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We all judge but it is what we do with the judgement that is important. (fellow PGCert student, Michelle Palmer, 2023)

This quote came up in our peer presentation by a fellow black student and I was curious to hear this from Michelle. I find colour blindness a strange concept and I always worried that it could lead to not being able to be curious about each others backgrounds. I further cannot reconcile the concept of inclusivity when differences cannot be acknowledged. I am sure that there are people who would like to hide their difference to be treated as equal but my argument is that I believe it is possible to treat people equally while recognizing, acknowledging and perhaps even celebrating the diverse range of people in any setting.

‘A pedagogy of social justice education: social identity, theory and intersectionality’ (Hahn Tapper 2013) has given me the mandate to follow this path and I have eagerly explored Freire’s theory to give my intuition foundation within educational theory.

“Freire explains the role that identity plays in the shaping and implementation of education. One of his most important arguments is that students’ identities need to be taken into account in all educational settings.”

I as an example am white (other), middle-aged, mother of 3 children, live in North London. These are all defining features of my life amongst others but I think I am a lot more diverse than the above eludes to, defined by some of the people who I was lucky enough to have in my life, the places I travelled to and lived in and some personal interests I pursue. I believe equally that every person is more interesting than their race only and it is the difference that interests me and draws me to people.

The way this affects my teaching is that I look for the individuals in my students. I identify what makes them unique and if race questions are part of this then I find it easy to be curious about this. I often tend to do this in a seminar setting and I intend to give each student the enthusiasm for their passion which I hope reflects on the class and makes this more inclusive. In seminars where we share intentions and backgrounds I will only ever encourage students, celebrate their narrative and give positive feedback while I ensure the rest of the class hear how I find the positives for each student which I hope levels the class. This approach is of course not born out of my own generosity but out of data I consume around student attainment and experience. Reading the Diversity Questions on the Shades of Noir webpage I have had an opportunity to reflect and compare what I have come across before and what I have implemented. I have come across the term ‘decolonising the curriculum’ a few years back and I have made some changes to the way I deliver my content and who I include in my content. I am sure this is not perfect yet but I am constantly making changes and I enjoy researching and finding a diverse body of work to introduce the students to. What struck me was that before I was introduced to decolonising the curriculum is that I had not paid attention to how narrow the materials was in England and further that I even felt uncomfortable discussing a person from a different race’s work with reference to their race in my lectures and seminar for fear of being told that I claimed another race’s work. This felt invasive but once I was told that decolonising was important I embraced the opportunity. The lesson I learned was that people, including me struggle to put themselves in other people’s shoes but perform better when they are told what to do so they have a mandate.

I wanted to further reflect on why I was willing without question to implement inclusive teaching methods which perhaps lies in my upbringing. I am German by birth and grew up in post-war Germany which was under the Allied forces occupation at the time. Our school curriculum was designed by American, Bristish and Freanch governments. I learned at length that the oppressive and devastating nature of the previous German government, the Third Reich, resulting in the war and Holocaust cannot repeat. My Germanness and who I was not deemed positive or anything to be proud of. It was a reason to apologise. In Germany, we were educated without a sense of pride of our nationality during this time and encouraged to critically reflect on our identity. This meant that I thought that I was the wrong nationality that has caused so much hurt to so many people for a lot of my life. I hated to be part of the oppressors and agreed that I did not want to be part of a nation or a skin colour or a face that would oppress others. As a result I hope I am sensitive and every time I feel that I could potentially cause harm to a different person or group I back off and make the changes to the was I conduct myself.

I would like to put the above into perspective as I am of course still white and as a result I benefit from white privilege and the above further by no means confirms that there is no racism in Germany to this day and that racial minorities are integrated well into German life. The above response to my identity is my personal response only.

In the Shades of Noir – Peekaboo we see you: whiteness’ zine I was struck by Terry Finnigan’s note who has equal sentiments around her being born into an oppressive regime where her people were the oppressors and she is now using her voice to actively encourage equality between different races at UAL. I further read White Fragility by Robin Diangelo, pp 100-103 and hope to understand white fragility further with a chance to further reflect and acknowledge that I need to further understand to back down and help other white people to acknowledge this too and move forward with better awareness.

Another article I found enriching was Julie Wright: ‘I Don’t Hate White People, I just can’t stand white supremacy’, on page 116-117. Her experience is overwhelming and I fully agree with her sentiments which encourages me to make space and to unlearn my privilege to include others and further advocate more for an even playingfield from within my own race.

References

Hahn Tapper, Aaron J. “A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment.” Conflict Resolution Quarterly, vol. 30, no. 4, June 2013, pp. 411–445, https://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21072. Accessed 10 July 2023.

Shades of Noir. “Peekaboo We See You: Whiteness.” Issuu, 27 Apr. 2018, issuu.com/shadesofnoir/docs/peekaboo_we_see_you_whiteness.

UCU – University and College Union. “Witness: Unconscious Bias.” Www.youtube.com, 1 Feb. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6XDUGPoaFw.

The The Reith Lecture – Mistaken Identities – Creed radio show with Kwame Anthony Appiah was significant for me as it has helped me differentiate between faith and the interpretation of faith. I am now better able to compartmentalise my feelings around faith. I agree with Kwame that it is not the faith that creates conflict between groups but it is the interpretations of leaders of faith that perpetrate issues that I am sometimes struggling with as an athist/ agnsotic person. I struggle with fundamentalism and this does not only include terrorism in the name of religion as I am aware that this is a very small minority of religious fanatics but I see groups of clerics from a range of different religions asserting control over others and especially women or other minority groups such as the LGBTQ+ groups. When religion influences politics and economic decisions my experience has led me to observe this as intrusive and exclusive to other faiths in a country. I personally prefer to live in secular countries and spaces where I am only minimally affected by faith encraoching on politics. It was interesting to note that the faith blog task reading that was offered included an article by Aaron J. Hahn Tapper that was published in the journal Conflict Resolution Quaterly as it implied the potential for conflict to me. I am now defining my position more clearly around this topic and I am starting to differentiate between creating an inclusive learning environment and resolving conflict in class. While I feel perfectly able to create the former I am feeling conflict resolution will challenge me more as I am not literate in issues of faith to a level I can formulate concise aruments.

When I experience deeply religious people subscribing to rules such as dress codes and dietary requirements that put a financial burden on their belivers I question if there is enough equity for them in their relationship with their religion. I have experienced people being so close to their faith that it dominated their lives when I lived in Israel for four years. I believe though that it is possible to have a faith and be part of present cultural development a the. same time which In my mind means that nobody gets left behind in pursuing a life, career and passion as outlined in Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education. To elaborate via a personal example, my grandmother was a devout Christian, and her support via her religion helped her through very difficult times, including the loss of a child. The community aspect as outlined in the article alongside her belief that her child was in a good place saw her through this difficult time. Being faithful was the right decision for her but she engaged with her religion in a way that enabled her to take part in the contemporary life of her time with no restrictions to her daily life.

When I teach students who have a deep faith I often try to keep this separate from the study topic. I compartmentalise and ensure that I see the projects and work at face value to remain impartial. At one point a student made Abayas and Niqabs which I supported without questioning the garments but I may have not asked about the source of the inspiration to the depth that I can apply when I feel more confident with a topic. I may have looked at the product and tried to make it easier for the wearer by using lighter materials if worn in a hot climate but did not address the origin of the garment and the oppressive nature of it. I wonder if the student was disappointed and wanted to elaborate more. They achieved a very good grade nevertheless as the Learning Outcomes were met. The Hahn Tapper text eluded me to further explore the teacher student/ relationship and be more curious. I have often found that I have no mandate to do this and apply a live and let live attitude rather than trying to influence or shape. Perhaps I need to not exclude curiosity and willingness to understand from the live and let live approach as I realise there is no conflict according to Freire who advocates that ‘teachers and facilitators are understood to be guiding, rather than leading’.

I further helped other students design, head coverings in sportswear and traditional dress that included head coverings with a made-to-order element to it. I am wandering a tightrope between questioning the garment and its purpose and what it means for the wearer. I am aware that there are women who are happy to cover their hair or face and that there are women who might be happy to shave their heads in favour of a wig such as is being practised in Orthodox Judaism. From a practical point of view, however, I question if a black head-to-toe garment that covers somebody’s face in hot countries is the best choice and if the woman wear this out of free choice. In this case my values of feminism clash with free choice as I believe some women need protection from being forced to subscribe to oppressive dress codes. At those points I tend to paralise and I find it harder to navigate the conflicting viewpoints. In Aaron J. Hahn Tapper’s article I have been inspired to reflect on this phenomenon and agree that a well managed positive interaction on the conflict can lead to better understanding of two different view points and create shared values. I further see Kwame’s points that there are a lot of women in leadership roles in Muslim countries but I see those women as a welcome minority and sadly not the rule of how life for women is experienced under certain religious rule. I grew up with a moderately religious Muslim Turkish man in our family and I cherish the way he used his faith as a personal decision for him while allowing freedom to all others. I liked the term ethno-religious pluralism as it allows a welcome of all religions including non religions such as atheism or agnosticism to coexist. Religion will only leads to conflict when coexistence is not practised or encouraged. I believe that development into multi-faithism universities and eduction is a worthwhile goal and this would be great to embed in university life. Tariq Modood recommends encouraging religious literacy and while I think this is an ambitious goal I believe that when students have the tools and language to express their faith but not compete they will be able to benefit from a sense of community that mutual understanding encourages. This they will be able to take forward into their grownup life and hence we as university lecturers may have the mandate to depolarise the viewpoints.

References:

Hahn Tapper, A.J. (2013) ‘A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment’, Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 30(4), pp. 411–445. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21072.

Kwame Anthony Appiah, The Reith Lectures, Episode 1 Creed (2016) BBC Radio 4, 18 October. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b07z43ds (Accessed 29 May 2023)

Modood, T. (2015) Religion in Britain: challenges for higher education. Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.

Christine Sun Kim film (10mins)

A wonderful portrait of a very able and intelligent young woman. Her uniqueness in expressing what sound means to hear is a true gift. Although she describes the impact of the privilege fully abled people have and how the privilege is imposed on disabled people she claims sound and can live her experience. I would like to hope that more disabled people recognise their difference as an opportunity to innovate and challenge prevailing thoughts and stereotypes.

Personally I have a conflicted realtionship with the sweeping disability term and how we use it. The word itself is problematic for me and the origin of the word has bothered me for some time. When I look the word disability it would be constructed from two sources ‘Dis’ and ‘Ability’

Britannica Dictionary definition of DIS-: opposite or absence of or not  

Britannica Dictionary definition of ABILITY : the power or skill to do something

I live with neurdiverse people and both neurodiverse conditions are classified as a disability.

The above translation is not the only experience I have of disabilities or neurodiversity and I wish there was a better system to define difficulties or restrictions people face. Severe disability needs protection, inclusion and care but less severe disability might need inclusion and accessibility alongside working on strengths. It would be great to understand the severity of the requirements of disabled people in an academic setting to cater for access to education. I have observed that some disabled students are differently abled and have better access to some learning while finding other elements more challenging. In my teaching practice I like to think that it is important to find systems with the student cohort that work for the individuals’ strengths and compensates for difficulties. The order of the world needs a broad range of talent and skills and it is my conviction that it is possible to cater for individuals’ needs in education and work too. Christine Sun Kim is a perfect example of ability vs disability and her abilities and intelligence dominate. This is not to take away from her disability but to recognise the positives.

#disabilitytoowhite, by Vilissa Thompson

This article points towards the fact that there is not enough racial representation around disability. My experience of this is that I live with two children with invisible disabilities and I have through them taken part in parenting groups that included people from a range of different backgrounds and races. Our children’s disabilities gave us a shared experience and we realised quickly that we were all combatting similar challenges on various levels. This has been a leveller and made the group dynamic supportive and inclusive. I think however class has been the biggest devider incare for disabled people and that parents and carers with less access to resources had the biggest disadvantage in managing their children’s needs. Disability does not discriminate and it effects us all and we need to ask the questionnin why we are not recruiting more disabled students into our courses to give them opportunities to contribute to a richer university life and later in work.

Deaf-accessibility for spoonies: lessons from touring Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee while chronically ill

The most striking aspect of this article is the length the author went through to put together her performance to illustrate the difficulties and physical restrictions she lived with. I support this approach as someone who likes to be told directly so I can work with the persons. A good friend of mine has cerebal palsy and his right arm is very weak so he asks for help when he needs it and he hardly ever has objections to his request. I appreciate this approach so much and find this liberating for him and his environment. I am hoping that we can come to disability from a stance of humility and compassion. Disabled people are rightly worried about judgement and I fear that this comes from a place of insecurity for the people judging and not being able to see beyond the limitations. This perception needs to be changed and practical solutions offered.

Hearing about Khairani’s difficulties inspires me to investigate deeper into the difficulties my students may face so I can set them up for success and provide individual access arrangements. I think it is important to get the students to feel safe to come forward confidentially with any challenges they may experience. It strikes me that we do not see a lot of disabled students on our courses and I wonder where in the recruitment process we go wrong as not to attract the applications of those candidates in the first place.

References

Blahovec, S. Confronting the Whitewashing Of Disability: Interview with #DisabilityTooWhite Creator Vilissa Thompson https://www.huffpost.com/entry/confronting-the-whitewash_b_10574994?guccounter=1 (Accessed June 2023)

Khairani Barokka (Okka) (2017) Deaf-accessibility for spoonies:
lessons from touring Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee while chronically ill, Research in
Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22:3, 387-392, DOI:
10.1080/13569783.2017.1324778

Shades of Noir, 2020 Disabled people: the voice of many https://issuu.com/shadesofnoir/docs/disabled_people (Accessed June 2023)

Sun Kim, C (2011) A Selby Film, https://vimeo.com/31083172 (Accessed April 2023)

I was excited about setting up the microteaching activity as I am a strategist and normally need to understand the bigger context before I can delve into the details of a subject. This can be to my detriment as I struggle to get to the point but at times, I appreciate having all the information I need to make decisions. Being forced to focus knowledge into 20 mins and knowing how compact this session needed to be felt constricting but not impossible. In fact, I find it more productive to teach one thing well rather than teaching several things superficially. 

Considering the second part of the brief to be object-based I looked back at my recent practice and realised that little of it was, in fact, object-based and I questioned this as in the end of my units one of the components is a physical garment. We have a range of making workshops which run like a micro-factory. We use this workshop to test the digital garment development process. Those are slower days but the learning is intense. I have come to understand that the object brings learning closer to the student. Hardie (2015) states that ‘if objects are seen away from their functional setting, we are likely to study them more closely”. 

Topic selection and object:

I decided to stay in my field of understanding of product development and prepared an exercise for the evaluation of a T-shirt. I hoped this would be straightforward to grasp as most people own a T-shirt ad this is an everyday item but often the public is unaware of the attention to detail that goes into making a garment. I decided to further focus this on a specific area – the neckline construction to narrow down the topic. I had two t-shirts, one washed and one unwashed to compare stress testing. 

Session setup: 

I designed the session as a flowchart in Miro as I am trialling this platform to use with my students with a view to making sessions work as a flowchart or mind map and can be linked to other sessions and lectures visually. The aim is to create links and interconnectivity between different topics influencing a process or a product.

Learning outcomes:

Step 1: Garment Definition

Overview of garment definition in Techpack and explained function of the document in the garment evaluation document. This section did not go as well as I hoped as there was too much information on the slide and the learners only need to understand one very small element of the Techpack I wanted to explain the process of product development as context but this was unnecessary and only led to confusion with the learners. 

Step 2: Garment Evaluation

I explained the garment evaluation process and all areas that we evaluate in the process in an industry setting and the corresponding pages of the techpack they relate to. This was simplified to suit the frame of the learning but still excessive information and unnecessary for the purpose. 

Step 3: Garment Evaluation – Design

Items that would not be discussed in the session were removed on Miro board (as below) and focused students to the green post-it which correlates with page 4 of the Techpack. Learners had received a handout for this. At this point, I had framed the exercise in better detail and the learners breathed a sigh of relief that the task seemed manageable at this point. 

Step 4: Analysing the quality of the neck construction of the t-shirt – Group activity

• I asked the learners to check for stretch and one group noticed that a thread had snapped during a previous test. This would constitute a quality fail and requires further investigation.

• I asked the learners to check for the placement of the label and I had two examples, one new and one washed five times. The washed item did not perform well on the label quality and for the price this was deemed unacceptable. This is not an immediate QC fail but would need to be addressed at the next production run.

• I asked the learners to check for the placement of the loop to hang the branding and this was incorrectly placed on both T-shirts. This is not an immediate QC fail but would need to be addressed at the next production run. 

This part went well and engagement and interest peaked. All learners were encouraged to make decisions on what was deemed acceptable and unacceptable. I explained that often there is a discrepancy in quality between what was specified and what was received which has its roots in cost cutting when production goes to scale. We discussed relationships between price and quality and could confirm this with Hardie (2015) who points out that secondary information can lead inti branding and values. 

Following a short discussion, I could tell that the learners had grasped how the process worked and how QC throughout the development process is crucial. 

Step 5:  Formalising feedback

I rounded off the activity by asking the learners to put in words any QC concerns they had found and specified the language to be neutral, simple and factual with a solution for how to amend the problem. One group did better on this than the other who would have benefitted from seeing an example and seemed to lack knowledge and process on how to proceed. When faced with an object and forming an opinion about the object risk-taking is a factor that is more real and encourages deeper involvement (Hardie 2015).

Feedback from the learners 

The feedback I received after the session was that it was interesting to get a glimpse behind the scenes on how garments are being defined and how they go through the development process. 

There was a consensus that the beginning was too intensive and that there was too much detail when the group where only addressing one area/ problem finding of the garment. I entirely agree with this comment and wish I had left out a lot of the context that was irrelevant for the learners.

The students wanted to see a perfect sample of the T-shirt, but I explained that this does not exist and that if the development team are strict, they will be able to find problems with every single garment that comes out of the production line. The key is to set the parameters to an acceptable level for the brand. 

Further reflection: 

I would like to seek out opportunities to teach object based in my classes and encourage students to analise the impact of their work on product. Often, I send students on fieldtrips to shops and department stores, but I realise under guidance they would achieve a deeper understanding of the garments observed and their context.

I found the guidance on structure and inspirational ideas in Hardies text useful and I look forward to trying this out with a view to encourage critical thinking and establishing powerful debates which m cohort is often timid about. 

REFERENCES:

Hardie, K. (2015), Innovative pedagogies series: Wow: The power of objects in object-based learning and teaching, Higher Education Academy

Reflection on Neil Currant’s lecture by Mikha Mekler

I reviewed the session by Neil Currant on compassionate assessment and found it mind-opening. I always struggle with over-empathy and over-compassion especially as I teach 100% international student cohorts and understand the extra challenges my students take on. My students are largely very bright but being away from home and often combatting a fairly new second language and a new system adds layers that I often feel the university has not fully addressed.

The way I show compassion aside from being truly interested in the students and their cultures and backgrounds is that I give my students all of the knowledge and experience I have and facilitate easy access to me and my knowledge. I broaden and update my own knowledge through a range of means and gather it for the students to tab into freely and generously. I share all I have with individuals, small groups and classes. My strategy is that if I give them everything I have and they act on it and process then they are set for success.

I am however left to trust in the institutions’ policies and processes in implementing Learning Outcomes and quality assurance and we operate within those frameworks. Sometimes we come across students who do not always fit the structure. At times this is challenging as they are clever and talented in their own way but not when they are here to be formed within our process and the system does not wholly fit them.

This comes to a head when the Learning Outcomes are ambiguous and students are unsure of what they are required to do (Davies, 2018). This happened to me a few times and since then I make sure that I have clarified with the course leader which of the Learning Outcomes are addressed by the components the students are submitting and I can help them shape those around their personal expertise and interests. I am however resolute in thinking that the language in the Learning Outcomes could be simplified in some units I teach on and hope to be able to work into this when it comes to reevaluating the units.

Questioning the function of assessments during the lecture was an interesting excursion revisiting practices of the pandemic of pass/ fail assessments and this assessment practice takes away a large portion of the measurability of the work which Davies (2018) states is the foundation of constructing Learning Outcomes. It is impossible to understand the position of the students if a range is not given which I am sure is more disconcerting to the students than to the tutors. We are an awarding body said Neil and I am adding that the award might need to be earned at a university hence we need to be structured so we can produce talent ready for a challenging industry. This makes good sense and is an internal reminder for me to lean on when constructive feedback is given.

I typically try to lay out the Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria very clearly over the unit and refer back to them often especially when I find gaps in students’ work so the student is able to construct their assessments according to what is required. In order to understand what this would look like I enjoyed and exercise during Seminar 1 when I was paired with Andrew Goldberg and we worked on expectations in order to be able to assess, moderate and benchmark the assessments.

Andrew and I were really well aligned in what we expected and could draw the above table up with relative ease. I was relieved at this and take faith that with some thought we can achieve at least fairness. Neil explained via Arthur (2023) that fairness is constructed if everyone starts at the same place which our students do not. Students come with a range of talents, challenges and privileges and do have not got an even starting plan.

Students will have to work harder at individual elements of their assignments depending on the education they have had prior but are we able to balance the challenges against talents and privileges? The procedure of implementing learning outcomes and assessment criteria is a function of devising fairness by treating everyone the same.

Lastly, I was really interested in thinking about the function of feedback. Feedback as a motivator was mentioned by Neil. In my view, this is all it should be, an opportunity to review the work and understand how to improve the work. This realisation helps as an overriding attitude when assessing next time. What is helpful to the student and what is not. I am trying to think about how my feedback is perceived. Sometimes too positive, sometimes perhaps a little too factual referring back to the Learning Outcomes and the assessment brief, reminding them what they needed to do while I push the square peg hopefully gently into the round hole. I worry that I cannot change the hole as I get in trouble with fairness and in conflict with other tutors marking the same unit. So all that is left is changing the peg.

What would happen if we just passed or failed students? Is pass/fail a motivator enough and perhaps to the detriment of the better students and the benefit of the less confident students. Of course in the industry the higher achieving students have better initial access to the workplace but does this mean that the student at university must be trained to be competitive? The disjointed place we are in as tutors are that we would like to work collaboratively but as a world-class institution, we are under pressure to produce world-class talent for the industry and make the education pay off for the students. Another conundrum that we need to navigate and balance.

Neil mentioned that for feedback to work trust is key. The trust of the student in our ability, trust in our knowledge and trust that we want the best for the student. In this case, how can we build trust between students and tutors – when our system encourages distrust between tutors and students through penalties and a punitive and unforgiving system? Can we uncouple that? Can trust be built outside of the assessment so this can be detached? Can students feedback on the feedback provided and form how tutors approach feedback? When I input the grades in the marking criteria in the OATS sheets I am pleased that the sentences are prewritten for me as they are not attachable to me as a person. The written feedback is different in the assessment and I stay on the factual side assessing the projects and not the student but often I feel removed from the people and from myself.

I am choosing in my practice to deliver constructive feedback in person and with a solution attached e.g

Problem: The layout is not communicating well and it is hard to know where to look for information in your portfolio.

Solution: Have a look at these graphic and layout resources and decide on a style you like and follow through with it in your portfolio.

If a student has gaps I identify those and tell them proactively how to plug the gaps. I realise that this is often overwhelming too especially when there are a lot of gaps. I realise that I am doing this as I would like to give all of my students the same opportunity to get the best grade possible. I am questioning if this is compassionate or counterproductive as at times it can feel that I load more work onto them.

REFERENCES

Davies, A (2018), Learning outcomes and assessment criteria in art and design. What’s the recurring problem? – Arts and culture (no date). Available at: http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/networks/issue-18-july-2012/learning-outcomes-and-assessment-criteria-in-art-and-design.-whats-the-recurring-problem

by KEN HYLAND
City University of Hong Kong

Thoughts and Reflections by Mikha Mekler

I have made sure my students read and construct knowledge through texts after having been learning in this way myself at the LCF Fashion Business School on the MA Fashion Design Management. I have benefitted from reading hugely during this time and found a solid grounding in my knowledge. I understood that I can rely on my knowledge as I could rely on experts in my field who were scaffolding my arguments. It took away my imposter syndrome and made me secure. 

I have since applied the practice of rigorous research and reading in my teaching and know that as a lecturer I can only do so much and there is an element to get to the deep knowledge that my students need to do on their own in the library or nowadays with a laptop wherever they see fit. 

The Academic Attribution: Citation and the Construction of Disciplinary Knowledge text has given confirmation of this practice. I had feedback at times that our course is great but the workload and expectations are high, so I am often in doubt if I ask too much. I further have a 100% international students cohort with only two students having English as their mother tongue so I try to be understanding of this. I am however equipped with new ammunition that my practice makes good sense, and that citation is to the benefit of the learner no matter how tedious it can get at the time. 

The clarity was achieved by the following train of thought: Citation is central to the social context of persuasion as it can both provide justification for arguments and demonstrate the novelty of one’s position Gilbert 1976; Berkenkotter and Huckin 1995), clarifying that appropriate textual practices are vital to the acceptance of claims.

I enjoyed the excursion in the text when the author describes scientific writers and marketing writers stating that science writers do not produce theory but uncover it and in social sciences, particularly in marketing writers are more inclined to pay higher recognition to ownership of an idea. 

In the humanities and social, the established understandings have a wider input field Problem areas and topics are generally more discourse and range over wider academic and historical territory, and there is less assurance that questions can be answered by following a single path and further there might be different truths based on the cultural background of the problem or context around the time of the problem. This may mean that texts date poorly and must be rigorously challenged. 

There is a saying though that good theory doesn’t date so I am now on the path to uncovering how to find the best theory for a topic and understanding that I have found it once I come across it. 

Please play this tune while reading this post (sorry, if you experience an ad. I hope you can wait it out). It is Daft Punk ft. Julian Casablancas Instant Crush (Video)

Wednesday early eve after a long day, a lecture, some admin, a meeting and a seminar on a topic the students found really hard. I needed to leave work, not because I was done but because my kid needed to be picked up. I packed my things in a flurry, switched off the lights, shut the doors and exit.

I am as always in a huge rush when I leave, thinking about the one hundred things I have to get on with when I get home. Nothing unmanageable and some of them are things I even look forward to like putting the kid to bed.

I run down the stairs with my little backpack shouldered, hoping I left nothing crucial behind. As I get to the bottom of the stairs on the ground floor I can hear the tune you are listening to now blasting out of the sewing studio at great volume. My first thoughts were that I love it and question whether I recognise it? Have I come across it before? Who is it by and what playlist would I stick it on? My second thought is that it is louder than is possibly acceptable in a professional setup which probably means that Sarah and the technicians have left and it’s Open Access time.

I peek into the room and a wonderful scene opens up in front of me: a beaming Asian boy with the sharpest buzzcut is on the far right side, what a gorgeous kid. Perfect face, casual outfit, I think white T-shirt and raw jeans. He handles a menswear mannequin and talks to a girl sitting on the cutting table in a yoga seat. Her hair was dyed reddish-brown, swept back into a short messy ponytail with a relaxed fringe. Her outfit is typical fashion student, rags tied tall over her. A mess, but a good mess. She is infected by the mood and smiles a lot while she speaks. I can make out some piercing that only someone like her can pull off. Another gorgeous kid.

On their right is a girl, probably blonde? Not sure what she was exactly doing but she was as cool as the other two nodding along to the music and carrying on working on her materials and a notebook. As I had peeked for a little too long I withdrew but not before getting a glimpse of the back of the Timothy Chalamet look-a-like who worked on a small intricate detail on the stand closest to the door. Fully concentrating and hopefully feeling as lucky to be there as I am to witness the moment.

Standing outside I still listen to the tune, I open Shazam and the app is listening, listening ….. Daft Punk – Instant Crush, of course. I add it immediately to my coolest playlist.

I hold this moment outside the doorway, grateful that I get to work with kids like these and full of joy that they get to have moments like these while being in education. Peaks of utter contentedness when things just work out for a moment. I hope they have lots of those and feel looked after by all of us, tutors and technicians.