This workshop was thought provoking as ever, and it always feels a privilege to have a pocket of time to think and talk with a group of such interesting people. Each time I leave a session my perspective has been challenged and, I hope, changed, so that I go back into my teaching with a new outlook.
The question of visibility became particularly interesting to me this week . All the material that we watched touched on the importance of visibility – that you need to see representation of yourself to form a sense of how to be in the world, and the world needs to see you, to understand and accept you. “scale equals visibility and that has the ability to shape social norms” (Sum Kim 2023)
We were also reminded that visibility can also be a problem. It can take incredible bravery to be visible, and therefore, a target in some contexts.
‘because of what’s happening in the world right now and how Muslim are portrayed, we stick [out] as a sore thumb’ Muna AHASS. ( Ramadan 2022)
The article tells of the wit and resilience of those women studied in the face of micro aggressions and discrimination.We all have moments when we would prefer to hide but I think that we and our students, as future visual storytellers, need to be mindful of our potential to recalibrate and broaden the view of different groups in our society, with an awareness of our privilege and context.. This thought is informing my development of an intervention, but I am not sure how effective my current ideas are, and I would dearly like to develop something that is useful. I have emailed my department to see if anyone has a need that I can try and address. I have been working with a group of actors that include a blind performer and actors with learning differences that has given me some helpful insights into industry thinking that may help inform the direction I take.
I am still working out how to approach a positionally statement – and perhaps share this as an exercise with the students. I found the images Christine Sun Kim produces interesting and wonder if this might be a good way of making a statement – visualising your particular van diagram of intersections to yourself as well as everyone else.
I am also reminded again that I need to be more reflective – the first blog questions felt like they were asking for evidence of comprehension but listening and reading other people’s reflections I realise that I must always think about how the material we are given relates to my teaching principles, practice and experience. Victor reminds us that we have embodied knowledge that we acquire through experience, and I find that very comforting (particularly as I struggle through articles written in academic-ese). This is a reassurance that I can give to my students too. Character design often relies on an empathetic response grounded in finding an understanding of that character within your own history.
Biography :
Ibtihal Ramadan (2022) When faith intersects with gender: the challenges and successes in the experiences of Muslim women academics, Gender and Education, 34:1, 33-48, DOI: 10.1080/09540253.2021.1893664
Kim, C. S. (2023) ‘Christine Sun Kim in “Friends & Strangers” – Season 11 | Art21’. Interview with Christine Sun Kim. Interviewed for Art21, 1 November. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NpRaEDlLsI&t=1s (Accessed: 25 April 2025).
Fig.1 Kim Sun C ( 2019) Shit Hearing People Say To Me
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw provided the following definition of intersectionality:”Intersectionality is a metaphor for understanding the ways that multiple forms of inequality or disadvantage sometimes compound themselves and create obstacles that often are not understood among conventional ways of thinking.”
Discuss specific examples from the resources that illustrate the intersection of disability with other identity aspects.
Each person interviewed offers a unique sense of the ways disability intersects with other parts of their identity to shape their lives. Ade Adepitan portrays a society that has not overcome or rooted out systemic discrimination. He talks about the racist and ableist abuse he dealt with as he was growing up, being verbally assaulted in the street for either his identity as a black person, or as a disabled person, and often both at the same time.
For Christine Sum King, her identity as a deaf person is fundamental to her work as an artist, performer and parent. Her art visualises her experience and frustration as she interacts with the hearing world. She recounts the way she was denied access to an arts education all the way through her school life, and how barriers to everything from entertainment to parenting can be caused by lack of access provision. Equally, she discusses pros and cons of the way that deaf culture can become a bubble, shielding you from interacting with the hearing world.
Evaluate how these intersections impact the lived experiences of the interviewees.
Navigating their intersectionality has had profound impacts on each person’s life.
For Chay Brown it has made forming relationships more complex. “Because I have a hidden disability ….learning the real subtleties of the certain nonverbal communication that can go on between gay men in certain context… (was) something I had to get over my anxiety about “ ( Brown 2023) He discusses the kinds of provisions that have helped him and others participate in LGBTQ+ events, key to learning the culture of your community and finding your role models. He is now director of operations and healthcare within the organisation TransActual, working with a heightened understanding and empathy for those with different healthcare challenges.
Ade Adepitan’s identity as a disabled athlete has given him a platform as an athlete, broadcaster and activist to share his experience as a disabled black person with a wide audience. He demonstrates what is possible when barriers to participation are removed. Despite his success, he reflects that if he should become a parent in the future, he couldn’t promise his child that they would live in a society free of discrimination .
Fig.2. Kim Sum C ( 2022) Long Echo
Consider any recurring themes or differing perspectives highlighted in the interviews.
Differing perspectives:
Sum Kim offers a European perspective and feels positively supported and enabled to work as an artist by the government. She identifies provision such as affordable studio space and childcare as key to her ability to create work. She contrasts this to her American friends working with a debt burden that limits their lives.
Adepitan identifies the potential for organisations such as Black Lives Matter and the Paralympic movement to intersect and learn from each other, working together to tackle discrimination in society as a whole.
Brown considers the barriers to gaining acceptance within a defined community. He highlights lived experience as a valued and essential perspective when creating truly welcoming and inclusive spaces for everyone.
Recurring themes:
Each person highlights the need for the visibility of marginalised groups. As Sum Kim says of her large-scale work “ scale equals visibility and that has the ability to shape social norms” (Sum Kim 2023)
Each speaker touches on the need for funding to provide support and resources, enabling increased access in different ways.
Each person shows how mainstream society has been and often still is, an aggressive, inhospitable environment presenting barriers to their growth and means of expression. As Adepitan says “I am disabled because society has not allowed me to shine “ (Adepitan 2020)
They all note that providing access is often universally inclusive act useful to everyone . As Brown’s interviewer says “ If things are accessible for disabled people they’re gonna be accessible for everyone”
Each speaker is taking part in big social events that centre disabled people such as the Paralympics, Para pride and the Manchester Festival. They describe the positive impact these occasions have on communities, increasing visibility and opportunities to showcase and inspire success.
List the disability considerations in your own teaching context, drawing on UAL data and your own experience
In my teaching across the performance programme, we work with several students with learning differences such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and mental health issues including anxiety, autism and ADHD. We also have a deaf student. It feels like the number of students with an Individual Support Agreements has risen each year, which tallies with the UAL Equality Diversity and Inclusion report of 2024/25 ( 13% of students declared as disabled in 2021/22 now 18% in 2024/25).
Talking to students, Hannah Leddy , our disability advisor, and increasingly, working with disabled actors as a designer, has inspired me to adapt my teaching to be accessible to all students. This often leads to new ways of working such as exploring surfaces and forms with different senses and a new appreciation. I want to learn more about making the studio environment as inclusive as possible, and to communicate to students the need to represent and visualise a diverse a range of stories and storytellers in our making and design practice.
Bibliography
Crenshaw, Kimberle´ Williams (1989) “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.” University of Chicago Legal Forum 1989:139–67, p. 149
Brown, C. (2023). ‘Intersectionality in Focus: Empowering Voices during UK Disability History Month 2023’. Interview with Chay Brown. Interviewed for Parapride, 13 December. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yID8_s5tjc ( Accessed April 2025)
Adepitan, A. (2020). ‘Ade Adepitan gives amazing explanation of systemic racism’. Interview with Ade Adepitan. Interviewed by Nick Webborn for Paralympics GB, 16 October. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsxndpgagU ( Accessed April 2025)
Kim, C. S. (2023) ‘Christine Sun Kim in “Friends & Strangers” – Season 11 | Art21’. Interview with Christine Sun Kim. Interviewed for Art21, 1 November. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NpRaEDlLsI&t=1s ( Accessed April 2025)
UAL Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report 2021/22 Pg.27 Available at: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.arts.ac.uk/?a=389423 (Accessed May 2025)
From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces : A new way to frame Dialogue around Diversity and Social Justice by Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens 2013
Fig.1 Frost D (2019) Portraits of Drag syndrome
I am often tasked with delivering sessions on inclusion and diversity specifically for students on the performance programme. I feel this as a privilege and responsibility, though often feel under qualified to do so. As a department everyone has worked hard to integrate the awareness and knowledge that we have gained through training and our own experience and learning into our teaching. I know how important these principles are: essential ethically, but also practically. Our students need to be aware of potential injustices in quite complex ways – understanding their own perspective and biases, the responsibility to represent and relate diverse stories, to respond to texts that require them to gain an understanding of other cultures and positionalities, and to work empathetically with performers from lots of different backgrounds. This is a much discussed topic currently in the performance industry.
There are many of companies to encourage and enable theatres to cast actors ( though not so often craftsmen) who need more support, and welcome diverse audiences into their auditoriums. This has resulted in innovative new work that has built on the legacy of companies such as Graeae, Candoco and producers like Ramps to the Moon. The phrase “safe space ” has built up traction ( Equity has a statement that uses this term that many theatre comapnies read at the first rehearsal) as we are more aware of the need to be sensitive to the impact that conversations around difficult work can demand.
“We often describe such environments as safe spaces, terminology we hope will be reassuring to participants who feel anxious about sharing their thoughts and feelings regarding these sensitive and controversial ideas “ Aoro/Clemens ( 2013)
In my teaching, the challenge is often to relate all this with case studies in a short (average 3 hour) timespan, in an appropriate way, while acknowledging my own white privilege and facilitating discussion with the students. I temperamentally try to avoid conflict or discomfort and I find it difficult to navigate awkward moments in sessions where mediation is called for. So, it was very helpful having the idea of a “safe space” reframed as a “brave space” Aoro/Clemens ( 2013).
“we question, however, the degree to which safety ia an appropriate or reasonable expectation for any honest dialogue about social justice” Aoro/Clemens ( 2013)
Fig.2 Frost D (2019) Portraits of Drag syndrome
I need to understand how to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and to help the students do that too. The chapter talks through the ground rules, often established to create a safe space, set a context and enable challenge. The commentary on each one is enlightening and a common themes emerge around talking through every element with the students :
” such discussion is a potentially fruitful investment of time that can prevent students from automatically experiencing……challenges from others as acts of disrespect” Aoro/Clemens ( 2013)
Slowly as I read the uncomfortableness I felt is put into context and strategies emerge in line with the ground rules shared by Aoro and Clemens. For example, it strikes me that I could explore questions of positionality in sessions with the first year in the first weeks of university, discussing the group culture we want, as a course community, to establish. Creating together a brave bill of rights that we all subscribe to.
“brave space is more congruent with our understanding of power, privilege, and opression, and the challenges inherent in dialogue about these issues in socioculturally diverse groups” Aoro/Clemens ( 2013)
I can also see how the emphasis on co-authorship fosters community and ownership of the terms on which collaboration – a fundamental bedrock of our industry- can happen. On this basis, I think it is fundamental to have an artist with lived experience of difference speak in sessions. An vibrant authentic voice who is passionate about their work is simply inspiring, and shared understanding in terms of creative work is made. This is exactly what happened when the creative director of Drag Syndrome, Daniel Vais, talked to the students. With such practical guidance on how to structure a session, I will be brave and make this part of our teaching of Introduction to Performance for our incoming first year.
Fig.3Frost D (2019) Portraits of Drag syndrome
Bibliography
Aoro B. / Clemens K. (2013) ‘From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces : A new way to frame Dialogue around Diversity and Social Justice ‘ in The Art of Effective Facilitation London : Stylus Publishing LCC ( 2013) Ch.8
Dragsyndrome.com Available at https://www.dragsyndrome.com/ ( accessed March 2025)
Ramps to the Moon available at https://rampsonthemoon.co.uk/( accessed March 2025)
Candoco available at https://candoco.co.uk/ ( accessed March 2025)
Our lecture given by Leslie Raven, Senior Lecturer in Fashion Art Direction at Manchester Metropolitan University, was both thought provoking and immediately relevant to both my teaching and development.
We ask our students to do a lot of reflecting, and in the first year that involves establishing the difference between a summary of things that happened and analysing and generating actions from the things that happen. So far, so good, but I realised that I am not that confident when it comes to saying what counts as reflection and being able to suggest a good range of credible next actions. It was very helpful, therefore, to explore different interpretations and forms that reflection can take.
Initially we were asked to draw/map our own teaching and practice identities – this relatively simply exercise, guided by Leslie, was a bit of a revelation.
Fig.2 Curtis J. (2025) My response to Leslie Raven’s mapping of our teaching identities
It introduced me to a few previously mysterious words such as:
Ontology: in this instance I understood this to classify the nature or material of our world. I have since seen this in academic papers and am less freaked out by it.
Epistemology: what is considered valid knowledge in our world and the source of that knowledge
and
Reflexivity: considering how our perception of the world shapes our perspectives on teaching.
The questions we were asked and the act of visualisation represented to me what the roots of my teaching are – why I think teaching is important, where that belief came from and what has been influential in my sense of what good teaching looks like. This had a dual effect: looking at my colleagues’ representations, I felt quite moved by everyone’s various journeys and perspectives, the similarities and differences. I also felt very grateful for the various people, good teachers, I had been inspired by.
After reading ” From Safe Space to Brave Space” by Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens, I realised that in constructing this map I hadn’t considered my inherent privileges in the context of my teaching. ( I reflect on this chapter more fully in my fourth reflection ). This made me think about potential blind spots and biases I might have when it comes to understanding other perspectives. It reminds me to check in regularly with my students to understand their views on what student ship looks like, and what their expectations and experience are in the learning conversation. ( I expand on this a little in my second case study) This kind of analysis should inform co-teaching or planning as a department, and we do all try to consider everyone’s differing needs and perspectives. Until this excersise, I hadn’t considered how this process would be facilitated by a better understanding and reflection on ones own placement. No one has ever asked me about my positionality before, and I hadn’t contemplated it myself, so I was surprised how illuminating it was.
We were then all asked to contribute our own definitions to a Padlet:
Fig.3 Curtis J ( 2025)Screenshot of Padlet in response to Leslie Raven’s prompt “What does Reflective Practice look like for you?” created by PG cert students (2025)
I was relieved to see a number that related to my own definition of reflection and intrigued to see variations on that theme. The green box in my screenshot reminded me of a habit, now widespread, in acting companies where the stage manager would bring the company together to “check in”. This might manifest in a variety of ritualised ways- for example, using a phone battery metaphor to share how charged your battery was “I am at 80% today”. Looking inwards to be more outwardly aware of those around you.
This demonstrates that a reflective practice can be more than the essential review, analyse and develop cycle, but can also be a mindful activity that re-connects you with your self and your students, giving you a sense of perspective. I am resolved to give active reflection of this kind a specific moment of focus in my workflow in the week after each unit’s assessment is completed.
Arao and Clemens ( 2013) From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces : A new way to Frame dialogue around diversity and Social Justice The Art of Effective Facilitation Stylus publishing ( 2013) Chapter 8
Drawing laboratory: Research workshops and outcomes
by Michelle Salamon, Associate Lecturer, BA (Hons) Graphic Communication Design,
Central Saint Martins
Fig. 1 Curtis J ( 2023) Life Drawing at UAL
In my time teaching design to costume, hair, make-up and prosthetic students in the performance programme, drawing has steadily been given more focus as a teaching tool. It is essential to my practice as a teacher and theatre designer, so I was fascinated to read this paper by Michelle Salamon which recounts a pilot scheme setting up a Drawing Laboratory at Central St Martins in 2015. This
“explored the relationship between the physical act of drawing and the making and storage of experiential memory. The intention of the project was to informally pilot a co-curricular space in which drawing might extend beyond traditional expectations. It aimed to use drawing as a research tool for developing thinking, improving concentration and enhancing memory. “Salamon M (2018)
Teaching drawing sessions has elicited mixed reactions from the students. Some are confident and others immediately declare that they can’t draw at all and are reluctant to do it. To encourage everyone to participate and to try and open minds to a broader definition of what drawing can be, I often emphasise the many ways it manifests in our industry as a tool. To regard drawing as functional and therefore having currency beyond its looks can be helpful, especially when a student is feeling that their drawing is inadequate aesthetically. It can shift their perception of the value of drawing into another area – another way of thinking, an accessible, non-verbal way of exchanging ideas, or an act of recording for example. Their skill then resides in communicating a concept or encounter for example, to each other or back to themselves
As the article notes:
” The purposes of drawing are broad and in the context of creative education, often highly individual, ‘private work related only to the artist’s needs’ (Berger, 2012, p.4). This project set out to demonstrate another function of drawing, as a scientific, forensic tool used for probing and searching for answers” Salamon M (2018)
This approach often bypasses the inner critique that is making the student doubt their ability. It also gives the student permission to seek out different styles of drawing that suit the task – expressive lines for a character sketch, something cleaner and more graphic for a technical drawing or a simple short hand sketch to note down a pair of shoes seen on the tube.
Fig. 2 Curtis J ( 2023) Man drawn on the tube
Now I have more evidence to share with them from this active research, sharing the way drawing aids memory-
“The experience of making a drawing becomes part of the experience of remembering and so, combines the act of remembering with the raw memory.” Salamon M (2018)
I will use the exercises that are generously shared in this report the next time I either look at research methods or visit a museum or archive with the students. The remote viewing and muscle memory exercises are straightforward to use and make the most of what is unique in being in the room with an object as opposed to simply harvesting an image online. To encounter and remember through drawing feels a richer experience, that will support slow looking, and sense of being in the moment with an object, open to everything it can tell you.
Bibliography
Salamon M ( 2018) Drawing laboratory: Research workshops and outcomes Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal Vol 3 / Issue 2 (2018) pp. 131-14
Lewis, L and Leigh Ross S (2022) Home sweet home: achieving belonging and engagement in online learning spaces (2022) Spark: UAL Creative teaching and learning Journal
Fig. 1 Curtis J. Mural board for Sherlock Holmes
I found this article both engaging and inspiring in several ways.
Firstly, it took me back to teaching during the pandemic, and the steep learning curve that introduced us and the students to various online platforms. As a design tutor my sessions were seen as least reliant on a specific physical space, action and demonstration, and therefore easiest to move online. What followed was a terrifying and exhilarating rapid learning of platforms and re-forming of units and materials to deliver to students. In that time I felt, as everyone did, the need to connect, reassure and establish student communities alongside my teaching in this new (to me) medium.
Some of this new working practice was interesting and fun – and a lot of it has endured in my teaching now even as the novelty has waned Miro, the platform used in this article, is one that we still use in our planning, and I have also adopted a similar one called Mural in my design practice to communicate with directors. This article reminded me how useful online platforms can be as a gathering space for large student groups, especially as there isn’t an equivalent notice board in our building for our course.
More recently, however, I have found it harder to create collaborative online spaces that the students will take on and make into their own resources. I am keen to gain some guidance and encouragement to try again. It is an ephemeral and ultimately magical thing, facilitating a sense of ownership and belonging in a space, but in this paper Lee Lewis and Stacey Leigh Ross talk about specific relationships and interactions that help foster ownership and belonging:
“ a connection to place and the people within it is key to understanding what makes some virtual environments flourish more than others” ( Lewis/Leigh- Ross 2022)
Fig 2. Curtis J (2005) Mural board – Beldam
Secondly, it spoke about digital teaching spaces in a way I recognised. It felt related to in my thinking on ways to extend and disrupt classroom configurations, informed by my practice as a theatre designer. Could there be any transferrable learning from digital to actual spaces?
The tutors discuss the nature of the tutor’s role – how much they may contrive and control the space and student engagement seeing as independence and autonomy is a factor they identify as fostering a sense of ownership. It had struck me that maybe I had misjudged how much and when to control proceedings when teaching. As a theatre designer there is a delicate balance between manipulating a space and the atmosphere and interaction between audience and actor, striving to produce an effect while understanding that there is a point where you relinquish this effort. Then the audience must take over and anything can happen. Similarly, Lewis and Leigh Ross identify a moment of transition
“ the teacher nurtures the teacher-student, student-student and student-space relationships until they become self-sustaining. A strong teacher-student relationship ensures some ability to control, guide, or steer the learning experience. I’m wary of the word ‘control’… though this does play into the idea that teaching is performance in some ways (Lahey,2016) “ Leewis & Leigh- Ross (2022)
In another performative moment, Leigh Ross describes revealing new elements on the board during a session – a “ta da “moment that surprises and provokes the students. By doing this I think the student feels valued – someone has engineered a surprise for them, and thought about how it might entertain and educate them.
“If you don’t have both astonishment and content, you have either a technical exercise or you have a lecture.” Lahey J. quoting Teller (2016)
This is evidence of care and forethought like a host setting the table for you. By arranging a space for students and inviting them to interact with it in a particular way you evidence respect for them. The authors talk about three elements connection, ownership and co-creation that need to be present for a space to be inhabited in this way, facilitated by strong teaching relationships.
“ You showed them who you are, and they felt safe to engage with you and everything you put forward. Another teacher might not use music or personal anecdotes, but if their approach is just as genuine and authentic, our theory should work.”
Leewis L & Leigh- Ross S (2022)
Fig. 3 Curtis J (2005) Hit the share button
They describe spaces to meet, spaces to store information that everyone can build on, centres of discussion , news feeds, all arranged in interesting visual ways. I am going to consider both my online sessions and my on campus spaces next term from this perspective : striving again finding that delicate point where ownership is handed over and a conversation catches fire.
Bibliography
Lewis, L and Leigh Ross S (2022) Home sweet home: achieving belonging and engagement in online learning spaces (2022) Spark: UAL Creative teaching and learning Journal
Fig 1 Curtis J. (2025) Work laid out for assessment
Contextual Background
Our department has just started a transition towards live assessments for most units. This change is intended to make assessment clearer and more accessible for the student and the marking workload less cumbersome for staff.
As Madar notes in his article:
” universities being increasinglyencouraged to implement innovativeassessment methods, the emphasis ison those methods, which will specifically preparestudents with the ‘skills’ that are widely soughtafter by employers. Pecha Kucha is one such methodthat can benefit students within and beyond highereducation. Madar P ( 2018)
This Pecha Kucha assessment method involves presenting 20 slides in 7 minutes, alongside a display of physical outcomes. There is a moment for the review of these objects as well as questions and answers, after which the student leaves and the staff mark the work and type up their feedback. It is a pass/ fail unit so there is a greater emphasis on feedback.
Fig 2. Curtis J. (2025) Work ready for feedback
Evaluation
Being able to communicate ones ideas concisely with visual and physical aides is an incredibly useful skill for designers who present work in a range of different situations. The challenges for me lie more in creating feedback in response:
Being able to write up feedback within the given time frame
Being able to view material presented in enough detail
Being able to absorb the students work, take notes and remember the students’ responses to questions. There is a recording made but it wasn’t always ready to review straight away
Ensuring that the student feels welcome and secure enough to represent themselves to the best of their ability
Our first tranches of live assessment were largely deemed successful, but not without points of stress. These were centred on the set up and preparation of the spaces, and the composition of feedback against a nominal clock. I found this challenging for a long unit where the student is asked to distill 14 weeks work into a 20-minute presentation. I was also daunted by the task of creating relevant, detailed feedback, maintain parity and working to phrase a response.
Fig 3. Curtis J (2025) Work ready for feedback
Moving forwards
Going through this process for the first time has generated some interesting learning and reflection for me as an individual and for the department as a whole:
Assessing in pairs was very helpful. Having a sounding board and being able to divide up the material being surveyed meant that this was covered in more detail. Levels of staffing are a challenge for live assessments but teams of at least two are very helpful for in built moderation, support and efficient assessment.
Staff could play to their strengths in terms of writing and composing sentences or dictating and discussing. Generally, one person took on the role of writing, though we did rotate teams so that roles could change in different teaching partnerships. I found that I could work in either role, responding to the needs of my partner if they had a strong preference. I learnt some valuable lessons in phrasing and brevity watching my colleagues compose written feedback.
I shared with my colleague a strong instinct to give the student a sense of the quality of their work. We agreed not to make any indication to the student of how they were doing in the moment, but to be generally encouraging.
Running tutorials in Petch Kutcha style meant that all the students had a good grasp of the format : their confidence had definitely grown through the practice
Fig. 4 Curtis J (2025) assessment begins
In future it would be good to try:
Looking at increasing the time frame within with feedback is written- this has a knock-on effect in terms of the overall time the process needs but would stop assessors falling behind
Developing a guide for verbal responses, and potentially a set of questions for the unit that the assessors could draw from to ensure a parity of experience
Refining the way we brief students so there is a clarity of expectation in terms of what the tutors will tell them at the assessment. If there is a joint understanding that no indication will be given of a grade that would help both tutor and student to maintain a “poker face” and enable the tutor to be welcoming and reassuring without this being misconstrued.
We will have our next round of assessments in a month or so and are gathering reflections to help inform adaptations. In the mean time, first indications are that it benefits most students and that in itself is an excellent reason to persevere. As Madar observes :
” the PechaKucha format has helped students to‘overcome speech anxiety by centring attentionon the short length of time they have for eachslide instead of thinking about how long they haveto talk.’ This coincides with the thoughts of thestudents I assessed whose first language was notEnglish which points to the universal appeal of thismethod and endorses the idea that ‘everybody hasthe capacity to be a good communicator’(Neimtus, 2017).” Madar P ( 2018)
Bibliography
Madar, P. ( 2018) Assessing the student: The Pechakucha approach PDF New vistas University of West London https://uwlpress.uwl.ac.uk ( Accessed March 2025)
Neimtus, Z. (2017) ‘Students: how to work out what you’regood at.’ Guardian. 08 August. Online: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/aug/08/students-howto-work-out-what-youre-good-at (Accessed September2017)
I am interested in ways that my practice as a theatre designer informs my teaching of design to BA students on the Performance course at LCF. We occupy a new building in Stratford which has brought gifts in the form of a beautiful structure with amazing views in an interesting community and challenges in spaces that are yet to be populated and enlivened. How can we create interesting spaces and spatial relationships within new and sometimes quite blank rooms to boost the teaching exchange?
Evaluation
Currently, my teaching rooms are quite varied, and it is more often the numbers of students that dictate the nature of this space, rather than the subject matter of the class. As design teaching is felt not to have specific technical needs such as cutting tables or make-up chairs, my sessions are seen as more flexible when it comes to timetabling places for them. On the whole the rooms I teach in have what I regard as a traditional set-up. The students recognise this and settle accordingly. As Seifert and Sutton (2007) observe:
‘Many class activities take on communication patterns that class members learn to expect without even being reminded. Each pattern is a participation structure, a set of taken-for-granted rights and responsibilities expected from students and teacher during an activity…. …. In principle, a host of participation structures are possible, but just a handful account for most class activities.’ Siefert and Sutton, (2007)
In a way, I quite enjoy the challenge of adapting a room to suit a session (within reason) as it gives me two opportunities:
To subvert the space, finding an unexpected way of organising the furniture, or placing myself in a different relationship to the students to wake everyone up a little.
To enlist the students help in re-modelling the room. Sometimes this is about physically warming them up, giving them some ownership of the space and engaging them in a joint endeavour
Fig.2 Curtis J. (2025) Moving the furniture around
Moving forwards
I have thought about these strategies with a new focus after a tutorial with Linda Aloysius where our discussion helped me realise that this process of considering the space mapped to my practice as a set designer. Part of this work is about creating spaces to hold a story and its tellers, manipulating the dynamics of the actor/audience relationship. This instinct and thought process related suddenly to my habit of rearranging the classroom, sometimes as a collaborative act of improvisation with the students.
Fig.3 Curtis J.(2024) On the floor gallery
This encouraged me to think more carefully about how effective this was and how to extend this approach. I decided to use an upcoming session on text analysis as a study. The text in question was developed for a dance piece and was quite abstract so it needed an open-minded approach from students who may be more used to analysis in English literature formats. This was in a standard classroom, so I moved the desks to make a space in the middle of the room and invited the students to begin the session sitting on the floor with me in a circle. I explained that this was to foster a sense of adventure and help us to focus on storytelling and our bodies. I could see the students leaning in and they remained intrigued and excited during the session.
Fig 4. Curtis J (2024) Floor work
The space felt quite cosy and protected, and the students looked visibly relaxed. Later, I asked the students to join me, if they felt comfortable doing so, in a Latin dance inspired movement sequence, to give them a brain break after some in depth discussion and analysis. I was worried that they would feel too self-conscious and refuse, but they helped me to clear the desks again and joined in!
Perhaps, as Reynolds remarks
” the dynamics of classroom seating can be modified in relatively simple ways that are capable of having a significant impact on student learning and – presumably – the overall quality of the student experience.” Reynolds R. ( 2011)
I think that initial connection and security helped them to be more open minded and better prepared to collaborate and discuss together. In a more open plan space, such as the heart spaces at LCF, I think this would have been much less successful and a different solution would need to be found. However, it has inspired me to be consider this element of my teaching in a new light.
Bibliography
Reynolds, R. (2011) Psychogeography and its relevance to inclusive teaching and learning development: why it matters where students choose to sit PDF Available from ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk
Seifert, K. & Sutton, R. (2007) Contemporary Educational Psychology. Wikibooks. Available from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Contemporary_Educational_Psychology
Fig.1 Curtis J. (2024) One student offering comfort to another post it
Contextual Background I co-teach and helped to develop the “Introduction to Performance” unit for first year BA students on the Performance courses. We teach an average class of around 70 students as they begin their university career. Although I have taught this unit for about 10 years, it has gone through many changes and this year we remodelled it again so that it concentrated more on introducing students to university learning and more broadly to the performance industry as opposed to design for performance (it’s previous focus).
Evaluation
Fig.2 Cutis J. Post it notes responding to the question “What do you want to get from your course? “
This is the first opportunity for students to bond as a course and year group and begin to make sense of learning in a university context. They are often living in a new home and country, without familiar surroundings, making friends and managing multiple demands on their time. A high number of students have learning differences, face financial challenges and are feeling anxious.
We try and create a teaching environment that is relaxed, using a variety of different methods of delivery and assessment. This introduces them to the styles of teaching and a reflective and experimental way of working that continues through their course specific units.
Our challenges are :
Welcoming, understanding and supporting a large diverse group of new students
Delivering a lot of key content, some of which is course specific and some of which is university wide in a way that excites and engages them in their new course
Finding ways of fostering a course identity and facilitating collaborative relationships, as well as getting to know them in a short timeframe.
Moving Forwards
Fig 3. Curtis J (2024) Gathering Notes
In the latest iteration of this unit delivered in October/September 2024, I was inspired by listening to an interview on the Today programme that asked new students in HE about their experiences. They talked about the “first term wobble”.
This also chimed with recent research from the UPP foundation, a leading higher education charity which found “a growing sense of apathy and disengagement amongst students, with a significant divergence between student expectations and the reality of university life. For example, the research found that 44% of students surveyed said they experienced loneliness during their time at university, that 44% of students were less engaged with extracurricular activities than they were expecting to be, and a quarter (25%) had never engaged at all.” Brabner R. (2024)
One recommendation that stood out to me was to find a way acknowledge the various pressures and stresses that students were under, helping them to recognise that they were not alone. We signpost student services, Academic and Disability support, and used resources such as MyCaff to help students recognise challenges and foster an open mindset in facing them, but we hadn’t previously tried to ask the students these questions directly. I think we were worried about this being too personal , and were not confident that we could frame this in a sensitive way. However, with these numbers in mind, it seemed we should try again. My teaching colleague Ben agreed.
Fig.4 Curtis J. (2024) Screenshot of TEAMS conversation with Ben
Although the large numbers in our classes work against the sort of intimate atmosphere that encourages sharing to some extent, it did occur to me there may be a way that our numbers may work for us. I felt that it was important to empower the students to support each other and with a large student body the chances that there might be some wisdom to share might be higher.
I developed an exercise whereby the students shared a challenge of fear they had about university life on a post it notes and stuck it on a board. They were then tasked with finding another note that they could respond to, writing some words of comfort, support or just recognition in an anonymous way.
Fig.5 Curtis J. (2024) Students offer comfort Post it notes
Post it notes are visual, anonymous, and compact, indicating that an essay is not asked for here.
I was concerned that the students just might not engage with the exercise, feel it was too simplistic or be too inhibited to contribute. I tried to give some parameters, so that no one felt they were being asked to give sensitive information. As it was, they all contributed to both the sharing and responding aspect. Later, one student commented in their reflective journal:
“ I found it hilarious from the perspective of what I wrote and what answer I received , but also a supportive and out-of-judgement system to make us feel safe on our starting journey. I found it so thoughtful. ………We had to write on a stick-on note what is we think stops us from getting or achieving what we want; and I wrote ‘My nailsL’ and then sticked them all on a table and then a person would pick an anonymous note and write some kind supportive words on the back of it and I received the following answer – ‘ Don’t let your nails dull your sparkle! Maybe cut them a little shorter, but NEVER stop.. It was absolutely hilarious and I felt so supported ! “ Bara A. ( 2024)
Fig.6 Bara A. (2024) Ben and Jess welcoming week game
In fact, the students contributed generously, posting concerns and giving responses that ranged from the earnest to the light-hearted. I understood that these parameters helped to encourage sharing:
Frame and exemplar the tone of the sharing – it doesn’t need to be deeply personal to be comforting
Encouraging kindness and support but also specificity
Framing it in terms of future collaboration, discussion, feedback
Making it visual and creative (drawing!)
I will run this exercise again next year and display the results – it is a shame that there isn’t a physical noticeboard on which to store it so that students could continue to build on it perhaps looking back on it in year 3. We have tried to reproduce this kind of communal sharing area in online spaces, so that it has more longevity and can be added to, but without much success. I re-consider the potential of this in one of my reflective posts after reading a paper by Lee Lewis and Stacey Leigh- Ross where they observe
” We co-create the board, the space, and each lesson together. I can’t cultivate any relationship unless they actively cultivate with me. I can bring the infrastructure but without their input, it’s just an empty space and a sequence of ideas for a lesson.”
Leewis L / Leigh-Ross S (2022)
Interestingly, they use post it notes too!
Fig.7 Curtis J (2025) Screenshot
However, I decided to share it with the rest of the teaching staff as a reference point, and I will also refer to it at the end of the first year, looking at how the students feel they have grown in confidence, and how far they have come in achieving their goals.
I have also resolved to be braver and look for the ways that the students can share their worries and author their own responses and strategies, supporting each other in small non- pressurised ways that can sow the seeds that make them into a strong team.
Bibliography
Brabner R. (2024) Growing disconnect between students and their university experience, UPP Foundation report finds Available at: https://upp-foundation.org/growing-disconnect-between-students-and-their-university-experience-upp-foundation-report-finds/
Leigh- Ross S and Leewis (2022) Home sweet home: achieving belonging and engagement in online learning spaces Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal / Vol 5 / Issue 1 (2022)
Bara.A.(2024) Journal UAL Submission for Introduction to performance unit
Fig.1 Curtis J. Students writing responses to their text
Session reviewed: Costumes Principles Two – Text Analysis
Size of student group: 17
Observer: Linda Aloysius
Observee: Jess Curtis
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?
This session introduces the key texts that the students engage with and respond to in this unit, using them to develop four costumes for a contemporary dance context. They choose one of these to realise for their submission.
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
I have worked sporadically with this group as a lecturer throughout this, their first year.
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
LO 1: Develop a range of research methods that inform your work and show an awareness of ethical responsibility (enquiry)
LO 2: Manage your learning and project requirements adaptably and effectively through reflective evaluation (process)
LO 3: Develop ideas and concepts through experimentation with techniques to produce design resolutions (realisation)
The student will gain insight into methods of text analysis identifying key themes LO:3
The student will be able to construct a varied research plan LO:1
The student will be able to develop visual and material concepts from the prompts working collaboratively LO:3
The student will be able to communicate their ideas confidently to the group and receive feedback LO:2
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
The student will produce, collaboratively, a mind map of each text, and will have chosen the text they will be working on, informed by their analysis, by the end of the session.
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
The space that I am working in is very open and it is difficult to maintain focus over a period of time, so I will need to think about student engagement in this context. I would like the students to undertake a 5-minute movement session with me, and they may feel very self-conscious about this.
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
This is an online review of the planning and preparation stage, but I will let the students know that I will record their work and activities to be able to reflect on it considering feedback at the beginning of the session.
What would you particularly like feedback on?
I would really welcome any feedback. I am interested to know if this feels accessible and well structured. What else could I consider?
How will feedback be exchanged?
An exchange of written notes and also via an online discussion
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:
Jess, thank you for sharing your Lesson Plan with me – it was a genuine pleasure to discuss this with you and share our thoughts on this.
Some of the key points that we discussed included the following:
– Talk with the students transparently about the challenges of the space and remind people that they can tell you if there’s something they think might need a bit of flexibility or if something presents a challenge to discuss it with you and the group as you go along; you may not be able to resolve anything but you can try.
– Talk to them about how the challenges eg. of the space for this session may be similar to challenges that they face in Industry and may be useful to show employers and interviewers how they helped to overcome these challenges as part of a collegiate team.
– Think of student interactions, dynamics and relations as soft structures able to work with – and maybe at times against – the hard structures of the architecture of the classroom / building / space.
– Ask students to bring an object with them to the class and be prepared to talk about it as a way of introducing themselves and to help them to focus; we discussed this relative to your insight about freelancers / actors being prepared for any situation by often bringing a small ‘kit’ bag with them to a site. We considered that this idea might be worth extending to your students; whilst not a ‘kit’ exactly, the overall effect of bringing an object with them, and using this to facilitate introductory discussions, could make for more inclusive learning including due to the reassuring presence of tactile objects.
– Emphasise soma and somatic presence as a form of (bodily) language and of embodied values often deprioritised in the modern context. We discussed this as a way to encourage expanded notions of language surrounding the idea of a ‘text’ for a dancer and / or choreographer. Emphasising somatic interaction as a communication of embodied values – and bodies as valuable and deserving of respect, particularly in today’s context of war / trauma etc. – may also generate a more inclusive class for students who may not have English as their first language or for whom bodily language is a primary language.
Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
Thank you so much for this helpful and constructive feedback!
After our discussion, I ended up moving to another room – still quite formal and “set up” like a traditional classroom, but more focused than the heart space would have been. It meant that I could try what I had planned a little more easily, though we still had to disrupt and manage the space to do it. The students even did a bit of Latin dancing with me – I was so amazed!
It was very helpful to be reminded to enlist the students in overcoming some of the practical challenges of the space, and to involve them in the strategies that one might employ to overcome them. I will seek out other opportunities to co-author aspects of a session or introduce choice where it feels like it fosters engagement and a sense of attention being paid to their specific needs.
Our discussion of soft and hard structures was equally inspiring – and led to me inviting the students to sit with me on the floor initially while we discussed the shape of the session and its purpose. They did this willingly (despite looking slightly confused), and it had the interesting effect of focusing them in and immediately creating a more intimate atmosphere where they were less distracted by busy surroundings. This has also informed my approach to my second case study.
I am going to research concepts of Somatic education and use this ideology in my next sessions when we start to look at the relationship between garment and garment and body, as a reflection of text, or a text in it’s own right. Your suggestion to use this theory to expand notions of text, and connect to the outside world, helped me to respond to the students analysis, and gives me a concept that I can refer back to as an anchor in my next sessions on design development.
