For my micro teaching I developed a 20 minute session using a polaroid camera. The content of the session was an extension of a warm up exercise I often deliver with my 2nd year MA Performance: Screen students on a unit about Community and Collaboration.
The session title was ‘Seeing Each Other: Participatory Approaches to Lens Based Practices’. The aim of the session was for the group to explore the relationship between subject and filmmaker, through a practical portrait exercise. Two texts that helped shape the foundation of this exercise are Strangers Within: Documentary as Encounter by Therese Henningsen and Juliette Joffe (2022) and Seeing Witness: Visuality and the Ethics of Testimony by Jane Blocker (2009). I often use this exercise with filmmaking students who are embarking on participatory projects with external communities. I use it to consider the ethics of relationship between subject and filmmaker, and how co-creation may lead to ethical choices around subjectivity, autonomy and representation. These values condition and affect my intended learning outputs for the students and these are embedded into my session plan below.
Session Plan
- To welcome the group to the session and build trust, I started by introducing myself and my practice, and letting the group know that the micro teaching session is developed from a longer class I deliver with my 2nd year MA Performance: Screen students. (1 min)
- To create a sense of safety, security and orientation for the group, I gave an outline of the session content and what the aims of the session were. (1 min)
- To create a safe/brave space that encouraged a sense of co-creation between us all, I then asked the group to share their names, their pronouns and to present a physical ‘gesture’ that tells us something about them. This is called a ‘sign name’ and is a practice often used by d/Deaf people who use BSL to create ‘nicknames’ rather than having to finger spell their name each time they are referred to. We often use this as an introduction exercise with our new cohort a) for access purposes and b) because it helps to get the students warmed up for physical expression before performance based exercises. (3 mins)
- To create equity and a shared language in technical skills, I ran the group through some basic framing terminology, to aid their communication with one another during the task. (2 mins)
- To practice ethical approaches to filmmaking, I introduced the main activity, and demonstrated an example where I was the subject of the portrait, enlisting the help of one of the group members to be the photographer. (2 mins) The brief for the task:
How would you like the world to see you today?
Get into pairs. Label yourselves A and B.
Person A, describe to your partner how you are feeling and how you would like to be represented today in a single photographic portrait. Be clear in your description, feel free to use framing prompts to help communicate your idea.
Person B, you will then photograph the portrait of person A. Listen carefully and support person A to realise their idea.
You may use your own devices to research and develop the portraits but by the end of the session everyone should have taken a photo with the polaroid camera. These will then be printed and given a title.
Once person A’s portrait is complete, swap roles and take person B’s portrait.
You have 8 minutes total to complete this task.
- I then created an opportunity for reflection about the exercise and celebration of the work made, by inviting the group to place the finished portraits in the centre of the room, where we had a short discussion about the workshop and how it felt to work in this way (3 mins).
Reflections
The opportunity to deliver a micro teaching session in this context felt like a useful way to get feedback from my peers on material that I have used with my students. I have previously delivered a micro teach as part of my job application, and I found the experience to be somewhat performative, so I was really keen to create a session plan that authentically represents a workshop I often deliver with my students, rather than designing something specifically for my course peers. I realise retrospectively that there are pros and cons to this approach, as the exercise I delivered is usually only introduced to students in their second year, when they have developed a deep understanding of the subject matter as well as trusting relationships with one another and with me as their tutor. Therefore, presenting the exercise ‘cold’ to a group of strangers certainly posed some challenges and meant that it wasn’t necessarily an accurate testing ground for how it actually feels for my students. However, it was still a useful exercise and allowed me to consider my approach from different perspectives. I also particularly valued participating in the exercises designed by the other teachers, a rare insight into how different artists or different disciplines approach pedagogical practice – this was a real treat!
Some of the useful feedback from the group on their experience of my workshop, with my reflections on their feedback:
I really enjoyed the exercise, it was scary at times. It’s an intimate thing to have a photograph taken. However you created a comfortable atmosphere, where I felt safe to explore.
– peer
I found this comment to be profound, and it made me question the boundaries of being challenged/feeling safe in creative classrooms. It reminds me of the aphorism often attributed to David Bowie, “If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.” However, there is a difference between being creatively challenged and feeling unsafe, and I am mindful of the different levels of comfort students might enter the classroom with in relation to their diverse backgrounds and lives.
Photography is something we all engage with. Your suggestions around framing were really useful, I could see how I could apply this learning to many situations. It was powerful.
– peer
It was engaging, interesting, we learned something, practiced something… there was an exciting output.
– tutor
When we present something as a lecturer there is an ‘act’ of how we communicate… a hand gesture, a way of catching people’s attention, helping us to visualise what you are saying. Your act is very apparent and very clear.
– peer
This feedback felt validating around the material I bring in to students and the way in which I deliver it. I found the comment around the ‘act’ very interesting, this isn’t something I over consider, but perhaps coming from a performance background means that the ‘act’ feels intrinsic. I’m glad to hear that this aided the communication and understanding of the material.
You could have used a diagram to communicate the different framing visually too.
– peer
I had originally included images to aid this part of the session, however I removed them worrying that they would take too much time. In retrospect, I should have still included them as this aids different modes of engagement with students and communication on a variety of levels.
You asked me to help your demonstrate, this might be difficult for more introverted students, so perhaps you could ask the student’s who would like to help.
– peer
This feedback was really useful, I realise that in this particular circumstance, I myself felt a little nervous and so asked someone who I have spent more time with as the person to help me demonstrate the task. However, it is important to ensure students have autonomy in the classroom space, and offering options for interaction feels very important.
You have a lovely way of expressing yourself and of bringing people together.
– tutor
I was really delighted to receive this feedback, I feel that my practice as a facilitator has been developed by my practice as an artist in community settings, often working with diverse intergenerational groups. It’s reassuring to know that this approach translates into more formal education settings.
References
[Book] Blocker, J. (2009) Seeing witness: Visuality and the ethics of testimony. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
[Book] Henningsen, T. & Joffe, J. (2022) Strangers Within: Documentary as Encounter.
[Film] Singer, M. (2000) Dark Days.
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