- Timed session plan and/or slide deck:
- Key decisions in your planning:
I found the planning and decision making process quite difficult (see Reflective Blog Post 3!), but I am glad I was able to come through the other end and focus more on the emotional read rather so much on the forensic approach.
I am very glad I asked people to bring garments to the session, this was a integral part of how I wanted to run the session. It needed real, physical objects that people could touch.
This was quite low stakes, as if the participants forgot, they are all wearing clothes so could have used something they were wearing on the day.
- Brief description of what happened:
Participants were introduced to the idea of garment research through the question, ‘How do we interact with our clothes?’.
The sessions focused on a three-part framework, with an activity corresponding to each step:
- Observe – 2 mins, very quick and reactive, put comments in chat.
- Reflect – 5 mins (although this took more like 8 mins), group discussion lead by tutor.
- Interpret – 5 mins, plenary of learning and thoughts, ‘How do YOU interact with your clothes?’.
Session was based on my personal practice of garment research and supported by The Dress Detective (Mida, I and Kim, A. 2015) and Craft of Use (Fletcher, K. 2016).
- A brief summary of the feedback you received:
Feedback was very positive. It spanned praise on clarity of structure, tasks and visual layout, as well as a positive reaction to engaging with a real object.
It also focused on my ability to create a safe and open space for discussions. Somewhere participants felt able to engage and also develop their ‘reflective voice’.
(See below for quotes from the session transcript. These are mainly for my own reference, but also support the summary in more detail.)
- Your reflections about the microteach, and what you learned:
Historically I am a very concrete outcome kind of person, but in the end I really enjoyed the fact this session was a bit freer and more ambiguous. It was a struggle to get past this in the planning, but having delivered the session I definitely want to bring this into my teaching more – less concrete outcomes and more emotional connection – especially in the very early sessions I have with Year 1.
I am planning to embed these activities within a longer ‘Garment Research’ session. The fact there are no stakes in the activity is something to embrace, and having a longer session will only allow more time for group discussions and reflections of shared experience. I would also like to add some sort of drawing activity, so there is an added observational element, one that does not involve language. This will allow student who are less confident speaking to participate in a different way.
I was surprised at the response to my ‘openness’. I know I can plan a session and put together a clear and visually pleasing presentation, but this was something I wasn’t expecting so much feedback on. I do admit that this maybe comes quite naturally and I don’t necessarily think about what I am doing, but maybe this is something I need to dig into a bit more. Especially as Unit lead on a course where at least two other people are teaching lessons I have planned. How do I ensure the same level of openness is afforded to all students? Is this in the planning and structure? Or the delivery? Or most likely a combination of both.