For the session on 19th February, unfortunately, I did not manage to find time to take part in the quiz around Teaching Excellence Framework.
Unfortunately, as a full-time teacher, I do not receive any compensation/support (like obtaining any temporal staff to cover my assessment, pastoral as well as preparation and delivery responsibilities) making time-management a very sensitive subject.
Despite the importance of studying for PGCert and focusing on passing to the best of my capabilities despite learning difficulties, my core focus is on my first-year students whose journey into the field of academia is at least to say life-changing and PGCert works more like a very hard to obtain cherry on top of the cake, which constantly needs some attention.
TEF AWARDS
When I was doing my studies TEF did not exist and as such, it was quite challenging to gain information about Universities that are lesser known than the ones present in the Russell Group.
The concept behind it seems legitimate, provide a generalised understanding of the quality of teaching at various institutions for students based on the four-step system: Gold, Silver, Bronze, Provisional.
However, from its inception system has been highly criticised and controversial, undermining the position of “elite” universities built around their reputation, rather than metrics (Pells, 2017)
Personally I do not like several factors about it:
- Voluntary – this undermines the role of the award system as anyone who can benefit from it will apply, those who would lose out, just do not have to admit to it.
- Student fees – Having the award or not is a difference of only 2.7% (£9250 vs £9000) which is not of a great significance.
- A more meaningful separation could create a healthy environment of Universities being able to support students who can afford the different amount of money
- Each award level could mean the difference of charging a 10% ratio
- £9250 for Gold
- £8325 for Silver
- £7400 for Bronze
- £6475 for provisional
- £5550 for none
- There is no cap on International fees that continuously seem to increase and become separated from a reality of operational costs.
- Student continuation – This should not be considered for 1st-year students (Level 3 or 4, depending on the student journey) as there are many misconceptions of how University operates and what it means to be a student which impacts dropout and continuation rates.
- University is focused around independent learning that is a dying breed in students journey prior to HE
- Students belief that University is about student life, never-ending parties and lack of responsibilities which is a way to get expelled
- Students are not mentally nor morally prepared for demanding and challenging discourse of activism taking part at many University campuses
- Many year 1 (level 4) students would benefit from additional entry year on foundation level that would help them with adjusting to the University life as well as obtaining necessary help with Dyslexia and Disability services, but there is less and fewer ways of providing it.
Vilhauer 2010: Understanding Art
The text is a heavy hitter with to a degree hard to real language that requires a significant focus not only to read but also to understand.
Gadamer’s play definition could be presented within a thesis of it being an in-between spectrum of activities offering certain freedom its voluntary players who are serious in their participation by consuming them through their commitment, engagement and commitment offering nothing more than a variable outcome, that may become a spectacle for outsiders (Vilhauer, 2010).
This reminds of the concept of a magic circle first was briefly touched in Homo Ludens, introduced in 1999 article “Rules, Play, Culture: Checkmate” for Merge Magazine by Eric Zimmerman and Frank Lantz and polished to fruition in 2003 Rules of Play by Zimmerman and Kate Salen (Zimmerman, 2012).
In-class
Prior to the session start me and Georgina had a good chat on how the session reading is relevant to my teaching subject matter, but also how I enjoyed the initial posts posted on Georgina’s blog The Wayfinding Wanderer.
Personally, I do not enjoy group activities without clear boundaries and for the gamification approach in the session we had, I took a meta-game approach. I was passing the thread between the people while their conversed, making me to a small part involved in-the-game but I was staying out of it by being mute, thus imposing my own rules on the game system while remaining outside of it. The term was first coined in 1995 by Richard Garfield in Magic the Gathering magazine. (Garfield, 1995)
References:
Garfield, R., 1995. Lost in the Shuffle. The Duelist, [online] Available at: <https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/lost-shuffle-games-within-games-2010-06-21-0> [Accessed 12 April 2020].
Pells, R., 2017. Elite UK universities found to be second-rate in new Government rankings. Independent, [online] Available at: <https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/top-uk-university-rankings-gold-silver-bronze-oxford-cambridge-tef-teaching-excellence-framework-new-government-a7801681.html> [Accessed 11 April 2020].
Vilhauer, M., 2010. Gadamer’s Ethics Of Play. Lanham, Md.:
Lexington Books, pp.31-48.
Zimmerman, E., 2012. Jerked Around By The Magic Circle – Clearing The Air Ten Years Later. [online] Gamasutra.com. Available at: <https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/135063/jerked_around_by_the_magic_circle_.php> [Accessed 12 April 2020].