Teaching Complexity was a series of open online seminars curated by Bonnie Stewart (Visiting Fellow, UAL) and David White (Head of Digital Learning, UAL) from the Teaching and Learning Exchange at the University of the Arts London.
Through talks, discussion and other activities, the seminars explored how open and creative approaches to teaching and learning can help students navigate the complexity of higher education and the digital environment.
The current UAL Assessment Criteria are over nine years old. Following consultation, research and analysis of feedback from our staff and students, we are now updating the criteria to ensure they are fit for purpose. This is part of our project to enhance assessment to support student learning and attainment.
The revised Assessment Criteria are being presented to Academic Board for endorsement and they will then be shared with course teams, ready for staff to contextualise their course.
Briefings and supporting resources, including an example of how to map the old criteria to the new, will be provided to course teams, as a helpful starting point.
A series of staff development sessions will then take place at the end of the summer term to support lecturers in using the new criteria, and to discuss the benefits in terms of diversity of attainment and formative assessment.
Student work will be marked against the new assessment criteria from the beginning of the 2019/2020 academic year (excluding a small number of courses where students are enrolled on courses / units that commenced in 2018/19).
Contact your College Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching, or email Prof Susan Orr, Dean of Learning, Teaching and Enhancement.
CoLAB Group photo (courtesy Clermont Auvergne University)
coLAB is a European Union and Council of Europe funded collaboration to promote inclusive practices in European academic institutions and to enhance understanding and respect towards refugees. At London College of Communication (LCC) coLAB offers teaching opportunities to refugees with expertise in Broadcasting, PR, Research and Journalism: seven participants are taking part this year.
In mid-January 2019 Siobhan Clay, Educational Developer in the Exchange, and Sophie Williams-Brown, International Development Officer at LCC, visited Clermont Auvergne University (UCA) to represent LCC in a coLAB project meeting.
The meeting was hosted by Cecilia Brassier, Director of the Department of Information and Communication and lead coordinator for UCA, with representatives from the Council of Europe, an educational consultant and the three other university co-ordinating partners: LUMSA in Rome, IHECS Brussels, and LCC. Vivienne Francis, Senior Lecturer BA Journalism, is the lead co-ordinator for UAL.
The team heard progress updates and focussed on exploring future funding streams and collaborations to ensure coLAB develops and has a sustainable legacy. It was also an opportunity to discuss the Toolkit/Good practice Guide which will support other HEIs to implement a similar scheme in their universities.
Siobhan Clay’s involvement has been to support the seven LCC participants into learning and teaching practice and theory, through the two day Thinking Teaching course, delivered with Vikki Hill and Lucy Panesar. She has also mentored four of the seven colleagues, supporting lesson preparation, reflecting on teaching and developing practical strategies and material to teach and interviewed students and staff taking part.
Siobhan says of the trip to Clermont-Ferrand: “It was such a fantastic opportunity to meet colleagues from the collaborating universities who are establishing this positive and necessary work, and to hear about the differing contexts in each country. The team are passionate about coLAB and I would say sector leading in their efforts to establish European universities as welcoming and supportive places for refugee experts in their home countries, to have the opportunity to teach in European HEIs. Support from the LCC International office, Deans and PVC has been integral to the work at LCC, it would be wonderful to explore developing this now across UAL.“
“During the Thinking Teaching course I really enjoyed working with the group, there was a very high level of intellectual engagement and enthusiasm from everyone. It felt like a dynamic and respectful space to hear people with different professional & academic backgrounds and experiences, articulating their work and approaches to teaching and learning with confidence, professionalism and humour. I learned and was very humbled by, the breadth of experience in the room and the strong communication skills of each participant. I was thoroughly invigorated by the 2 days and felt privileged to be involved in the project.”
More information on coLAB:
The Teaching and Learning Exchange will be welcoming a number of new colleagues over the coming months to support various key projects that align with our institutional objectives.
Within Arts Education, Dr Rachel Marsden and Neil Currant have joined the academic programmes team, respectively as Lecturers in Practice-based Research and Thinking Teaching. We have created a new Attainment team, where Dr Clare Warner and Vikki Hill will be working together to lead and coordinate our work to eliminate our attainment differentials at UAL. They will be supported by our new Digital Resource Developer, Gemma Riggs. Last but not least, Alexandra Pitt will join as a new Educational Developer with a focus on our reward and recognition programmes.
Joining Digital Learning are Peter Beare as Digital Learning Coordinator and Darren Gash as Digital Learning Manager, supported by Hannah Hyde as Digital Learning Engagement Support.
And finally, we welcome Dr Emily Salines to UAL. Emily will join the AEM team and will be the LCC AEM Lead.
We’d also like to say a huge thank you and good luck to Dr Nick Addison, who retires at the end of January. We are very sorry to see Nick go, whose excellent teaching has touched many at UAL. We’ll miss his vast knowledge of arts education and warm, subversive presence, but we’re not sad because he’s off to enjoy painting and reading by the sea.
We look forward to introducing our new colleagues to you over the coming months. Please join us in making them all feel welcome at UAL.
New team Member Biographies
Dr Rachel Marsden – Lecturer in Practice-based Research
Rachel has joined the Academic Practice course team (replacing Nick Addison). Rachel is a lecturer, curator and arts writer, researching transcultural studies, cultural translation and curatorial practices in China and the Asia-Pacific. She is also focused on the development of practice-led/based (arts and curatorial) curricula towards “pedagogies of practice” and emerging cultural leadership.
Neil Currant – Lecturer, Thinking Teaching
Neil will be delivering the Thinking Teaching short course across UAL (replacing Vikki Hill). Neil is an extremely experienced educational developer who joins us from Oxford Brookes University, having previously worked at Salford and Bradford Universities. He is currently writing up his EdD, on Black and Minority Ethic student experiences of belonging, a study that he has developed through storytelling and critical race theory.
Dr Clare Warner – Educational Developer (Curriculum and Assessment)
Clare will be joining the UAL Attainment Team in March, from Westminster College where she is Coordinator and Lecturer in Teaching Training. Her courses recruit a diverse community of students who want to become teachers in FE and she is proud that the course she leads does not have an attainment gap. Clare has recently completed a PhD at Goldsmiths University. Her PhD thesis explores the experiences of African-Caribbean education practitioners/grassroots organisations applying to open Free schools in London. Clare has led a range of projects addressing attainment differentials across all areas of education from primary to university level. This work has been shared widely.
Vikki Hill – Educational Developer (Attainment – Identity and Cultural Experience)
Vikki joined UAL in 2016 as the lead for the OFS Catalyst funded Changing Mindsets Project. Deploying a range of diverse and creative approaches Vikki has ensured that this project has secured very strong student and staff engagement from across UAL. The website she developed (http://ualcreativemindsets.myblog.arts.ac.uk/) to share this work is a testament to the ways that she deploys research informed creative approaches to address attainment differentials. Vikki has particular expertise in the area of supporting student and staff understanding of growth mindsets, implicit bias and stereotype threat, and has shared her work at a range of conferences and staff development events. Vikki is a practising artist and before working at UAL Vikki was programme team lead in art and design at Newham Sixth Form College.
Gemma Riggs – Digital Resource Developer: Attainment
Gemma will be working with colleagues in the Teaching and Learning Exchange to ensure that attainment enhancement resources are shared in a range of high quality and engaging digital formats. Gemma is currently a Visiting Lecturer at RCA and her creative portfolio displays a wide range of digital media and communication work including work created while she was working at LCF in her role as Network Research Facilitator. Gemma is a freelance film maker and has managed large scale international film projects.
Alexandra Pitt – Educational Developer (Reward and Recognition)
Alexandra will be joining the Arts Education team in April as an Educational Developer with a special focus on promoting reward and recognition for teaching staff. Key to her role will be developing UAL’s current HEA accredited CPD scheme to support more staff to attain Fellowship. Alexandra will be joining UAL from Middlesex University, where she is currently a Senior Lecturer. She has been teaching in higher education for twenty years and brings a wealth of experience to her role. Her educational background spans English Language Teaching and Linguistics, Art History and Creative Writing, and she has plenty of ideas about using a variety of writing techniques to reflect on professional practice.
Peter Beare – Digital Learning Coordinator
Peter joins us from London Met University where he has been supporting the use of their Digital Learning platforms, including Moodle. He has a background in media production which includes lecturing in the subject. Peter will be working on defining and supporting effective practice in Digital Learning as well as contributing to staff development.
Darren Gash – Digital Learning Manager
Darren joins us from Surrey University where he has been leading on the development of staff digital competencies and pedagogical insight across the institution. He has a background in TEL and in leading creative media degrees. Darren will be focusing on expanding our Digital Learning staff development offer and the strategic development of Digital Learning practices.
Hannah Hyde – Digital Learning Engagement Support
Hannah joins us from the commercial sector where she works in PR and marketing. She will be focusing on engaging UAL staff with our Digital Learning offer, keeping our online presence fresh and supporting events and workshops.
Dr Emily Salines – Academic Enhancement Model (AEM) Project – LCC Lead
Emily joins us from Greenwich University where she was a Senior Lecturer in Learning and Teaching. Emily has been leading on a range of cross university enhancement projects. For example, she has been leading an assessment enhancement project at Greenwich as well as offering cross university support in the area of curriculum design. This work links to the work that Greenwich are doing as part of their Catalyst funded OFS funded Attainment Project. Emily is a Senior Fellow of the HEA and her PhD is in French and Comparative Literature.
Image courtesy of UAL
The Exchange is delighted to announce the projects which have been successful in this year’s funding round. We had a range of excellent applications, covering topics as diverse as teaching ethics, virtual reality in the classroom, how to sew, and social media and marketing for Fine Art professionals. The outcomes will also vary, from classroom and workshop projects to online resources and podcasts. All the chosen projects will make significant and innovative contributions to teaching and learning at UAL.
We had to make some tough decisions, but are very pleased that £50,000 has been awarded across 17 selected projects. Thanks to everyone who submitted an application. Congratulations to all those chosen, and we look forward to hearing about your work over the next year.
| Project Lead | Project Title | College | Category | |
| 1 | Charlie Abbott | Whose History? | CCW: Camberwell | Curious, Creative Curricula |
| 2 | Emma Lacey | The Ethics of Participation: Collaboration with Central Saint Martins and The British Ceramics Biennial | CSM | Curious, Creative Curricula |
| 3 | Sinead Evans | Re-Illustrating Histories and Voices: through co-created teaching resources | CCW: Camberwell | Curious, Creative Curricula |
| 4 | Claire McCormack and Chris Roberts | Let’s meet at the wobbly bridge. | CSM/CCW | Curious, Creative Curricula |
| 5 | Silke Lange and Rebecca Ross | Co-creating Learning Tools for Incorporating Practical Ethics into Higher Education in Design | CSM | Curious, Creative Curricula |
| 6 | Tim Meara and Lucy Alexander | Bauhaus 100 – Unser Haus | CSM | Curious, Creative Curricula |
| 7 | Anne Eggebert | Workshops as a model of practice explored in the primary and secondary sector | CSM | Curious, Creative Curricula |
| 8 | Marco Eastwood | Building Effective Interactive Instructional Videos for Technical Inductions | LCC | Digital Learning |
| 9 | Anne-Marie Creamer | The UAL DPS Support Centre | CSM | Digital Learning |
| 10 | Hywel Davies | How to Sew: Instructive and inclusive digital resources | CSM | Digital Learning |
| 11 | Judy Willcocks | Embodied Virtualities: Exploring VR for Creating, Curating and Conservation | CSM | Digital Learning |
| 12 | Chris Follows | Socially Engaged Digital Practice | CCW | Digital Learning |
| 13 | Oonagh O’Hagan and Nichol Keene | FOUNDATIONS – a podcast series to answer all the questions you have at the end of class. | CSM | Digital Learning |
| 14 | Elizabeth Peebles | Podcast: [Critical Conversations] | CCW: Chelsea | Digital Learning |
| 15 | Peter Maloney and Cyril Shing | Learning the Virtual and Learning Virtually: A small scale exploration of learning and teaching with and for Virtual Reality technology for curriculum development in Interior and Spatial Design | CCW: Chelsea | Digital Learning |
| 16 | Geraint Evans and Jordan McKenzie | On (The) Cloud Nine – Innovative social media and marketing strategies for Fine Art Professionals | CCW: Wimbledon | Employability and Enterprise |
| 17 | Carla Sorrell | Industry Showcase: Product & Ceramic Design | CSM | Employability and Enterprise |
Artwork courtesy of Disha Deshpande
Since the Decolonising the Arts Curriculum zine was launched back in June, it has helped to open up numerous channels of productive discussion across UAL and the sector. It featured at the Changing Mindsets Conference at the University of Portsmouth, University of East London’s Teaching and Learning Symposium and UAL Academic Leader’s Forum, and acted as a conversation starter at the UAL Attainment Conference, organized by the Teaching and Learning Exchange.
Much of these discussions centre around themes captured in the zine, the main one being the curriculum – what it constitutes and how specific course curricula relate to the institution as a whole, moving beyond reading lists to consider decolonisation of wider systems and structures influencing what is taught. The other recurring theme is the persistent underrepresentation of academics and students of colour in the arts academy.
Aside from sparking discussion, the zine is also influencing the development of decolonised arts research which is connecting creative practices and pedagogies. As decolonisation grabs the attention of so many and securing support from the institution, we are mindful of something one of the zine contributors state in their essay, a caution to be ‘watchful of ‘decolonisation’ not turning into another trend, but a form of criticality to shake the very group on which UAL stands’ (M.F. 2018, p.17).
Image credit: Crudo Volta & Tommaso Cassinis
Our next step is to open up more spaces for such criticality, with a series of exhibitions and events across the UAL colleges through 2018-19. The Teaching and Learning Exchange are continuing to work in collaboration with the Arts Student Union on developing and facilitating this programme, plus new collaborations with academics, students and librarians at each college to explore decolonization at a more local and disciplinary level.
The series kicks off at the London College of Communication from 4-31 October, with an exhibition in the main Library space and across vitrines in the canteen and Typo café, complimenting other events being organized by the Arts Student Union for Black History Month. Students and staff are invited to attend events on Thursday evenings through October from 5-7pm, in which they will hear recitals from Zine #1 contributors, discussions about decolonising the LCC locale and disciplines, and finally to participate in a critical production event exploring ‘the zine as decoloniser’.
This will be followed by exhibitions and events across the Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon Colleges from November to January, then London College of Fashion in the spring and Central Saint Martins in the summer for the anticipated launch of Zine #2. The exhibitions, events and production of Zine #2 intend to sustain such criticality and to continue prompting the ‘opening up of creative spaces to facilitate the production of culture informed by indigenous thinking and doing’ (Singh 2018, p.1).
Read the Zine and find out how you can participate by visiting: http://decolonisingtheartscurriculum.myblog.arts.ac.uk/
Lucy Panesar and Rahul Patel
Dr Stewart will bring her expertise in digital scholarship and online education to the university via the Teaching and Learning Exchange. Based in the Faculty of Education at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, Bonnie will lead open seminars and expert consultation as part of her fellowship.
Dr Stewart recently helped to design and run the ‘Engagement in a Time of Polarisation’ MOOC (Massively Open Online Course) in the ‘edX’ platform founded by Harvard University. She is well known internationally for her work on open and equitable teaching practice online, and for exploring the intersections of Twitter and scholarship.
There will be opportunities to hear Dr Stewart speak with plenty of Q&A time as part of an online seminar series on Digital Learning and Digital Culture. Dr Stewart will also be advising on the development of Open Practice Teaching principles as UAL continues to explore taking creative teaching and making online.
Welcoming the appointment, UAL Head of Digital Learning David White said: “I’m delighted that we have appointed Dr Bonnie Stewart as our first online Visiting Fellow. She will help UAL to develop its open and inclusive educational practices as we continue to extend our teaching and learning into online spaces.”
Plans are still in the early stages but if you are interested in connecting with Dr Stewart then please get in touch with David White.
Image courtesy of UAL
Elizabeth Staddon of the Teaching and Learning Exchange is currently engaged in a cross-institutional study focussing on the role of the course leader.
Recognising the significance of this role to institutions and their students, the research team will be exploring and making recommendations about how the course leader role is allocated and defined by universities, the range of activities course leaders do and should undertake, and associated professional development needs and support.
We are looking for participants who lead undergraduate degree programmes at UAL to take part in one or more of the following:
Update 25/9/18:
Thank you to everyone who has applied to take part so far, it is very much appreciated.
Please do continue to get in touch if you would like to get involved: we are particularly interested in hearing from new or recently appointed Course Leaders.
Please contact Annika Coughlin at UCL, Institute of Education, London: a.coughlin.14@ucl.ac.uk if you are interested in taking part in any aspect of this study.
You will have an opportunity to ask questions about the research, confidentiality, anonymity and your right to withdraw from the study.
Thank you in advance for your contributions, and do stay tuned: we will of course share the results of this research with all of you in due course.
Image: Decolonising the Arts Curriculum zine and call for further contributions
Lucy Panesar, Educational Developer (Diversity & Inclusion), Teaching & Learning Exchange
Over the last six months the Teaching and Learning Exchange has been working with the Arts Students Union to co-create a zine for staff and students to share thoughts, views and experiences of decolonising the arts curriculum in higher education.
Hansika Jethnani (Arts SU Education Officer 2016-2018), Rahul Patel (Researcher, Curator and Lecturer) and I came together because of our shared determination for race equality and our understanding that decolonisation plays a critical role in this. We identified the need for a platform to discuss decolonisation specifically in relation to the arts curriculum. It was essential that such a platform would be supported by the institution and would allow for diverse perspectives, on this complex and contested topic, from both students and staff at UAL. The decision was made to co-produce a zine, as a way of breaking down some of the barriers to expression that traditional academic publishing can create.
A call for submissions was made in March, and a wealth of responses were received on the why, what and how of decolonisation in relation to arts education in general and specific creative practices. All submissions have been included, and offer personal, professional, creative and critical insights through a range of literary and visual media.
The launch event was held at UAL Central Saint Martins with a display of some of the zine contents. Hansika and I opened the event with some background to the zine’s production, and then Rahul invited contributors up to the stage to speak.
Image: Contributor Abbas Zahedi (and child) talking about the project behind his front cover image.
It was at this moment that we recognised what it was we have created, when hearing the contributors explain how important it has been for them to have space to share their experiences in relation to decolonisation, and inevitably colonisation. Contributors spoke of their own ethnic and national identities in relation to Britain’s colonial past and ‘multi-cultural’ present. They spoke of the current political situation affecting those of the Windrush generation, of islamophobia, and other forms of prejudice and discrimination based on race and nationality which affect both students and staff.
We hope that the zine will be supportive in this respect, whilst also contributing to wider discourses around decolonisation, and helping to inform developments in arts education, for the benefit of all of our community. And we hope for the discussion to continue through further events and the online platform, which has been set up for further perspectives to be shared.
The zine launch display at is open and accessible to the general public in the reception area at UAL Central Saint Martins (King’s Cross) until 9 July.
UAL staff can access the zine online here online here: http://decolonisingtheartscurriculum.myblog.arts.ac.uk/
If you are external to UAL the zine can also be accessed online here.
Image: Zine launch display at UAL Central Saint Martins reception, until 9 July
We are, once again, inviting Course Directors to nominate students for the University’s Tell us about it project. This project is funded by the Dean of Students and is one of the key interventions agreed to support staff across the University to develop inclusive practices in relation to UAL’s key strategic priorities, which include addressing the attainment gap for specific student groups. It focuses on students of colour who are completing their course and who have achieved to a high level.
We want students to record or present their experiences, in their chosen form, to add to our collection of case studies and or artefacts, which inform learning and teaching across UAL. We will provide students with mentoring to produce their story and a bursary of £200.
Course Directors can nominate one student per course.
Please complete the nomination form and return electronically to Terry Finnigan, Head of Student Attainment, London College of Fashion (t.finnigan@fashion.arts.c.uk).
We are keen to have nominations from HE courses from across the University.
If you would like to look at some of the artefacts that have already been created by earlier students they can be found on the Shades of Noir Digital Artefact webpage.