Here is a report following observation by my peer during one of my teaching sessions.
Record of Observation or Review of Teaching Practice
Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: BA Fashion Marketing and Content Creation – Monday 11th March 2024 room 427
Size of student group: 48
Observer: Lorraine Wireko-Brobby
Observee:Lucy Finnegan
Note: This record is solely for exchanging developmental feedback between colleagues. Its reflective aspect informs PgCert and Fellowship assessment, but it is not an official evaluation of teaching and is not intended for other internal or legal applications such as probation or disciplinary action.
Part One
Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:
What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
This is the final session before Easter break in a unit called Introduction to Content Creation and Storytelling. This a unit for 1st years and the aim of the unit is to create a content proposal with storytelling for an allocated brand. There are very limited boundaries. It is a creative, experimental unit as the unit is brand new. The students have been encouraged to think as freely as possible.
It is a 10-week unit and the first 5 weeks (We are in week 5) has been about learning the ropes of content creation from an ideation point of view. We have had the unit briefing and introduction to the subjects of content and storytelling. But we have also had weekly industry guests.
This week’s session will be about recapping and refreshing the brief ahead of the break. It will then be focused on me facilitating a guest speaker who is going to conduct a creative session with them.
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
I am the Course Leader and have been working with this year group since September. We are a brand-new BA course in the business school at LCF.
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
From this session, the aim is for them to take away the following:
-renewed understanding of what is required
– motivation and inspiration to proceed with their project
Understanding of the need for creativity and experimentation
– confidence ahead of their formative assessment
– basic understanding of how to storyboard their ideas
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
With the industry guest, they will start to work on story boards
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
Timings. We are cramming a lot in and they have formative assessment same day. The guest speaker also doesn’t know the students so their maybe low engagement
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
I will inform them at the beginning of the class
What would you particularly like feedback on?
Was the brief clear and specific enough or this year group.
Was the session engaging enough in terms of my tone, personality, teaching style
Did I have a rapport/connection with the class? Did I make them feel part of our community?
Ability to cater to size of class with diverse needs
Did I integrate the guest successfully?
How will feedback be exchanged?
Notes via email
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions and questions:
I was truly inspired and impressed by the delivery of your fashion marketing and content creation session. Your clear articulation, well-paced delivery, and thoughtful tone effectively maintained students’ interest throughout the session. Furthermore, your incorporation of humour added an enjoyable dynamic to the learning experience.
The provided brief was clear and specific, guiding students through the process of identifying issues, exploring gaps, and presenting opportunities for brands, with a focus on storytelling within Fashion Marketing and Content Creation.
I particularly appreciated how you reinforced students’ self-esteem during the session, creating a supportive environment for their learning by utilising physical objects and inviting a relevant industry speaker to provide them with valuable insights. Seamlessly linking it back to the core session on storytelling – direct with structure but still inspiring.
You provided context for the task, walked through it with the students, and then explained the importance of using the 5 W’s and H structure. You connected this back to their assigned projects, emphasising the relevance of this approach for their projects. You also reminded them that this was something they had done before that encouraged participation more as they were familiar with the context, it offered an environment where it felt like they were recapping together as opposed to being tested.
Moving between digital presenting to flipchats and group activities kept it fresh and upbeat. You established a strong rapport with the class because of the frequent interactions.
It was great that you checked in with each table after completing the task, asking them for their feedback. Providing additional context after they all contributed was also beneficial. Addressing students by their names demonstrated their value in the room, acknowledging them not only for their thoughts but also as individuals, rather than grouping them under generic labels like ‘Group 3’ or ‘Table 3’.
The group task, which involved researching the creative directors at their table, proved to have helped students feel more connected to the material and feel like their communities are being recognised inside academia by their reaction to the history and backgrounds of the selected creative directors, Martine Rose and Sean.
I appreciate how you curated the session intentionally to accommodate a specific number of groups. However, I noticed that some students were seated separately from the tables with the flip flops and mini eggs. Perhaps to avoid this in the future, it might be helpful to double-check that all students are seated at the designated tables with props. One suggestion could be to isolate those tables or to place a note on the door reminding students to sit at tables with props. Alternatively, placing a sign on the other tables indicating they are not for seating could help ensure students are seated appropriately.
Finally, there’s an observation regarding students missing valuable points of discussion when they arrive late from comfort breaks. It could be beneficial to perhaps establish a set time for resuming the session to ensure that all students receive an equal amount of information.
Overall, the session was brilliant and so insightful!
Part Three
Observe to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
Thank you for taking the time to observe me and for your comprehensive observation report. It was a privilege to have you in the classroom as I really did value your opinion.
It was great to see that my teaching ‘personality’ was evident and acknowledge and that my efforts to create community and a vibrant atmosphere were met. You have noted that the delivery and use of different methods and tools created a good pace and upbeat delivery – this is exactly what I wanted to achieve in the short space of time for this session.
You have noted that the introduction of a guest speaker was seamless and relevant which is reassuring to hear. This is something I was anxious about as the guest as nervous and I wanted to ensure that he did not lose the class and that I could create a link between my content and his.
I was pleased that you felt my visual materials were inclusive and enabled students to feel represented.
Your point around students missing content due to longer self-managed breaks is extremely interesting and I will take note of this and look at how we can improve this going forward. I completely agree with you and when I reflect back, I realize there are too many ‘self-managed’ breaks that are maybe impacting on their learning. I will look to set up boundaries going forward – that also considers the large range of neurodiverse learners we have her have attention issues.
Thank you for raising the issue around the distribution of the objects and rewards on the tables. Looking back, I perhaps could have arrived at the classroom much much earlier to prepare the environment more adequately. Thank you again for this invaluable feedback which I am extremely grateful for