I wrote and rewrote this several times, not knowing what to write about. BUt this is what I said in the first meeting with Iestyn…
Hi I’m Selina and I am a 0.6 and teach at LCF, Golden Lane. For those who have never visited, it’s a small site for BA footwear, BA acessories, MA artefact and MA jewelry courses. I love it because it is so intimate – you know all the staff and all of your students. It has a very friendly atmosphere.
I teach on the BA Accessories degree and am the second year main tutor and the final year technical tutor. There are approximately 30 students in the second year and I deal with half the final year cohort – about 16 of them. It is important to me as a tutor to remember all their names and also pronounce it correctly. At university my tutors never made the effort to learn all the names, mine included. It definitely made me feel like I was not an equal of the student cohort. This is something I never want my students to feel, I want them to feel like part of a big team all working together to the same goal.
Having taught at other smaller schools, with Artscom and running my own business where we always had employees – I have learnt that people do not learn through fear. Especially with so many students with personal difficulties like anxiety and depression, it is vital, in my opinion to make sure you are firm but always encouraging and positive. I find always being enthusiastic helps the students get excited about their work too. I went to a private secondary girls school in North West London, where my art teachers – who were incredible- were exactly like this. Always encouraging but would be firm if something needed to be changed. Contrasting to this was my English Literature Tutors who would ignore me because my answers were not intellectual enough or good enough. They never encouraged me and or made me feel like I could do it. I ended up sleeping through my last English Lit exam because I just couldn’t be bothered. I will never forget this – and would never want any student who I teach to feel like this either. Everyone needs to feel important.
My 2nd year students are divided into group A and B and I usually teach one group in the morning and the other group in the afternoon. If it is a design class, I have to repeat the class twice, so make sure I repeat the afternoon class with the same enthusiasm and is if it is the first time I’m delivering the session. Design classes usually begin with me teaching them something and then getting them to participate after. With creative students, I have found they don’t sit still for long! They want to move around, interact and get creative! One of the websites I enjoy using is mentimeter.com. Here you can imput a question with multiple choice answers, students use a code to access the page and then use their phones to input their answers anonymously. Students love it as they are always on their phone and also if they are shy or worried about giving the wrong answer, it’s all anonymous so no one need worry. The technical classes are different. If I’m teaching them a new technique/ construction, I have a powerpoint presentation of the steps so students who are moving faster can move on and no one feels left behind. It is very much me demonstrating steps and them copying. Once students get to making their own bags there more of a one on one tutorial session where I run around the room making sure I see each student and they are okay with the process. 