Through my readings of the governments Tertiary
Education Strategy1 and Otago Polytechnics’ Learning and Teaching
Strategic Framwork2 (LTSF) I
have identified our institutions strategies and philosophy as:
Mission:
“We ensure that
every learner enjoys an outstanding and successful learning experience that
develops them to be capable, work ready, future focused, sustainable
practitioners.”
VISION:
“Our graduates make a significant difference in their
workplaces and in their communities.”
I have made connections between these and the Core
Values as outlined in the Tertiary Education Strategy (TES)
STRATEGIC
OBJECTIVES: (and their relationship to the TES’
Core Values)
1. Our graduates are
developed to be capable, work ready, future focused, sustainable
Practitioners
- 1st core value (Expectations of Providers and
Students - Polytechnics, pg.18
- 3rd core value
(Expectations of Providers and Students - Polytechnics, pg.18
2. Our programs are
designed to be attractive to learners, accessible, future‐focused, efficient
and
Sustainable
- 2nd core value
(Expectations of Providers and Students - Polytechnics, pg.18
- 3rd core value
(Expectations of Providers and Students - Polytechnics, pg.18
3. Our teachers will be
highly effective and enact our values
- 3rd core value
(Expectations of Providers and Students - Polytechnics, pg.18
4. Our support services
will be holistic, individualised, accessible and timely
- 3rd core value
(Expectations of Providers and Students - Polytechnics, pg.18
5. Our physical and virtual learning environments will be inclusive and
optimize learner success
- 3rd core value
(Expectations of Providers and Students - Polytechnics, pg.18
For me, through my learning on Practice Context, I have come to see the
a big priority for me as an educator/facilitator is to encourage our learners
towards reflection, not only on their own learning and their own current and
future practice, but how they learn and what areas they need to extend or develop,
both within their education at Otago Polytechnic and independently as they move
into employment.
Throughout this module I have found some of the terminology
confusing, in relation to the priorities, I would identify Otago Polytechnic’s Mission,
Vision and Philosophy to be priorities, and these work with and alongside the
Strategic Framework.
In the document of Otago Polytechnics LTSF, it outlines
that OP’s Philosophy is to create the right conditions for every learner to
succeed to their full potential and that this learning is accessible and
individualised, experiential Learning. That Otago Polytechnic believes to
achieve the richest learning it is to be facilitated through support and
involvement from local networks and communities and through collaboration,
producing Graduates who are capable, work ready, future focused and sustainable
practitioners. Through my involvement as
an assistant teacher with the Year 3 Fashion students I am either achieving or
actively working towards many of the outcomes expected from the governments’
and my institutions’ strategies. With my work involving predominantly 1-on-1
teaching interactions, mentoring and teaching many of my experiences as
outlined below are directly relatable back towards these frameworks. I will be
utilising these documents in my future practice, to reflect and act on areas
that are lacking in my practice and to celebrate my achievements.
By creating a mindmap5 to do my
Environmental analysis I was able to more clearly define my context on all
levels and have realised this has been an important step for me – to see the
big picture! I am working towards developing and streamlining this map in a
digital format to further my understanding and practice moving forward. I will
email you my completed Environmental context when I have completed it, for now,
I have attached my draft, working copy.
It was difficult to sort my work practice and actions and how our school
supports and reflects on the strategies into just one of the 5 and in some
regards, it is impossible as they often relate to 2 or more of the 5 strategies2.
This discussion highlights some of what and how, we at Design (and I) do to try
and achieve the aspirations set out in the Strategic frame work.
·
Experiential learning is a major focus within our school of Design, our
students structured learning is taught primarily in studio (hands-on)
situations. Where papers involve traditional-type lectures, they are often
inter-disciplinary and we then take the students back into their discipline
groups and their studios to unpack, reflect on and work towards individualised
outcomes from the lecture content. They are also required to research and work independently
through the use of online resources and Moodle, including video tutorials from
both international online resources and through videos made internally at Otago
Polytechnic.
·
In our support of the strategies, in Fashion our students have a
requirement to complete at least 1 week of work placement and experiential learning
within a business. This is a unit that I have responsibility over, to facilitate
and secure the placements for each Year 3 fashion student. This does not have
to be a fashion business, but one that they have identified (during
self-reflection exercises) to be relevant to their ‘Future You’3 Plan.
I see work placement opportunities to be hugely beneficial for our students as
they are exposed to ‘real world’ industry practice and gain work-based
experience that is invaluable for them as final year students to take them into
employment. Students are required to reflect on their experiences during
placement and present a report to the class on return. We also require the
placement ‘employer’ to complete an evaluation on each student, which students
have the opportunity to ustilise their ‘employer’ feedback as part of their
portfolio/resume. The success of this unit and our students is indicated by the
fantastic evaluations and continuing support (through offers of future
placement opportunities) and occasionally job offers!
·
The Future You2 workshops require students to not only
investigate and reflect on what career they would like but to reflect on their
own work, and on that of others – peers and aspirational practitioners (their
favourite designers!). They are asked to reflect on this information again
through identifying their influences, including their cultural identity and how
these relate. They then utilise this new information and learning into projecting
themselves 20 or 30 years into the future. The outcomes from ‘Future You’ are
resoundingly positive both for the learners and for us as their educators (we
gain a deeper understanding of each) but this project is initially seen by
learners as ‘wasting time; and ‘irrelevant’. Through our use of formal feedback, on both
the lecturers and on the course, the students consistently identify their ‘Future
You’ outcomes as being influential and highly beneficial towads their learning
and see them as one of the most valuable to be work-ready.
·
As part of our assessment in Fashion we offer both summative and
formative feedback during and after formal critique sessions, I am included in
these and they involve both staff and the students’ peers. For both types of feedback
the student is supplied with detailed notes and feedback and further
opportunities to discuss the results with staff.
·
We promote sustainability on two levels that I can identify – In both
our own personal practice and that of within their studio environments and also
within their business economic strategies.
I encourage students to minimize the use of fabrics and to design, pattern-make and cut sustainably. The students
are exposed to documentation of bad, unsustainable and in-humane practices
within our industry and are required to reflect on this information within
their individual Collection Reports4 (Formally called Sustainability
Report but now incompasses more information). In this report they are also
asked to explore, explain and articulate how they will practice sustainable in
future and in respect to how to run a business that is economically sustainable.
·
Year 3 students within the design school are involved with two interdisciplinary
papers, both of which also involve working within groups and across disciplines
to achieve a larger goal – for example the De-Brief Design exhibition held at
the end of each year to showcase student work. This exhibition, through this
paper has moved from being determined and the work done by staff to being
primarily student driven (apart from budgets of course). My involvement is with
mentoring the group of students working on different aspects of organising our
fashion Collections show.
·
In recent years we have formed a strong bond with secondary teachers in
the design area, students visit local schools to promote the school and our exhibition
and we offer discounted secondary student tickets to Collections. The benefits
of this can be seen in the high level of secondary student attendance to the
exhibition and Collections show, a more informed local secondary sector
(towards the Design Programs) and a higher intake of local students than
previously.
REFERENCES:
1
Ministry of Education (2009) Tertiary Education Strategy 2010-2015.
2
Otago Polytechnic. (2013). Learning
and Teaching Strategic Framework 2013-2015.
3
Otago Polytechnic, School of
Design. (2013) Interdisciplinary Design: Future
You Workshops. (emailed to you)
4
Otago Polytechnic, School of
Design. (2013) Fashion Design Studio 6: Collections
Report. (emailed to you)
5
My personal Mindmap of my
context and the realationships between my environments and the factors involved
on different levels. ( emailed to you)
