‘Teachers and facilitators are understood to be guiding’ unknowingly, and now knowingly, this has always been my approach to support students, which comes from having a stance of humility. Understanding that my role as an academic is to support and guide students, so that they can become the best of who they are to be.
‘Activities that have the potential to lead participants toward the perspective that because they all have a shared humanity’ is crucial to my learning and teaching practice. I empower students in the class and group scenarios to harness energy in scheduled structured sessions, for we are powerfully focused in the same space and time to focus on one creative task/project, where we have the privilege to exercise creativity, with the potential for the betterment of societal change. Integrating ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ by Paulo Freire, will be a key book and reading to share during the induction phase for Level 4 entry students onto the undergraduate programme of study this new academic year.
‘This theory assumes that structured intergroup encounters reflect or are influenced by the dynamics that exist between the communities “outside the room,” that is, in the larger societies in which the encounter is embedded’. Speaking on Social Identity Theory, I can cite the following example, by way of describing the craft of Bespoke Tailoring for people. “ Bespoke Tailoring is a craft which has been developed and refined over hundreds of years. It is relevant in society globally and is manifested in its variations nationally. For example, the traditions vary in styles, clothes, and in some degrees construction methods. However, Bespoke Tailoring represents a niche market over the fashion world. The handcraft techniques exist to make garments to the level to the highest level in humanity. We have the privilege to learn these hand craft skills at LCF. The importance of being in the school of design and technology, means that we marry these skills learned with contemporary relevance for society now. If we do not, then, in a timeline, we would be manufacturing costume, which would be considered historical. So understanding who you are in society and who you choose to dress through co-creation will serve peoples in communities in society now and in the future”.
Image taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Man