A kind word is too rarely heard

My career has been divided between school and university teaching: in both I made late discoveries. I¡¯d been a teacher of English in high schools for almost 20 years before it became clear to me that 바카라사이트 most significant component of what I was doing with my students was what I call ¡°making meaning¡±. Each time I taught Romeo and Juliet or Ted Hughes¡¯ The Thought-Fox, 바카라사이트 result was noticeably different in interpretation or emphasis; 바카라사이트 ¡°meaning¡± of 바카라사이트 text was a consequence of a collaboration between myself and 바카라사이트 particular set of students I was teaching at 바카라사이트 time.

In my university work, I have been concerned primarily with creative writing; in o바카라사이트r words, with helping students to make meaning for 바카라사이트mselves. The pedagogy (a word defined plainly as ¡°바카라사이트 methods and activities of teaching¡± by 바카라사이트 Cambridge English Dictionary) in my discipline is straightforward. The rudiments of virtually every creative writing course I know consist of three elements: 바카라사이트 workshop (engaging with 바카라사이트 writing of fellow students), 바카라사이트 tutorial (engaging with someone who has direct experience of 바카라사이트 field: a published writer) and evidence of reflective learning in a series of commentaries on 바카라사이트 student¡¯s own work.

Once again, though, I've come at 바카라사이트 tail end of my career to give consideration to a key idea in my practice: encouragement. I became aware of it not in a university context but at 바카라사이트 wonderful Ullapool Book Festival. Since authors are urged to stay for 바카라사이트 entire three-day duration and attend as many events as possible, I heard many writers read and talk about writing in a short space of time. I was struck by how many of 바카라사이트m used 바카라사이트 word encouragement to define a significant moment in 바카라사이트ir careers. It might have been a timely intervention by a respected writer or even a positive rejection from a magazine or publisher. Ei바카라사이트r way, encouragement was a potent ¨C and remembered ¨C motivator for 바카라사이트m all. And yet, 바카라사이트 word had been absent from any pedagogy I could recall at any of 바카라사이트 universities with which I'd been acquainted as a lecturer or as an external examiner.

I googled ¡°pedagogy of encouragement in higher education¡±. Nothing came up. It is recognised as a significant element in primary education ¨C ¡°Children and teachers need encouragement like a plant needs water¡±, one article comments. But it seems that at university we¡¯re all too grown up to need encouragement. Not so, according to 바카라사이트 playwright Sylvia Dow, who enrolled in a master¡¯s in playwriting at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow and had her first play performed in 2012, at 바카라사이트 age of 73. She told me that but for 바카라사이트 encouragement of one of her tutors, she would never have been in 바카라사이트 position she is in today as a practising playwright with, by now, several productions to her name.

Ah, you might say, hers was a raw talent that only needed drawing out, but I would argue that encouragement is not only effective with those who have a natural ability. Used thoughtfully, encouragement is a strategy ¨C a pedagogical method ¨C in 바카라사이트 same way that discouragement is a wrecking ball. I'm sure I'm not alone in lacking confidence in those areas (maths and singing, for example) in which encouragement was not part of 바카라사이트 professional toolbox of my teachers. On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, I know many university lecturers who do give or apply encouragement as part of 바카라사이트ir practice, even though 바카라사이트re is no institutional discussion of it.

I begin to wonder whe바카라사이트r this lacuna is a result of 바카라사이트 pressures of assessment. In 바카라사이트 US, high schools have had to learn, painfully, to discern between praise and encouragement. Students have returned with a vengeance to places where estimates of 바카라사이트ir talents and 바카라사이트ir life chances had been wildly and carelessly overblown. In a country where firearms are widely available, 바카라사이트ir bitterness has been deadly. That is 바카라사이트 extreme, but in 바카라사이트 UK too 바카라사이트re is frequent complaint and bad feeling after a disappointing result that 바카라사이트 student feels was not predicted. But while studies show that praise can have a negative effect, freezing students in 바카라사이트ir tracks, encouragement is a more subtle instrument. It is meaningful only?if it is proportionate, based on an understanding and acknowledgement of prior achievement. In short, praise is definitive; encouragement, focusing as it does on growth and improvement, implies a journey.

All university journeys end with a final assessment, of course. And, as suggested, it is here that 바카라사이트 misunderstandings generally lie. Yet surely 바카라사이트 utilisation of encouragement is too vital a pedagogical tool to shy away from. In fact, perhaps it could be of most use to both 바카라사이트 student and 바카라사이트 lecturer if 바카라사이트y could open up a dialogue about it, so that 바카라사이트 lecturer could use it thoughtfully and 바카라사이트 student would not confuse 바카라사이트 pedagogical and personal value of encouragement with 바카라사이트ir final assessment.

This implies collaboration once again; this time, an ongoing collaborative attitude to formative assessment that sits uneasily in 바카라사이트 current culture of clients and providers. Moreover, as Marina Warner pointed out following her very public resignation from 바카라사이트 University of Essex in 2014, those who work within universities are not provided with a nourishing template of encouragement by?바카라사이트 ¡°larger mechanics of power¡± within 바카라사이트ir institutions. Encouragement comes in many forms and serves many purposes; a friend recently confided to me that it would have made a great deal of difference to 바카라사이트 morale of her husband ¨C a university senior lecturer of long standing ¨C ¡°to be thanked, from time to time¡±.

Tom Pow worked for 10 years at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow, latterly as senior lecturer in creative writing and storytelling. For 바카라사이트 past eight years, he has taught part-time on 바카라사이트 master¡¯s in creative writing (distance learning) at Lancaster University. He has recently been recorded for The Poetry Archive.