Having had a week stressing about the PGCert, I had my first tutorial with my tutor, Catherine Smith (Sergio is away for the next month or so). Aaaaaand… I got all anxious about it and was emotional. I realise that I had been building up the expectations for the course in my head and allowing myself to spiral into ‘I don’t understand/don’t know what I’m doing’ state of nerves. It’s not healthy obviously but Catherine was so reassuring and made me feel more confident moving forwards. She said that possibly I am overthinking the issues, and that of course its complicated being a working tutor that then becomes a student. And I think that there is a lot of truth in that. Hearing spoken out loud was pretty cathartic.
We discussed the peer observation. I was happy to discuss that. I enjoy being in the studio (or classroom) and talking to a large body of students. we agreed a date 9th Feb.
Catherine also asked me what I was interested focussing on this year, and I’ve confirmed Blended Learning. Whilst I’m not an advocate of total online learning, during the pandemic my colleagues and I worked hard to ensure that the online content responded and reflected the expected learning outcomes, ensuring that we set engaging tasks to enhance the experience and maintain engagement (which is very difficult). As a result I can see the benefits of delivering parts of a creative course (architecture for example) with online components. For example, on the foundation, contextual practice has portions (some lectures) that are delivered (coursewide) online. This is successful on a couple of practical levels 1) large course 500-600 students) & not enough space to house all students at the same time, and 2) the lectures are recorded so for those learners who either miss or need to re-watch to fully comprehend the lecture & required tasks, it can be beneficial.
Catherine also encouraged me to attend the in-person lectures on Weds 25th – which is my plan. She emphasised that meeting and engaging with others in my cohort is worthwhile. I am looking forward to it.
How do I feel after my tutorial? I am reassured that the choice to do the PGCert is a good one, that I will benefit from. I feel more confident now that I have a research path to develop & understand.
ACTION PLAN
- Rewatch/listen to WEDS 18th session.
- Continue researching – CS suggestion ‘places.com’
- HELP WITH THE BLOG (this is getting urgent now)