I recently attended a workshop with my smaller cohort and we had to read two essays before the session. I have to say the one by Gloria Dall’Alba completely alienated me as it was written in such an academic style that I found it difficult to read. I’m sure the article was incredibly insightful as it was on ‘Improving teaching: Enhancing ways of being a university teachers’ which is the key to the PgCert but the way it was written I found it difficult to engage with. I’m sure there is a valid reason for writing in this style but isn’t it key to improve the readers understanding rather than give them a headache! English is my first language, goodness knows how hard it would be for someone whose English is their second language! However the essay by John Holmwood was engaging to read as was the subject matter.
I also found being a student rather than a teacher is incredibly enlightening. I have learnt so much from being ‘the student’ and now use breakout rooms far more in my teaching as well as doing more exercises for the students to learn. I have always been a great believer that you learn so much more from doing, so these breakout room sessions have allowed me to see how much of what I am teaching is being taken in and where I need to clarify.
Being a Lecturer is quite a new role for me. I started as an Assistant Lecturer last September and believed enthusiasm, industry experience and passion were the keys to being a good teacher. I have never considered myself an academic so suddenly being in an academic environment and doing this PgCert is quite daunting. However, I am very keen to learn and become better as a teacher. I also haven’t been a student for 20 years so it’s great to understand how teaching has changed as I think we all tend to draw on our own experiences.
I have just ordered Teaching for Quality Learning at University, Biggs. J & Tang. C (2011) I feel like I need to start understanding more about what we are learning and develop my knowledge further!
Roll on workshop 3!