A few observations of my colleague: In my opinion, they are much better at talking to the students during the session. I find it uncomfortable to be physically in close proximity to other people. This is particularly exaggerated by the size of the room, the number of students, and the furniture layout. My colleague, however, as far as I know, has little problem in navigating that challenge. My colleague is someone I observe to be energised by other people, whereas I’m drained from engaging in conversation, tutorials, and giving advice.
The delivery of content from my perspective was sufficient; however, a demonstration of stencil preparation was not visibly clear from the back of the room. The performance of the demonstration did provide some theatrics that I think give a “wow” factor. This, I think, is an aspect of “proof” to the students that “I can do it,” and my skills and knowledge are valid and relevant.
Additional ideas that were in discussion with another colleague were tutor expiry. How long can a tutor continue to teach before their ideas, knowledge, and methods of teaching are outdated? How long does a tutor have before they no longer want to work with a particular age group?
The foundation, by its nature, is very demanding physically and mentally. We are frequently adapting or changing the ways we deliver the taught content as well as the content itself, and sessions are usually filled with activities and tasks. Many of my colleagues are physically active and are constantly seeking new challenges to experiment with and to better improve the course. A colleague shared their experience of being taught during their BA. They told me of a project brief they were conducting that was being delivered by a tutor who had previously completed the brief themselves during their own studies on the same BA course some 20 plus years before. Is that a sign of a course that is future-proofed? Is that an indication of course leaders who are dedicated to designing projects that are relevant to contemporary design theory and practice? I asked my colleague, “What do you think the effect was on your own learning?” They replied positively towards the project and it was a means to further explore aspects of their developing practice they had previously started. However, they felt that the project lacked a broader context within design and specifically how their work could be applied. This led us to think about our own project briefs and any that we thought could be adapted and subsequently generated an idea for a display for an animation project we will conduct in the second unit of the course.