Something I was really struck by on the microteaching day reminded me of some teaching I had observed in a session led by an academic colleague, supporting from a library perspective. In different ways the two experiences highlighted the power of carefully chosen examples when illustrating points or demonstrating skills. This is something I had not really thought much about in the past, and often when demonstrating aspects of the library catalogue I would try to choose somewhat innocuous ‘neutral’ examples from recent student searches – based on my assumption of the technicalities and efficacy of the search as the more important and interesting aspect.
When attending sessions run by a colleague I noted that they gathered materials relevant to areas of their own research as examples, openly discussing their progress and interests in research, and also introducing some more personally resonant materials to talk through aspects of their human connection to these resources. I noticed at the time that this was impactful to both the students and myself and I think I just banked it as an aspect of their own interpersonal style, rather than thinking of it as a pedagogical choice. Much as Barton and Wilcocks (2017) describe objects in a learning environment as encouraging ‘personal meaning making’ I am now wondering if perhaps well-chosen illustrative examples can function similarly, I realise that what I had observed was a conscious teaching approach.
On the micro-teaching day one of the participants in my group, again teaching about a more technical subject matter, chose very socially impactful examples. I was reminded about this question of the value of well-chosen examples in garnering engagement. This now also feels like a way to explore the potential for ‘encoded’ values to be embedded in skills based teaching (Das et al., 2023), something I had now previously considered. By choosing examples that show the ‘use’ of the research-skills and the research tools in a way that demonstrates meaningful ‘transformation …[beyond] …simply what we are aiming for’ (Ahmed, 2019, p.22) both the point and the wider possibilities of the skills and the social relevance of the examples are clearer.
A further benefit may be to create more opportunities to discuss the need to ‘consider the evaluation of information instead of simply showing others where to find it’ (Duncan, 2019).
This has encouraged me to think more strategically about the examples I am choosing to illustrate simple technical skills, and to vary them, steering away from more neutral, pedestrian, and meaningless examples. By creating an additional layer of interest and connection with the skills being demonstrated and discussed, whether by introducing some more personal interest or information from myself, or by tapping into something that is of more social or cultural significance, I hope that my technical, skills-based teaching will be more engaging, memorable and socially aware than when it is framed purely for efficacy and efficiency.
References
Ahmed, S. (2019) What’s the use?.Durham: Duke University Press.
Barton, G, & Wilcocks, J. (2017) Object-based self-enquiry: A multi- and trans- disciplinary pedagogy for transformational learning. Available at : https://sparkjournal.arts.ac.uk/index.php/spark/article/view/75 accessed on 29/01/2025
Das, M., Ostrowski, A.K., Ben-David, S., Roeder, G.J., Kimura, K., D’Ignazio, C., Breazeal, C. and Verma, A., (2023) ‘Auditing design justice: The impact of social movements on design pedagogy at a technology institution’. Design Studies, Vol. 86, p.101183.
doi : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2023.101183.
Duncan, A. (2019) ‘Crossing the threshold: innovations in information literacy’. Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal, Vol. 4.1, Libraries, Archives and Special Collections special issue. Available at:
https://sparkjournal.arts.ac.uk/index.php/spark/article/view/125/206, accessed on 15th March 2025.