I have been writing my OB2 reflections this week in preparation for my hand in next week. My tutor Santanu and peer Fritha observed my teaching in a second year sculpture Crit at Camberwell on the last day of spring term.
Re-reading their OB2 feedback has made me reconsider how I might run these sessions next term. Fritha and Santanu suggested some helpful tips like; reflections board, Crit terms index, more breaks and scheduling sessions to take place at quieter times the studio.
What other changes I can make to my teaching?
I could set up a glossary of terms for second year to help students compile their research file, much like the PGCert word bank. I have also been thinking about ways to work with animals as a frame to bring students together to examine their practice from a different direction.
I ran a workshop called ‘Think like a Horse’ in 2015 for the Fine Art Faculty at the University of Brighton. I took some sculpture students to meet Dido Fisher, a horse whisper, at a stable in East Sussex to take part in a workshop we devised to see if the practice of horse whispering could be learnt and refined as a tool to develop your instinctual art practice. I was surprised to see the affect that interacting with a horse had on the student group. Some had previous equine experience but many had none so watching each other meet the horse and their subsequent reactions to the tasks they completed fostered trust and camaraderie which was developed on back in the studios.
Reflecting back now this would be a type of Animal Assisted Education (AAE) through Object Based Learning (OBL), the object being the horse. I would like to develop this by testing out Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) in the sculpture studios at Camberwell with a therapy dog to see if the presence of an other species can significantly affect the feel of the learning space. I anticipate it would put students and staff at ease quicker which may help 1-1 learning like tutorials or pastoral sessions be more effective. I also anticipate that students living with depression, stress and anxiety may find it easier to come in to the studio by changing the atmosphere of judgement and expectation.
AAI provides general comfort and companionship to patients at a hospital or to students at a university before an examination. AAE, the therapy dog is in an educational setting to facilitate in the learning and education of students, for example, through dog-assisted reading programs.…Therapy dogs have been found to reduce physiological symptoms of stress through lowering cortisol levels (8), increasing positive emotions (1, 9–13), promoting engagement in learning activities and positive attitudes toward learning (6, 11, 14, 15), reducing negative behaviours like task avoidance and aggression in the classroom (16–19), as well as encouraging prosocial behaviours and acting as a “social catalyst” to facilitate social interactions with others (16–18, 20, 21).
Therapy Dogs in Educational Settings: Guidelines and Recommendations for Implementation. Christine Grové, Linda Henderson, Felicia Lee, Phoebe Wardlaw. Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.655104/full