Some initial thoughts on using an alternative pedagogy in higher education

One morning, while driving to work, I heard the educationalist Sugata Mitra on Radio 4 talking about his idea of the “teacherless pedagogy” or “minimally invasive education” (see e.g. https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/insights/learning-without-teachers/#.VzBTW-RLXhU). The assumption is that for the majority of learning, children can learn for themselves and the teacher can take a supportive rather than leading role, being there more for moral support, to provide an example, and for debriefing rather than to provide and showcase the knowledge component. With the presence of the internet and a group of peers, “unstoppable learning can take place”. They can overcome barriers of knowledge and even of language.

I have been teaching a university skills course for nearly fifteen years now and along with my teaching colleagues am always looking for ways to make the experience as practical as possible, genuinely developing skills rather than talking about them. “If 9-year-old school children can do this”, I thought, as Mitra spoke, “so can a group of adults who are 18 and over”. As a result, I designed the session below on presentations and group work skills, to work within the two-hour slot I have for my classes. You can see at the bottom of this page the tutor guidance and the briefing sheet that is provided to students. What I will do here is provide some brief thoughts on the success and difficulties of running this class.

In a course of ten sessions, this is the only one that runs in this way. Although the teacherless pedagogy is a useful way of shaking things up (and it certainly fits the subject matter of group work and giving presentations) with the ways things are in universities at the moment it is not something I feel could be done as a matter of course. Students, with obvious justification, expect to see their instructors present, as an expert in their chosen field, and with an enthusiasm for delivering and co-creating knowledge. Thankfully, in this case, it is not difficult to demonstrate that the design of the session has come about as a result of due reflection on what it means to deliver a skills course.

A first point is that the session needs to run exactly to time. There is a lot to fit into these two hours, so the instructor needs to proceed according to the timetable set out at the beginning of the class. Experience suggests that this is not too difficult, but the temptation to allow a few additional minutes here and there should be avoided – this will catch up with you by the end.

Second, this session is conducted nearer the end of the course rather than at the beginning, so that a relationship of trust and common purpose has been established between the instructor and the students. In addition, the instructor leading such a session needs to back him or herself to pick up the debrief stage in a sensitive way, being prepared that there might have been some frissons in the background work that the group conducted out of sight of the instructor.

My personal experience of conducting the session has been varied, but generally positive. At the outset, I had to sell this idea to colleagues working as teaching assistants on the course. They generally responded with a great deal of credulity and by their own accounts have had very good experiences of implementing this session, to the point where they are now adherents of this pedagogical model for this session. I do have one colleague who, without providing too much detail here, is extremely wary of this kind of approach and sees it as inimical to the notion of the instructor as expert. These discussions are useful to our professional development nonetheless.

Some of the most challenging experiences have been when students have misunderstood the brief, or when the existing group dynamic was such that the session was too much of a challenge for some in the face of dealing with other, very assertive and dominant students. It is fair to say that there was a failing on the part of the instructor (me) in each case, such that I have been aware of the need to create a strong relationship with the group, as a group, before we get to this session. Having reflected on these experiences and made necessary changes, the teacherless session has since run much more smoothly. The final debrief, though, will change radically depending on the student experience in their hour alone. The experience of the group who misunderstood the brief was one of frustration. In fact, this feeling is often replicated even among groups where the exercise works very well, with some of the students evidently feeling that there was something quite simple they omitted which would have improved the end product. This is productive for the instructor, though, as one can talk about the work being good enough for the purpose at hand, as well as encouraging the students to remember the experience to inform future efforts. This might then be a good experience for the many students who exhibit some form of perfectionism. On the occasion when the group was split between students who did not get involved and those who dominated (and who tended to downplay the challenge presented by the session), I was able to work with the general principle that if some group members had not contributed, this was everyone’s responsibility and that the experience will have been less useful compared to what it could have been – no matter how good the final presentation.

The conclusion, though, is that this has been a worthwhile experiment for all involved. There is generally a good sense of achievement (not to say relief) when the presentation has been delivered. The pedagogy works at least in the sense that a group of people with the will, energy, and minimal tools, can carry out the task quite readily. I know that I have been doing something right when I get a collective look of understanding and acceptance at ten past the hour, and I have discussed with the group what they will be doing. They know that the logic of developing skills through practice is unsurmountable. Nothing, though, compares to the expression on their faces when they are told they will be leading the session for a change. Yes, he really is walking through the door.

And so for an hour or so, while I drink a well-deserved coffee and talk with the other tutors, I can be pretty sure it’s time well spent.

Tutor brief

11:00 – 11:10 – Introduce the session. [This is a paraphrase of my first few paragraphs above.] Tell the students what will happen and why, and the timetable for doing it. Using the single PC in the room, give the entire group the task of giving a presentation on the subject of How to do group work. They have one hour to get everything ready. Everybody must get involved; the whole process must be self-policed and the responsibility lies with the students only. Having given the presentation to the tutor, the group talks about their experience of working in a (rather large) group, and of giving the presentation. This is the opportunity to bring in some content such as presentation marking criteria, group stages, group ground rules, and so on. The debrief can take in such issues as equality of involvement, of effort, and of opportunity; helping people work to personal strengths; how team-building and team stages get carried out even in such a short space of time; how groups need to accommodate different personalities; how “learning is the product of self-organising” (quote from Mitra); they construct their own learning environment.

11:10 – 12:10 – Class has 1 hour of preparation time. Tutor should be absent, to return at 12:10. 

12:10 – 12:20 – Presentation given. Give some brief feedback.

12:20 – 12:30 – Debrief on the group work and presentation experience (“What did you do?”, “How did the activity make you feel?”, “What did you learn?”, “What happened and was that successful?”, etc.). Note that some students might be feeling dissatisfied about their part in the work; about being asked to do it; about the involvement of others. That’s part of the point. Use whatever other means you like to explore their experience.

12:30 – 12:50 – Any further input on conceptualising the group’s experience; and making sure the group is aware of criteria for the related parts of assessment. Some short videos from Youtube or similar work at this stage as a form of wind-down for the students after their work and to support points such as group maturity stages, good team work habits, and dividing up tasks. The following points can be discussed as necessary:

Freeloading

Delegation: allocating tasks according to strengths, expertise, skills

Were there different “roles”?

Sharing responsibility as opposed to leading and following

Team maturity stages

What did they not have time to do that they would have liked to do?

What was successful / unsuccessful about their experience?

Was any part of the experience frustrating?

Did the group follow its own advice?

What did they learn about presenting?

What “criteria” did they work to? What did they do to make the presentation “good”?

Did you have an idea of what you wanted to achieve?

How did you agree and communicate this?

Do you feel you have achieved something?

What would you do differently if you had to do it again?

 Student brief

You have heard the introduction given by your tutor. With the help of the internet and the combined abilities of a group of people, there are many things you can teach yourself.

You need to work together with the entire group. The group has one hour to prepare a 10-minute presentation called

How to do Group Work

Your tutor will not be in the room for the hour that you have to prepare.

You can use your own internet-enabled devices and the desktop PC in the room. One of you will need to log on to use this. Your tutor will need to log on once they have returned to the room.

Everyone must get involved in some way, but you can use whatever presentation format and division of labour you want, as agreed by the group.

At 12.10, your tutor will return. You must be prepared to give the presentation immediately. We will not evaluate your presentation (you are not being assessed on it), but will rather help you think about your experience of the exercise and how it can be conceptualised. The aim will be to help you reflect on the exercise. Be prepared to talk about your experience of this exercise.

Please work to time; otherwise we won’t fit everything in. Leave out unnecessary details. Treat this as you would an examination, in that you won’t have the opportunity to do anything once the allocated time has elapsed. This is a learning exercise and working to time will be more productive on this occasion than doing things ‘well’.

This is being carried out as a practical exercise which is likely to be more productive than simply telling you about presenting and group work.

So, to make it work:

-         Work to time

-         Get involved

-         Remember that everyone can contribute something