​Spaces, climate or culture are related, all contribute to the physical, social, intellectual and emotional environment within which learning takes place - either our own or others we teach and or work with. Together they provide a context and set of factors that can influence our ability to be creative  in work, education, play, sport, hobby or other enterprise we are engaged in.
DAY 3 April 20th Your body and the way you inhabit particular spaces that encourage your creativity
Focusing on the spaces in which I work which, over the years have probably been the main site for my creativity, I have always thought I can work almost anywhere, but being productive, comfortable and contented or inspired in a space requires a bit more.

I have had two careers in my working life a geologist and a geology teacher, and a system broker come educator/educational developer. As a geologist the world was my space and my inspiration and I was fortunate to work in some fantastic spaces - the cliffs of west Cornwall, the rugged wilderness of Saudi Arabia, the Spanish Pyrenees. I inhabited these spaces as an interested, curious, knowledgeable, purposeful natural scientist, observing and exploring to understand the geology or hunt for mineral deposits. In this way of being I was physically, intellectually and emotionally immersed in the landscape and the climate. I felt hot and cold, dry or wet or blown, like rocks around me. Feeling and holding the rock materials, hearing the natural sounds and the crack of a hammer on the rocks, breathing the scents of the landscape as I labour, continuously trying to make sense of what I was seeing interpreting the stories in the rocks. This was my natural studio for my imagination and reasoning and it was here that interpreted and recorded what I saw in notebooks, on maps or aerial photographs. I sketched what I saw and annotated my pictures so I could check my observations and interpretations later.

I have also worked in many different buildings in my life. Buildings create an entirely different artificial environment containing man made things like furniture, lighting and ambient noise. I behave quite differently in them - more mental and far less physical labour bound by the social conventions of the spaces and the roles I am expected to perform. As a teacher, educator, the classrooms, practical laboratories and lecture theatres were my performance spaces. I performed as a teacher of geology or education in the ways that were expected of me. I only ever had one chance to design a space for teaching and learning in my role as Director of the SCEPTrE centre and we opted for open, light airy spaces with light weight moveable furniture. There is no doubt that everyone who used these spaces was influenced by them and many teachers experimented with facilitation techniques that were new to them. But I did have a chance to design and build a geology museum in my very first job as a teacher in Saudi Arabia. Now that was a very special space - filled with wonderful displays, maps, satellite photographs of the geology of Saudi Arabia. I poured my creativity into that space and it was a space for learning.

As a broker (researcher, policy developer and system developer) working in a number if agencies - the world of higher education was my space. I have lots track of the number of institutional spaces I have worked in in my various guises. Here my spaces were people's offices and lecture theatres where I gave presentations about the work of the agencies I was working for or tried to engage audiences in issues I was working on. They were not my spaces I was, and still am, invited into them. But they are transient spaces which I inhabited as me in whatever role I was performing with an identity that I had developed for the role. 

When it comes to everyday work spaces in buildings I have some control over them.  I don't like busy open plan office spaces which I find too distracting, Neither do I like to share an office if I have the option. I like light airy spaces..I like to be able to play music and have tea or coffee whenever I want it. It's nice to be able to look out of a window onto something other than a car park. These are all very basic things. I also like open spaces where I can walk or do some physical labour: my garden is a fantastic space for this. When the weather is fine I enjoy working outside although I often have to stick my laptop in a cardboard box so I can see the screen. I have an office in my home, a converted garage, but I continually move around the house and occupy different spaces.

Because I work from home I am able to inhabit my spaces in an informal, but disciplined way. I dress in jeans, T shorts and socks. I often listen to music, I work long hours but take breaks as and when I feel like. The one thing I miss is interaction with colleagues and students in my work environment I think that this has a negative impact on my ability and motivation to be creative.

But regardless of the space I inhabit I'm at my most creative when I am engaging with ideas or projects I am interested in, I care about and which challenge me. As a teacher or presenter I prefer not to have to stand behind a table and I like to be close to the people I am interacting with. When I'm invited to participate in a CPD event one of my first questions is what sort of space and how many people are involved because the forms of interaction I am able to facilitate are very much dependent on these two factors. Of course in the real world we make do with, and make the best of, spaces that are far from ideal but we can reshape spaces by removing furniture and using walls and windows to work on. 
The spaces I work in, and the transitional spaces I travel through to get to my places of work, are definitely important to the way I feel which affects the way I work and ultimately my ability to create. But they are only one element of a complex ecology that I create and inhabit when involved in any learning project that demands my creativity.

The focus for Day 2 is on the role of our body in helping others to learn.  The challenge was to think of a situation in which you have encouraged and helped others to learn and create an artefact to represent the centrality of your body (and/or the learners’ bodies) in the process.

Well the original concept of pedagogy involves caring for and accompanying a child on their developmental journey. This week I am in Dubai giving parental support to my daughter who has just had a baby. She has another child who is not yet two but has somehow discovered the terrible two's - not yet able to explain what he wants and doesn't want to do (he already has plenty of opinions) he can fly into a bit of a rage. But he is lovely to be with and he readily involves me in his play which he is very good at!

So this is the context for my learning this week. On my first day we went to a shopping mall with an arcade that included a soft play area. I have discovered on more than one occasion that these soft play areas can be a bit tricky to negotiate for a granddad and a few of the passages and obstacles were a bit tight for me. But knowing I had to accompany and watch out for my grandson I did my best to keep up with him. Needless to say he was way ahead most of the time.. But we came to a tubular slide that was quite steep and dark and he didn't want to go down it. It was also tricky for me to climb into but not one to be defeated, and knowing I would have to struggle back through all the obstacles if we didn't go down, I grabbed my grandson before he could run off - down we went with much shrieking and laughter.. Thankfully he loved it and of course we had to do it again only this time he did it by himself and for the next half an hour we went down it many times. I thought here was an example of accompanying the child on his journey doing what he was doing and where appropriate showing him how to do it so that he learnt by us doing it together. By doing it with him we both had more or less the same experience at the same time in exactly the same space sharing similar feelings aroused by the same sensory information. This way of 'teaching' most definitely involved the whole of me and the whole of him. For him it will be just one small experience on his developmental journey, for me it will an experience I will always remember.

When I think about my career as a higher education teacher I think the nearest I came to this pedagogical practice of accompanying and sharing exactly the same experience as my students and showing them in a 'whole of being' sense how I tackle a disciplinary problem would be in my career as a geology teacher when I would spend time in the field with students when they were undertaking their independent mapping.  Each day a different student would take me into their field area and explain their understandings of the geology and show me the map they were constructing and any challenges they had encountered. Where appropriate I would try to demonstrate how I would tackle the problem using the same tools that they would use. We would be sharing the same physical space and sensory information, applying the  same principles and methodologies trying to arrive at an objective interpretation. The process was one of being geologists tackling a problem in the field together. 

As part of our #creativeHE conversation on personal pedagogies I undertook a survey of higher education teachers to find out 1) What or who had been the biggest influences on their formation and development as a teacher 2) What or who had been the biggest influence on their thinking and practice over the last 12 months and 3) What had been the main foci for their professional development as a teacher over the last 12 months. I have summarised the responses in three pictures. 

I will keep the survey open and if you would like to add your perspective you can complete the survey here https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/personalpedagogy  I will update the charts periodically.

​The items in the charts with their scores are included below.

Table 1 Which of these people or experiences have made a significant or very important contribution to your formation and development as a higher education teacher over the course of your career?
4 point scale No contribution–Small contribution–Significant contribution–Very important contribution

A) Teachers who taught you at school, college or university who provided good role models    3.00 
B) Teachers or educational professional colleagues or people you have worked with in the past 3.27
C) Teaching colleagues who acted as mentors  2.76
D) Teachers or other educational professionals you have met through conferences or social media 2.85
E) Parents  2.56
F) People you have met outside higher education eg in business and industry   2.24
G) Formal training - participation in a face to face or blended learning professional development programme for a teaching qualification like a PGCert, Diploma,, Masters or Doctorate   3.13
H) Participation in on-line courses aimed at developing knowledge for teaching  2.40
I) Participation in teaching and learning events/ workshops/ conferences  3.05
J) Reading about teaching and learning (any sources)   3.27
K) Informal conversations with colleagues  3.14
L) Experimenting within own teaching and student development practices   3.61
M) Designing/ redesigning a module, course or programme  3.21
N) Gaining and using student feedback  3.31
O) Pedagogic research / action research focused on teaching and learning  3.09
P) Collaboration with one or more colleagues on a teaching and learning project  2.95
Q) Interacting with other teachers through social media like Twitter, Google+ webinars   2.61
R) Your own experiences of being a learner 3.58
 
Table 2 For each item please indicate the contribution it has made to your thinking and practice as a teacher during the last 12 months.
4 point scale No contribution–Small contribution–Significant contribution–Very important contribution

A) Participation in a formal face to face or blended learning professional development programme ie for a qualification like a PGCert or Masters qualification 2.38
B) Participation in on-line courses 2.13
C) Participation in teaching and learning events/ workshops/ conferences 2.60
D) Participation in research-related conferences  2.47
E) As a contributor (eg presenter or facilitator) to a professional development event 2.52
F) Reading (any sources)  3.37
G) Informal conversations with colleagues 3.00
H) Experimenting within own teaching / student development practices 3.37
I) Designing/ redesigning a module, programme or support service 2.87
J) Disciplinary research 2.43
K) Pedagogic research focused on teaching and learning 2.58
L) Collaboration with one or more colleagues on a teaching and learning project 2.66
M) Participation in an on-line forum or special interest group mail list 2.52
N) Use of social media like Twitter, YouTube, Blogs  2.65
O) As a member of a project team 2.27
P) Working with people from business, industry or local community 2.02
Q) Receiving and using student feedback  2.82
R) Completing an annual or periodic review of a module, programme or support service 1.96
S) Participation in external examining or other peer review process 1.98
T) Applying for a teaching fellowship or other form of recognition 1.86
U) Responding to institutional policies or priorities (eg employability or internationalisation) 1.92

 
Table 3 Over the last 12 months, what areas of your work have provided the focus for your professional development?
 no contribution (0), small (1), moderate to significant (2), major (3)
 
A) Learning a new professional role 1.73
B) Aspects of management 1.40
C) Aspects of administration  1.28
D) Aspects of leadership 1.71
E) Curriculum design 2.00
F) Teaching  2.34
G) Student development 2.10
H) Assessment  1.78
I) Creating new resources 2.24
J) Research/scholarship in my discipline 2.18
K) Pedagogic research/scholarship 2.14
L) Using technology that is new to me 1.86
M) Using social media 1.96
N) Institutional change 1.71
O) Working with employers/ industry/business 1.40
P) Seeking a teaching Fellowship or other form of professional recognition 1.64

EXPLORING PERSONAL PEDAGOGY
DAY 5 Friday March 31st

This week has been about trying to understand and give meaning to the idea of a personal pedagogy. Because its personal we have to create our own meaning and by sharing our understandings we can create a better social understanding. I am still working through the idea by documenting the history of my own  pedagogical thinking and practice and I will post my essay here when I have finished it.
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Although we can, if we want to, distinguish between the development of our pedagogical thinking and practice from the rest of our life, I find it hard to do so. A decade ago I came across the work of Eduard Lindeman, an adult educator working and writing nearly 90 years ago. I found his thinking and his work with adult learners inspiring and as relevant to today's world as it was then. I have taken one of his thoughts, ' the whole of life is learning therefore education can have no ending' (Lindeman  1926) as an inspirational 'guide' for my own thinking and work as a teacher and educator. It is relevant to this essay because I think the development of my own pedagogical understandings has been grown throughout my life and is intermingled with the events, people and circumstances of my life. Indeed I can usefully quote another one of my favourite theorists Carl Rogers who when talking about personal creativity in one of his books described it as 'the emergence in action of a novel relational product growing out of the uniqueness of the individual on the one hand, and the materials, events, people, or circumstances of his life'  Carl Rogers (1960). I think this definition serves well my concept of my personal pedagogy - the knowledge, beliefs, values, dispositions and experiences I draw upon when I want to encourage others to learn, develop, create and achieve. The practices that emerge in the contexts of my current life with its opportunities to help others learn, reflect my uniqueness as a thinking and acting individual on the one hand, and the materials, events, people and circumstances of my life. 
 
As you can see I am beginning with how I think and behave now as an educator but my essay is about how I came to think in these ways. That's because, misquoting another great thinker (Keigarten), 'we have to live our life forwards but it only really makes sense when we look at it backwards.'

MY PEDAGOGICAL JOURNEY