Twice a year Open University associate lecturers have an opportunity to attend regional development events. These conferences offer tutors a number of different training sessions about a range of different topics, ranging from change in university policies, through to the best way to use technology.
Each event is different and has a slightly different character. This blog is a really simple overview of an event that I recently attended at Kent College. In fact, I think I remember visiting Kent College to attend my first ever tutorial, which was run by my then mentor, not long after starting as an associate lecturer. I remember getting quite lost amongst a number of different buildings and being in quite a gloomy room. Things have changed: Kent College was unrecognisable. Old buildings had been demolished to make way for new modern ones. This, however, wasn't the only surprise.
Teaching through drama
Not long after arriving, we were all gently ushered into a large theatre. We could see a number of tables set out at the front and I immediately expected to endure a series of formal presentations about changes to the structure of the university, or an update about student registrations, for example. Thankfully, I was disappointed.
From stage left and right, actors suddenly appeared and started to scream and shout. It immediately became apparent that we were all in the middle of a theatre production which was all about teaching and learning. We all watched a short twenty minute play of a tutorial, in which we were presented with some fundamentally challenging situations. The tutorial, needless to say, was a disaster. Things didn't go at all well, and everyone seemed to be very unhappy. Our hapless tutor was left in tears!
When the play had finished and we were collectively shocked by the trauma of it all, we were told that it would be restarted. We were then told that we should 'jump in' and intervene to help correct the pedagogic disaster that we were all confronted with. Every five or so minutes, colleagues put up their hands to indicate that they would like to take control of the wayward situation. It was astonishing to watch for two different reasons. Firstly, the willingness that people took on the situation, and secondly the extensive discussions that emerged from each of the interventions.
Towards the end of the modified (and much more measured) play, I could resist no longer. I too put up my hand to take on the role of the hapless tutor 'Rosie'. My role, in that instant, was about communicating the details surrounding an important part of university policy and ensuring that the student (played by an actor) had sufficient information to make a decision about what to do. It was an experience that felt strangely empowering, and the debates that emerged from the intervention were very useful; you could backtrack and run through a tricky situation time and time again. The extensive audience, sitting just a few meters away, were there to offer friendly situations.
If an outsider peered around the door and saw what was going on, it might be tempting to view all this activity as some form of strange self-reflective light entertainment. My own view is very different: there is a big distance between talking about educational practice in the third person, i.e. discussing between ourselves what we might do, and actually going ahead and actually doing the things that could immediately make a difference. A really nice aspect of the play was that all the students (as played by actors) were all very different. I'm personally very happy that I'm not tutoring on the fictional module 'comparative studies'! This first session of the AL development conference was entertaining, enjoyable, difficult and insightful all at the same time.
Sessions
After the theatre production, we (meaning: conference delegates) went to various parallel sessions. I had opted for a session that was part about the students and part about gaining more familiarity with the various information systems that tutors have access to (through a page called TutorHome). I've heard it said time again that the only constant in technology is change. Since the OU makes extensive use of technology, the on-line portal that tutors use on a day to day basis is occasionally updated. A face to face training session is an opportunity to get to know parts of our on-line world that we might not have otherwise discovered, and to chat with other tutors to understand more about the challenges that each of us face.
The second session that I attended was also very different. Three research students from the University of Surrey presented some of their research on the subject of motivation in higher education. There is, of course, quite a difference between the face to face study context and the Open University study context. A presentation on methods and conclusions gave way to an extended (and quite useful) discussion on the notion of motivation.
One memory of this session is the question of how it might potentially move from being strategic learners (completing assignments just to gain credit for a module or degree), to motivation that is connected with a deep fascination and enthusiasm for a subject. There are a number of factors at play: the importance of materials, the way in which support is given and the role that a tutor can play in terms of inspiring learners.
I made a note about the importance of feedback (in response to assessments that had been completed and returned). A really important point was that negative feedback can be difficult to apply, especially if there is no guidance about what could be done to improve. (This whole subject of feedback represents a tip of a much larger discussion, which I'm not going to write about in this blog).
In terms of inspiration, one useful tip that I took away from this final session was that the relevance and importance of a module if a module can be connected to debates, stories and discussions that can be found in the media. Although this is something that is really simple (and obvious), it sometimes takes conferences such as these to remind us of the really important and useful things that we can do.
Final points
All in all, a fun day! From my own personal perspective, I enjoyed all the sessions but I found the theatre session particularly thought provoking - not just in terms of the points that were covered, but also in terms of the approach that was used.
Since I have no idea who is going to be reading this particular blog post (not to mention all the others I've written!), I guess I'm primarily writing for other OU tutors who might accidentally discover these words. If you are a tutor, my overriding message would be: 'do go along to your regional conferences if you can make it - they are really good fun!'
If you're a student with the university I guess my message is that there are many of us working behind the scenes. We're always trying to do the best that we can to make sure that you're given the best possible learning experience. Another point that I must emphasise is that the instances of interaction with tutors are really important and precious (for student and tutor alike). So, if you're a student, my message is: 'do go along to any face to face tutorials or days schools that might be available as a part of your module - there is always going to be something that you'll be able to take away'.