My thoughts before the session:
Ethics of care in teaching and own experience. We have amazing counsellors and people to help students through issues. We see students for personal tutorials to check they are okay. We create the thick experience for students to be able to come and talk to us when they need to without feeling there is a tutor/ student divide.
Criticisms from the session:
Maintains sexist stereotypes?
Compromises care for the self?
Permits ‘groupism’ and unfair treatment?
-Caring for and caring about – empathy and compassion
-gendered. White centric/ western centric
-who cares for the carer?
-ramifications on feedback and assessment
- The risk of helping one out why you are not helping another. Going against rules/ institutional policies. Unfair advantages – parity?
These criticisms of having a caring institution were something I haven’t thought of before. I never before really saw the negative side of it but hearing everyone elses criticisms of the ‘ethics of care’ it did make me think. I always saw it as such a positive thing to enhance teaching and learning, but I can see how it can create disparity between the students. There are definitely some students I have more contact with and so I understand their projects and them as designers more. I’m sure subconsciously there will be biases towards the students I know better – wanting them to do well, get better grades etc. I think it’s impossible not to be this way, but that is why we have second markers and criteria to follow- there have definitely been situations where I thought a student was going to be an A and after looking at the work it became a B+ or something and vice versa.
Can the university be a caring institution?
The answer to this I always thought of as yes, but it’s the balance – this is something I might want to explore further. Obviously it can be – this last year we have had changes in our teaching staff and one of the previous members of our team were incredible – I was extremely sad to see her go. She not only educated the students but would make the effort to spend some time just walking around our floor to speak to students. While the uni was recruiting there was a temporary replacement who did not make that same effort with the students. The students throughout all year groups were unhappy and disappointed, constantly remembering our old member of staff, and it was the care she gave to the students that reassured them in their studies and gave them the confidence in the course and themselves as designers.
Lindsay highlighted the change in name – Contextual studies to include yourself in the ideas whereas before was cultural and historical studies which students couldn’t relate to.
STUDENT STORIES
Dilesh – architecture does it allow for community, teritorial in students workspace, we offer opportunities for collaboration but students still don’t take it up, grass is greener e.g GL looking at CSM
Kimmy – doesn’t see the value in the tutor. Maybe students didn’t feel cared for. Value for money? Pressure. Performance. What is a useful structure for a student – we structure students days around us and just tell them it will be good for them. Lack of flexibility
Negative capability – being able to exist in a space of not knowing
Where are the spaces for these kind of exchanges (e.g with Kimmy and Dilesh)? What will you take from this?
Student evaluation doesn’t end with student feedback but starts with student feedback.
Consider real time feedback – CATS Angelo and Cross (80’s technique)