The seminar session discussing values in Art & Design education was a great opportunity to reflect. We had great discussions in the smaller groups about our own values and it was interesting to reflect on our prioritization of these values and how we sometimes thought differently about this. Some interesting discussion points were: 

Integrity 

Ike, Josh and I had an in-depth discussion about Integrity and we felt it was covering a range of our thoughts on values in teaching:  

• Being authentic and transparent as a lecturer about our knowledge and approach 
• Having the vulnerability and confidence to accept that we don’t have all the answers. 
• Allowing and enabling different approaches. Confidence in the students to express their reasoning and justification 
• Supporting students despite different cultural backgrounds and education to be open and the question the work and reflect. Support themselves and be open, to give them time to develop.  
• The implicit knowledge of how we do things 
• Is there a right and wrong? Students think that we have a subjective approach, but how we go about this 

Community 

Community (and the lack of) is something that is often mentioned in PTES Surveys across courses at FBS. In response, I try to prioritise arranging lots of socials and field trips for my students to build community on the course itself.

I wonder if the actual space and approach to room allocation at LCF could have a big impact on students’ sense of community and if there is a case for this in the upcoming revalidation process for the course. I know that MA Fashion Entrepreneurship and Innovation has received very positive feedback on this as they are allocated a room that no one else uses. 

Thoughts on physical space: 

• An area that you belong to (like primary school) and you can have your work around you. 
• The feel of belonging. 
• The expectation of students to deliver and could the physical space enable them to this more successfully. 
• Padlets are not a replacement to develop and showcase work 
• The physical aspect of design development making use of the space/walls 

Compassion 

Compassion is a very important value for me when thinking about how we interact with students (or anyone else really!). There is such an increase in mental health and wellbeing issues and being compassionate can make just the needed difference in our relationship with students.  

Thoughts on compassion: 

• How we speak and the approach to the students 
• How we offer feedback 
• The written word – the complexity of writing evaluations and how the students perceive this. 
• There was a great idea from someone in the group sharing their practice of collaborating on writing feedback together with the students and we can check in if they understand and agree with the feedback in the process. 
• The ‘being ready’ to deal with or faced with the personal stuff and issues. The relationship between people.