I often start these newsletters with a little weather report, and readers have noted how my mood rises and dips according to how rainy or sunny it has been. Occasionally it is bright and beautiful outside but I still feel a bit low and worn out. This is one of those occasions. Nothing that a good cup of tea won’t solve, sitting in the back room typing this morning. I can hear my son noisily eating toast next door while the radio murmurs faintly from the kitchen.
There’s that fun-sounding bird again, it has quite an electronic chirp, part R2D2 and nightingale, and it wakes me up as the sun floods through the blinds. We’ve had to learn a host of new bird sounds. My wife has become quite the twitcher and thinks she spotted a Northern Flicker, with a red patch on the back of its neck and a buffy breast of white spots. We see Cardinals too, and often Doves come and sunbathe by the fence, leaning to one side to warm their bellys.
This week, I’ve been writing and finished an article finally that is now on its way to a moderator, and have my fingers crossed that they’ll be pleased. I have another to start next week, but as it’s similar territory I’m not as anxious.
I wish I had some time to paint and draw in the evenings but find myself collapsing in front of the telly and flicking through my phone, a sure sign of tiredness.
Stephan
Spaces to Connect
I’m working with a group of students on a new experience that addresses the climate emergency and particularly the plight of the Amazon rainforest. Today is Earth Day, so the team will be running tests of a new immersive piece and capturing feedback so that they can iterate on the design. This has been quite a challenging project, but the team is sticking to their task and we hope that there will be a prototype in one form or another, especially after a last-minute pivot towards the inclusion of an extra element.
The team has struggled with their research and probably needed to dedicate someone to this early on so that they were sure about the issues that they were including in the experience. As I described previously, this is a “game” where two people work together, collecting data and making decisions about how to present findings. The aim is to piece together footage to make a short documentary that you hope will raise awareness about deforestation, pollution, and the challenges faced by indigenous communities. It is crucial in any project to make sure that everyone shares an understanding of the subject matter, just as important for a developer as an artist for instance. I’ve seen this with successful projects, and it is a bit like teaching; when everyone can articulate common goals and outcomes, then you know that they are all pushing in the same direction.
Despite the issues, the team is closing in on their outcome and we hope that we’ll be able to share the experience with guests in our room. It is always fascinating working with design teams, there are always lessons to learn when you observe any dynamic, seeing how people work together, share and collaborate. In the end, teams are built from within, you have to find ways to trust each other, and support and care for the work that each person is doing. A team needs agency, a goal, and space to connect.
Life Lessons
I’ve met a few students who have shared the challenges that their caring responsibilities bring on them and their studies, it’s true that we just don’t have a very clear picture of how we should offer support as teachers, we get almost no information about a student, understandably in many cases as it is important to maintain privacy, so rather we should consider that every student might need support of some kind and that we should design our courses in a way that are flexible and can be adapted according to need.
We learned how to put work online and ensure our classes could be taken asynchronously, so we need to remember that this may still be very useful to many students. I had a chat with a dear colleague this week and we talked about how little we know about the other courses that a student takes, beyond a brief conversation at the start of the semester.
There is an arms race taking part in some faculties, to ensure that their courses load as much as possible on their students, often in the name of rigor (an abstract, subjective concept, that essentially asserts learning to be a slog that either makes or breaks a student). It is shameful to put so much pressure on students, it is also bad pedagogy, often emphasizing drill as the mode of learning, the pressure of failure as the motivator, and recall as a means of assessment.
The burden of this nonsense is carried by the student until they drop, and often the other instructors who teach them. I know that students take some of my courses because they know that they are going to be manageable, I don’t think the concepts are particularly easy, but the work is paced in a balanced way at least. There is no pride in having students survive your course.
Sunflower
Lost and Found
Here’s what I read this week.
A few articles for Earth Day, including this tough read from Wired Magazine, How big oil companies betrayed us, and how dark money is used to silence those working for climate activism, also, more on the global collapse of insect numbers. It’s not great. Also, see that Google is using its doodle to mark the day.
Schools have almost all lifted mask requirements and there are mixed feelings about this. Some schools aren’t sure how to proceed. I hope that wearing a mask is normalized, some people will wear them when they feel they need to, to protect others when they think they might have been exposed when they’re a bit under the weather. We have to continue to think about others.
This week, thanks to a judge in Florida, the US was thrown into confusion, mask mandates on public transport ruled unworkable. While there is an appeal going on, this could be the end of masks on planes and buses. I’m not sure how safe I’m going to feel heading to work, I’ll continue to wear a mask (double-mask) because alongside me there are elderly people and those with disabilities who will still be at very high risk of illness.
Thank you
The deer have been munching the buds along the fence, they take a good look at you when you’re outside, but otherwise aren’t startled and are quite happy to watch you, just make sure you don’t get too close.
My plan this weekend is to find time to do a few things, read a newspaper, enjoy a coffee outside if I can, and open the sketchbook.
Have a lovely week, take care.