I went to the Postgraduates Who Teach
(PGWT) Residential course this week up in York. It was organised by the
Researcher Development Team who put together a two-day programme of talks and
workshops to introduce us (‘us’ referring to a consignment of postgraduates who
are planning on teaching at the university this academic year) to a variety of
approaches, theories and ideas we might be able to utilise when we start taking
undergraduate seminars this year.
For me, undertaking the course was a prerequisite for being accepted into the ranks of teaching staff in the sociology department. It also seemed a good idea as I’ve no relevant teaching experience.
For me, undertaking the course was a prerequisite for being accepted into the ranks of teaching staff in the sociology department. It also seemed a good idea as I’ve no relevant teaching experience.
I suppose I thought the whole thing would
be a good jolly. Sure - I hoped I might pick up a couple of ideas, but I was
working on the assumption that it was essentially there so that the university
could fulfill its requirement that PGWTs undertake nominal training.
Contrary to this supposition, the
residential was tough work. I find myself pretty drained as I type, sat on a
train stood waiting for its turn to depart from Manchester Piccadilly.
It was far from a box-ticking exercise. It
actually gave me quite a bit to chew over. Not least because the people doing
the talking up front were all incredible presenters who, by the nature of being
so fantastic, were not intimidating at all but thoroughly approachable
personalities.
I’m going to note down a couple of the many
ideas offered up in the sessions that really resounded with me.
The ambiguity of the learning environment. Oftentimes, students will throw a curveball. You might’ve organized a seminar structure, but a question proffered by somebody sat in the class could actually really divert from this. As the person heading up the discussion, you have to decide whether to run with that question there and then, or perhaps deal with it in another session.
Feedback comes in many different guises. It’s not just that illegible scrawl at the bottom of the pro forma marking criteria stapled haphazardly to the front of student essays. Encouragement, suggestions, and critical commentary – these are all things that teachers can actively provide to their students in a seminar setting, not just at assessment time. Feedback can really affect a student’s progress in the sense that, given the right guidance, it can push (pull?) them toward their end goal.
o Recognise what a student wants to achieve
o Let them know how far away they are from that goal
o Give practical suggestions on how to close that gap.
I move up to York in just over a week’s
time. Having spent a couple of days really thinking in depth about the teaching
skills I want to develop during the next three years, and having met some of
the people at this residential who’ll be in my department, I’m feeling much
more geared up to getting started with things.
