‘Assessment for social justice and supporting retention‘ seminar

Key words: compassion empathy trust humility boundaries love communication language non-verbal communication equity social justice kindness joy

After the seminar I reflected on the language I use during group, 1-2-1 tutorials and crits. Formative assessment comprises a large part of the student journey. Discussion with peers and tutors foregrounds that I am an influential presence, and that what I say has an impact on student experience. I aim to take an empathic approach to all my communication with students and colleagues. I think I do this naturally however, I must also consider self-care and self-awareness in this process. If I am feeling stressed or anxious for whatever reason (usually relating to my family life!) this will effect my ability to provide effective support to students.

Through this seminar I reflected on constructive alignment theory. If students are to create their own learning, external factors must be considered when assessing, such as personal life, positionality and intersectionality, of myself and students.

Reflection on key questions pointed me towards my values and positionality. My experience as a bi-racial individual result in an intrinsic mindfulness of racial equality in life generally, and in teaching and learning processes however, through reading texts such as Friere’s ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’, I have become more aware of the wider issues of social justice and the ways in which (my) unconscious bias, white privilege, (my) wilful ignorance are a part of the British education system, including UAL policies and practice, that creates an attainment gap between white students and their black and brown, disadvantaged, underrepresented counterparts. I continue to consider how I can be part of reducing the attainment gap and improving student experience for underrepresented groups and individuals through my practice.

References: Compassionate assessment seminar Padlet. Available at https://artslondon.padlet.org/ccaldwell39/assessment-for-social-justice-and-supporting-retention-com2tiy6h9d1hnu6

Updated UAL assessment criteria is useful in that it is presented in a visual format that makes the information accessible. Available at https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/News/62339/new-assessment-criteria-now-live

Following feedback from my peers and tutor, and reflecting on my micro teach I wanted to develop my creative practice in synthesis with my pedagogy by attending a drawing workshop delivered by Ilga Leimanis.The activities were designed in a way that gave me a different approach to what drawing is for and how it can be used as a learning tool and for problem solving. As a visual thinker and learner I want to find more effective ways of recording information, thoughts and ideas. I want to present information to students in a more inclusive way, using visual methods rather than just images and text based formats, for example, using shapes, colours, mark making as code for aspects of theory, sociopolitical issues, people, community, etc. I want to find ways that appeal to neuro divergent students in particular to allow for more effective communication.

Some of the drawings I produced:

A selection of participants’ drawings

My micro teach raised many issues that I could develop, eg. thinking ahead to the action research project and my interest in Drawing. Teaching points: introduce ideas visually and verbally before inviting engagement in planned activity. This can provide a context for the task and help participants to understand what they are being asked to do and how they might mentally prepare themselves. Plan specific questions for a group crit. Consider the time of day, student ‘journey’, when planning activities. Drawing is an enjoyable activity that can serve a wide range of purposes. How could I develop object based learning in a context of multi-sensory learning to engage, encourage, challenge all students including neuro-divergent individuals within established or new schemes of work? Theoretical ideas: further research practical strategies for inclusive teaching including historical, social, political, cultural contexts of Drawing. How might Drawing be developed and utilised for different disciplines and purposes? Further research into ’embodied practice’, auto-ethnographic approaches to Drawing. How might my research, pedagogy and creative practice be informed by Qona Rankin’s studies on the ‘links between drawing and dyslexia’ (having been recently diagnosed as dyslexic)? (How) does my diagnosis alter my perspective on teaching and learning?