Teaching Philosophy and Practice

I advocate the use of integrated teaching methods in art and design education that closely link theory and practice - to develop holistic learning in students.  This stands in stark contrast to the approach of teaching disparate, disjointed, modules associated with traditional teaching.  Integrated teaching strategies enable students to “join up all the dots” so to speak, and effectively apply their acquired knowledge, understanding and skills in their creative practice.

I employ a variety of teaching tools in my classes, including theoretical lectures, viewings/discussions, technical demonstrations, practical exercises, critical essay writing and group projects and presentations.  I might, for example, in a film production class, give a short lecture on the subject of cinematic lighting as a language system, then screen and discuss examples.  This would be followed by a studio demonstration of 4-point lighting techniques linked to an exercise in which students would have to light a scene using high key, high contrast and low key styles. A homework assignment would then be set, in which students would critically analyse the lighting approach used in a film of their choice, explaining how it helps to build the overall meaning of the story. The combined knowledge, understanding and skills gained through these various learning activities would then be applied to an ongoing student group project, such as a short narrative film production, which would draw on the following subject specific and generic skills: research, analysis, synthesis, conceptualization, creativity, planning, collaboration, communication, critical evaluation and  technical production skills.

Independent thinking and self-directed learning are encouraged in my classes by providing opportunities for students to decide, for example, the subject of an assignment, rather than it being overly prescriptive, as well as through self-initiated projects that gain in complexity as students reach the upper stages of the course. This approach fosters a strong sense of responsibility and encourages exploration, risk taking and experimentation in student creative practice.

I see the process of assessing student work as an opportunity to encourage, guide and improve learning through an emphasis on timely, formative feedback provided through, for example, individual tutorials and group critiques, enabling students to effectively address their weakness areas in order to reach the standard required for final summative assessment.  Students actively participate in the assessment process through peer-to-peer evaluations and self-evaluations which deepen their knowledge, and further encourage them to take ownership of their studies.

Finally I believe that education should be research led to enable new knowledge, ideas and techniques to filter through to the classroom, and to this end I am an active new media artist engaged in practice based research that focuses on exploring hybrid media production techniques, with the goal of expanding the vocabulary and grammar of screen based media.  I use my own research outcomes – short  animations and films - as case studies in the classroom to actively involve students in complex conceptual and technical processes.