Taking responsibility as an educator during Mental Health Awareness Week

It's Mental Health Awareness Week.

Staff and students within the Higher Education sector are facing pressure like they've never known it before. In timely fashion on Monday this week, Universities UK launched an updated version of StepChange - a framework for what mentally healthy universities look like. Mental health is something to be preserved all year round not just for once a week and I think it's a good step that underlying structures are now being considered.

Even though we aren't yet quite sure whether we have escaped relatively unscathed (I imagine not many of us have) we are already pondering what next term may look like and how we might support our staff and students in what has already become an overused term - the 'new normal'. I'm hoping it will be more personalised, more flexible and more inclusive.

Despite much being out of our control, there is still plenty within it. Therefore, we all have a responsibility for ourselves and for others in our care. It may not be perfect, far from it, but as Brené Brown says 'we are doing the best we can with the tools we have'.

Some of what I'm doing for others:

• I'm creating workshop material that I hope is sympathetic to people's circumstances; e.g. they don't have to worry about when to feed their children as my workshops aren't live and therefore don't clash
• I've extended all deadlines where possible
• I'm providing free mindfulness workshops and recordings
• I'm offering free coaching to work colleagues

My local woods which I can't currently visit. 

They are the inspiration for one of my mindfulness exercises.

Some of what I'm doing for myself:

• Switching off at weekends and spending time with my kids in the garden
• Recognising when I'm getting frustrated at people's emails and stepping away till I'm calmer
• Being kind to myself - there's only so much I can do in my circumstances
• Allocating time for my yoga teacher training. I'm enjoying seeing the links between this and my coaching and teaching practices.

What about you? How are you acknowledging your own mental health and that of your colleagues and students?

Which Advance HE accreditation is right for you?

"Fellowship provides individuals with recognition of their practice, impact and leadership of teaching and learning, against the descriptors of the Professional Standards Framework (PSF)." (Advance HE 2019)

Advance HE Fellowship descriptors/categories are not hierarchical! A statement I make in every single workshop and conversation I have after someone states they are going to work their way up the levels.

You would be forgiven for thinking they are: the terminology would suggest it - Associate, Fellow, Senior and Principal.

Associate Fellow (AFHEA) is for you if:
Teaching and/or supporting learners is a part of your job but not the main focus. For example, you may be an information professional or a Graduate Teaching Assistant who doesn't design or assess learners but may support them on an enquiry desk or in a lab alongside a lecturer.

Fellowship (FHEA) is for you if:
You can show evidence of designing, assessing and teaching learners. You will probably spend a significant proportion of your time teaching. You will be interested in developing professionally, reflecting on your practice and, if you're newly employed at a University, successful completion may be part of your probationary requirements.

Senior Fellowship is for you if:
You have a thorough knowledge of effective practices and a sustained record of supporting others to improve their teaching and learning activities. Perhaps you mentor academics. Maybe you provide programmes of support to lecturers so they can improve their information literacy to the benefit of their students.

Principal Fellow (PFHEA) is for you if :

You work in a strategic leadership role and can show a sustained record of effectiveness of academic practice and development. Perhaps you are a Director of an Academic Practice department or a Vice Provost for Education.

Not hierarchical - RawPixels.com

The confusion arises because the categories are aligned to people's roles and these roles often change and develop over time. As new academics become firmly established they are sometimes given the responsibilities of mentoring others or supporting their colleagues; for example, with course design. You may be a Reader or Professor and have little to do supporting others so an Associate or Fellow category would be more suitable. Alternatively, you may be a newly employed educational developer whose sole role is to do this.

Have you decided yet? Now that Term 1 is coming closer to an end perhaps it's something you wish to consider for 2020. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Related posts:

Using the GROW coaching model to help someone reach SFHEA status
FHEA progress to date: Reflective Assessment Portfolio

What's a teaching philosophy, and why does it matter?

Why do you teach the way you do? How do your personal and professional values align with what's going on in your teaching practice? How can you tell?

Teaching philosophies are commonplace in primary and secondary education and are becoming more so in higher education. I've even started to hear about them being used as part of the job interview process.

Participants on the postgraduate certificate course, graduate teaching assistant course and for those applying for a Fellowship of Advance HE via the open route at my institution are required to write one.

@omgitsyeshi - Unsplash.com

Why write one?

• It helps us to make decisions about our behaviour, the tools and activities we use and the way we interact with those we teach
• It helps us be consistent in those decisions and choices
• Being self-aware and being able to articulate our reasons provides us with confidence
• Confidence will provide authority 
• Cognitive dissonance and the resulting burnout will reduce as what we believe and what we do will be in alignment
• It will help us make career choices - are our values and philosophies supported or hindered by our environment, colleagues and institution

What goes in a teaching philosophy?

Ask yourself questions such as:

• What do I mean by teaching?
• What do I mean by learning?
• What drives me and keeps me motivated?
• What are my personal and professional values?
• how do they show up in my practice?
• What actually happens in my classroom?

My own teaching philosophy is centred around my belief that everyone should have the opportunity to develop their potential and that if people could improve what they do, even if just by 10%, then this would improve the world we live in. I create space for the honing of skills such as critical thinking, independent learning and teamwork. This space helps to form connections; connections between ideas and social connections between peers. I give my time to students: I am prepared and enthusiastic; I am the first one in the door welcoming my students and the last one out saying goodbye. My materials and activities are carefully thought out and planned. This shows I take myself and my students seriously and value their precious time. 

What does yours look like? I'd love to know so feel free to leave a comment.

My two year anniversary as an Academic Practice lecturer

It’s my two year anniversary as an Academic Practice lecturer. The first year whizzed by as I was on maternity leave. Yes, I started the job two weeks before I left to have a baby. Foolhardy or brave?  On whose part - mine or my employers?

I’ve learned a lot this following year. Working with new academics has been a pleasure. I’ve seen them flourish as they gain confidence. I’ve cried as they revealed the history behind their teaching philosophies. I’ve been grateful for the positive feedback they left me. 

Working with more established academics to gain accreditation has been eye opening. I’ve worked with them previously for years but in a different context. Who knew that some would be as challenged by time management as the students they complain about?! They are also the ones who tend to be the most appreciative of the time I spend with them.

The new PhD students I teach on their Introduction to Teaching days are so ambitious but are one of the most at risk groups of being exploited. They are often lost and confused when I meet them as they most often have never taught before and are trying to gain experience. Providing some reassurance is often the most helpful thing I can do for these people.

Introductions & expectations

Getting ready to discuss values

And the people I have been coaching while getting my qualification, as well as my new clients? It’s an absolute honour, as well as quite a responsibility, to be part of their journey and growth. I’ve enjoyed every moment of it.

What next?

Restructures have meant more work as well as increased opportunities, as I’m able to put my own stamp on things. Balancing it with childcare, domestic tribulations and school logistics is challenging to say the least. I am intending to submit my Senior Fellowship application very soon and there are some interesting projects based around Equality and Wellbeing on the horizon. I will be building up my coaching experience alongside this.

Oh, and I’ve just found out I’ve passed my probation. 

Happy anniversary! 

Learning and Teaching Symposium: Collaboration, Active Learning and Identities

It's that time of year when all that can be heard is tapping of keyboards, the clink of a teacup absent-mindedly being laid to rest on whatever is to hand and the groan as stiff shoulders are rolled back from being hunched over a keyboard for too long. It's marking season!

A welcome break from all of that is the annual event which takes place (every year, surprisingly) at Brunel - the Learning and Teaching Symposium. They're always informative, engaging and I tend to leave with lots of ideas buzzing round my head. This year was no exception.

Professor Fiona Denney, Director of Brunel Educational Excellence Centre

The focus of this year's event was on engaging students actively in their learning. The Vice Chancellor opened the day by giving attendees some history regarding the change in class-sizes and reduction in small-group teaching and the impact this had on student-staff relationships. Her theory being that this was related to the increase in student mental health issues. Going forwards, campuses are designing new buildings with flexible spaces in mind which are designed to get some of this connectivity back.

Engaging keynotes from Dr Ian Turner and Dr Hannah Critchlow built on this aspect of student wellbeing and also the idea of students coming to university to see the lecturer perform and be engaging - a lecture as pantomime.. This ties in with the work we do in our Academic Practice team on teacher identities, philosophies and values.

Dr Hannah Critchlow

Dr Ian Turner

Fortunately, rather than just hearing all about students being active, I was able to experience some of this for myself so I've picked out a few highlights and themes below:

Games

In a workshop with Dr Ian Turner, we worked in teams to develop games for our students. I don't normally like the idea of games as evidence suggests it can remove intrinsic motivation already in place (Hanus & Fox, 2015). However, having a clear idea of the player/audience, their ultimate goal, and some structure to achieving that goal works for me as it connects to coaching methods as well as aligning learning objectives with activities. Seems obvious but you should never assume!


Teams:

The team-based learning workshop with Dr Simon Tweddell continued this theme of small groups, collaboration and interactivity. Individuals would assess their own knowledge then work as a group to come up with the right answers, while developing skills of negotiation and communication. Part of this activity included speaking up and defending their choices to the rest of the class so involved the use of critical thinking and the development of confidence in public speaking - all useful life skills.

Technologies and identities:

My favourite session involved the use of Padlet and lots of cutting and sticking. I'm not sure that our PgCAP students would appreciate what may seem like an old-school and childish activity or what it says about me that I enjoyed it so much! We created collages individually, upscaled them into a larger group piece and then shared them via Padlet with the rest of our class. I can see this working really well with distance-learning students or very large groups. I particularly like the idea of using it in a workshop on teaching identities and values for our HEA workshops.

Padlet

These sessions showcased how individual student expression could be combined with teamwork and collegiality. This was summed up perfectly by the panel at the end of the day discussing what educators could learn from comedy. From identifying disconnects, reducing stress and promoting risk-taking to improving dialogic learning  and critical thinking skills - comedy has many uses in the classroom. Plus, it can make learning fun!

Comedy in the Classroom

How do you encourage collaboration amongst those you teach? How do you engage them actively? Leave a comment below; I'd love to hear from you!

Hanus, Michael D. and Fox, Jesse (2015) 'Assessing the effects of gamification in the classroom: A longitudinal study on intrinsic motivation, social comparison, satisfaction, effort, and academic performance'. Computers & Education, Volume 80, pp 152-161.

Coaching: passions and practice.

A few years ago, I attended an introductory workshop in Coaching at my workplace. At the time the aim was to create a coaching community within the University and offer the ILM Level 5 Qualification in Coaching to interested attendees of the workshop. I was very interested but unfortunately the dates clashed with conferences I was presenting at, so I was unable to participate. The following year, the institution stopped running the course; however, I maintained my interest through reading and using techniques where possible and appropriate, for example, in the Action Learning Set I was involved in as part of the Aurora course (a development programme for female leaders in higher education) .

In November last year I participated in a Twitter chat hosted by UKLibchat on the subject which was incredibly popular. This encouraged me to include coaching as part of my performance development review at work as I could see how beneficial it would be both in developing my relationships with staff and in my work with students. Recently, a follow-up refresher workshop was offered at my workplace due to increased interest in the subject so I put my name down straightaway.

Reader, I loved it. The biggest glow I get at work is either when students ‘get it’ when I am helping or teaching them and also when I see people’s reactions at the end of attending one of my mindfulness workshops. While these two things may seem very different, what they both have in common is that they are empowering the person to be and do better. I believe very strongly that coaching does this as well, which is why I think I get that feeling.

Some useful refreshers:

The end of Fellowship?

This is the final part of my series of blog posts on gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

If you’ve already read last week’s post you’ll know that I have completed my FHEA accreditation portfolio. I am very happy about this. Students and other staff may not know or care about it but it is a process I have found valuable and if it is accepted (I find out in February) then I will get a few extra letters after my name.

At the beginning of 2016, I decided to look into what gaining accreditation for my teaching involved. As my confidence had taken a nose-dive after various personal issues, I felt I needed to ‘prove’ myself again.

Rather than repeat everything I’ve done for it, here are a few links to the process I went through:

• Embarking on Fellowship: More reasons as to why I started the process, an outline of the different types of accreditation the Higher Education Academy provides and the various route my institution provides to gain the award.

• I used Pebble-Pad for the first time to collate and submit my portfolio 

• Choosing an FHEA mentor: I was required to have a mentor who was absolutely marvellous. This post covers what traits are required in a mentor and how I chose mine.

• FHEA progress to date: Reflective Assessment Portfolio. I was required to write and collate a portfolio. This post contains information about what that consisted of and a more detailed look at the core knowledge and professional values I needed to demonstrate across the five small and two large case studies, as well as the professional development plan.

• Technologies, peer-assisted learning, FHEA case studies...with a touch of Frost. This post goes into more detail about the two larger case studies submitted in the portfolio. The workshops were observed by academics at my institution, one of whom was my mentor. They offered feedback on improvements and used them to inform the references they provided – another requirement of the accreditation.

While it’s felt like quite a long process, I actually completed it ahead of my deadline by three months. As I took the Open route the deadline is chosen by the participant rather than the institution so there was no need to set this particular time – although it does feel nice to have submitted before Christmas.

So, these are the advantages I've found in doing this:

Technologies, peer-assisted learning, FHEA case studies...with a touch of Frost.

This is part of my series of blog posts on gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

Reader, I submitted my portfolio! My blog posts on this topic have been intermittent but in case you were wondering whether I’d given it up entirely; while the thought did cross my mind, I am a finisher so I’ve been plugging away at it and finally got it all in.

As I was thinking about my case studies at the end of the last blog post, I’ll write about those here and then write one more which sums up the entire process later.

So, as you are aware by now, if you’ve been reading this, there are several roads to accreditation and I took the one less travelled…actually, I took the APEX Open route which is reasonably well worn by academics and professional staff at my institution. This involved, along with all the other bits I’ve previously mentioned, two large case studies. I chose to focus on the use of technology in the workshop for my first one and, for the second, looked at peer-assisted learning.

Case Study One: Poll Everywhere and Twitter

Approaches to staff development. Write up of #cpd25_rlt event

On 8th June I made my way down (pretty much) the entire length of the Metropolitan line to give a presentation at CPD25’s alternative approaches to library staff development and accreditation event. Cpd25 is the Staff Development and Training programme of the M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries which aims to provide training for library staff of institutions within the M25 region. The day was designed to give attendees a flavour of the various development routes staff working in higher education had taken that were considered out of the ‘norm’ or not specifically designed with librarians in mind. The norm being: attending University staff training days; LIS qualifications; CILIP chartership and qualifications; and conferences.

 

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with going down the usual route of staff development and in one way it seems perfectly sensible to do so because when applying for jobs others will recognise what you’ve done and the value implicit within it. However, staff developments budgets are getting smaller, even in higher education which normally has much more money to play around with than their poorer further education counterparts. As a result of this, it seems sensible to consider alternatives to see if these could be beneficial too. 

 

 

The day itself:

 

After lunch, attendees learned how Elizabeth Charles from Birkbeck University had become a CMALT (chartered membership of Association for Learning Technology) holder - a portfolio- based open to anyone with strong interest in learning technology, not only learning technologists. Marina Burroughs from UEL talking about Associate Fellowship of Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) and how all library assistants, including shelvers, were able to complete this as they all met the criteria, despite not directly teaching students in workshop or lecture sessions. Finally, Paul Allchin, from the British Library, talked about his Erasmus work exchange to the Austrian National Library and how this had helped improve his German language skills. 

 

 

Flowers featured heavily in my presentation because.. well, PTTLs. Also, growing.

My bit:

 

I spoke about my experience doing a PTTLS (Preparing to teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector) in a previous job. It is a City and Guilds Course, now renamed as Level 3 Award in Teaching and Learning, and is aimed at those teaching adults. I completed this course because it was the only teaching qualification financially open to me at the time and I wanted to discover specific tips on teaching techniques, as well as a qualification to improve my job prospects. 

 

This practical, portfolio based course provided me with everything I set out to achieve, including ideas for lesson planning and structure. It improved my confidence and skills and provided my with the qualification I needed to land a job in higher education. Now, alongside my day to day offering of workshops and lectures to students and staff, I have a teaching and learning functional role and am working on my FHEA accreditation submission.

 

My presentation is available via HaikuDeck

 

What else is available?

 

Ultimately, these courses referred to were only a snapshot of some of the staff development opportunities available. While organisations have a responsibility to train their staff (and I’d recommend checking out what is on offer at your workplace as sometimes it can be quite hidden) , it is worth knowing what else is available that could be cheaper (or free) and more accessible than the ones mentioned, e.g. 

 

• CILIP’s special interest groups provide training opportunities as well as bursaries to more traditional events, including the CILIP Information Literacy Group version of the PTTLS course
• the excellent #UKLibChat is a great way of learn about a subject and network with peers while at home/on a train/wrangling small children/eating dinner
• reading blogs and journal articles
• Webinars, Youtube, groups on LinkedIn etc and, one I’ve personally found amazing, my peer group on Twitter

Choosing an FHEA mentor.

This is part of my series of blogposts on gaining Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

 

As I mentioned in my last blog post on PebblePad, students following the APEX routes to gain accreditation from the Higher Education Academy are strongly encouraged to have a mentor. This person will be the one completing the two classroom observations required in the portfolio and can offer guidance and encouragement throughout the process.

 

 According to those running the course, ideally a mentor is someone:

• whose advice and feedback you will welcome and respond to
• in your own subject area
• who is a fellow or senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• who has attended or will soon attend the Mentoring for APEX workshop

 

They also say that "mentors should be able to help you to develop a subject specific view of the literature on learning and teaching in higher education and to help you locate and understand discipline specific pedagogic literature".

 

 

Image: Perfect Petals.Found on Flickrcc.net.
 This is how I see a mentor - someone who nurtures and helps a person develop and grow

 

In my role as Subject Liaison Librarian I look after Social Sciences, although the makeup of this has altered significantly over the last four years due to a University restructure. Currently, this includes the subjects Anthropology, Sociology and Communications, Games Design, Film and TV, and Journalism.

 

The Sociology division is overhauling its undergraduate programme and I am doing my best to persuade them that subject librarians can help with providing the skills and attributes they require their students to leave University with. I am hoping to teach the vast majority of the first year skills workshops in addition to a social media module which has been mooted. I have chosen a mentor from this division, not only because she is excellent at what she does but also so that I can understand more about what the students in this area needs.

 

We have met once and have decided to aim for submission a year from now, with the allowance of a few extra spring/summer months as contingency in case life throws any more curveballs at me...

Embarking on Fellowship

"The road must be trod, but it will be very hard" -   J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring.

As mentioned previously in my 2015 Reflection blog post, I am beginning the process of gaining FHEA accreditation. This means I would become a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). I have been teaching in the academic sector for almost six years and I want this to be recognised, especially as it is becoming a prerequisite for many jobs. It means I would be on an equal footing when discussing teaching and learning with my academic colleagues.and, although it is not currently mentioned, there's always the possibility it could be one of the criteria for the proposed Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) in future.

I do have a PTTLS teaching qualification but this is different in that it is not teaching you how to teach but is recognition that you teach at a standard that befits the Higher Education Academy. It is very similar in practice to other professional bodies who want a Masters, professional work experience and a portfolio before providing professional recognition. The portfolio process is very similar to that of CILIP Chartership, for those who have done that.

A seal of approval ;) Found on Flickrcc.net

I'm going to be blogging my progress of working towards the accreditation mainly for my own reflective purposes, but also for anyone else who might be considering doing it and wonders what it is like.

The HEA describes itself as 'the national body which champions teaching quality'. It provides a 'benchmark for standards' called the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) and it is made up of four categories designed to match a person's level of knowledge and teaching experience within Higher Education.

• Associate Fellow (AFHEA) - for those who don't teach much but do support students
• Fellow (FHEA) - for those who teach, on average, about six hours a week
• Senior Fellow (SFHEA) - for those who impact on students' learning through management of teaching teams
• Principal Fellow (PFHEA) - for those with substantial strategic responsibilities for teaching within higher education

There are several ways to gain accreditation:

You can apply directly to the HEA by completing an essay based on your professional practice, paying a fee, and including two references. Or, you can follow a route set by an accredited institution - which is what I am going to do.

My workplace is an accredited institution and it has a route called the Academic Practice and Professional Excellence Framework (APEX), which has several strands to choose from:

• APEX 1 - a one year programme for research postgraduates with a significant and ongoing teaching commitment. Participants are required to attend compulsory workshops and create a portfolio of evidence, including reflections on practice; reports on teaching observations; a case study; and a development plan. 
• APEX 2 - a two year programme for probationary academic staff who attend compulsory workshops and are required to produce a portfolio of evidence.
• APEX Open - for those who already contribute to learning and teaching - there is no set time-frame for this route; no compulsory workshops; and the same portfolio of evidence is required.

The APEX Open route to Fellow is the one most suitable to my experience and what I currently do so this is the one I have chosen and will be writing about. I have had my induction which broadly explained the purpose of APEX and the HEA. There weren't many attendees as new staff will choose APEX 2 and others already have the qualifications - we were told there are already 66,366 total UK fellows at September 2015, so I will be joining a very large cohort.

I have high hopes for this programme. I found that CILIP Chartership, and subsequent revalidations, helped me to raise my game and to continue with professional development in all the right areas, not just the ones I find easy. I trust that this, alongside recognising my current practice, will do the same.

Every time I think about Fellowship, I think of Tolkein's. The quote at the top seems fitting as I'm at the beginning of this journey (and I still remember what Chartership was like) but I've gone through a heck of a lot worse than creating a portfolio so I'm sure it won't be that bad!

Presenting can be Bliss

Presenting is a very physical act, or should be, according to Philip Bliss, a communication skills coach, who was leading the voice coaching workshop I was attending in May this year.  The workshop was very physical and took me right out of my comfort zone. As it has now come to the time of year when many academic librarians, like myself, are trying hard to keep our voices through numerous induction sessions, skills workshops, and the perils of the petri dish of bugs that new students always bring to university at this time of year, I thought it might be timely to share what I learned.

Philip started off with a little theory explaining that he believed, for academics especially, that so much is focused on what is going on in the head that it becomes divorced from the body. He told us how we often forget that we are in control of our own bodies – if we are too quiet, have a squeaky voice, or talk too fast we can do something about it rather than accept it as the way we are. He gave the example of a toddler standing erect, being very vocal and demanding what they want and compared it to a teenager physicallising the hormonal and emotional turmoil they are experiencing by mumbling and crossing their arms. Doing something like crossing your arms without thinking, according to him, is seen as a very weak and child-like thing to do.

Presenting can be very physical

I’ve been to workshops on presenting before, for example, to large groups and on lecturing with confidence. This session was different in that it felt like a drama lesson and was very much focused on the voice; however, before we begin to speak there are a few extra pointers to think about regarding the mental process:

• what we communicate (before we use our language) is how we feel – if you’re feeling nervous, tired, hungover etc this will be apparent to your audience
• you have to be true to our own passion and intellect – the more you care about your subject the more this will come across in your voice
• the voice won't work well if you don't really want to communicate. If you have to lecture every day and hate it this will become apparent in your voice; it might be time to re-evaluate your job!



Water: crucial for many things, including presenting. Just remember not to clench it.

We looked at some of the problems we face when presenting and Philip came up with some tips, which I’ve bullet-pointed below:

 

Getting the volume right:

• look at how far your voice needs to reach
• always talk to the back row
• it is very important to move as it provides vocal variety - like headphones do
• a common mistake is to think you  need to fill the whole room  - your voice only needs to reach where the ears are

 

Protecting your voice: (this is quite a common problem, especially in the first term of the academic year)

• daft as it sounds, don't stick your neck out to reach the audience. This can easily be done when you’re eager to talk so try to keep your head flat on to the audience
• use your eyes rather than your neck to look
• if your voice is getting tired, check your head and neck alignment
• drink lots of tepid water as your vocal folds need moisture
• when ill (which is quite likely in term 1 - see remark above about the petri dish) speak as little as you can; this can be a good opportunity to introduce some groupwork
• gargle with warm salt water and avoid dairy products

Going at the right pace: 

• you speak as fast as you breathe, so breathe slowly
• wearing heels and sucking in your belly are problematic for breathing
•  articulating clearly will slow you down

Getting started:

• Knowing what you're going to say is crucial
• take in the size of the room
• start with as low a pitch as possible - try to make it different to the group mumble
• remember your consonant word endings - keep them strong

If you're nervous:

• look to see if you are clenching your water bottle or clickers
• don't put your hands behind back - it might convey authority but it can also lead to a lack of trust as your audience can't see your hands
• If students aren't listening, try saying  "You're clearly not listening; how can I help you understand this"

I haven't needed to use this last tip yet but I will try it if necessary as it shows you want to help your audience understand the topic. I often find my voice getting tired so have tried to remember to check my neck alignment - I know that as I am of relatively short stature that I have the habit of raising my head rather than my eye gaze. I always, always, always carry water with me when teaching which really helps to not only keep me hydrated but to slow me down if I have been talking a little too quickly. For me the best tips of all are to be mindful and to breathe. They can be difficult to do but impact on everything else. What are your favourite tips? Do use the comments if there are any you would like to add.   

Surviving in the Google age? From the Gurteen Knowledge Cafe.

Straight after the Internet Librarian International conference, I headed over to my first ever Gurteen Knowledge Cafe at the British Library's Business and  IP Centre. For anyone not familiar with them, the Cafes start off with small groups talking to each other to discuss a topic; attendees then move around the tables to carry on the conversation until finally everyone sits in one large circle to finish the conversation.

David Gurteen told us he used this technique around the world and finds it successful because it takes away pressure and hierarchy. I could see how this sort of format would work well with people who generally don't like being in large groups. By the time you are in the large circle intimate and intense chats with small groups of individuals have already been had - perfect for introverts. The overall themes which stuck out for me were almost identical to the ones at the conference, presumably because some of the attendees had been heavily involved in organising it and also because they are real areas librarians and information professionals should be focusing on.

The topic

The topic up for discussion and introduced by Neil Infield was "What steps to do libraries and information services need to take to survive in the Google age?". We were asked to discuss the skills librarians were perceived to have before Google and those in the present day and to then discuss the slide below:

Relationship building

Relationship building as a strength was repeated regularly both in the small and in the large groups and, indeed, is exactly what the Business and IP Centre had decided to do too ensure its relevancy. Users there are considered to be clients rather than readers. With budget cuts and more information available online it was generally agreed that building trust and being the 'go-to' people in the institution was the way forward. This approach would save the time of the reader as they wouldn't waste it trying out tools which didn't work effectively or spend it looking for information which could be better found elsewhere.

Relationship building is a key part of my job which is why the word liaison is included in my job title. I make an effort to be visible and approachable in my subject areas and have become involved in delivering workshops on how to use social media in teaching and in research for new academic staff. These sessions weren't officially part of my remit, however, they've helped initiate lots of conversations which then helps me move onto the conversations I want and need to have, for example, regarding reading lists and budgets.


Strategic planning

Strategic planning is essential for all workers - if you don't know why you are doing something then how are going to convince anyone else? Alongside the themes of  building relationships and  establishing trust, this too cropped up during the evening. There was a lot of discussion about choosing small things and doing them really well and generating income instead of consuming and being seen as an overhead. There were discussions about business alignment and using the language of the institution which is something I would have previously presumed most places were doing already. I did like the idea of using the word 'solve' rather than the word 'help' to describe what staff do as it's a subtle and, I think, quite effective shift. As long as you do 'solve', of course.

Final conclusions

What I found most interesting from this event was the repeated emphasis on the themes I had just encountered in the ILI conference, especially that of building trust and creating and maintaining relationships  as I've always considered this to be an important part of my work.  I liked the format of the Knowledge Cafe as I prefer working in small groups and it did mean that despite there being a lot of people in attendance when we came to be one large group it didn't feel overwhelming. You know the type where everyone's trying to say their piece and not listening to each other. Although there are always going to be some elements of that happening there seemed to be less in this case.

Creating inspirational, motivational and insightful lectures

The purpose of a lecture is to inspire, motivate and offer insight.

University lectures are sometimes seen by both staff and by students to be a  form of knowledge transfer; students want to record their lectures to check facts or to refer to something they may have missed and I think they are missing the point. If you want to check a fact - you can refer to an encyclopedia, however, if you want to relive the experience of a lecture because it moved and inspired you and sparked off a creative process then great. I love the TED talks for this - I know some don't as they are cliquey and don't always get the facts right but I watch them on Netflix or Youtube avoiding the exorbitant charges and have a pinch of salt at the ready.

Found on flickrcc.net

On 11th July, I attended a staff development session from Kissing with Confidence's Russell Wardrop entitled Lecturing with Confidence. I like teaching but most of my experience has been with small groups with fewer than 30 students, so more of a trainer really than a public speaker. In my current job I now have to sometimes give lectures for up to 200 people at a time so I was after some tips.

Our first task, set by the witty, fast-talking Glaswegian, was to speak to someone we didn't know about what we most admired in a speaker - for me it was the self-confidence and the clear and strong articulation they used when presenting their ideas to huge audiences. Russell assured us (in his what normally is a 2 day session squashed into a half day workshop) that a lecture wasn't about the technical knowledge, as it should be a given that we have that already, but about the delivery. We should be aiming to make an emotional connection with our audience as it makes them much more likely to retain the information. I know I often remember things much more if it has strengthened a previous memory or is something which resonates inside me.

Some  practical tips:

• personalise your message by using the words I, we and you in sentences - I use 'you' a lot but don't often use 'I' unless I'm saying I'm here to help
• use metaphors and analogies to help people relate and understand more - I use this occasionally but could use it a lot more
• use humour but don't start with this as you've not built up rapport yet - I use this when feeling comfortable with a group
• using case studies/references/quotes implies a broader and deeper knowledge - I do use examples but have never used quotes, apart from once where I used a Woody Allen quote in an off the cuff thank you speech to the Leadership and Management Division of the Special Libraries Association. That was scary
• use props; powerpoint, flipcharts etc but a word of warning: using video and audio will kill your lecture as it terminates the connection between yourself and the audience - I was quite surprised by this as I had thought that using these helps break up the lecture and provides a breather. I could see though that it also gives people the chance to be distracted 
• structuring your speech around your powerpoint will kill it - I generally write my thoughts out on scraps of paper before organising it using powerpoint. I wouldn't be lost without my slides but might be if I didn't have the internet as I often have to refer to databases and webpages
• Lectures should appear to be spontaneous - flipcharts are good for this - I don't and have never used flipcharts, something to consider but I would get through a heck of a lot of paper with the amount of sessions I do

The three components of delivery are:

• Energy - if you give out vitality and passion you will get it back from every person there
• Spontaneity - be responsive - if you stay in the moment, mindful of what's going on then so will your audience
• Creativity - this will help the memory of your lecture be retained

Speaking in lectures:

Get the pace, voice, pitch, tone and pauses right. I like to speak fairly rapidly in my sessions as I feel it offers a sense of enthusiasm and passion, however, I am going to follow the recommendation of being clearer and slower at the beginning of the session as I can always ramp it up later.

Individually, we had to (very quickly) come up with the idea of a lecture, practise the first minute of it in front of the people we were seated next to and then receive feedback from them. This was a really interesting exercise; some started with jokes, some stood but stooped over their notes and some were so quiet they were difficult to hear.

The feedback I received was that they were not expecting to be able to hear me because in general conversations I have quite a soft voice but actually I was much louder than they expected. Also, I can sometimes wave my hands around a lot. I already know this and try, usually, to slow these down and not be all 'flappy hands' instead using them only to demonstrate key points. On repeating the exercise, after feedback had been received, everyone improved their performance.

Planning:

• Analysis
• why are the attendees there?
• how many of them are there?
• what previous knowledge do they have?
• try to visit the room beforehand to give confidence
• Brainstorm 
• come up with your stories
• Construct them into themes - there should be no more than five themes in a lecture and ideally just three

When I deliver lectures to large groups I often get them to talk in pairs and then small groups to encourage active rather than passive involvement, however, I occasionally struggle to get their attention back to the room. Russell's tip was to make it much snappier i.e give two minutes rather than five for people to talk and then call them back after a minute and a half. This will keep the atmosphere buzzing and alive. 

I learned about the preparation elements on my Preparation to teach course and don't have a problem with sticking to time, covering too much, or writing objectives. What I had hoped to gain were tips on making the delivery and style much more interesting and to increase my confidence in doing so; by the end of the session I felt I had definitely achieved this.

Three things I am going to try out initally in my future lectures:

• use stories - this will be the most difficult I think. I use examples from previous students but generally don't give much of myself away. I'm willing to give it a go though, as all the best lectures I've heard have featured personal stories. I'll try to throw in a few analogies and metaphors too
• get familiar with my book of quotations
• use Russell's tip on pacing

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the session, finding it very practical and easily applicable, and will most definitely be trawling through their website to pick up further tips.

Teaching large groups - survival tips

On Wednesday 7th November, I attended a workshop at my workplace entitled – Effective Large Group Teaching. It was aimed at new teachers but I thought it might prove useful to me. In my previous job as the higher education resources adviser in a college, I used to regularly teach. There were generally a maximum of about 35 students in classrooms and ages ranged from eighteen year olds just embarking on a foundation degree to fifty year olds changing careers and retraining. Now working in a university, I have to regularly teach large groups - sometimes consisting of hundreds of students. Having always trained but never lectured I tend to find this quite daunting, hence my attendance.

 

A couple of teachers at the workshop revealed how they struggle with students being late and trying to help them catch up. For me, this can be awkward when teaching where they then ask lots of questions because they missed the content but I don't see it as too much of an issue in lectures as I just carry on doing what I’m doing. I don't think it’s fair on the people who made the effort to get there in time to spend it getting latecomers up to speed. I also think that if you do this you are making a rod for your own back as students will know here's no reason to turn up promptly.

 

Some tips that came out of the session:

 

• Do not compromise your body language to use the microphones – either speak up or use a portable microphone. I must admit I've contorted myself in the past and it is quite uncomfortable, plus I'm still getting used to microphones
• Move around – quite tricky with demonstrations but move around and use the floor space
• Give gaps between sentences – ala Tony Blair – gives gravitas but be wary of leaving too long a gap as it can look a little silly
• Repeat important sentences over but try to rephrase them – it isn't patronising it's reinforcing points
• Try to ensure everyone has a seat - students can struggle to concentrate if they are squashed and uncomfortable 
• Set out expectations of behaviour at the beginning. This is quite tricky to do when it is not your group of students and you are a guest, however, you can lay down a few ground rules at the beginning, for example, stand up to ask a question 
• Be strict about talking - students can often have a school mentality, especially in the first year and are looking to pick holes in what you do. They haven’t matured to a point where they realise they are damaging their own chances of learning so it is important to clamp down on it and not just continue talking in the hope that people will quieten down 
• If they are being too noisy stop talking - I’ve tried this several times and it seems to work as the students have then shushed each other - it does requires a steely reserve and the confidence they will not walk out though 
• Have direct eye contact 
• Tell them calmly and clearly if their behaviour is not acceptable – lay down rules
• If the technology breaks – always give them something else to do, for example, a recap of the last session.

 

Some responses for hecklers...

 

“I don’t know the answer to that. Perhaps you could find out and share it next week”

 

“That’s an interesting question – but do you think that is relevant here?”

 

“What do others think?”

 

“It looks like we disagree – shall we move on?”

 

For ramblers...

 

Ask them to summarise their main points

 

For hoggers...

 

Ask others what they think – do they agree?

 

 

Public Response Systems (PRS) were recommended as they are a good way of breaking up a session and useful for huge groups of 300, however, they can be quite slow and cumbersome and it is easy to lose the group while setting up the technology. I used to use Quizdom in a previous job and this was often quite fun - students liked learning through the rocket chase or car racing games we used. Bearing this in mind, I still might have a go using the system we have in my workplace or else use something like Poll Everywhere which I keep hearing good things about.

 

Having now delivered several lectures I realise that I am pretty good at training but lecturing is a whole new ball game and requires a completely different set of skills. A lecture is showing off your knowledge, it is a performance of sorts and the front of the lecture theatre is your stage and performance area.

 

Source 

I found out that universities don't tend to have guidelines or rules about lecturing styles which means you can do what you want BUT also means there is no quality assurance. Having heard varying opinions from students about their slide preferences I don't think there can be a hard and fast rule but as they become more demanding I think there may be pressure put on some lecturers to change the way they do things.

 

The ultimate aim throughout all of this is that students are there to learn – you can make them laugh and have a great time but if they haven’t learned anything then you haven’t done your job. This can be a fine balance to create but an important one.

 

What next?

 

• Have a look at some of the university vocal coach materials - although I can project my voice, I often find it difficult to gauge its level so I hope this will help
• Make sure I do less demonstration so I can move around more. This will also ensure I am focusing more on the benefits of using the databases 
• Breathe and practise - working in a new institution and in a completely different way has really dented my confidence so I am trying to get it back. I know I know my stuff - I just need to keep reminding myself

Ultimately, none of this was rocket science, however, it gave me the opportunity to stop for a moment and think about how I do things and how I can improve. Since attending this session, I have delivered several lectures and workshops which I think have improved. Students have paid more attention and there has been more willingness to interact. Long may it continue...

 

 

Teaching students how to learn - a day at Bloomberg

I attended a Bloomberg symposium at their headquarters in Finsbury Square, London on Thursday 20^th September. Due to the role I do I need to be able to support my Economics & Finance students in accessing financial data so I thought this might be useful.

I arrived in time for breakfast at 8am at the very swanky premises - there was already a buzz and even the vast tanks of tropical fish seemed to be animated. This might have had something to do with the amount of neon and fluorescence in the building though. I didn't take any photos as I didn't want to risk being floored by the security guards, of which there were many.

There were a range of speakers including those who worked for Bloomberg, city recruitment companies and academics. The audience was a range of economics and business lecturers with a few careers officers and a smattering of librarians.  

I didn't really know what to expect from the day, thinking perhaps it would be either a training session or a big sales pitch. It was mainly the latter with some discussion about the nature of education thrown in for good measure.

Richard Hong from Bloomberg started the program off by announcing that in the last twelve months ten UK universities had subscribed to Bloomberg with a total of 108 terminals and that despite being asked for simulated material to help train students he was instead offering the real thing. They have started offering more training to universities and are currently rolling out a Bloomberg aptitude test. I found out my institution already delivers this so I am currently trying to find out a bit more about the process.

Throughout the day, we listened to a speech about the purpose of higher education, given an overview of the Bloomberg terminals, told about the Bloomberg Aptitude Test and Bloomberg’s recruitment policy but the most interesting element turned out to be a panel discussion which started off by looking at what companies looked for in students when recruiting to the differences in UK and US higher education systems.

 The main points I took away from it were: 

 

·         Bloomberg is seen as the 'Microsoft office ' of financial professionals' so it is expected that students have some knowledge of it

·         Universities are still expected to teach students how to learn, to subject arguments to intellectual rigour, to use context, self-management and professional communication & etiquette - if universities do this then the industry will teach them the technical skills

·         The company has a flat structure with no handholding so workers are expected to use their initiative – we should therefore be encouraging this in our students

·         Enthusiasm, talent and hard work will prepare you for most things in life, including the workplace. When thinking about teaching employability skills staff should bear this in mind.

 My yoga teacher used to say "we are all human beings not human doings" and at the event I heard that phrase from someone I least expected - an economist! Something to remember…

 

Facilitation Uncovered

On Tuesday 20th March, I attended my first SLA Europe event - Facilitation Uncovered. We were told this was SLA Europe's first attempt at arranging smaller, more intimate training events alongside larger conference style ones and, I have to say, I really liked the format.

The root of facilitation, according to the blurb we were given, comes from the Latin word facile or without difficulty (it didn't just mean superficial which is how I'd always thought of the word). The training event was intended to give us guidance on how to make ideas flow and actions happen within meetings. I have led several staff development events in the past where I had to give lots of information, for example, feedback statistics, and encourage the team to come up with ideas on how to best respond in order to improve the service. As I'm a firm believer in continual improvement and had been meaning to get more out of my SLA membership I decided to go along.

The speaker, Linda Cockburn, started the session by promising to give us tips which would definitely work. This sounded promising. The first tip was to say a person's name three times (to yourself so you don't look too weird) in order to remember it. She did this as we introduced ourselves and she did get everyone's name right so maybe there is something to it. This is one I will have to try as I'm not very good at remembering names..

We were asked in small groups to come up problems we all had with facilitation and then discussed then. Some common problems were:

• how to bring session to a close
• how to encourage quiet people to contribute
• how to get overbearing people not to dominate
• how to stop talking to fill quiet spaces
• how to record and contribute at the same time

Possible solutions were:

• plan - planning is crucial
• get people to write something down so even the quiet ones can contribute and aren't stuck for words
• small groups help conversation and water down dominant people
• counting to 5 before filling quiet space - otherwise others will not feel the need to speak if you're doing it all
• set rules - there's then something to go back to if you lose track
• tell people whether you really want their ideas or whether you just want them to agree to your plan - very important to get this one right
• it is not possible to record and participate - the facilitator must stay out of it as they should remain neutral
• get people speaking as soon as possible otherwise there's the risk they won't participate at all
• treat all ideas equally and check that you are capturing all the information - have I got everything?

We then went on to discuss how to ensure actions occur. This I think is where lots of meetings go awry - people get so excited talking about the issues but don't come out with anything constructive. To get round this problem, Linda told us that a meeting should be split into three sections; divergent thinking (where everything that needs to be said is said), convergent thinking (where what's really important is looked at in more detail) and the end point (where the application is considered).

Further tips related to this were:

• the sections should be given equal amounts of time, e.g. if a meeting is an hour then each part will last 20 minutes
• if people are stuck on a slot then the facilitator should remind participants of the endpoint
• keep things fresh during long sessions by using pair and group work, setting challenges etc

I'm glad I attended this event. Linda applied all her tips and tricks within our session and it flowed well. I won't be doing much facilitating at work for a while but I think it is a good skill to learn and one which I may be able to utilise within the ARLG LASEC, both in the committee meetings themselves and the events we hold.

LIKE 30 - Knowledge Transfer: Making it stick

On Thursday evening I attended a London Information and Knowledge Exchange event. The evening's speaker was Gary Colet, Knowledge and Innovation Network Facilitator at Warwick Business School and he was speaking about knowledge transfer and making it stick. When I registered to attend the event my interpretation of knowledge transfer was related to my own work i.e. I thought it would have something to do with teaching or training and making the knowledge stick in the attendees heads. What it was really referring to was how to capture and transfer the knowledge of experienced people leaving a company.

Gary started the session by sending four people out of the room and then, one by one, allowing them in . He told a short story with several key facts in it to the first person who then had to repeat it to the next person and so on.  As was expected with this elaborate version of Chinese Whispers, the knowledge experienced a significant level of degradation the further it passed down the line, details were lost and people started to fill in the gaps with their own, wrong, information.

What the speaker was illustrating by this story is that if we don't want details to be lost then we should ensure important knowledge passes through as few hands as possible; the person who has it should speak directly to the person who most needs to receive it. This will help to prevent the disappearance of contextual and tacit knowledge and could, ultimately, save a lot of money.

His job is to put the right people together and to ask the right questions. The questions he asks follow the system of OPEC: open questions - probe for more information - examine it in order to validate key information and close the conversation. To demonstrate what he meant by this we were asked to work with a partner and take it in turn to use these types of questions to find out a particular topic we had chosen. It was harder to do than I thought, especially with a full room of people doing the same thing. However, I did get to find out about one LIKE member's love of music and I was able to share my interest in yoga and how I had applied some of its principles to the workplace!

While I am not involved in any way, shape or form with this type of knowledge transfer in my current professional life, I can see the importance and value it would have to an organisation. I know many organisations, including my own, hold leaving interviews - it would be interesting to discover how these happen in practice.

Attending these events is also opening my eyes to the variety of knowledge and information roles out there and it gives me a little hope that if I were to leave the academic sector there are other routes I could take and I would be working with a lovely group of interesting and dedicated professionals.