Session 4 Performativity

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  • Read this short case study excerpt from Bruce Macfarlane’s 2004 book Teaching with Integrity: The ethics of higher education practice (Routledge), in which a fictional lecturer, ‘Stephanie’, receives feedback on her teaching in the form of student evaluation forms and a peer observation. 
  • Which aspects of Stephanie’s teaching practice appear to be the most fertile for development? 
  • A: Improvement on teachings of theory if students view this is as dry content (perhaps the way it is presented?) while being open to what she could learn from Max’s approach.
  • What could Stephanie do to move past her defensive response? 
  • A: Reflection on her own teaching practice including the criticisms that she received. For example in response to the student feedback in her assessment exercise she could be clear in what that was going to accomplish, in a way that relates back to student learning and development journey.
  • Are there any interesting questions or problems that this case study raises for you
  • A: The comparative nature of this piece of two different types of lecturers and approach. It’s written rather one-sided (not in favour of Stephanie) and does not account that lecturers have different styles and methods of teaching depending on content, class, brief, and course!

A few notes from the student stories:

This is an interesting point, it’s easy to forget sometimes when you are in a classroom with lots of students. Every group and student have very different needs but it’s not possible to cater to all in a one size fits all method. Perhaps it’s just about asking what would be most useful for them during that time.
I find this quite difficult to swallow, it’s easy to compare the different institution haves/have nots; but what I’ve learned is that if a student is very committed to a project, the campus itself does not become a restriction or a barrier to producing a good piece of work. However with that said: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/mar/13/treated-like-cash-cows-international-students-at-top-london-universities-withhold-29000-fees