Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: Lesson plan and supporting resources
Size of student group: 7
Observer: Linda Aloysius
Observee: Charlie Lewis
Note: This record is solely for exchanging developmental feedback between colleagues. Its reflective aspect informs PgCert and Fellowship assessment, but it is not an official evaluation of teaching and is not intended for other internal or legal applications such as probation or disciplinary action.
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?
Beginners Shirtmaking and Design short course at LCF
Lesson 3
-Sewing the yoke
-Attaching the collar
-Integrated and bound cuff plackets
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
-I will have worked with the students for 2 prior evening sessions, 2.5 hours long
-Evening class with a range of ages and beginners experience
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
-Student to understand how to construct shirt yoke, construct and attach the collar, 2x styles of sleeve placket
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
-Continued construction of shirt, at stages mentioned (yoke, collar, sleeve placket)
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
-Machinery fails, demonstration goes wrong/is difficult to understand. Mix of abilities means it’s difficult to find a pace
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
-N/A
What would you particularly like feedback on?
-Whether the instruction is clear/concise/digestible, how engaging are materials, general improvements and strengths
How will feedback be exchanged?
-Verbally
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:
As discussed in our review meeting, the booklet is generally very well-balanced in terms of visual imagery and written (typed) language. Instructions are all very clear and information is well communicated and informative. My suggestions about this included:
- Consider changing the format of some of the images so that not all of the images are at the bottom of the page.
- Maybe include a small, black and white map / diagram of Savile Row area, where this street is mentioned, to add intrigue and maintain engagement with an otherwise relatively dense page of text.
- Add sub-headings to this same page to add pace to the text.
- Where the list of suppliers is, consider adding a sub-headed section to indicate sustainable suppliers.
Regarding the above, I also suggested in our meeting that you value this document as an important Learning Resource and offer to make it available to UAL; consider approaching your Line Manager about this. Be sure to mention this material, for example in an interview – it’s a lot of work, and a great resource!
Our discussion about your recent and forthcoming teaching sessions in relation to the above led to some interesting insights on your part; by talking through some of the challenges these sessions present(ed) for you, it generally became clear that, in some parts of the session, a more pro-active approach would resolve some of the issues. This included being proactive about:
- Checking machinery prior to the session
- Taking a transparent approach with the students, including to return to the task of ‘ice-breakers’ that had to be missed out in the first session due to issues with time management
- Manage time more closely, especially where other tutors are involved in any part of the session; take a leading stance on this, for example:
- Frame the session verbally eg. Introduce other members of staff to the students, say why they are there, how long they are expected to speak for and what will happen after that time; this kind of verbal structuring of the session helps students to orientate and to feel safe with you as lead tutor.
- Agree with other members of staff how long they will take for part of a session and ask if they would like a reminder of when their time is nearly up ie. 5 mins. Remaining. Be assertive; make clear that you have only limited time for your part of the session.
- Ask students to time one another for the ice-breaker tasks; this helps them to co-teach with you and to work as a team together, whilst also ensuring that time is managed effectively.
- Organising your sessions clearly for yourself and, in turn, for your students, so that you are able to feel more confident about communicating effectively with them throughout the session; having a good sense of organisation can help to orientate you as tutor and give the students a sense of working in a safe space with someone they trust; this seems especially important as the sessions sound as though they are often quite pressured due to the amount of information that you have to work through with the students.
- I’d also add: be kind to yourself! Your contributions in our taught classes have been extremely valid, welcome and helpful and this suggests you are doing a fantastic job already – anything suggested here really is only suggestions and in no way forms a criticism of you or your teaching!
Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
As discussed in our review meeting, the booklet is generally very well-balanced in terms of visual imagery and written (typed) language. Instructions are all very clear and information is well communicated and informative. My suggestions about this included:
- Consider changing the format of some of the images so that not all of the images are at the bottom of the page.
- Maybe include a small, black and white map / diagram of Savile Row area, where this street is mentioned, to add intrigue and maintain engagement with an otherwise relatively dense page of text.
- Add sub-headings to this same page to add pace to the text.
- Where the list of suppliers is, consider adding a sub-headed section to indicate sustainable suppliers.
Regarding the above, I also suggested in our meeting that you value this document as an important Learning Resource and offer to make it available to UAL; consider approaching your Line Manager about this. Be sure to mention this material, for example in an interview – it’s a lot of work, and a great resource!
-I will redesign the layout to create more variation and visual interest and break up the text with subheadings to help make the information more digestible.
– To highlight sustainable suppliers I will highlight in green or create a subheading to make them stand out. I will also caption the imagery across the document, especially the sustainable ‘milk’ buttons made from dairy waste.
-I implemented the ice-breakers last week, setting time to share our answers and leaving it open to course participants if they felt comfortable to speak. I felt it helped somewhat with making a more relaxed space. The timing of the course and time of day also seems to prohibit conversation as it is after a long work day for most participants and the course is very condensed. This will be up for review with UAL after this course and I will feedback to the time pressures according to the students’ abilities.
-I definitely struggle with asserting myself and framing myself as an authority on garment construction. I reintroduced myself last week with a brief overview of my career which did help, although I do struggle with imposter syndrome and feel my varied career sometimes makes me feel exposed as ‘not a professional sample machinist’ or ‘fashion person’. I hope to build my confidence and feel this will improve as I become more familiar with the course and my teaching style.
-As mentioned, organization will definitely help me with my confidence and setting timed boundaries around activities and implementing them will give me more structure and focus when teaching. I applied this when having assistance in the course last week which I requested after the machinery problems had hindered the first session. I found it difficult at first to assert the repairs and machine difficulties required and did receive some push back. I found reasserting myself in a friendly manner and giving clear direction meant I received additional support in the way I needed.
-I would also like to write a small structure for myself of each session, broken down further into points of discussion and demonstrations.
-Thank you for your praise, I have found the feedback sessions really beneficial. It’s great to have an external view of my teaching and pointers of how to improve the classes and general teaching approach.