In December, prior to the winter break, I attended the induction session for the PGCert in Academic Practice. Exploring the TPP unit brief, alongside being introduced to the unit in person through the course leader Lindsay, I learnt the aims of the Theories, Policies, and Practice (TPP) unit. Specifically, the unit serves to fulfil three key reflections, namely to “Know and respond to your students’ diverse needs”, to “Plan for and support student learning”, and to “Assess and/or give feedback for learning.” The unit will progress through various modes of assessment, including peer observation, tutor observation, group work with peers, and self-reflection.
Having learnt the learning outcomes of the unit (and beyond), I am excited to embark on this journey. My whole life, I have been associated with schools and universities as a student. In these years, I have been taught in varying teaching contexts and teachers. In terms of my own teaching experience, I have taught since 2016 (whilst still a PhD student). However, regardless of the varying teaching contexts as a student and teaching capacity, this is my first time dipping my foot into the field of pedagogy, where I have an opportunity to learn about learning.
Is there an art and science to pedagogy, and what are my expectations? As someone who is actively involved with the planning and execution of teaching (I am course leading the MSc Applied Psychology in Fashion at LCF), this course will give me an opportunity to think about my own teaching practices. Especially since I specialise in teaching research methodology and statistics – considered by many to be a rather unforgiving, dry subject – I will try to find ways to bring a sense of humanity, fun, and interaction into the classroom, without, of course, sacrificing academic integrity. Perhaps my learning process in this course is akin to what psychologists call metacognition (see figure below, courtesy of Queen’s University; https://shorturl.at/hBGS9), which concerns the act of thinking about one’s own thinking and learning. Some have said that a heightened awareness of one’s thinking may have benefits for learning (Veenam, Hout-Wolters, & Afflerbach, 2006) – I hope this will very much be the case.
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Reference
Veenman, M.V., Van Hout-Wolters, B.H. and Afflerbach, P., 2006. Metacognition and learning: Conceptual and methodological considerations. Metacognition and learning, 1, pp.3-14.