Teachers in HE have to create an environment where students learn by discussion, problem-solving, working with others and taking responsibility for some of their own learning – through methods such as pre-reading, flipped learning – as well as the more traditional chalk-and-talk lecture means.

Teachers have to ensure that students know how to learn, which is a newer concept than one would assume – study skills seem to be lacking for some HE students, but teachers cannot brush this aside. It may not be the teacher who teaches the study skills to the students but they must be aware of available assistance and offer it to their students. This requires more work on the part of lecturers and tutors than previously, but without the ability to learn in this new way, students will struggle to take in the information presented.

I taught English to school age students while living abroad. I had taken a TEFL course beforehand, which emphasised not only learning to teach, but had a module on teaching the TEFL candidates how to learn – we all had to start a short language course as part of the course. This was invaluable, as it put us in the same position as our future students. However, while I believed I was an expert in my field (the English language) I don’t think I made a particularly good teacher. My teaching practice was basic, I didn’t appreciate that students have different learning styles, and unlike most university teaching, I was often spending teaching time ensuring classroom discipline. The syllabus was pre-set, which as a new teacher, I found incredibly helpful, but meant that it was difficult to let the classroom discussions flow off-topic. Where possible, I would try to introduce real-life examples into the classroom, but again, due to the age of my students, this was restricted. My teaching philosophy at this point was totally focused on what I was teaching, and not on what the students were learning. 

I also taught adults at this time, doing 6 hours of conversational classes as a local adult education facility. I was warned during my TEFL course that these were a bad idea, as all teaching should have learning outcomes and a focus for each lesson. However, as I was being brought in as a guest lecturer, again I did not have the freedom to set my syllabus. Whilst I think having a native language teacher did give my adult students more confidence, looking back I realise that I never measured how my students were learning – with no learning outcomes other than ‘improve students’ pronunciation’, it was difficult to see if students were improving their language skills. 

When I moved countries, I started teaching English on a one-to-one basis, and incorporated some of the lessons I myself had learned in my previous teaching jobs. I focused on improving student confidence and spoken skills, I brought in more real-life examples, I asked the students what they were interested in learning about (song lyrics were particularly popular) and sometimes I would flip the teaching, and ask them questions about their own language so that they could see how English grammar, for example, worked in comparison to their own. 

My colleagues tend to use surveys and feedback forms at the end of a teaching session but I really dislike asking students straight away – a lot of what I teach needs to be practiced by the student to see if they’ve understood it. I feel that in their current format, the forms are asking about how well I taught (or even how well I came across), rather than how well the student learned. Ideally I would send out a feedback request a week or two after the session, but I still feel that I need to rephrase the questions so that I can check on what the students learned rather than what they thought of my teaching. There is a place for this – I have certainly changed some of my teaching methods based on spontaneous feedback from students – but it is not measuring student learning. This is something I want to focus on during the following year, and it’s something that the Education Development Unit workshops have inspired in me – putting the learner at the centre of my teaching.

Nevertheless, there are some informal ways I have of getting evidence that students have learned something during my sessions. I am always gratified when students ask questions – it usually shows they have understood something but that there is maybe a gap in their knowledge (I may be wrong, but if someone hasn’t learned anything, I’m not sure they would ask specific questions); it shows that they feel comfortable speaking out loud in the session (I do try and encourage questions); and it contributes to team working, as often other students nod and ask follow-up questions. I am lucky in that one regular cohort has a public display of their assignment, so that I can see for myself if they have taken on board what I was teaching (in this case, citing and referencing). Feedback from the department and teaching support staff is also valuable; for example, if they’ve noticed an increase in use of scholarly articles as opposed to web pages and commercial material.

I would like to improve the design of my teaching sessions, from the very beginning of the teaching process. Simple things such as thinking about learning outcomes and what I want the students to achieve in the session, have already changed the way I deliver sessions, but I feel there is more I could be doing. A lot of the time I feel that what I do is train students – I show them a process and get them to copy what I did. I feel a greater understanding of the knowledge transfer process would improve the way I teach, in that, as always, the student would learn more deeply. 

I would like to harness those aspects that I feel are an advantage in teaching – my knowledge of the topic, my enthusiasm and my communication skills – and use them in a more productive way. I would welcome feedback on my current teaching approach, especially those habits that may have overstayed their welcome from previous teaching jobs, which may be outdated or inappropriate for university teaching and learning. 

My ultimate goal from this course of study is twofold. Firstly, I would like a theoretical understanding of different teaching and learning styles, understanding the history of pedagogical theory. This would allow me to take a fresh look at my own teaching, and perhaps adapt a new overall philosophy. Secondly, more practical expertise on how to approach my teaching would be very welcome. I feel the teaching observations would be extremely helpful in achieving this goal, as not only would I be able to get feedback on my own teaching practice, but I will have the opportunity to watch someone else teach, which is a fairly rare occurrence.