Observation of a peer’s teaching practice (Part One: Observee’s notes)

Part One (provided by the observee, Maria Thelin)

What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?

This session is the second to last tailoring session in a 40 credit unit, Tailoring, Design and Identity (1st year Bespoke Tailoring). During this unit students are making samples, a pair of tailored trousers, a technical resource and a sketchbook.

Resources for this session:

I will show a short presentation at the beginning of the session. There is a worksheet with the steps of the trouser construction process. There are also videos showing how to make the trousers. 

I have shared a folder with the Technical Resources for this unit (presentations, worksheets, patterns). All of this is available on the student’s Moodle page, but unfortunately it doesn’t work this year. I have also provided the students with printed worksheets.

How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?

Since the beginning of the academic year. I am one of their lecturers, delivering their tailoring sessions, conducting personal tutorials, formative reviews, MTG sessions, briefings, assessment.

What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria related to this session:

LO 3: Draft, cut and construct a bespoke tailored trouser. (Process, Knowledge, Realisation).

LO 5: Accurately record bespoke tailoring processes and techniques and design narrative. (Communication

What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?

In this session they will work on their bespoke tailored trouser (a classic tailored trouser cut in appropriate material, constructed using handcraft tailoring methods). We will complete the seat seam and finish the fly front. They will also take notes, photos and do sketches for their Technical Resource.

Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?

Late attendance: Difficulties include students arriving late and missing the intro and first practical demonstration.

Low attendance: Another challenge is students who have fallen behind in the making of their trousers. It can be hard to keep them motivated, attentive and working efficiently.

How will students be informed of the observation/review?

The students were informed in the previous week’s session. I will remind them during again at the beginning of the session.

What would you particularly like feedback on?

I would appreciate any feedback. 

How to handle no/low/late attendance.

How will feedback be exchanged?

Through this form.

It would be nice with an in-person chat if possible (TBA).

Reflection – The Self in Higher Education: Narrative as Pedagogic Practice

In developing my teaching practice at UAL, I am drawn to these ideas of self-reflexivity and narrative as research. The pedagogic challenge lies in fostering spaces where students can construct meaning through both individual introspection and communal exchange. As arts educators, we navigate the balance between structured knowledge and creative exploration, shaping learning environments that honour both accuracy and the generative potential of storytelling.

A key theme in the text is self as subject-matter, where the educator’s personal and professional identities merge through storytelling. Trish Osler reflects on the fragmented roles of artist, researcher, and teacher, noting how they merge in fleeting moments: “If the symbiosis we hope for can be felt in moments…” This tension between roles is a familiar challenge in higher education, where time and institutional structures often limit personal creative practice. Isabelle Guillard extends this idea, situating pedagogy within an ecological awareness: “I am constantly reflecting upon my actions at the personal and super personal level.” This suggests that teaching is not static but an evolving process of self-examination and relational learning.

Arianna Garcia-Fialdini’s research validates artistic inquiry as a method for exploring immigrant identity. Her work highlights how storytelling can be a means of reclaiming agency and forming connections within a community. This aligns with the workshop’s emphasis on understanding students’ diverse needs, particularly in institutions like UAL, where international and diasporic perspectives shape the student body. Sandrine Côté’s narrative, which explores generational storytelling, resonated deeply. Her reflections on inherited narratives and objects forming parts of identity highlight how material culture can serve as an anchor for memory and belonging.

A recurring question in the text is the balance between accuracy and storytelling in education. Sandrine’s work raises questions about embellishment—how much artistic license is permissible in shaping pedagogic narratives? This tension is relevant in higher education, where conventional research methods prioritise factual precision, often at the expense of emotional or cultural truth. The text suggests that narrative-based research operates in the intermezzo—a space between personal history and collective meaning-making. This aligns with heuristic phenomenology, where knowledge emerges through lived experience rather than objective observation.

The fifth narrative in the text emerges through threadscape, where individual stories intertwine to create a broader shared experience. This reflects the role of observation in teaching: learning does not happen in isolation but through entangled dialogues between self, community, and context. Teaching becomes an act of echolocation—a way of positioning oneself in relation to others through storytelling and shared inquiry.

Reading Reference:

Osler, A., Sibley, J., Canning, C., and McDonald, A., 2019. Storying the self as pedagogic practice. Journal of Writing in Creative Practice, 12(1-2), pp.109-124

brainstorming: Notes on week 1 reading material

Text reading: An a/r/tographic métissage: Storying the self as pedagogic practice

Key words: SELF AS SUBJECT-MATTER, INTROSPECTIVE / EXTROSPECTIVE, NARRATIVE AS RESEARCH, ECHOLOCATION, AUTOETHNOGRAPHY, HEURISTIC PHENOMENOLOGY, INTERMEZZO, THREADSCAPE, THE FIFTH NARRATIVE

How does the presentation/communication component of life writing colour a narrative?

Introspective./ extrospective interact with the visual/performative for revealing the self.

Artists discussed: Trish, Isabelle, Arianna, Sandrine

1. Conception of narrative.

2. Creating Content

3. Decisions around media and form

Trishs’ text:

”It is as if I encountered these roles singularly, first as a working artist, and then as a teacher (with little time for any personal creative work). If the symbiosis we hope for can be felt in moments..”

Isabelles’ text:

”It is in this praxis that I situate my pedagogy, where I am constantly reflecting upon my actions at the personal and super personal level (Davis et al. 2015) to imagine new ways of conceiving the life that I am living, developing a more collective ecological awareness.”

Arianna’s text:

Validating Research via artistic means informed investigation of immigrant identity exploration

Sandrines’ text:

most interesting of them all, found that I could relate more to it based on the nature of the story telling, the examples used that come from generational narratives and repetition through personal experiences.

OBJECTS FORMING PARTS OF IDENTITY

THOUGHTS: Stories and accuracy

How important is to maintain accuracy in sacrifice of paginating narratives and great storytelling. Are ’embellished’ stories/facts what’s more important in teaching practices of mathematical/accurate events that steer away from artistic and creative storytelling?

Solitary spaces for creation

In association with women experiences and social structures.

Hello :)

Hello! My name is Mihali Intzieyanni and I am a creative practitioner from Cyprus based in London. I currently work at London College of Fashion as a Specialist Photography Technician  for School of Media and Communication. I am also a Visiting Practitioner for short courses and the Outreach program.

I hope the PgCert provides me with the knowledge to create and foster creative spaces and educational reflexive practices in my teaching methods and personal and professional journey. I also hope to develop further into Academia and progress professionally.