Record of Observation or Review of Teaching Practice Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: Group interim tutorial
Size of student group: 4 students
Observer: Florence Meredith Observee: Nina Manandhar
Note: This record is solely for exchanging developmental feedback between colleagues. Its reflective aspect informs PgCert and Fellowship assessment, but it is not an official evaluation of teaching and is not intended for other internal or legal applications such as probation or disciplinary action.
Part One
Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:
What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
Interim Review Group Feedback for the Creative Identity Brief. We have been running tutorials on rotation between 3 tutors. Please see a copy of the brief, plus tutorial timetable for reference.
Creative Identity – Tutorial Schedule.docx
Aims are to assess progress since Tutorial 1 and support project development. A client brief has taken place since the previous tutorial on Feb 5th.
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
Stage 2 lead since September 2023.
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
Learning Outcomes for Creative Identity project are:
To identity key themes and motivations of their practice and use this to create a self-initiated project for their portfolio
To develop technical skills in relation to their chosen medium
To develop creative team building skills, where relevant
To build and understanding of the positioning their work in a Fashion Communication context
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
Come away with actions to take their projects forward.
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
Via email ahead of the session and reminder in person on the day.
What would you particularly like feedback on?
Feedback style and methods
Ways to be challenging and encouraging?
How can I provide helpful feedback to students whose work may be outside my expertise?
Facilitating Critical feedback between students.
How will feedback be exchanged?
Verbally and written.
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:
I really enjoyed observing this group tutorial. The atmosphere you created and held felt really positive and productive. The students were engaged and focused throughout – not just when their own project was being discussed. I was really impressed by the eloquence and confidence with which they were able to communicate their ideas, choices, and concerns. The students evidently understood what the aims of the tutorial were, which made for a really constructive, interesting, enjoyable session.
- Feedback style and methods
The way you framed much of your feedback as questions generated a really dynamic, constructive discussion, which the students responded really well to. This enabled them to self-critique, and take responsibility for their individual artistic and practical choices in a way which felt professional and mature. More direct observations peppered through the feedback, only when clarity was needed.
I liked the way in which the tutorial felt fluid and conversational but was anchored with a clear summary of the main action points for each individual.
Although the hour had a clear structure, through which each student’s project was given an equal amount of time, the session flowed very naturally. The students seemed to be familiar with this structure, the anticipation of which perhaps enabled them to relax and more readily engage in the feedback of their peers.
- Ways to be challenging and encouraging?
I think you did a fantastic job of balancing these two things. The students seemed enthused but focused by the end of the tutorial. I was really impressed by how readily this group shared and discussed where they were within their process honestly and openly – there was very little defensiveness or fear of judgement, which I would surmise was down to previously positive tutorial experiences with you.
The questions you chose to ask did an excellent job of highlighting strengths in the work, as well as revealing specific areas of concern. Once they had identified potential barriers and/or elements to build upon, you were very encouraging, guiding them toward practically actionable points to move their work forwards.
You are exceptionally skilled at drawing out the individual strengths within each students work, and highlighting ways in which this could be pushed further, or clarified.
- How can I provide helpful feedback to students whose work may be outside my expertise?
Beyond the very personal nature of the unit, which requires students to bring in their individual artistic identity, the subject matter was well within your expertise. You were not only able to immediately offer relevant subject knowledge and references, but you also used your knowledge of their individual academic journeys to empower them participate in peer to peer feedback. This made for a delightfully excited and enthusiastic exchange of references, experiences, and creative solutions between the students within the tutorial.
- Facilitating Critical feedback between students.
As above, you did a wonderful job of encouraging peer to peer critique and feedback within the group. You made a concerted effort to open the conversation to the whole group, who were a little unsure at first, but were engaging confidently by the end of the session, without you needing to actively pull them in.
Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
For the Interim Group Review, I decided to work with small groups of 4 students per hour, which I hadn’t done before, previously working with up to 6-8 students an hour. I am pleased Flo attended this session with smaller groups and received positive feedback about the session facilitating peer-led self-critique.
I feel I did get lucky in that the hour Flo observed, there was a lot of opportunity to draw on the commonalities between the work each student made with this group. Some of the later groups didn’t elicit such conversational flow, but this highlights the importance of carefully assigning groups to best encourage peer exchange.
I am pleased Flo affirmed my ability to challenge, push and direct as well as listen and facilitate, which is something I have questioned. In terms of being directive, I find it easier to provide practical strategies for students. My core drive is to draw out students’ authentic creative voices, this can make it more difficult to be directive when it comes to challenging concepts, as it can seem almost contradictory. But thinking about how questions are framed, and more industry referencing could be helpful here, empowering them to critically evaluate their own ideas.
Peer-led group tutorials are something I am keen to build in more into the Stage 2 projects. It was encouraging to have such considered feedback from Flo on the session. Moving forward, I will plan more peer-led work throughout the year, to encourage this way of working from early on. I will also think about ways peer reflection could be extended beyond the physical classroom, through spaces created by educational technology tools.