Shades of Noir…
The ‘Shades of Noir’ website has for the last two years been incorporated as a research source on the Year 1 ‘Introduction to Hair and Make-up for Fashion’ unit I work on at the London College of Fashion. This specific unit introduces students to fashion history and theory and contextualises hair and make-up for fashion as a discipline. In recent years the course has endeavored to develop the understanding of this specialism and to explore, deconstruct and decolonise ideas around beauty using diverse and contemporary global perspectives. The Introduction unit has both practical and research elements and Shades of Noir is included as one of a list of key resources to be engaged with and documented in the students’ final research journal submission. The students are asked to demonstrate independent research and analysis and are expected to locate at least one article from Shades of Noir that connects to Hair and Make-up, fashion or an aspect of identity that interests, provokes, challenges or expands thinking in some way and to write a short chapter about their findings. I think this approach works well at this stage as the students can explore and discover Shades of Noir’s content more than would be the case if just being provided with a specific article to read. This independent research activity often results in wide-ranging connections being made and more extensive topics being discussed in seminars. I have found that including Shades of Noir as one of the unit’s research resources repeatedly results in stimulating projects and at times unexpected directions. I work across all year groups on the Hair and Make-up for Fashion course, and perceive directly just how valuable Shades of Noir is for students as a research source on themes of diversity, race and identity. The majority of Hair and Make-up for Fashion students do repeatedly use the site all the way across their degree. There have been instances when specific projects have been directly influenced, developed and shaped from research located from Shade of Noir. For example, one of my students explored the subject of ‘Colourism’ and why at times black people have and still can discriminate against other black people because of the tone of their skin. This was something this student had personal knowledge of and felt that she experienced ‘privilege’ because her mixed race skin tone was light. Shades of Noir’s ‘Biological Pigment Bias: Perspectives on Colourism’ issue allowed this student to delve into this subject matter and to foster a deeper understanding of the topic of ‘Colourism’ but also to discover something insightful, profound and transformational about her own identity and the way she wanted to progress as a Hair and Make-up artist. The final project in the form of a zine, included a multi-generational cast of family members and friends used as models. Alongside the images, interviews allowed those involved the space to reflect on their own lived experience, memories and history and to consider how dominant narratives that have often narrowly defined notions of beauty can result in fostering a negative sense of self for many people of colour. The ‘Colourism’ issue was instrumental in not only helping the student develop an enhanced understanding and knowledge of the subject but also to grow in confidence. At the end of this project there was a realization and desire to work towards becoming a hair and make-up artist whose practice and work would focus on challenging and shifting the detrimental and outmoded colonized beauty ideals. I thought her final project showed a great deal of understanding of the research material and the final project managed to weave theory to practice in an individualized, thoughtful and sensitive way. As an associate lecturer I have little influence over the scheme of work outlined on the courses I work on, but I do have authority over the content of my allocated lectures and presentations. Before undertaking this unit I constructed my lectures to include wide-ranging and diverse themes and perspectives but I now grasp that there is space for development. In our first PGCert unit my tutor Tim Stephens told me to remember that as tutors we are in the privileged position where we can rework and address the gaps in narratives and I feel that Shade of Noir is helping me in this direction and to ask myself important questions to move forward with a more inclusive pedagogy. I will start by reviewing all of my lectures, change content where appropriate and include new references that benefit a more student-centered approach. An example of how I failed to do this might be illustrated in Kimberle Crenshaw’s theories of Intersectional identity and how discrimination against different aspects of a person’s identity intercept and have bearing on their lives. I reference ‘Intersectionality’ when discussing the original Vogue Ball movement that is included in one of my subculture lectures, but I am not integrating it adequately or broadly enough across my lectures. In my experience, nobody I work with is considering ‘Intersectionality’ either.
Recently, on both courses I work on, students were asked to incorporate a ‘Positionality’ statement into their research journal. A member of the teaching team on Styling Fashion and Production was inspired to do this after being on this unit. To help students to think about ‘Positionality’ more fully, it would be good to share with them some of the examples of case studies outlining the journey toward an anti-racist practice included in Shades of Noir. I have personally found these extremely beneficial and thought provoking. Considering my own ‘Positionality’, and the self reflection involved in this process, has been a valuable learning experience for progressing my future teaching practice, learning, unlearning, understanding and continually changing. In my opinion, more needs to be done to introduce all associate lecturers, visiting tutors and the core teaching team to Shades of Noir. Its multilayered material can be instrumental in helping unpack and contextualise the complexity of race, identity, society and racism and this rich resource can benefit all staff as they too endeavor to develop and change their teaching material and practice in a far more student focused, diverse and inclusive direction. This is something I can encourage my course leaders to share with the teaching teams, but I understand this is but one step towards the development of an anti-racist practice. As Aisha Richards reminds us with her own reflections of the ambition of The Inclusive learning and Teaching unit, this is only the start of a journey that is rooted in hard work, commitment and dedication.
“The Inclusive learning and Teaching unit cannot teach people to care, but we can plant many seeds of which students can practice mindfulness and develop further reflection. The aspiration is that these seeds create roots for personal work. You then hope these roots become an embedded practice of thoughtfulness, understanding, and self-reflection in the students and that of us the teachers. This I believe is the journey of moving from mindfulness practice to intersectional social justice work. The real heavy lifting”.
Bibliography
Richards A. Shades of Noir. Avalible at: (https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/journals/content/the-unit-team). (Accessed: 20 August 2021).
Shades of Noir, (2018) ‘Biological Pigment Bias: Perspectives on Colourism’, Shades of Noir. Avaliable at:https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/biological-pigment-bias-perspectives-on-colourism/. (Accessed: 20 August 2021).
‘A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment’ by Aaron J. Hahn Tapper (2013)
Social justices advocate and educator Aaron J. Hahn Tapper’s article, ‘A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment’, is invaluable to begin to get to grips with social justice education theoretically and practically. Hahn Tapper says that pinning social justice education down to one definition is not very viable, but instead outlines his own organizations’ form of social justice education by considering their ideology aims and how it is used in terms of pedagogy practice. The diagram below represents Hahn Tapper’s own framework relating to the various characteristics that make the particular pedagogical form of social justice education used by his US based educational organization, which runs conflict transformation programs.
Hahn Tapper says that at the core of social justice education there is an acknowledgment of the discrepancies in opportunities in society for groups, who are disadvantaged. It is important to understand the Brazilian educator and writer Paulo Freire’s approach to education and social justice on which Hahn Tapper’s organization’s methodology is based. In ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ published in 1968, Freire outlines the importance that education plays towards enacting social justice and how it can achieve an approach that is “on the side of freedom”(Freire, 1968, p.80). Freire criticises what he terms the “banking system of education” and its top down approach of teaching and learning where knowledge is “deposited” and imposed and students are positioned as passive recipients of the knowledge provided. In his book Freire states that the banking concept of education is detrimental for students learning because it merely “serves the interest of oppression” (Freire, 1968, p. 181). Freire’s position is that most educational environments reinforce supremacy by perpetuating the statues quo, thus impeding students’ chances in life because this approach “inhibits their creative power” (Freire, 1968, p. 181). Freire requests an approach that breaks with this banking concept of education and seeks a less dominant way where the teacher and student relationship can become more equal and where learning is negotiated rather than imposed. The inclusion of the student identity and voice is essential for a Freirian style of pedagogy. In ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ Freire outlines a significant way that a new teacher-student relationship can work in practice, through an approach called ‘problem-posing’. I understand problem-posing as a methodology that requires dialogue, something the banking method of education resists, but it is only through this style of dialogue that students can truly develop into critical thinkers. In this new, “teacher-student with students-teachers”(Freire, 1968, p. 80) relationship the power balance can be shifted where each is responsible, and the teacher correspondingly becomes the one being taught and transforms and thrives alongside the student in this renewed process. For Freire, an active form of dialogue that involves reflection is crucial here, for education to move from imposing knowledge and our own ideas of the world onto students, and instead to be active in the development of a critical questioning mind in our students and ourselves as teachers. Freire says that we need to enable and share dialogue with students about both their worlds and our own to generate critical thinking that can be transformative, but, “Without dialogue there is no communication and without communication there can be no true education” (Freire, 1968, p.93). I feel like this chimes with the student-centred way that I endeavour to interact with my students, however I did not understand how this aligned, at least to a degree, to a Freirian pedagogy. In hindsight I can see that my own teaching is aiming for this kind of simultaneous two-way dialogue between teacher and student as its focus but to make my practice truly transformative it requires a more conscious and reflective approach to fully help create a liberating education. As an AL, I do not have much control over the time I have with groups of student, moving forward however I can be on the look out for any gaps in my teaching and see where I can create these essential dialogues of collaboration. Freirian thinking and the subject of Identity are central to Hahn Tapper’s organisation’s work and a form of ‘Social Identity Theory’ (SIT) described as unorthodox is utilized for the educational work they undertake about conflict resolution. In the context of this article, SIT is applied for work with a variety of groups of Israeli and Palestinian students. My comprehension of SIT is that it explores and places greater value on the larger social identities rather than individual identities within group encounters.
SIT asserts that interactions are between members of groups rather than between individuals, and that intergroup behaviour is of a different nature to interpersonal behaviour. We are all members of social groups, be they religious, national, ethnic or gender etc. and group identities can be chosen or imposed on such groupings. This theory brings to light ideas around subordination and dominance and ‘Othering’. Hahn Tapper points out that, it is important to not solely view individuals by their group as this stifles individual perspectives, locking students into narrow group identities that are unhelpful, potentially harmful and overly simplistic. This piece highlights how there are also biases inherent in grouping individuals. A person may exhibit partiality or prejudice if told they are part of one group or another, which is an obvious disadvantage. Hahn Tapper points out that SIT ‘intergroup’ and ‘intragroup’ dynamics are important to the work his organisation does, although the foremost objective of this work, is for those taking part to take into account “Intersectionality”. SIT together with an Intersectional view of identity allows those involved in this work firstly to think through how individuals identify and belong with many groups and not just with one. Furthermore, taking into account and reflecting on a person’s Intersectional identity can brings to light how a person can experience multimodal and overlapping structural systems of inequalities that expose privilege and also reveal how these can result in prejudice and discrimination as a result of a person’s social identities. Hahn Tapper says of this, “oppression is the by-product of unequal structures built around power and identity. Such dynamics privilege particular social identities over others, permitting people from one group to have more power than another based simply on their group identities” (Tapper, 2013, p.421, ). It is clear to see how using this kind of intersectional approach, “not reductionist but sophisticated and multiperspectival” (Tapper, 2013, p.426), can effectively be employed to illuminate the ways the structures of oppression can perpetuate in keeping the status quo in place in society, as well as bringing to light the range of multiple social identities and their meanings. ‘Deexceptionalization’, a phrase I have not heard before, is another aspect of importance when considering Intersectionality says Hahn Tapper. Deexceptionalization in the context of intergroup conflict prepossess that there can be patterns and precedents found in past examples, and no conflict is purely unique. By bearing this idea in mind, students have a platform to widen their understanding of their own conflicts and perhaps find ways forwards out of the conflict, as Tapper states, “By deexceptionalizing students and the conflicts they are part of, participants are able to reexamine, reunderstand, and reimagine ways to transform themselves, their groups, and their intergroup conflicts” (Tapper, 2013, p.421, Tapper).
It is furthermore important to maintain a stance against a binary idea of victim and perpetrator. As Hahn Tapper stresses, there is always nuance in the conflicts concerned, and degrees of innocence and guilt, oppressor and victim are usually present. I understand that the ultimate goal of this style of conflict resolution is an aspiration that the parties involved will begin to perceive how social identities entail unequal power dynamics and that they too, willingly or not, all play their part in these. I appreciate how this work can be empowering. By comprehending the nuances of how “societal structures and the way they are linked to power and social identity” (Tapper, 2013, p.436), it can then be possible to begin to confront and dislocate the dominant narratives about groups, and to then move forward actively engaged and working to transform things for the better. This approach mirrors the Inclusive Practice units teaching methods in many ways, especially where we ourselves are asked to consider how our own position perpetuates or challenges social inequalities, and in the process to confront this and take responsibility rather than hide from difficult and confronting questions and situations. This getting to know others more completely and the care, empathy, compassion and understanding that one can learn through being involved and engaged in this approach, can empower a person with the responsibility to go forward both within their own community and the wider world. This is one major step towards enacting the kind of Social Justice Hahn Tapper and his organisation works hard to make an achievable reality.
The question I have been thinking all the way through is… How to get close to being able to apply the five-goal objective of this programme in our student context and really being able to determine if these are making a difference?
- Explore students’ understandings of their individual and group identities;
- Deepen students’ awareness of the existence of social inequalities;
- Assist in developing students’ conception of the interconnection between social inequalities and social identities;
- Examine the roles students play in both perpetuating and working against patterns of inequality; and
- Empower students to work toward societal transformation in and through their identities.
The process requires intense dialogue and a deep and continuous reflective process but with our large student numbers, so little time is really given to this kind of engagement. This being so, I feel like there is so much more I can think through by having these questions in my mind. I can see that there is a way to start to apply these questions to my thinking when I am in the process of formulating my lectures. Through this I can direct questions for in-class discussion that are promoting ideas of personal enquiry in a more multifaceted and nuanced way that highlight Tapper’s objectives. I know this is not enough but as Hahn Tapper says, his students are taught, “that each program’s goal is to start this deeply reflective process but not to finish it”.
Bibliography…
Friere, P. (1968) ‘The Pedagogy of the Oppresses’. Available at: https://envs.ucsc.edu/internships/internship-readings/freire-pedagogy-of-the-oppressed.pdf (Accessed: 10 September 2021).
Tapper, H.J.A. (2013) ‘A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment’, Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 30(4), pp.411-446. DOI: 10.1002/crq.21072
Witness Unconscious bias
In an interview for the University and College Union the academic Dr Josephine Kwhali questions the idea that ‘unconscious bias’ is the cause for the continuing lack of growth in diversity and racial equality throughout the Higher Education sector. Dr Kwhali points to decades of anti-Racism debates, strategies, policies and dialogue around the lack of diversity, inclusivity and equality in higher education that has still not made people aware of their bias. She asks, “What will it actually take for supposedly ‘intelligent’ people to get any degree of consciousness?” Dr Kwhali does not reject that unconscious bias exists on some level but is saying here that the higher education sector is knowingly using unconscious bias as an excuse and an easy get-out clause to help explain away the lack of action and progress in change taking place. This interview revealed to me how using unconscious bias as an excuse for these failures is dangerous because it conceals real institutional inertia that is taking place on this important subject. I also think this obscures the racism, prejudice and discrimination that people of colour are actually experiencing in this context. Dr Kwhali is confronting those with power where the white privilege she sees is excused by unconscious bias. She requests some degree of ‘consciousness’ to take place to enact change. This is a consciousness that is active and working towards the advancement of diversity, equality and inclusivity and is involved in supporting a meaningful change for those that do not fit the privileged position of being white. This interview shows Dr Kwhali’s pertinent feelings of exasperation and even sadness at still having to highlight and fight for the rights and equality of women of colour like herself after so much time. These ideas are further expanded by Professor Shirley Ann Tate in her lecture and article, ‘Whiteliness and Institutional Racism: Hiding behind Unconscious bias’, looked at in one of the seminars. Professor Tate similarly affirms that unconsciousbias is often used as an excuse, or an “alibi”, and also explicitly states that it diverts attention from the institutional racism, the Black student attainment gap and the disparities in recruitment of people of colour throughout the sector more broadly. Professor Tate is not just questioning the value of unconscious bias training but asks us to consider who benefits from holding onto the idea of unconscious bias as something that cannot be helped. Professor Tate warns that unconscious bias training and its centring on white suffering and the ‘white fragility’ and the defensive emotions that emerge from this, “…anger, fear and guilt and behaviours such as argumentation, silence and withdrawal from the stress-inducing situation” (Diangelo, 2018 p.2), and the subsequent act of ‘self-forgiveness’ that the white person goes through in this process and which operates as a remedy for racism, is too inward-looking for any genuine transformation to take place. This ‘self-forgiveness’ is shown to be a “distancing strategy”(Yancy cited by Tate, 2018), that does little to promote deep, wide ranging reflection or enact profound change in the person’s thought, behaviour or the workplace and only works to maintain and keep white power and supremacy resolutely in place. I have worked at London College of Fashion for 5 years as a part-time associate lecturer and I have not been offered the unconscious bias training. Most of the other PGCerts in my seminar group where critical of it. When I am back at work, I feel it is important that I undertake the online training to fully contextualise the criticism put forward. Dr Kwhali and Professor Tate’s work provides me with a profound awareness and new consciousness of the silent threat that unconscious bias can have, and how it can hamper progress for black people and people of colour throughout the higher education system. While working at the London College of Fashion I have overheard views from other people working at the college that reveal prejudice but I have not challenged these, remained silent and left to feel uncomfortable. As an associate lecture, I often do not feel like I have much agency or say and this can result in me lacking assertion and confidence at times with the permanent members of staff and I sidestep anything confrontational with them. On the other hand, I do address thinking that is prejudice and discriminatory when I am in class with my students. In this student facing context, I feel confident to discuss topics that can be challenging and feel like I do this in a non-confrontational, sensitive way that aims to generate constructive dialogue and broaden understandings for us all. It is important that I aim to create an inclusive space and a sense of belonging for everyone in my class. I am far more aware of how my actions of withdrawal when I am with colleagues unmasks my own white privilege and how I am culpable in facilitating inequity and discrimination to continue to thrive in the work place. To move forward with the ‘consciousness’ and decolonised mind set that Dr Kwhali requests, is to sit rather than hide from the things we find uncomfortable, to be engaged, see, acknowledge, support and to be braver and confront in speaking up to be really committed to equality and social change. It is only then that the narrative of equality is made more possible for everyone. Averting my own white gaze is to be part of a system that maintains barriers, discrimination, prejudice and racism and keeps many people of colour ignored, side lined and rendered invisible.
Bibliograpghy
Diangelo. R. (2018) ‘WHITE FRAGILITY – Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about Racism’. UK: Penguin Random House.
Kwhali. J. (2016) ‘Witness Unconscious Bias’. UCU: University and College Union. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6XDUGPoaFw. Accessed: 25th August 2021
Tate. S-A and Page D. (2018) ‘Whiteliness and institutional racism: hiding behind (un)conscious bias’, Ethics and Education, 13(1), p. 141-155 DOI: 10.1080/17449642.2018.1428718
Tate. S-A. (2018) ‘Whiteliness and institutional racism: hiding behind (un)conscious bias’ Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lur3hjEHCsE. Accessed: 15 August 2021.
‘Retention and attainment in the disciplines: Art and Design’ by Terry Finnegan and Aisha Richards
Terry Finnegan and Aisha Richards’s report looks at the attainment and retention of students from diverse background groups at British universities studying art and design. In this report they analyze a wide range of research on this subject and seek to examine how the culture and environment of art and design in Higher Education may possibly be responsible for ‘privileging’ or ‘excluding’ specific students on these courses. The report tries to obtain answers to why different groups of students have persistent attainment and retention differences. At the time of the release of the report, the attainment and retention gap in HE in art and design reveals that black students from all different backgrounds had an attainment gap of 33% compared to white students, more students from black backgrounds left university with no award compared to white students and that socio-economic class can also be seen to have an impact on the achievement of an upper class degrees for some. Richards and Finnegan’s findings and analysis aim to detect some potentially effective solutions or “Interventions” that could be applied to create a more improved, balanced and fair teaching environment so all students have the potential to flourish regardless of their background.
Finnegan and Richards focus specifically on three questions of concern….
1…Why do particular background characteristics of students create disadvantage across the Art and Design disciplinary context?
2…What is happening within the subject discipline of Art and Design to heighten levels of vulnerability leading to lower continuation and or lower attainment rates?
3…What types of activities and interventions are taking place to impact the over-arching differences of attainment and retention of students of colour in Art and Design subjects?
I had deemed admission procedures to be a process that is fair and to be carried out by the most experienced staff. Finnegan and Richards report draws attention to how this process might not be as nondiscriminatory and lacking in bias as it may seem on the surface. For instance, they point out that an area where the playing field is uneven is when we take into consideration background characteristics. It is argued that one’s background characteristics have the potential to either advantage or disadvantage even before being accepted on to an art and design course. Finnegan and Richards explain that to some degree inequalities and exclusion practices are taking place right at admissions and interview stage, drawing on research from an earlier report, ‘Art for the Few’ by Penny Jane Burke and Jackie McManus, who looked at this subject area in the context of Widening Participation. Burke and McManus determined that admissions and interview tutors at times were involved in a process of “recognition” and “misrecognition” when selecting potential candidates for their courses. Judgments and perceptions made at interview were determining factors in who was seen to have or not have “potential” and “ability”. Burke and McManus argue that, working class people and those from ethnic minority backgrounds are most likely to be disadvantaged and potentially be ‘misrecognised’ at the early interview stage. A few ways that these inequalities are largely reproduced are seen in how the criteria for applying for a course is not clearly defined or explained enough for potential candidates. It is argued that this type of ambiguity has the potential of disadvantaging and hampering chances of students from working class and ethnic minority backgrounds particularly. These groups have been historically underrepresented at University and current candidates from these backgrounds are thus disadvantaged because they lack access to the kind of social networks that could help, support and navigate them through any uncertainties associated with things like the criteria process. This is in direct opposition to white middle-class candidates, who have been traditionally more represented in University and because of this they have more privilege that gives them access to social connections with greater familiarity, knowledge and experience with these kinds of processes. Another way Burke and McManus say that inequalities are largely reproduced through the admission practices relates to communication skills or a presumed lack of communication skills. This particularly concerns how well a candidate articulates and expresses ideas relating to their work in the interview. Burke and McManus outline how candidates from working-class and ethnic minority backgrounds can be more disadvantaged in this area than white middle-class candidates. These practices of exclusion and inclusion is directly linked to Pierre Bourdieu theories of ‘Cultural Capital’, ‘Habitus’ and ‘Field’(1984). I understand Bourdieu’s ideas in this way, an individual’s ‘Habitus’ is their second nature feel and comfort for certain life situations, a set of ‘social dispositions’ which determine how people behave, understand or react to certain social spaces known as ‘Fields’. Their ‘Habitus’ can be formed from a lifelong inculcation, for example, being exposed to and encouraged to talk about Art. This would empower that individual with ‘Cultural Capital’- tastes, skills, credentials, vocabulary etc. to freely and confidently play and communicate about Art, and these are usually culturally ingrained and directly linked to things like socio-economic status, class, gender and ethnicity. Finnegan and Richards together with Burke and McManus argue that it is typically the ‘traditional’ white middle-class student who inclines to be the successful candidate on art and design courses. The ‘traditional’ student’s background has equipped them with the kind of ‘cultural capital’ that is more easily recognized and then associated with the greater potential by the admission and interview tutors. What the admission and interview tutors are not recognising is that this cultural capital is a direct result of privilege. This is important research for all teaching staff to give greater attention to, since we are all at times encountering unfamiliar “habitus” through our own engagements with our diverse and international cohort of students. In light of this, it is imperative that I make sure that my own teaching practices are fair and aim to create a sense of location rather than dislocation for all students. Finnegan and Richards’s report together with Burke and McManus’s illustrate the, “…complex ways that inequalities, exclusions and misrecognitions play out in subtle, insidious and often unwitting ways with taken for granted practices and judgments” (Burke & McManus, 2012, p, 11). To be relevant, effective and inclusive for my students needs, I need to continue to educate myself and seek to intervene and change teaching practices so they align with the kind of equality that creates “cultural capital” and future chances that benefit everyone. To move in this direction and have an Inclusive practice that is advantageous and positive to all my students, it is imperative that I approach my work with an openness and objective to step outside my own white “habitus” and comfort zone, and try “radically to change the ‘field’ (Bhagat & O’Neil, 2011, p.22)”, so all students get the chance to grow and flourish equally. Not being engaged in this process means risking ending up being responsible for maintaining and perpetuating the status quo and for keeping in place the inequalities that disadvantage so many students.
Section four continues to outline several aspects of art and design pedagogies that can influence the success, learning and attainment for students from diverse backgrounds. The report explains how project-based learning and unit briefs that set students on a course of discovery can support students in the development of projects that center on personal identities and it is argued that this kind of work has the potential to “creates a sense of agency”(Finnegan & Richards, 2016, pg.6) for students. The project-based learning on the courses I work on aim to open up possibilities for our students to work and learn in a more autonomous and self-directed manner and provide space for projects exploring personal identities. This way of working is geared towards hopefully giving the students an enhanced level of control, influence and authority over the final outcome of their creative work. The project-centered teaching method is different from more concrete or familiar modes of teaching, thinking and learning and for this different and unfamiliar way of working to be effective, it is central that students take a degree of ownership over their projects. Over the last five years working on project-centered units as an associate lecturer on the Hair and Make-up for fashion and Fashion Styling and Production courses, I see my teaching role in this context as strongly being about supporting, discussing, guiding and providing encouragement and reassurance. Research by Orr, Yorker and Blair, ‘The answer is brought about from within you’: A Student-Centered Perspective on Pedagogy in Art and Design’ cited in Finnegan and Richards report, indicates that this is how the majority of students perceive the role of lecturers involved in project-centered units. Students envisage the lecturers’ function in project-centered units to be that of a facilitator and the lecturer and student relationship to one that is “co-constructive” and “co-productive” (Orr, Yorker & Blair, 2014, p 5). Orr, Yorker and Blair’s research with art and design students reveals that student desire to be “enabled” rather than being told what to do. The proficiency of an effective lecturer seen from the student’s perspective is succinctly outlined by this student quote, “ I think a real skill is to be able to empower and enable an art student to come up with their own solutions, if you like. Or way forward” (Orr, Yorker & Blair, 2014, p.7). I find these words valuable, as they remind me of the need to be continually conscientious of the scope of my role and to keep focused on helping, assisting, drawing-out and bringing projects to life but ultimately, allowing students to be, “active agents in the production of their learning” (Orr, Yorker & Blair, 2014 pg.7). Looking at when I started teaching at London College of Fashion, I can see that I had the tendency to take over with my opinion of where certain project should proceed. I would say this was definitely due to my lack of experience and even confidence. Nowadays, I am extra mindful of the need and skill of being constructive with feedback and to open up the space to really ‘listen’ to my students. Finnegan and Richards report revealed some pedagogic hurdles that students can experience on their path towards becoming a more independent learner. They reveal how project centered learning and the ‘pedagogy of ambiguity’, a prerequisite of this method of learning, is problematic for many students, especially at the beginning of the university journey. Pedagogy of ambiguity on the one hand requires that students experiment, take risks and step outside their comfort zone with their work, but this way of working can often be at odds with a student’s prior learning experience. In my experience, it is the case that many first year students are not used to this method of open-ending enquiry and are continually searching for the ‘guidance’, ‘reassurance’ and ‘certainty’ regarding their work that Finnegan and Richards outline as looked-for in their report. In the article by Austerlitz et al ‘Mind the gap: expectations, ambiguity and pedagogy within art and design higher education’ cited in Drew, argues that it is crucial that tutors work hard to support students through the gaps in understanding and knowledge that are caused from the transition from one method to a new ‘pedagogy of ambiguity’method otherwise, “…we may fail to transition students from the safety of the ‘concrete’ or ‘expected’ to the ambiguous and contingent, in a way that makes them feel safe and enabled”( Austerlitz et al cited in Drew, 2008, pg.132). Austerlitz et al alerts us also to the fact that we could prevent students from thriving and succeeding by not taking into account how students experience and approach studying and learning in diverse ways. Austerlitz et al say that effective communication skills are but one such crucial way that this could be accommodated, enabled and bridged. I have worked with first year students for the last four years on project centered units and this can be a challenging time for students and for the teaching team. The units I work on have very large class numbers, 60 to 90 students, and I would argue that not enough time and space is provided to make sure that we are communicating effectively for all our students. There is not enough peer-to-peer learning and providing in-depth one to one guidance in the session is not always possible. I know that my course leaders are constantly managing students’ expectations regarding the lack of time provided for this kind of one to one support, and work to develop ways to support through an unsettling period of transition for many. When moving to online learning last year, I found that the way we worked with smaller tutor groups, 10 in each online session, was one such way of transitioning students in a more positive, supportive way. There was extra time for each student to show their work and have peer to peer and tutor feedback. I witnessed a prompter comprehension of the learning objectives and an enhanced confidence and feeling of satisfaction. This was something that was backed up in the students’ own feedback to my course leaders. I am not aware if this student-centered approach can or will be implemented when teaching is fully face-to-face again, but I noticed positive consequences for the students and also felt personally enabled in this process. Finnegan and Richards’s report goes on to consider how a student needs to cultivate trust in their tutors if they are to successfully bring their own voice into their work and for student-centered learning to happen. To develop a sense of belonging it is crucial to have the ability to recognize oneself in the “characteristics” of the “intellectual project that is the course” as Dr Sabri’s puts it(Sabri cited in Finnegan& Richards, 2016, pg.7). This is to see oneself reflected in the teaching team and to see how relevant the course is to those from different racial and ethnic backgrounds and to really feel included for being the individual they are. Creating a sense of belonging is understood to be vital for developing an enhanced engagement and better attainment for those from diverse groups specifically (UAL,2020). The courses I work on have been diversifying their core team over the last year and a half, but I believe more still needs to be done to diversify the pool of visiting practitioners especially. As an associate lecturer who is white, I strive to practice an inclusive pedagogy by widening my cross-cultural background knowledge and understanding. I hope that I demonstrate to my students how much I value their individual voices. I particularly enjoy engaging in feedback and Finnegan and Richards’s report outlines how this can be a vital component in developing a positive and trustful student and tutor relationship. Dr. Duna Sabi’s reports on the student experience of feedback and formative assessment detail how feedback can help with creating a sense of belonging for students and also with eliminating the attainment gap (Dr Sabri, 2014, 2015 2016). The way that tutors engage when providing feedback is central to how well it can be used to progress the work, and how clearly it relates to the students’ own individual view of their work Dr Sabri outlines (2017). Finnegan and Richards say that tutors working on project centered units, “need to be aware of the power they have in encouraging and discouraging students to develop their own practice”(Finnegan & Richards, 2016, p.8), particularly essential when considering work that is rooted in personal identities and cultural narratives that might be different or unfamiliar to one’s own. Dr Sabi’s research cited in this report recounts that students were mostly positive about their tutors and the feedback provided when tutors showed an interest and devoted time to grasping the ideas and specific cultural background and contexts of the work. Throughout Dr Sabi’s work there are numerous accounts from black and minority ethnic students who time and again felt like their tutors showed little interest and provided inadequate room to make sense of their work. It is obvious to see how these kind of negative interactions and patterns of teaching behavior could have the result of intensifying inequalities and disadvantaging. Dr Sabi says of this, “The attainment of all students comes about because they are able, to greater and lesser extents, to turn the environment around them to their advantage; and, the environment appears to be more often suited to the agency of White students than that of Black and Minority Ethnic students” (Sabri, 2014, p.44, 2014). The short documentary ‘THE ROOM OF SILENCE’, reveals first hand how Black and Minority Ethnic students at the Rhode Island School of Design are navigating an environment that often feels to be culturally biased against them. Those interviewed recount painful tales of how they and their work is being rejected by their tutors. These students do not believe that all students are being represented or given an equal chance to thrive because, tutors, in particular white tutors, repeatedly show no or little cultural awareness or interest about them or their ideas, and worse still have nothing to contribute about the work at all. Many of these accounts mirror the research with students undertaking by Dr Sabri in her reports on student attainment. I was shocked when I first read these reports and regret to say I was ignorant of the fact that so many students experienced this kind of discrimination and isolation. My associate lecturer role is aligned to providing contextual information and I have always without being instructed understood how integral it is to think about a diversity of perspectives that embrace our diverse cohort. I believe I try deeply to understand where my students ‘are coming from’ and see it as a privilege to be able to work alongside them at such a seminal time in their lives. I wish for these engagements to be useful and a catalyst for development, I know they are fundamental to how I develop and mature as a lecturer. This unit shows me that there is no room for complacency and that we do not always get things right. We need to be on the look out and identify the gaps in our teaching and learning where inequality can thrive, and act to dismantle and eliminate them so equality for all students is a given. Only then can every student be provided with the type of education and experience they desire and deserve. The research outlined in Finnegan and Richards’s report demonstrates how there is an urgent need for tutors to develop a more student-centered and inclusive practice for more effective learning and teaching. Critical Pedagogy and Paulo Freire’s philosophy is useful because it encourages tutors to be self-reflective and to renew and change their own minds, and through this develop and create a transformative practice and learning environment. To have a truly reflective critical Pedagogy practice, the teacher and student must be able to learn alongside one another and a relationship of mutual respect within the tutor and student relationship can be formed and the student’s needs are met. The report makes transparent that students do rely on their tutor for support, guidance and developmental feedback about their work, but not all students are given an equal chance to benefit and grow from this. It is crucial that lecturers, especially those we are currently the white majority, just like me, in art and design education, strive to see through different lenses so as to include everyone in the conversation. Students are asked with their projects to step outside their comfort zone and take risks, but this report shows that it is the tutors additionally who also need to do the same. In ‘Teaching to Transgress’, bell hooks says of this, “That empowerment cannot happen if we refuse to be vulnerable while encouraging students to take risks” (hooks, 1994, pg.9). Critical Pedagogy for me is about creating space for new thinking, for growth to take shape, about empowering students and in the process being empowered in this process. This is nevertheless only ever achievable if we let students know their voice is valued and that their true world really matters. The risk of inaction is to be liable for the possible erosion of students’ confidence, self-value and lack of trust and to be complicit in upholding existing inequities that the norms of “Whiteliness” preserve.
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