Over the past week, my peer, Danielle Radojcin, and tutor, Kwame Baah, observed two different object-based learning workshops I delivered. Danielle observed a one-off session for the Courtauld BA History of Art students, while Kwame observed one of four sessions for CSM BA Fashion students. Their feedback has been really informative and influential on my teaching practice.

I liked how Danielle meticulously assessed each aspect of my workshop and gave actionable feedback for areas I expressed concern, such as tardiness. Going forward, I will apply Danielle’s suggestion of telling students that my class starts 15 minutes earlier than planned so I have a reasonable buffer. I will also send an email to all my students one day before their workshop is scheduled to communicate key information and reminders that cause miscommunication or delays at the start of some of my workshops. Moreover, I will edit my workshop plans and presentation to remove information I can give in a post-workshop email to save me time and give students more time to engage with the objects during the workshop.

Kwame’s feedback was really validating as a new and young educator in the museum sector. I am proud to hear I managed the various risks associated with getting students to handle different objects simultaneously, while ensuring there was a constant facilitation of knowledge and guided visual thinking. Based on my follow-up tutorial with Kwame, I would like to implement more boundaries when scheduling workshops, so I have a better balance between my various responsibilities beyond teaching. Once my current set of workshops are complete at the end of February, I will dedicate up to two days a week to be onsite and teach workshops and use the other two days to catch up with admin and do collections care work.

Observation Forms and Workshop Plans