Jenny Saville (contemporary artist) states that ‘…destruction is fundamental to the process; without it, you never get anywhere interesting. But fundamental to that is knowing what you can excavate from the destruction’ [Cooke: 2012]. A practical workshop concerning the importance of dialogue, interrogation of text and how this creative process can empower a greater collaborative partnership between student and tutor in Higher Education.

Henson, David (2016) Jenny Saville (contemporary artist) states that ‘…destruction is fundamental to the process; without it, you never get anywhere interesting. But fundamental to that is knowing what you can excavate from the destruction’ [Cooke: 2012]. A practical workshop concerning the importance of dialogue, interrogation of text and how this creative process can empower a greater collaborative partnership between student and tutor in Higher Education. In: Teaching and Learning Conference 2016, 28th June 2016, University of West London. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Abstract (max. 300-words, not including references)
An interactive presentation and workshop with students and audience to consider the nature and importance of dialogue within the learning environment and to identify the impact of understanding through ‘dialogue and deconstruction’ and how these concepts currently shape our view of knowledge and the world [Schmidt and Palmer: 1991]. The first part of the workshop will explore the qualities of dialogue/conversation, the potential to engage, focus, listen and have empathy with each other will be interrogated in some detail. This aspect of shared learning/teaching and dialogue is essential especially where, as partners our lines of communication are being replaced by texts, tweets, Instagram, and various levels of online communication (Turkle: 2011, 2015). How does this aspect of the digital age impact upon the relationship and partnership in learning for those who listen in order to understand the position of those who speak, whether student or tutor (Biesta: 2012)?

The second part of the workshop with consider the practical implications of the subject and the concept of dialogue will be explored and will focus on ‘text for song’ [Gadamer: 1981] to demonstrate the manner in which dialogue/conversation can take place within the classroom and demonstrate a Kuhnian paradigm shift from ‘Instruction Paradigm’ to ‘Learning Paradigm (Barr and Tagg: 1995). The philosophical writings of Plato and Socrates will inform the workshop and identify how a Socratic method of teaching can achieve a positive and meaningful dialogue within the classroom (Reich: 2003). The intention of the workshop is to identify how the demands of social conditions, the current aims of education, the relationship/partnership between speaker/listener, teacher/student has changed (Barr and Tagg: 1995) and how assessments might reflect this aspect of creativity in the future. If we fail to engage in a meaningful dialogue we not only remove our distinctive cultural thinking but our ability to respond and engage with alternative ideas (Stivers et al., 2009).

The conclusion to the workshop will give opportunity for questions and a consideration of issues regarding potential ways of considering and assessing types of assessment methods identified within the curriculum in Higher Education. Carter [2004:201] states, ‘Creativity is always contextually framed and conditioned’ and Craddock and Mathias [2009] encourage us to make it our aim to discuss the definition of creativity and make it more explicit in the final learning outcomes.

Keywords: text; interpretation; dialogue; digital age; Kuhnian (instruction) paradigm; learning paradigm; creativity

References

Barr, R.B. and Tagg, J. (1995) ‘From teaching to learning — A new paradigm for undergraduate education’, Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 27(6), pp. 12–26. doi: 10.1080/00091383.1995.10544672.

Biesta., G.J.J. (2012) ‘Giving Teacher Back to Education: Responding to the Disappearance of the Teacher’, Phenomenolgy & Practice, No.6(No.2), pp. 35–49.

Carter, R. [2004] Language and Creativity: the art of common talk. London: Routledge.

Cooke, R. (2012) Jenny Saville: ‘I want to be a painter of modern life, and modern bodies’. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/jun/09/jenny-saville-painter-modern-bodies (Accessed: 8 May 2016).

Craddock, D. and Mathias, H. [2009] Assessment options in higher education, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 34 (2), 127-140.

Durkheim, E. (2006) Social Structure and Education. Available at: http://www.wou.edu/~girodm/foundations/Durkheim.pdf (Accessed: 11 March 2016).

Gadamer, H.G. (1991) Text and Interpretation. Translated: Dennis J. Schmidt and Richard Palmer. Dialogue and Deconstruction: The Gadamer-Derrida Encounter, Diane Michelfelder and Richard Palmer (eds.) p.21-51. Albany: State university of New-York press

Reich, R. (2003) The Socratic method: What it is and how to use it in the classroom. Available at: http://web.stanford.edu/dept/CTL/Newsletter/socratic_method.pdf (Accessed: 13 March 2016).

Wachterhauser, B.R (ed.) (1986) Hermeneutics and Modern Philosophy. 1st edn. New York: State University of New York.

Stivers, T., Enfield, N.J., Brown, P., Englert, C., Hayashi, M., Heinemann, T., Hoymann, G., Rossano, F., de Ruiter, J.P., Yoon, K.-E. and Levinson, S.C. (2009) ‘Universals and cultural variation in turn-taking in conversation’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(26), pp. 10587–10592. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0903616106.

Turkle, S. (2011) Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. 1st edn. New York: Basic Books.

Turkle, S. (2015) Reclaiming conversation: The power of talk in a digital age. 1st e

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Lecture)
Subjects: Arts
Depositing User: David Henson
Date Deposited: 13 Jun 2016 18:58
Last Modified: 28 Aug 2021 07:21
URI: https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/2549

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