I chose to share the book The Trade of the Teacher by Mieke Bal[1] especially for the above quote which emphasises the teachers role as one of empowering the student. Bal stresses the fact that teaching needs to be generous, teachers share their knowledge while being aware that their knowledge is incomplete and can be questioned by the students, who bring their own knowledge and can teach the teacher. This is reiterated by Gloria Dall’Alba[2] who says that knowledge is plural and situated. As Frank McCourt[3] says: ‘if you aren’t learning while you are teaching, you aren’t teaching’.
The quote by Bal also emphasises the transactive nature of teaching and learning. Paulo Freire and bel hooks both stress the importance of the learning environment being a form of collaboration – what is vitally important is the formation of a pedagogical relationship between both teacher and students and between the students themselves[4].
During this session we were required to deliver a 5 minute talk where we outline our teaching context and other professional/creative identities. The tutor had prepared a presentation as well, taking his cue from bell hooks, who says: “In my classrooms, I do not expect students to take any risks that I would not take, to share in any way that I would not share.” His sharing immediately created a sense of him being one of us, and removed the hierarchical structure of tutor – students. He emphasised the necessity of creating a sense of belonging and connection among participants, as well as the importance of being careful of comparison and judgement. Because students have different advantages and disadvantages we cannot compare them to one another. John Holmwood[5] discusses how HE in the UK has become a system based on merit and individual responsibility, which is certainly not indicative of social solidarity and further disadvantages those who already experience structural disadvantage.
Once again, being a student has given me a deeper understanding of the student experience. I did not have much time to prepare my presentation, and once other students started presenting their slides I realised mine was far too simplistic and became very insecure. I know that some of my students feel intimidated when sharing work with me and their peers. I don’t come from an academic background, I worked as a commercial photographer before teaching photography and at times feel insecure in an academic context. I am aware that many of my students do not come from an academic background either, and their confidence needs to be nurtured. Holmwood[6] discusses the structural inequalities students face – the playing field is not level and this needs to be taken into cognisance when both teaching and evaluating learning.
REFERENCES:
Bal, M. and Lutters, J. 2018. The Trade of the Teacher: Visual Thinking with Mieke Bal.
Dall’Alba, G. 2005. Improving teaching: Enhancing ways of being university teachers. Higher Education Research & Development, 24 (4), pp. 361–372.
Holmwood, J. 2018. Race and the Neoliberal University: Lessons From the Public University. In Bhambra, G. K., Gebrial, D. and Nişancıoğlu, K. (eds.) Decolonising the University. London: Pluto Press, pp. 37-52.
hooks, b. 1994 . Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Taylor and Francis. Routledge.
[1] The Trade of the Teacher: Visual Thinking with Mieke Bal, 2018.
[2] 2005:363
[3] In Dall’Alba, 2005:370
[4] Dall’Alba, 2005:364
[5] 2018:10
[6] 2018:11