Today we had our microteaching session. We had a great group, with a range of teaching styles and subjects.
During Jade’s lesson about lace and embroidery placement, I found her referencing of techniques and production to industry to be inspiring and offered context to the technical concepts being explained. In the feedback we discussed ideas of boundaries in relation to teaching contour fashion. As we are working with the body, discussing anatomy, placement of fabric on the body and dressing or draping on models, it is important to establish boundaries with students around suitable topics of discussion and consent. We also explored ideas of gender and that the samples provided were quite gendered and conformed to particular body types. Disability, social class, environmental impact and race are all considerations I will be taking forward into my teaching practice.
During Matt’s microteach we explored the idea of transmission teaching and how feeling a need to provide as a teacher can lead us to overwhelm our students with information. Through further research I have found Paulo Freire’s “banking concept of education”. Freire believes that this practice of transmission teaching is oppressive and views teachers as ‘depositors’ of knowledge, filling the passive student’s mind or ‘receptacle’.
For my microteaching lesson I gave a brief overview of smocking, a hand sewing technique which is used in different cultures to provide texture and decoration through surface interest, embroidery or by creating a resist dye. I provided a visual handout which showed smocking in its various applications, from historical garments, traditional dyed textiles and high-end luxury fashion. I then handed out materials for students to use to create their own smocking, demonstrating the sewing myself and guiding the students through the process, referencing the book The Art of Manipulating Fabric by Colette Wolff. We ran out of time to complete the task of hand smocking however the class were left feeling inspired and wanting to continue the task, which was reassuring.
I received feedback that the facts I shared around smocking could have been sharper with more accurate dates to build trust in students of my expertise or knowledge. Next time I would include the diagrams from the book as additional guides for the students to follow to produce their samples, as well as demonstrating to the class.
I was praised for the variety of references in my visual imagery and I had tried to use images and techniques that were not solely western and were used and worn in a variety of contexts, from rural agricultural clothing to couture runway shows. Physically moving around the room from student to student had an equalising effect and allowed me to check in on people’s progression.
The idea of co-teaching was discussed frequently in the microteaching sessions today which was a concept I hadn’t heard of before. I touched upon some of this during my microteach, for example Jade doubled over her thread in the needle which was good practice. I highlighted this by raising the possibility that the group could double up their thread as Jade had done. This creates encouragement and positive reinforcement through peer learning and collapses hierarchies to create a sense of inclusion within the group. We discussed ways that I could further that positive reinforcement by asking questions such as “(student’s name) can you tell us how/why you did that?” or asking did everyone hear what (student’s name) said?” and then paraphrasing. I discovered that my approach to teaching is student centred.
When holding workshops or teaching sessions in future I will also provide extended reading references and resources for the students to explore ideas further.
Linda used the phrase of ‘planting the seeds’. I liked this concept of how a small statement can prompt students to consider the environmental and social impact of what they are learning, whether through gendering, class, race, and empower them to take action through their practice. Rather than telling a student how to think or feel about what they are doing, you are raising the idea for them to explore and work towards a resolution or implementing a meaningful change through their actions.