Assessment, Learning & Teaching Reflections |
Thursday 12 January
I recently attended a conference of practitioners in my field. Some of the gnarled old ‘experts’ in the audience clearly harboured jealousies about what they perceive to be the easy life of academics. Before uttering a word, I found myself accused of living in an ivory tower, and being out of touch with the reality of day to day practice.
Fortunately, one of our ex-students was in the audience, and became quite irate at this suggestion. I think she saw it as an attack not just on me, but also on her course. She pointed out forcefully that Leeds Met tutors are all experienced practitioners, and that they still work with children today. She also highlighted the fact that we visit all our students on placement, which means we develop a wide-ranging knowledge of current provision. Finally, she said “not only were our tutors available when we got into difficulty, but they were usually able to suggest realistic and practical solutions.” One of the most important things about teaching on a professional course is to keep your understanding of practice up to date and ‘real-world’ related. To do this, there is really no substitute for getting your hands dirty.
Fraser Brown
