Introduction
This paper aims to offer a reflection about how my experience in education impacts and transformative in my teaching experience. I was an international student starting my study in Finance at Business School in 2009 and graduated my PhD degree in 2019. From the ten years learning experience as an international student gained knowledge from the universities until now, I am the educator in the university, I begin to review about my long journey in education after I began participating in the PgCer programme, and rethink about how I design and deliver lectures to my students with a critical engaged perspective.
Reflection: Positionality
As a female international student from Asia, I fully understand how the language barrier we experienced and how the unconscious bias people had for the Asian students. As an Asian student, sitting in the corner or silent in a discussion has been seen as a normal phenomenon can be observed in the classroom. In an environment of learning with white privilege, international students who the first language is not English may feel much more pressure than the others, and also the social pressure as we ‘raced’ by the society. From my previous learning experience, I found the difficulties in understanding the academic terms especially in a class which was taught by a native speaker lecturer. For the exercise, we tried very hard in engaging in the discussions as the cases normally were given from the white dominant countries however we were not familiar with the culture especially in the first year in the university. The ignorance of the multicultural background of students would generate more barriers in learning not even talking about to have any opportunities to lead the group discussions as a female from Asian. As a researcher and educator, I am aware of my positionality. What my experienced and status in gender, ethnic, racial, and cultural characteristics impact my view of the world and my teaching methods (Fleming, 2018).
Reflection: Critical Pedagogy in Economics Teaching
My voice negated and I realized how my previous education experience and racist society to view me as immigrant making me feel disempowering as I am neither not the native speaker nor as the whiteness in the classroom. However, I realized I could speak up my voice about the multicultural respect and against the white supremacy wherever I observed or faced. In the unit of critical pedagogy, it stated students should have equal rights and opportunity to learn the knowledge from the school and university, regardless of their gender, social class, ethnic, racial, or cultural characteristics (Katz, 2013). When I learnt the critical race theory in the unit, it encourages me to review about the critique the power and privileges associated with Whiteness in the education system and have my advocates in the multicultural transformative in the institution and teaching as well (Tapper, 2013). To be a position as a lecturer, I take the ownership with the confidence in the classroom, also share with my students about the economic and finance knowledge I am viewed as an expertise in.
Artifact: Initial Idea
From September 2019 the UK regulations, the university carried out a blended learning approach in recording lectures and face-to-face seminars. This regulation brings more concerns to the appropriate practice equally to all digital learners. The requirement of the digital practice may result in more risks of students feeling excluded from class or creating one more barrier aspect of technology because lack of accessing to the resources or using of digital technologies (D’Clark, 2020). To consider about the equal and opportunities for all the students in the critical pedagogy, to create an approach to inclusive all the diverse learners in the virtual classroom is very important. Thus, I bring the idea of making the economics teaching visually in the digital learning: drawing the graphs and numbers on a glass board in the recorded lectures.
This transformative in the critical pedagogy could bring the equal and opportunities for all the students with multicultural backgrounds because even though many students the first language are not English, the graph and number is the common international language generating the same information and meanings to all the students in the class. Meanwhile, to make the economics teaching visually also brings the equal opportunity to the disability as it is easier to understand the concepts by looking comparing to reading. It creates an approach to inclusive all the diverse learners in the virtual classroom.
Artifact: description
This artifact is a micro teach that explores how to use the graph and number showed on the glass board to facilitate diverse learners in the digital learning to understand the concepts in the economics. I showed the glass board and drew the graph more visually applying to the concept of economics in front of the camera. The glass board could use black ink marker to write, and it could also be erased easily.[1] I drew first the concave graph in the glass board and then drew the dashed line on the graph to show more visually to the students explaining why the curve shows concave based on the concept. Following that, I also wrote down the relevant formula on the glass board and to show more detailed calibration.
To aid practice, I asked students to take out their own pens and pieces of papers, to draw the curve with me, which showed on the glass board at the same time. Following that, I added one more additional question to the students, to ask them to draw another line based on the different assumptions and indicated I would show the answers in the seminars.
Evaluation and Feedbacks
I finished filming by applying this glass board on 28th July while I got some feedbacks from the technicians and course leader, which could help me review about the method I applied.
- Feedbacks from the technicians
One of the technicians stated the glass board was bought because I raised the request from this visual teaching idea to the university. Thus, they gave the budget of over £1000 to purchase this advanced glass board which could help students to understand visually about the economics. The technician also indicated as he has no background of economics however it made him to feel clearer and more encourage to engage in the online lecture activities, to bring a pen and paper following my teaching contents. Although he knows not so much about economics, he understood the concept in the end. He thought this idea is helpful and could recommend to other lecturers who also delivering the lectures online.
Another technician gave the similar feedback, and he quoted this glass board worked as ‘magic’ in front of the camera and stated it is the best worth investment that the team made. However, he also gave me some suggestions about how to improve the performance in front of the glass board, for example, to talk about the contents first then they could film my hand drawing on the glass board only rather than I stood there and talked as it was little distracted for the students.
- Feedbacks from course leader
I also got the feedbacks from the course leader. He thought to bring the economics more vivid to the students could attract their attentions more comparing only talking in front of the camera, especially it helps the international students with the language barrier. As it is the pure online course, all the students are from overseas, based in different time zones. Using the glass board could more support them to understand the concept. However, the course leader also suggests if I could also apply a real case as example to apply for the concept, along with drawing the graph on the glass board.
- What I am going to improve in the future
The feedbacks gave me positive to review about the ideas to use this glass board. To make economics visually is the right path for me to further explore in the future, making students to feel more inclusive in the online teaching, with the considerations of equality in the distance learning. I suggest in the next time, I will draw the graph on the glass board, but also with the subtitles at the same time. Meanwhile, I will provide the relevant power slices to the students as well. In this case, the students could engage in the online class, but also making equality with subtitles with consideration of students who might have learning disabilities. The power slices with the same contents could be an additional supportive for them to understand the concept.
References:
Fleming, J. (2018). Recognizing and resolving the challenges of being an insider research in work-integrated learning. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, Special Issue, 2018, 19 (3), P311-P320.
D’Clark, R.S. (2020). COV-ID and Digital Exclusion. Available at: COV-iD and Digital Exclusion – Shades Of Noir
Katz,J. (2013). The three-block model of universal design for learning (UDL): Engaging students in inclusive education. Canadian Journal of Education. Available at: Locating Home: Newcomer Youths’ School and Community Involvement (researchgate.net)
Tapper, H.J. (2013). A pedagogy of social justice education: Social identity theory, intersectionality, and empowerment. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 30(4), pp.411-445. Available at: https://certainlycert.myblog.arts.ac.uk/files/2017/04/A_Pedagogy_of_Social_Justice_Education_S.pdf
Appendix
Glass board Applied to the online filming course