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.
Additional material
You can find a copy of my lesson plan here:
You can find my powerpoint for the lesson here:
