Blog 7
Reflection on my tutorials with an undergrad student:
An assessed part of the Vocational Practice module is a teaching report which is written about my experience of tutoring a selected undergrad student over two to one-to-one tutorials. These tutorials happened in the middle of the module in November. Beforehand, we studied a bit about on-to-one teaching and read up about best practice, techniques and how to offer advice to students. We were then selected a student based off their current interest and our own main interest. Being an interdisciplinary artist, I was selected a BA Creative Arts student in their second year who studied the same interdisciplinary practice module that I did last year. I also happened to know them from that module last year so the initial meeting was less nervy for me than it could have been with someone who I didn't know.
Before I even did the tutorials, I did think that teaching could be a good field of inquiry for me because I quite enjoy teaching people things. I have also been told by tutors in the past that ‘you would make a good teacher’ as I explain things quite well, is calm and I am good at listening. However, the thing that I struggle with is being more talkative and to articulate to larger groups, which is something that I would need to practice and refine. A personal tutorial is perfect for me though, because you can build up that rapport between you and the student and get to know them well. That is where I feel comfortable and I enjoy giving people advice and suggestions on new directions to go in.
I have also had good practice at talking to the public about art, especially to people who don't know much about the subject, in my work in the Arts Centre gallery. That has been a great help for me in refining face-to -ace interactions with people and has helped me get better at explaining things to those of varying ages and knowledge. It has also made me realise how much I enjoy advocating for art, telling people why it matters, why it's important and what it means. Maybe alongside my art making, I might choose to take on a job like teaching or gallery work, where I can try and expand that world of art to other people and make them realise the possibilities that there are and how much art expands your mind.
Reflecting now on my experience with the tutorials. A thing I noticed is often how much like therapy a personal tutorial is. You're not necessarily giving people all the answers or all the solutions there and then, but you're giving them space to explain and talk about what they're interested. Sometimes the student figures out what the answer is while they are speaking to you, so you don't even need to say anything in that instance. They just talk and realise wait, now I know what I'm doing because I've explained it to someone. It’s a bit like with group crits and showcasing your work, they are so important because when you tell someone about something it often reinforces or changes the way you see it, it's all about getting things out of your head and into the world. I did really enjoy the experience of tutoring, and it is something that I would like to do more of in the future, especially with higher education age students.