Transcript
Ryan-final1.mp3
28/10/2011
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Duration:
0:30:03
START AUDIO
Respondent:
Let’s go.
Interviewer:
Let’s go, we’re all right. Okay so thinking back over the module,
was it the journalism? Was it the journalism one?
Respondent:
Yep.
Interviewer:
Erm, that we were talking about. If you think back over that
module, erm and how you’ve been working with it in the last year or
two.
Respondent:
Uh huh.
Respondent:
Did you change anything? Either the materials or techniques or
approach that you used in that module over that time?
Respondent:
Erm, yeah one of the things that I … one of the things the external
examiner said actually, in something that I was discussing, was that
2
we decided that it would be nice to have a journal to sit alongside
what they were originally doing practically.
Respondent:
Right.
Respondent:
So that they could evidence their journey from where they start and
where they end. As well as applying the practical skills together.
Erm, and the other thing that I implemented, which is something
that I want to do, was peer assessment. So we implemented a new
peer assessment process as well.
Because I’m always conscious that in getting a degree is an
individual attainment. But the reality is you must, you’ve got to
engage in group work and stuff.
Interviewer:
[?? 0:01:08]
Respondent:
A requirement of very day life. So it was important for me that
students had the confidence, that whatever they did in their group,
they had a say in how that was formed individually. And that
seemed to go down very well.
Interviewer:
So what sort of thing did you do with them there?
3
Respondent:
So I’d … I did some work a couple of years ago on group working
and media assessment practice. Which is actually a project borne
out of Bournemouth University.
And when we had, in those discussions, we were deciding on a
scale. And we actually have a process whereby if there’s five
students in the group, you basically peer assess four students.
And then when you assess, peer assess, those four students the
total must add up to zero, on a scale of -15 or +15.
Interviewer:
Right.
Respondent:
The idea being, if, let’s say person (a) did significantly more than
person (c), you might give person (a) +10. Person (b) might get
zero, and then maybe person (c) and person (d) get -5 each.
Interviewer:
Right.
Respondent:
So that means the total equals zero. The reason we do that, is
because if for instance you give the project a mark of 60, they can’t
inflate their own grade.
Interviewer:
Umm.
4
Respondent:
So, and then what happens is you average out what each person
gets from the peer scores from the other four people.
Interviewer:
Right, and then that’s a, that’s a waiting that you need to give.
Respondent:
So if they get plus … yeah, you know if they get +5, they get five
extra marks above anybody else.
Interviewer:
Right.
Respondent:
If they get -5, you get five less marks.
Interviewer:
Right okay, right okay. And the students, you found the students
err responded well to that?
Respondent:
Yeah it was interesting, ‘cause they were actually being peer
assessed in another module as well. And as the basis of the fact
they liked the one they did with me, they now, they’ve asked the
tutor to implement the one that I use. So that’s what they’re doing.
Interviewer:
Right.
5
Respondent:
So that peer assessment now is being used on that course, not just
on my module.
Interviewer:
Okay. And that change was something that you just decided to
bring … was that based on anything?
Respondent:
No it was based on …
Interviewer:
Just based on feedback or on …?
Respondent:
It was based, I did … when I first arrived here, a few years ago, I
did some work on annalistic assessments. And peer assessment
formed a big part of that.
And then I went to what’s called the [G-Ramp 0:03:19] conference,
which was group working and media practice assessment
conference in Bournemouth. And that’s where we were discussing
the types and styles.
And then over the years, I worked with a couple of people at
Bournemouth. And we developed this one that we all felt worked
really well.
Interviewer:
Right, okay. So you were trying, trying it out on this course that you
…?
6
Respondent:
Well I’ve used it before actually, but not on such a big group. I’d
always used it on masters level work.
Interviewer:
Right, okay,
Respondent:
Where, you know, individuality of attainment is incredibly important.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
And I thought, “Well it should apply here” and it did.
Interviewer:
Excellent, okay. And the other change that you mentioned, that the
external examiners?
Respondent:
Yeah the journal.
Interviewer:
Right.
Respondent:
I’m always conscious of, some people seem to put written work in
modules for the sake of it. And so I wanted to find a way of … one
of them things that I’m interested in, in the area that I work, which is
broadcast media, is they just don’t … they don’t just understand the
process.
7
But they understand the technologies that underpin that. And their
technical development journey, as it is.
‘Cause they’re journalist students, but I’m not teaching them
journalism.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
They’re pulling in those skills from somewhere else. I’m teaching
them broadcast technologies.
And it’s very difficult if they’re just doing a product, i.e. they’re
filming a new scene and outputting it. Whether they really
understand the technical processes, or whether they’ve just been
lucky …
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
And got it right. Or unlucky, and they haven’t got it right. And so
what I wanted to do was try and find a way that they could be able
to tell me what their journey has been like.
Interviewer:
Right.
8
Respondent:
So the way they record it, the way that they capture the content.
The way they edit it, what process they used and then the way they
output it as well.
So I was trying to get them to think, you know, what video code
actually using? What resolution? So all the technical things that
they need to know, if they’re going to become video journalists.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
And the journal was a good way of doing that, without having to get
them to write some kind of 2,000 word report at the end.
Interviewer:
Right, okay. So it was a recording on, as they went along?
Respondent:
Yeah, their process, their technical processes.
Interviewer:
Umm okay. And did you have anything, any changes that weren’t
… and they sound like plan changes. Did you have any changes
that were kind of, almost either forced upon you? Or unanticipated
that you had to, where you were responding to something that had
happened?
Respondent:
I think erm there’s always, when you’re doing production based
work, there’s always those needs to adapt your own approach.
9
The students are predominately journalist based. And it depends
on which cohorts. Some have a very advanced technical
experience, some don’t have any.
And so you’re always adapting your approach, dependent on which
cohorts students.
So even though they were the same year, it was actually two
cohorts. And one cohort was a lot more technically able than
another cohort.
Interviewer:
Oh right.
Respondent:
For some strange reason, if you collect them like that. And so I
tended to work a bit slower with those that needed more technical
understanding.
But also make them aware that were resources outside, that they
would work with to help build their technical understanding.
So I think just generally, on a day-to-day basis, you tend to adapt.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
The way you approach things. Anyway …
Interviewer:
Okay.
10
Respondent:
And then you always get the issues around group work that …
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
You try and get, I try and get the group to resolve those wherever
possible. And what I tried to do, I realised that managing groups is
difficult for students. So I tried to give them a tangible production
role, so that they could explore the, the context that they were
working.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
So if they were the director, what would their role be?
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
Respondent:
Not necessarily a line manager, but a creative manager. And then
the production role, the producer, might manage stuff.
And so they did take those roles up quite nicely. Erm and …
Interviewer:
Right, and is that something you hadn’t done before?
11
Respondent:
Yeah I’ve not …
Interviewer:
Or is that something you did?
Respondent:
I have indentified roles that they should undertake. As in the actual
event of the broadcast, “This is your role”.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
But what I try to do is take ownership of that role from the beginning
of the journey.
Interviewer:
Right, right, okay. And that worked well do you think?
Respondent:
I think it gave them a much stronger sense of erm ownership of,
“Oh this is my role, this is my job. And this is my responsibility”.
Interviewer:
Right.
12
Respondent:
So it became … like for instance, a production manager’s usually
responsible for liaising with everybody. To make sure they all meet
up on time, and so on.
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
Respondent:
And that gave that person a real task. And it’s a task that the group
needed, ‘cause normally they’d be like communicating over
Facebook to try and meet up and …
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
So I think it did work really well.
Interviewer:
Right, good. Do you feel that generally the changes that you’ve
made have been positive, beneficial changes?
Respondent:
Oh yeah, I don’t think there’s any that I’ve put in this year that I
would take out, so …
Interviewer:
Right, okay so …
Respondent:
Generally, I think, yeah they’ve been very positive.
13
Interviewer:
Okay.
Respondent:
I think the only thing that I will be doing, is being maybe in the
journal. I think … it’s very difficult, ‘cause some students are really
good at journal entry writing. And … but some people just put
what I did.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
You know, “This is what I did today”. And they don’t really meet the
needs, or the requirements, of what you’re trying to ask them to do.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
They almost use it like a, some kind of diary. And so I think I need
to do some work with students about erm entry writing. And I think
I’m going to start using erm some reflective models. So they can
start looking at maybe doing erm an entry under different headings
each week.
Interviewer:
Umm, right. So they’ve got some structure for the work.
14
Respondent:
So they’ve got some structure, rather than just a bit of pros. So I
think I’m going to implement that next year.
Interviewer:
Okay, okay. Would you say that this is a typical amount of change
that you would make? The sort of change you’ve made over the
last couple of years …
Respondent:
Yeah.
Interviewer:
Is that typical of what you do on a normal basis, on most modules?
Respondent:
I’ve, I very rarely use probably more than 30% of the content that I
used the year before.
Interviewer:
Right, okay. So how does that play out normally then?
Respondent:
I think … what I try to, I like …
Interviewer:
What are you changing?
Respondent:
At the beginning of each year, I like to come … I think from my own
state of mind, if I just churned out the same stuff every year, it
would drive me insane.
15
Interviewer:
(Laughter) You’d go mad. (Laughter)
Respondent:
So I always try and make the point of changing, adapting some
approach. Trying new ideas for how I can get students to
understand some of the technical concepts.
Erm and also the assessment change, and the direction of the
assessment or the approach.
But if things are working, I tend not to tweak them.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
But I think the way that I deliver content changes.
Interviewer:
Right, okay. And so the amount that you’ve done this year, is about
what you’d normally do?
Respondent:
About what I would normally do, yeah.
Interviewer:
Yeah. You wouldn’t expect … Erm do you think, how much do you
have to respond to institutional, or external? I mean you mentioned
the external examiner.
16
Respondent:
Yes.
Interviewer:
Which is an influence I suppose.
Respondent:
Yeah.
Interviewer:
But is there a lot of change required, because of institutional
change? (Laughter) That’s the question at the moment is.
(Laughter)
Respondent:
Umm yeah, there’s always institutional change.
Interviewer:
Yeah.
Respondent:
Erm yeah there is, because obviously the actual students are split
side delivery. So there’s been issues around resourcing at one
campus, and not the other campus.
Interviewer:
Right.
Respondent:
Starting them off on something up here, that they can’t complete
down there. So there’s always those challenges. You know, not
17
enough equipment, not enough video cameras available, ‘cause
loads broke all of a sudden and …
So you’re always trying to adapt, and give the best possible
experience to the student. You know, and give them a bit of
flexibility and discuss other things they could be doing.
“Oh I couldn’t get my camera”. So you say, “Well why don’t you do
this at this point in time …
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
instead of wasting energy trying to find a camera?”
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
So I think you’re always constantly doing that. And I think the
nature of broadcast, is the technology is moving so fast. And the
way that we broadcast content these days, is so diverse.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
That it’s always, always changing.
18
Interviewer:
Okay, that’s great, thank you. Erm okay, so moving onto the long
view, unless there’s any … is there anything you want to say about
the module or anything?
Respondent:
No I think that’s it.
Interviewer:
Okay. So the long view, erm think about your teaching career to
date.
Respondent:
Uh huh.
Interviewer:
I mean it’s obviously not over yet. But where your … if you think
about your life as a teacher.
Respondent:
Uh huh.
Interviewer:
As if it is was a book.
Respondent:
Uh huh.
Interviewer:
So you’ll have erm different stages, or different parts of that life, as
different chapters. Can you divide up your teaching life into
chapters? And just say what would be those chapters? What
19
would you call them, what would be in them etc.? And you can
have any number you want or whatever. This is where you might
want to write something down.
Respondent:
Okay.
Interviewer:
And if you write something down, can I take it away? So can you
do it in a page that you don’t mind sharing?
Respondent:
Yeah, I could probably, I could probably … I can probably verbalise
it.
Interviewer:
Okay.
Respondent:
But erm you’d probably start with some kind of preface wouldn’t
you, which would actually talk about what your educational
experience was like.
Interviewer:
Okay.
Respondent:
And so I would nearly always say … I went to Leeds University. So
it was fairly traditional in that sense that, you know, here’s the
information. For those modules that had … ‘cause I did a theatre
studies, and history type thing.
20
Interviewer:
Oh did you? Right.
Respondent:
And it was like, the history part was obviously very theorised. You
know, “Go and study this playwright, and write about their
motivations”. And, you know …
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
“What characterises their plays”. And there was, that was very
much write that down and regurgitate that.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
And then there was the practical side, that probably has influenced
me more as in education. In terms of engaging people and …
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
‘Cause lecturing’s about performance isn’t it.
Interviewer:
Yeah, right, yeah.
21
Respondent:
You’re putting that performance on.
So the preface would always be about, you know, “What was my
educational experience like?” Especially at undergraduate level.
And so I would definitely put that at the beginning. And then
chapter one would probably … ‘cause I didn’t go straight into
teaching. I was a practitioner, really, as in media and broadcast for
three or four years before I got into teaching.
Interviewer:
Oh right.
Respondent:
And so chapter one would be that. And that would be the basis
upon which … I made the link then between teaching, and the need
for being able to teach with a sense of practical output.
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
Respondent:
You know, not just … when I went to university, I didn’t go to
university to become an academic.
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
22
Respondent:
And it really hit me that when I was studying at university, I was
being taught as if I was being taught to become an academic.
Interviewer:
Right.
Respondent:
You know?
Interviewer:
Oh okay, yeah.
Respondent:
You know if I’m studying about playwrights, and researching,
there’s very few jobs that you’re ever actually going to be able to
implement that knowledge.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
Or skill set. Except, obviously, to become an academic and do the
same type of thing.
So then I went into, in industry. And I realised there was a real
need for bringing together that underlying theoretical knowledge,
and applying it in a practical sense. And how those two can really
help each other.
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
23
Respondent:
And it was really interesting, because I started doing part time
teaching at … well I say teaching, but it wasn’t really. Part time,
they called it teaching, at a FE college.
But it was desktop publishing, and media. And I realised that I
wasn’t really teaching, I was just training people how to use this
software.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
Or this camera. And I thought they’ve really missed a trick. And
that all you’re doing is giving practical skills.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
Without any of the underlying knowledge. So the chapter one
would be about my practical development.
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
Respondent:
As a practitioner.
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
24
Respondent:
And then chapter three would be the part time teaching. And then
the idea that I started to bring in my practical skills.
And as well with the students, give them some background context.
Some history, some context, some theory about why we use this in
a particular way.
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
Respondent:
You know why is video, for instance, 25 frames per second. And
what problems does that cause, but how can you use it to your
advantage to help you get the best motion.
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
Respondent:
So it gave them a real sense of, “Okay I’m filming this content, at
this frame rate, for this reason”. Rather than just turn the camera
on, press the button and you’ve got …
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
And I started to see that students were able to benefit from that. So
that was the part time.
25
And then eventually it just happened that the teaching took over,
and I was, then became a freelance practitioner. And so eventually
the freelance moved.
Interviewer:
Yes.
Respondent:
I didn’t move, ‘cause you’re still carrying on doing it. But it was
almost as if, or was it ... freelance is very repetitive. You know,
you’d go and work, you know, in a room with some BBC director for
three days. Cutting their piece of work, just pressing the buttons
and hopefully given them some editorial viewpoints.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
But most directors just didn’t want to know what you wanted to do.
Interviewer:
(Laughter)
Respondent:
Your ideas were, they just wanted you to cut their piece together.
And so it became very … I just, a bit disheartening. You know,
being hired out as an editor.
Interviewer:
Umm.
26
Respondent:
And so I decided that I’d try and do more education, which is what
eventually happened.
So then I got a job at a FE college, and I started at FE. And I think
that was really good grounding.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
Yes, I think it’s a really good experience. So that would be chapter
four, my further education, teaching experience.
So I think that really … I think because you work with such a
diverse range of people. Like you were doing the evening classes
with anyone from the age of, you know, 18 up to 80.
So that, being able to meet that diverse range of people was pretty
useful, because it makes you adapt.
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
Respondent:
You know, it makes you adapt on the fly. It makes you have to
think about how you present material, so it’s perceivable by lots of
different people.
And then also on the day-to-day delivery of modules on a national
diploma, or a higher national diploma. And the unitisation of
education, which was quite interesting.
27
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
You know, “You do this unit which is about video editing. And then
you do this unit, which is about something else, and never the
twains shall meet”.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
But in reality, they should all be working together.
And also, you know, you’re dealing with unruly characters.
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
Respondent:
Like 16 year olds, and 18 year olds, they didn’t really want to be
there, but they didn’t have anything else to do.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
So it was a really grounding.
And also I probably there picked up … I probably picked up some
abilities to be able to communicate to that broad spectrum of
28
people. Because it’s, it can be quite challenging having people that
are really committed to a course.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
And those that don’t want to be there. And how you try and make
an experience for all those.
And then also I probably picked up my abilities to administer myself
as an academic person. Being accountable for the quality of my
teaching.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
‘Cause at FE, you know, somebody comes in, sits, watch you teach
and then gives you a grade. They grade you.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
And that goes back to the Institution, you get a mark out of five or
whatever.
Interviewer:
Umm.
29
Respondent:
So you get externally watched. So I think that’s quite a useful
exercise.
And then also the pressure that there is at FE, for having a course.
And, you know, if you pass less than 90% of the students, the
impact that has on funding.
So the higher levels of administration, of course, leadership which I
started to do. Which the [?? 0:29:30] is certainly coming towards
now.
Interviewer:
Umm (Laughter)
Respondent:
So that, my FE experience would be that chapter.
And then chapter five, it’ll probably be the start of what I would term
my academic journey.
Interviewer:
Okay.
Respondent:
Where I became a more rounded academic, so that I didn’t, wasn’t
just doing teaching. I started to do some research, and started to,
you know, publish some materials.
And started to look beyond the scope of my subject, and started to
become interested in how we teach.
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
30
Respondent:
More and more. And real … probably realised that there’s an area
of research there, you know.
And then also how technology can support that process. So that
file, that chapter there is about me becoming, you know, “an
academic”, inverted commas. It was much more rounded, not just
a teacher, you know, but an academic person.
Interviewer:
Yeah.
Respondent:
And that really helped me. I don’t know really. And then, you
know, you’re probably aware. Then I became more interested in
how I could use my skills, and my knowledge, to support staff in the
Institution.
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
Respondent:
‘Cause that might be chapter six.
Interviewer:
So is that chapter six then?
Respondent:
You know, that dissemination of my experiences. And I think I soon
learnt early on, that my abilities to adapt, and pick up technology
quickly, and make sense of it for other people was quite valuable.
31
Interviewer:
Uh huh.
Respondent:
You know, there was a lot of people that were focused on their
subject. And they weren’t really bothered about the technology
around them. They’d always been taught their subject the same
way, and they didn’t want to change that. Even if it was for the
better for them.
You know I think … I saw a real opportunity there to say, “No, look
what we can do for you” and open some people’s eyes. So that
would be probably that chapter.
Interviewer:
Okay.
Respondent:
I don’t know. I was probably, probably …
Interviewer:
You may, that maybe where you are now.
Respondent:
Yeah.
Interviewer:
Where you may want to start. So if you take those chapters … I
mean what I’ve just noted down here …
32
Respondent:
Yeah.
Interviewer:
And you might want to give some titles to these. The first one was
your educational experience. So I don’t know what you’d want to
call that.
Respondent:
That was my pref … that’s my preface definitely there.
Interviewer:
That’s your preface, so would you have that as a preface?
Respondent:
I think so.
Interviewer:
Okay.
Respondent:
‘Cause it puts into context why I made that journey in a way.
Interviewer:
Right, and what would you call that? Apart from the preface
(Laughter), you could just call it “The Preface” if you want.
(Laughter)
Respondent:
No it would be good to have some kind of title to it. It’s definitely
got to be something about my experiences about being taught, to
being an academic.
33
Interviewer:
Okay.
Respondent:
And I always remember one of the sessions that we had. We did a
play, obviously you know we did lots of plays. And it was always
about … you know, we did the play and then we always had this,
you know, this session afterwards. Where we talked about the
theoretical underpinnings of that play.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
And I always remember thinking, “In fact you never assessed me
on my performance abilities.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
You were always assessing me on my ability to then discursively
apply that. Or theorise on that approach”.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
And I just felt a real, you know, I felt quite disheartened that I’d
never, was never actually said, “Oh that was a good piece of
34
acting”. Or, “That was a good piece of directing” or “That was a
good piece of this”.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
And what I ended up doing, actually, was I ended up deciding, “Oh
sod this. What I’m going to do, I’m going to sit, find a way of
bringing technology into theatres”. So I focused on the implications
of technology in theatre.
Which was good, because none of the academics knew anything
about it.
Interviewer:
(Laughter)
Respondent:
So you could say anything you liked, and you could do okay.
Interviewer:
(Laughter)
Respondent:
So that preface really is about …
Interviewer:
So what, so what would you call it?
35
Respondent:
Ah, I don’t know. It’s about how university degrees used to be
about creating more academics, wasn’t it. It was about you went to
university to probably become an academic. There weren’t a huge
amount of courses based around a vocation. They were about
studying the subject.
And you might become a historian, or you might become an
academic. And you’d have to regurgitate that knowledge.
So it’s erm, “University for Academics”? I don’t know, maybe?
Interviewer:
Okay. And then you had, I don’t know whether this is, this would be
chapter one then?
Respondent:
Yeah.
Interviewer:
Being your time as a practitioner.
Respondent:
Yeah
Interviewer:
And you’d call that?
Respondent:
I would probably call that, “The Real World”.
Interviewer:
Okay, “The Real World”.
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Respondent:
‘Cause that’s what it is. You know, I think people that have entirely
been in academia, sometimes just don’t have any … and it’s not
everybody of course. But if they say things, and you think, “You’ve
never been in the real world have you”.
Interviewer:
Yeah.
Respondent:
“You’ve no idea of what is actually going to be like”.
Interviewer:
Yeah,
Respondent:
So I’d …
Interviewer:
Be career, it would just be career, yeah.
Respondent:
Yeah that is, that’s the real world.
Interviewer:
Okay. Chapter two, I’m not sure which was chapter two.
Respondent:
Yeah.
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Respondent:
‘Cause I jumped into chapter three as part time context.
Respondent:
Umm.
Interviewer:
Part time teaching. Was part time teaching chapter two?
Respondent:
Chapter one was practitioner. Yeah, chapter two that would be,
yeah.
Interviewer:
Two was part time, so that was just … I’ll mark it in there.
Respondent:
So chapter two would be, it’ll be like crossing the boundary a bit
wouldn’t it.
Interviewer:
Okay, so what do you want to call it, “Crossing the Boundaries”?
That’s fine.
Respondent:
Yeah. And that was where you started to … you know what?
Maybe erm …
Interviewer:
Started bringing the context, yeah I’ve written context and practice
down here.
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Respondent:
Yeah.
Interviewer:
Part time.
Respondent:
And also the fact that it was more training there, rather than
teaching. But that’s all right.
Interviewer:
Okay. And then chapter, what I think is chapter 3, is FE?
Respondent:
Yeah, that’s right. That’s where I became a teacher, what I would
determine to be a teacher.
Interviewer:
Okay, so what would we call that?
Respondent:
I would, I would “From Training to Teaching” I think would be …
Interviewer:
Okay, “From Training to …”. I like these titles, they’re good. Okay.
I shouldn’t say that, it’s supposed to be … (Laughter)
Respondent:
(Laughter)
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Interviewer:
Okay chapter four then, you had mentioned as your academic
journey. You becoming an academic.
Respondent:
Yeah.
Interviewer:
What’s, what’s your title for that?
Respondent:
Erm it’s about becoming a much more rounded teacher isn’t it. It’s
not just about teaching.
Erm just call it, “Am I a Scholar?”
Interviewer:
Okay.
Respondent:
You know something like …
Interviewer:
“Am I a Scholar?”
Respondent:
Or, “What is a Scholar?” or something. I don’t know, something like
that?
Interviewer:
Okay. Or, “What is ….?” Okay, and then chapter five then is that
outward thing of dissemination of things and helping other people.
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Respondent:
Yeah, so …
Interviewer:
So what would you call that?
Respondent:
Erm, ahh …
Interviewer:
(Laughter)
Respondent:
Let me think, oh it’s difficult.
Interviewer:
Ah it’s hard to be put on the spot with these things.
Respondent:
Yeah it is isn’t it.
Interviewer:
Yeah.
Respondent:
What about something like erm, err, “Sharing my …”, “Sharing my
Journey” or, “Sharing my Practice”? Something like that.
Interviewer:
Right I see, okay, lovely. So if you’re looking at those erm chapters
in that book.
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Respondent:
Yeah.
Interviewer:
As it is so far, which is an interesting book to read. Erm what
themes would you see coming through that?
Respondent:
One of the things that I definitely know would come through
everything that I’ve done, is about individualising learning
experience for students.
Interviewer:
Right.
Respondent:
Because again, this harps back to my experience as a student, is I
never felt as if the academic really knew me.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
Or really was judging me. You know, he handed in a piece of work,
and you get the mark back. And the feedback you think, “Oh you
could have written that for this person” right?
Interviewer:
Umm.
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Respondent:
“You could have written that for this person”.
And then you sit there in a seminar, and it could be … you know,
“You’re not talking to me, you’re just talking. Hoping that some
people here are listening …
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
and then they’re going to regurgitate …”
You know I just always felt that there wasn’t, it wasn’t an
individualised … individual to me, ‘cause obviously it was me
receiving it. But I never felt as if there was any attempt to
individualise it.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
And you know we did, you know, like we did plays. And there was
no opportunity there to say, “Well I think we did really well in this
way, but you know these people here they didn’t do anything for
four weeks”.
And so we all had to work really hard to … but they all got the same
mark in the end.
Interviewer:
Umm.
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Respondent:
And I just felt, you know, somehow its not right is it.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
So it was a definitely about individualising the learning experience.
And that comes from me using resources. So identifying which
students, and saying, “Oh these types of resources might be better
for you. These might be better for you. These would be good for
you”.
And also feedback, audio feedback. Students really enjoy the fact
that I'm talking to them.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
So I would watch through their piece of work, and give them audio
feedback. And they know it’s their work that I’m looking at.
Interviewer:
Umm.
Respondent:
‘Cause I talk about specific instances in it. And the student
comments, they are “Thank …” You know, “It was really valuable
that I knew it was you. That intonation, when you got excited I
knew I did really well”. And “I knew where I’d gone wrong”. So it’s
definitely about individualising that student experience.
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Interviewer:
Okay. Any other themes?
Respondent:
Erm I’ve always … and also probably the other thing is, bringing
together the practicality of what I’m teaching. With the underlying
theory, but not just for the sake of it. So they understand the theory
for a reason, that is going to benefit them.
You know, so they understand what they’re doing. But they also
understand where it came from, the context from which it derived.
Which can help, can only benefit them technically.
Interviewer:
Brilliant, okay great. Erm I think we probably, I think that’s … oh no
it’s still going. Hang on, oh no I pressed the wrong button.
END AUDIO
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