We are again entering exam time. For
academics in our institution this means a break of about 4 weeks when we do not
teach, and instead frantically rush around trying to get research and admin
sorted so that we will be ahead of the game when our marking comes around. And
of course, there is the marking... but I have spoken of that in a previous
post.
This is a time of self reflection
regarding our teaching and coursework, and a time to get those last few edits
done on a paper or two. It’s not really a time for starting new things. Well,
not for me anyway!
The challenge with being reflexive about
teaching and research supervision is to be gentle both on ourselves and our
students. So I have decided to think happy thoughts. The first rule as I look
back over the semester behind me is to think happy thoughts - even about the
things that I could have done better, the occasions when my students let me
down (or appeared to), the experiences which would have been less painful if I
had had the support of my colleagues. In every one of these situations, there
is a glimmer of happiness, and I
am going to find it.
It is not helpful to live in denial when
things have gone badly, but neither is it helpful to dissect every course and
every process to find what is wrong with it. Only dead things should land up on
the dissection table! Living things like courses and students deserve a little
more careful treatment.
So, what went right? What should I make
sure I do again? What should we do more of? Who can I encourage, nurture,
promote? The things that need to be thrown out will be obvious enough if I
focus on the aspects that shine.
