We were a small number in yesterday’s Tutor Group meeting. Around 12 people.
It was a really interesting and again enjoyable session. The discussion centred around the reading material the subject of which was Love, Care and Belonging. It was recommended that we read at least two of the listed articles.
I chose hooks, b. 2000. All About Love and Patience, A. (2008) The Art of Loving in the Classroom: A Defence of Affective Pedagogy.
As I commenced reading the article several things came to mind. The first being the song How We Love by Beth Nielsen Chapman.
And as bell hooks asks if the young can understand love outside of romance and outside of their own personal circle. The second thing that came to mind was about how we centre young children lavishing much love and attention on babies and toddlers. Then as their social world starts to expand we then have to reconfigure that attention and manage their expectations so as to ensure they don’t become narcissistic.
One of my takeaways mentioned in the bell hooks article was the idea of love and self worth and how you cannot have the former without the latter.
Students’ confidence in their work can ebb and flow throughout their time at university. It is important to build but also help them to retain that confidence in their ideas and what they produce.
In yesterday’s conversation we also discussed language. The use of the word ‘love’ and how that is open to misinterpretation in an educational context and what might be a better substitute. bell hooks says that some people are more comfortable with the word ‘compassion’ although this too still come from a place of love. Love of humanity as a whole. To not be selective about that love. To regard everyone as worthy and equal.
Also with regards to language Allan Patience suggests, in an educational context, replacing the word ‘relationship’ with ‘relatings’ to avoid any negative connotations. And he affirms that healthy teacher – student relationships are about nurturing the student and recognising and affirming their value and self knowledge.
He also discusses relating whole heartedly to another person and my interpretation of this comes through my own mediation practice whereby one engages with an open heart and mind and does not sit in judgement of another human being. I guess I fall into the affective pedagogy camp rather than the utilitarian pedagogy.
It was interesting to note that men are the bigger producers of romantic writings on love and women are the main consumers. Suggesting that understanding love is defined by gender which is probably defined by conditioning.
We discussed how we might develop a frame work for creating a nurturing and caring environment for the students. Time is a factor, with each tutorial (non pastoral) being around 15 minutes. Language, class and culture are also factors to consider along with perhaps being new to the country or the city.
Perhaps at the beginning of the second semester of the first year students could be asked about their own expectations for their future. This topic could be revisited at the same point in their second year to assess how much it might have changed and what they need to consider when preparing to graduate. Some of the international students don’t have industries to go home to and some might lack parental support for their career choice. Others might wish to pursue a more theoretical, rather than creative, path.
This information would help the tutors to offer a more focused support for each student.
PS. I’m a slow reader and although having not come through a traditional BA route, and despite doing an MA, I sometimes have to labour over the text. I’ve signed up for a couple of courses via the Academic Support.