Case Study 2 

Planning and teaching for effective learning

Introduction & Background  

  

  

As Year Leader for BA1 Textile Design, I oversee a cohort of first-year students. One of the main challenges for BA1 students is transitioning from structured, school-based learning to more self-directed creative practices. While students are accustomed to convergent, goal-oriented learning, the BA Textile Design program at Chelsea requires them to embrace a more divergent approach to learning, and overtime develop greater autonomy and critical thinking. 

Evaluation   

  

Aims  

  

  • To Support BA1 students to develop their own approaches to creative practice, driven by self-directed study, while ensuring they acquire the necessary skills to confidently explore freely their creative ideas.  

  

  

Challenges  

  

  • Design a curriculum that enables students to become more confident in their developing creative practices encouraging self-direction as students navigate and develop their own project journeys. 
  • Developing students’ core skills and knowledge, while also fostering agility, enterprise and proactively to reflect critically on how and when to apply these skills in their practice. 

  

  • Constraints Consistent timetabling that works with constraints: staffing, and space.  

  

  

Current strategies  

  

  • Taught sessions vs self-directed time: Unit 1 is workshop intensive; Welcoming, and supportive. Unit 2 is skill-based specialist knowledge focused. Unit 4 is centred around on self-directed study. 

  

  • Core Skills: Research skills, Design tools, Textile processes, understanding of media and materials, critical thinking, sustainable knowledge, SMART textiles.  

  

  • Course content: Project briefs, workshop connect, and self-directed tasks. 

              Student feedback they want clearer expected outcomes, also they find 

             ‘The unfamiliar journey’ challenging. Students have fed back they liked it when we set tasks and gave check lists to support them to navigate their project journeys. 

 

  • Collaborative Practices. Within the BA1 cohort and across year groups.  

Students have feedback that smaller groups make them feel more comfortable and confident, but they do like to move group sometimes to meet new people. The BA3 with BA1 peer sharing session has been well received and seemed to benefit but BA3 students and BA1.  

  

  

  • Structured timetable: Each unit has a different configuration, there can be many updates to the timetable, due to changes in team, budget, and space. Some weeks are extremely busy and others much less so.  

Student feedback talks the importance of a predictable timetable, that does not overload them, gives them space to work a part time job if needed as well as being engaging.   

  • Resources in course and across UAL: Materials and media supply’s, lists of suppliers, and references, libraries, workshops in course and across UAL, workshop spaces and other spaces. 

  

Moving Forward  

  

  • Structured and predictable timetable, repeating types of sessions on certain days throughout the year (where possible), giving more space for self-directed study from the beginning of the course.   

  

  • Rethink and discuss in team student’s introduction to core skills and knowledge, consider rather than front loading everything possibly give more time to reflect and practice skills. Scaffolding to support self-directed creative practice. 
  • Put in place regular open studio session and drop in tutorials to offer pastorale support, alongside guiding students in developing self-directed practices.  
  • Resources clearly available and sign posted ‘what they are for’; physical resources and skills-based resources (PowerPoints and tasks from current and previous units) 
  • Develop peer sharing and collaborative practices across year groups.  

Gather feedback next term on these sessions. Possibly to develop a T & L project with this as a focus. 

  

  

Reflections 

This case study has prompted me to reflect on the importance of scaffolding students’ transition to self-directed creative practice and to consider the specific tools or frameworks we use to support them throughout this process. 

believe it is important to develop a balanced curriculum that supports students in feeling comfortable throughout their learning journey, helping them build confidence to find their own methods and take risks when appropriate. 

To look within our team, across UAL, and to our student body for support, while listening to the voices of the entire course community to shape its direction. 

  

References  

  

Lindstrom, L. (2012) ‘Aesthetic Learning About, In, With and Through the Arts: A Curriculum Study’, International Journal of Art & Design Education 31(2), pp. 166-179 

Ahmed, S. (2019) ‘Whats the Use’, On the Uses of Use, Duke University Press, pp 21-67. 

The Creative Attributes Framework, 2016, Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/204330/Creative-Attributes-Framework-OVERVIEW-2020-FINAL.pdf 

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