The in-person sessions would always bring more meaning to why I enrolled the course – peer learning and sharing, bringing back the ‘back to school’ feeling where there is a dedicated space and people interested in the same subject area. Being a student again gives me a better insight of what my students are experiencing – again, one more vote for less online learning and forming virtual groups.

The session on Knowledge and Values kicked off by responding in small groups questions such as: What we need to know in order to teach well? -> understanding the language & ecosystem of the group/course, material needs, resources, etc; What values inform the way we teach? -> “Good teaching happens when learning takes place twice.” ~ Paul Black.

We questioned the term ‘VALUE’ in education / policy by placing: values, ethics, morals, beliefs, duties, principles or guiding principles & duties: in some sort of order.

We learnt about UKPSF 2011′; areas of activity, core knowledge, professional values; looked at globalised education values and the artificial expansion.

We defined, again in small groups mainly analysing UAL’s website, what they are, who creates and how:
Policies (~a law that can be referred to malpractice, appeals, etc. probably created by an executive board).
Frameworks (~marking, assessment responsibilities, time frames, success criteria, expected outcomes, etc. probably created by colleges themselves).
Strategy (~something that entails an action plan, for example ‘anti-racism strategy’, probably created by an executive board + dean of programme).
Code (~attitudes, behaviour, for example ‘code of conduct’).
Principle (~values, such as ‘sustainability’).
Guide (~recommendations, such as ‘module guides’).

We mentioned Transparency Policies, where I asked myself the question about ‘unspoken rules of the institution’ that might be interesting to explore in the future.