You can teach the tone deaf person how to hold a few notes, but you’ll never be able to get them to the same standard as the naturally gifted singer.

In her feedback Cristina also mentioned that I shared my own experiences with the students, which made the entire session more interesting, and more personal. Again I think in this line of work, it’s essential to do so. They need to know exactly what happens in the ‘real’ world, and what to expect. I’m always happy to share my experiences, talk to them about different channels, different fees, jobs, and presenting styles. I work on a regular basis as a professional presenter, and they love the feedback I give them on what I’m doing on a weekly basis. I think that it makes them feel like I’m ‘real’, and I’m helping them get an insight into the current industry. The outside work I do also helps me to keep  on top of what’s going on in the industry, which is very important. I think these links to the professional industry help me to keep on top of the subject material, in line with the UK PSF K1, and I really believe it instills a confidence in the students, as you are practicing what you preach. 

Cristina talked about the way I introduced the students to their new activity, (learning to use talk-back, which is basically an earpiece which feeds them instructions whilst they’re on screen) as I moved them from theory into practice always supporting them by providing examples as to how they could present in front of the cameras. She said that I modelled the style of presentation, for example, for this first exercise they were given a selection of items, and 1 minute to ‘sell’ them, in a shopping channel style. I picked up each object, and did a 15 second demo of each one, giving them ideas about what to say. I did this because I knew they’d be out of their comfort zone. And it’s a frightening thing, even for performance students. The worst thing they can do is become fearful, and not realise that it’s natural to feel nerves. Ex-presenter Joanne Zorian-Lynn (2001) rightly states that it’s perfectly natural to be nervous before a performance.  The classic reasons are:

*fear of forgetting what you are saying/doing

*fear of making a fool of yourself

*fear of not being good enough

*fear of not being liked.

She goes on to discuss the various forms nerves can take, including shaky hands, dry mouth, and a clenching stomach. None of these things are pleasant, and as much as I can, I try and explain this to my students, and establish why they’d feel nervous. Being in front of camera is simply a learning experience, and an experience that gets better with practice. Sophie Raworth, from BBC News, said that on her first piece to camera, she couldn’t pick up a glass of water as she was “shaking so much…but I got over it through practice”. (cited in Zorian-Lynn (2001) pg 51). 

I reference all this in my sessions, because there literally is no other kind of degree that really puts it’s students through the mill emotionally, in my opinion. Each week they are expected to do something in front of a camera that they’ve never done before. And the anxiety levels in the class at times can go through the roof.  Imagine the worry every week, if you have  a fear of forgetting what you are saying/doing, a fear of making a fool of yourself, a fear of not being good enough, and a fear of not being liked. It’s up to me to relax them, to guide them, and instil confidence in every single one of them. Even if they’re not the ‘best’ presenter, or I believe that they’re not going to make it professionally, the last thing I’d want is one of my students going home with a sense that they’re not good enough, and developing a fear of coming to my sessions. This is crippling in terms of their self-esteem, and the whole performance industry is a real double edged-sword, in terms of either boosting or killing your confidence – depending on whether you got a good or bad review, or was rejected or accepted at an audition.

Talking to Cristina made me think about this, and made me wonder why I do care so much. She said that I talked to every single student, and shared a word of comfort or joke, after their individual 1 minute rehearsal on camera – and that this made a hue difference. Cristina talked about the fact that she thinks that showing the students you care is for her, personally, the best trait any educator can feature. It made me think back to my own experience in education, and how un-cared for I felt throughout it. I think it also relates to my own personal family experience. Without getting too bogged down in anything hugely personal, it would be fair to say that any half decent psychologist would be able to point out that a lack of feeling supported throughout my life, has given me a fierce sense of wanting to ‘look after’ anyone that I feel needs support.  Tiberius (1999) talks about the importance of a positive attitude towards students. He says that if the students perceive the teacher as caring for them, they will view almost anything they do in a favourable light.

I found an interesting short piece on the internet, which talked about what a caring teacher is/should be. It says:

Caring Teachers

Because students spend a majority of their time in school, it is important to have a teacher who genuinely cares about them.  Having a teacher who genuinely cares about his/her students will help the students to develop a positive self-concept as well as help them to be intrinsically motivated to do well in school.  Students need to feel that they can confide in their teacher, especially those who come from less than ideal home situations. A teacher who is caring will provide an environment for students that is comfortable and ideal for learning by allowing students to explore the possibilities of learning without being punished when they do not get the correct answer.  A caring teacher will give positive support to students without being overbearing and authoritarian in nature.  An uncaring teacher would do just the opposite for students, which would make for a negative learning environment.

There are several ways teachers can demonstrate that they care about their students.  One way would be to show a genuine interest in the students’ lives outside the classroom.  A teacher can do this by simply asking a student what they did over the weekend or if the soccer game they had the night before went well.  Another way a teacher can show that he/she cares is to go beyond traditional classroom teaching.  An example of this would be to take students on frequent field trips in order to show them how what they are learning pertains to real life.  A caring teacher will get to know the families of his/her students and will make his/herself available for family questions, concerns, or needs that affect the student’s life. This should be done in a controlled manner. Teachers need to make sure they do not cross the line of professionalism.  A final way teachers can show students that they care is to provide extra support for students who are struggling.  Students will notice when a teacher goes “the extra mile” to help them.

I struggled to find the exact author for this, but I’ve referenced the website below. I agree wholeheartedly with this. I know it’s aimed at American high-school teachers, but, a lot of it I feel is relevant in any teaching role. I do know my students well. I ask them how they are, we talk about their lives. Again, this is something Tiberius (1999) recommends, he suggests trying to understand the culture of students, getting to know their motivations and interests, as well as their worries, pressures and fears. Due to my own rather negative experience in education, I go the extra mile to make sure they know they are supported, as I know from first hand experience that an uncaring teacher makes for a negative learning environment.

Aside from this, I truly believe we should be equipping our students of the ‘real world’, and the media industry is a difficult one. It seems a shame that a lot of my colleagues are not as up to speed with the current industry, or are more interested in their research than their actual teaching. I also hear a lot from students, that there are lots of tutors who don’t seem particularly bothered about what they’re teaching. It makes me wonder why this is, and why they are still teaching if they feel like this? Will I feel the same in10 years? Is it the job, rather than the students, that ‘gets you down’? I can understand these frustrations, as I do feel them myself. MMP has undergone a huge transformation, due to the opening of Media City. To be honest, most of the changes haven’t been good for performance students, as it’s only the journalism and technical students that are based in Media City now. Performance has been abandoned, as such, and we’re left in the crumbling Adelphi Building, with  half the staff we used to have, and half the facilities. But as stated, if your students see you as caring, they will forgive an awful lot more than if they consider you to be an uncaring teacher! I really liked Tiberius’ examples of students comments about teachers whom they perceive as caring and uncaring,  including this one:

* Caring: she has vast experience and knows so many people. it’s exciting to get the inside story on people who are just names in textbooks to us.

* Uncaring: She’s a name dropper.

I thought this was great. It’s quite applicable to me, as I work professionally in my industry, and I always talk to the students about what I’m doing, and for which company etc. Cristina referenced this too, saying that sharing my own experiences made the entire session more interesting, more personal, and that the students had something ‘real’ to relate to.  Overall, I’m really please that this was picked up on. And it’s made me think about why I do this, and inspired me to keep positive, and keep caring, even when I do have days that I may be struggling with!

References:

HEA. (2011). The UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education   Retrieved from:

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/ukpsf/ukpsf.pdf

Bowskill, D. (1974) Drama and the Teacher. London, Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons Ltd.

Zorian-Lynn, J. (2001) Presenting for TV and Video (pp 45-51) London, A&C Black

Tiberius, R. (1999) Small Group Teaching. London: Kogan Page

 http://students.ed.uiuc.edu/bonnell/eport/Caring%20Teachers.htm

Observer’s Name – Lorna Patterson

 Date & Time -  Thur 15th Dec, meet @1.30pm, Class from 2pm

 Location -  Adelphi Building, Peru Street

 Module & Session title -  Radio Performance and Production – Assessment

 Number of learners – 16 (in groups of 4 for assessment)

 Learners

They are 2^nd Year students, a mixture of two BAHons Performance courses. They have chosen the module as an option, and this is their final assessment, which is a culmination of 10 weeks of learning to be an effective radio performer. They have learnt a pre-written script for a 10 minute radio play in groups of 4, and will perform as a group when it is their time-slot.

Learning outcomes to be achieved during the session

Outcome is for every student to perform to the best of their abilities, showcasing themselves as a good performer, by ‘lifting the text off the page’, utilising the mic effectively, and working well as an individual and group performer.

Brief session outline

Session will begin with the first group, we will have a quick run through of various scenes, and I will give them feedback. When we are all happy, the group will record their performance. Each group will do the same.

Rationale for session

This session is intended to show the outcome of 10 weeks of work. This is their assessment, and students will need to perform well, and then edit their footage effectively using the editing software. We will be using the radio studio of course, and I will be giving them feedback during rehearsals before the ‘final’ record, which is their assessment.

Are there any aspects of the session you would like the observer to focus on?

Not really, I hope it will be interesting to watch.

*************************************************

I have to say, I wasn’t apprehensive about being observed, I was looking forward to it, as I’ve never had anyone from a different department watch what I/we do at the Adelphi Building! I introduced Lorna to each group as they arrived for their assessment, as Lorna and I were sitting in the control room, and each group came into the studio space. I knew the students would be nervous, as it was their assessment, and I didn’t want to add to the pressure by them thinking Lorna was there to mark them! The order of the day was fairly regimented, due to it being assessment day. Each group came in, I introduced Lorna, refreshed the students on how the session would run, and then we got underway.  Each group had the opportunity to rehearse sections of their performance, and I then gave them feedback. Lorna actually joined in a little at times with the positive feedback, and I was really pleased to hear that she was really impressed with the students. I think this was also an extra boost to their confidence, as she made a point of telling them that she’d never been to such a session before, and that she was hugely impressed with how realistic their sound effects were, or how effective their performances were etc. Each group then performed under assessment conditions, and I felt that the session went extremely well. All of my students were on time, and they all performed very well, some of them producing excellent first class work.  Meeting with Lorna  I met with Lorna a week later to discuss the observation. She began by telling me that the thing that struck her the most about the session, was the strength of the relationship between myself and my students. She said that this had really stood out to her, and as someone who normally teaches much larger groups, she had not seen this kind of connection before. Tiberius (1999, pg 7) states that students expect to interact with one another more in a small group than a large one, and this is very true with mine. They are broken down into small groups of 4, which means a level of maturity is required for them to successfully work together as a group to achieve a good performance.  Looking back at this, I think part of the reason they work so well, is that they have a very clear understanding of what is expected of them, as from the first lesson, I set out exactly what is required from them to pass the assessment. Tiberius (1999, pg 101) goes on to say that setting goals for the course when working with small groups, is vital, otherwise there is a danger of students becoming confused and frustrated. He says that the goals should be specific enough to guide the actions of the group and to serve as criteria with which to measure the group’s success. I think this also links to A1 and K1 in the UK PSF, as knowing the material extensively and designing and planning the activities thoroughly are very important in a small group, with a limited amount of sessions.  Lorna went on to say that the ‘banter’ between myself and the groups was very informal, and that there was a very relaxed atmosphere during the session – but, this didn’t detract from the task at hand. Sandra Griffiths (Fry, Ketteridge, Marshall, 2009) says that some lecturers may be put off by the seemingly informal, loose or open ended nature of small group learning…fearing it will be a recipe for chaos, or a therapy session! This can happen, speaking from experience! But I find that letting them briefly go off on a tangent can be useful, as long as you are able to effectively reign them back in when needs be.  Lorna went on to that she got a real sense of the students being very happy to be in my company, as I led by example, and she got the impression that there was a lot of mutual respect, and the students wanted to ‘be like me’ professionally. It was wonderful to hear these things, and to be honest I know that I pride myself in being a very supportive and caring tutor. I see every one of my students as individuals, and due to the small groups, I make sure that I know how each one works, and also ensure that regardless of different levels of ability, every student feels included and considered. This links to the UK PSF -  A2, K3, V1, and V2.  One point that Lorna raised, was that the students could be considered to be difficult, as they were extremely forthright, and very lively. Particularly in this session, they had to keep to quite strict time constraints as it was assessment day. However this is something I’m completely used to, and I think any teacher of performance/drama would be. Our students are very different to the ‘usual’ student, and we fully expect them to be confident, outgoing, lively, and hard to reign in at times! Lorna highlighted the fact that despite being quite a loud bunch, they all showed up on time, and listened to everything I said. She said it seemed apparent that they respected the importance of being professional, and also respected me as their teacher, as I knew exactly what they were trying to achieve, and knew each one of their characters and lines off by heart. If they were struggling with something, I would literally get up to the Mic myself, and demonstrate the best way to deliver the line. This relates to the UK PSF, K1, K2, K3 and K4, knowing the subject material, understanding the appropriate teaching methods, and knowing that you can’t simply ‘explain’ something to performance students, and expect them to understand the technical aspect of the microphone, you must demonstrate it yourself.  In terms of the feedback, Lorna told me that she was really impressed with the constant verbal feedback. Again, not something she was used to seeing. She said that the encouragement was open and honest, and that even when it was apparent that a student wasn’t particularly ‘good’ in some way, I always managed to find a positive aspect to focus on. I do think feedback in my subject is vital, and it’s something that the students get every single week. Tiberius (1999) says that feedback is the primary motivator of students, and I completely agree. He talks about encouraging constructive peer feedback, and again, this is something that happens every week in my sessions. I believe it to be necessary for the students to not only critique themselves, but their classmates. It also means that they actually listen to the other groups, and not just themselves, as they know they will have to have something to say about the others. We chatted a little about the differences between teaching small and large groups. I have always had the presumption that teaching small groups is much easier, however Lorna gave me some food for thought. She said that in her opinion, smaller groups can be far harder, as the relationship becomes so much more intimate, and you have to make sure you are constantly ‘on the ball’, as a small group of 4/5 students will be scrutinising you much more than a room of 100! I take her point here, but I think it’s one of the aspects that I love about what I do. I do build relationships with my students, some of whom I teach for the entire 3 years of their University education. You do learn all about their personal lives, and become far more than just a ‘teacher’ to them. Lorna raised the issue of the students remembering their feedback just as a final note, she acknowledged how useful the constant feedback throughout the session had been, but wondered whether it would be worth recording the comments/feedback, as they could then keep a record. I have to say I agree with this, and normally, in every other session we would sit and listen back to the work we had created/recorded, and I and the rest of the group would give feedback, whilst the student/group in question would make notes on it.  I was really pleased with this feedback for my first observation, and I’m looking forward the others.  References:  Tiberius, R. (1999) Small Group Teaching. London: Kogan Page HEA. (2011). The UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education   Retrieved from: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/ukpsf/ukpsf.pdf Fry, H. Ketteridge, S. and Marshall, S. (2009) A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Third Edition. Routledge Falmer.

It’s Saturday night. No, I’m not out on the town, (sadly).  I’ve just returned from a rather unsuccessful trip to the Clifford Whitworth Library. Frankly, I may as well have been out on the town! It was freezing, and as noisy as a disco. People seemed to just be hanging around, chatting, coming in and out of doors, eating, drinking….arrrrgh! I was attempting to get on top of some of my PGCAP, as I’m doing both modules and starting to realise the full extent of doing both.

I think I need to quit all my jobs, ditch all my friends, get rid of my dog, and maybe then I’ll have a chance at getting enough time to do both of these things! In all seriousness, I was so frustrated by the lack of a decent study environment, I posted on my Facebook status “The library is SO noisy! I can’t concentrate!! Annoying!”. Immediately, 5 of my students ‘liked’ my comment. And several more commented themselves. “I agree Liz, I had no hope of completing my dissertation in there, drove me nuts!”. (Yes, some of our performance students choose a dissertation! I know! ) Anyway, it got me thinking about some of the complaints that my students make, many of which I simply don’t really listen to. They complain about lack of a decent rehearsal space, or lack of availability on the editing suite, or frustration at only having 1 working radio studio.  I do listen, per say, but – whilst I am sympathetic, I don’t really take this on board. It’s not me who organises the rooms, builds the studios, etc etc. And I fully expect them to complete their assessments, regardless of these issues.

Don’t get me wrong, wherever I can, I help with any complaints. If there is something I can do, I’ll do it. But a lot of the time, I can’t. So I don’t really think about it. But tonight, made me think. I feel like I’ve wasted most of the day, being frustrated by a slow internet connection at home, then a noisy, freezing library later on. I’ve not done half the work I wanted to.

However. I’ve learnt two very important things. Firstly, whilst flapping over the fact that I didn’t think I really understood the UKPSF, I actually found the green sheet that Chrissi gave us in the first week. I looked at it carefully, and nearly shrieked with excitement. (The screaming would’ve been drowned out with all the other noise in CW Library anyway). I DO most of that stuff already! I do it! I looked at the sheet, and realised that A1, A2, A3, A4, K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, V1, and V2 were all things that I do! And I’ve done for years! This may sound silly, but that was a big revelation to me. I just did what I did, and I didn’t think there was a professional body saying that I did it! Someone in class this week mentioned about teaching in your ‘own little bubble’.  Well, that’s absolutely true. The Adelphi Building is like a separate University. We’re a law unto ourselves. Most of our tutors are a bit nuts (in a good way) for example one male tutor appeared in the corridor the other day in a full length ball-gown. My friend Bron was dressed in head to toe green, complete with green specs, and green hair the other day. It’s like a crazy fame-school. I’ve said it before, I’ve felt like the ‘dunce from the drama department’ on this PGCAP so far. I’ve met so many people who are teaching such amazing subjects, and people who overwhelm me with their knowledge and intelligence.

But today – I realised that I have great subject knowledge. I’m intelligent! In our session this week, several people commented that they wished they had my confidence, and my skills of presentation. I was able to analyse different types of performance, and several people said they’d love me to come and observe them simply to help them with their delivery!

Anyway, this is much longer than I intended. As usual. I can ramble on without any problem, it’ s just the ‘serious’ stuff, referencing, academic work etc, that I’m still very shaky with.

Oh – the second thing I learnt? That it’s bloody hard being a student sometimes, and maybe I should listen to my students complaints a little more carefully in the future.

CASE STUDY

 RADIO ACTING

By Liz Peters, Lecturer, School of Media, Music and Performance

 Lizpeters01@hotmail.com

The challenge

When students step into the radio studio, and are given a script to perform from, the first, and continuing mistake they make is constantly turn and move away from the microphone, therefore taking their voice away from the ‘audience’. The students have been taught stage and television acting, where turning to speak to the person you are addressing in a performance, is a perfectly natural, and essential thing to do. They usually fail to understand that it is the microphone that is their audience. And that everything they do needs to be ‘played’ to the mic, not the other performers in the studio. I cannot keep interrupting their performances to constantly remind them to stop turning away. The assessment criteria for the module includes the very important ‘Use of microphone technique, appropriate ‘playing to the mic’’. This is vital, as radio acting requires such different techniques to ‘normal’ acting. An expert in his field, Alan Beck, (1997) states that “working at the microphone is as much a matter of technique as film acting”.  This is what the students fail to grasp. They presume they can act ‘for stage’, and that the microphone will somehow follow them around the room.

The Intervention

I can use the ‘talkback’ system to interrupt them, however this becomes very repetitive, and sadly interrupts some otherwise excellent performing. Therefore I needed a solution that would make the students far more aware of the microphone. My approach was a physical one. I decided to use a lead (a dog lead, to be specific, but any kind of lead or rope would suffice) which could be attached to the microphone at the handle end, and clip to the students belt/clothing at the other end. Therefore, turning away from the microphone, or stepping away from it, would result in a pull on their clothing, and a subsequent reminder that they should not be turning away, but in fact stay facing the mic.  Our first radio concentrates on teaching students the ‘5 positions’, as outlined by Alan Beck, along with utilising various exercises to showcase the importance of playing to the mic, and using these positions. He states that an “awareness of the microphone is essential”, and demonstrates his 5 positions, ranging from an inch away from the mic, to several feet away from the mic.

The results

In terms of the results, as I’m not currently running radio sessions this semester, it’s difficult to see how the intervention would work. The key gain in this is that the students become very physically aware of themselves, their position in the studio, and the position of the mic. And this is essential, if they want to perform effectively as radio actors. However, the immediate obstacle I foresee, is that there could be a certain uneasiness to a student being tethered to a microphone by a dog lead! This could certainly raise some eyebrows. Having explained the idea to former radio students, who are now learning TV presenting with me, they seemed both amused and impressed. Several said they had wished they could’ve tried it, as the issue of not ‘playing to the mic’ was one of the biggest problems they encountered with radio acting. A handful were initially a little shocked at the use of a dog-lead, but when pressed, they concluded that the theory behind the idea was indeed a useful one, and not one of the 20 students questioned said that they would have a problem with it. I think that becoming comfortable with the students initially before expecting them to embark on such a practice is essential. Cotton, (1995) states that “…the more you know about individuals and how to lessen the barriers to learning, the better”.

I would absolutely consider putting this into practice in my sessions next semester. Whilst recording some voiceovers in the studio, I took the lead in myself, and attached it to see how it felt. It was rather strange initially, and I did worry that potentially pulling the microphone over could be an issue. However, the legs of the stand are very wide-set, and it would take a lot of movement to actually tip the mic fully over. There is certainly an awareness gained by attaching yourself to the equipment. I can’t imagine that this would transfer very well to other disciplines, and to be honest I would see this as more of a light-hearted gesture, rather than a serious intervention.

References

Beck, A. (1997) Radio Acting. London, AC & Black

Cotton, J, (1995) The Theory of Learners. London, Kogan Page Ltd.