Key findings and Recommendations
Key findings
The following items compose the final key findings summary:
- Students tend to like Creative Media. They find it a fun subject when they are engaged in practical exercises, such as taking photos or making short movies;
- However, they find the process of composing their Powerpoints tedious. Nearly all of them express some sort of discontent while doing it;
- Most students work better when there is a clear structure to be followed in the lesson. This was evidenced during the final projects carried out by years ten and eleven, when the first group had clear roles to be followed and the second did not;
- Most group dynamics work well with them. Students build on each other’s ideas and create fantastic narratives. However, all teams need proper supervision as to not get distracted and fall off task;
- Building up on that, most students often get distracted, if not by their phones, by one another. It is important to think how to configure the seating arrangements in each class;
- Students enjoy feeling supported by the school. This was evidenced during the hand out of the Industry Report Cards and coaching sessions. Most of them felt grateful for the feedback and advice regarding their futures;
- None of the classes engage in group processing activities. The closest they get to analysis their process is by doing a self evaluation on their Powerpoints, but it never concerns the group that they worked with. Feedback is not a common practice between students and systems for delivering it vary between classes;
Recommendations
Based on the tools tested and interviews conducted with teachers and students, these are this dissertation’s final recommendations for Manchester Creative Studio. If followed, it could result in the improvement of general student life and interpersonal relations inside the school.
More equipment
Both teachers that were interviewed pointed out that the school needs more equipment, as in DSLR cameras, batteries, SD cards, good quality tripods, Macbooks and chargers. Far too much time is wasted in lessons while trying to solve problems regarding technical equipment. In addition to that, students need these elements in order to achieve good results in Creative Media subject, as their final project depend on visual tasks. Furthermore, there should be an organised system, a log that registered who has each piece of hardware. That would increase individual accountability of the students, who now would be officially responsible for the equipments they use, as well as reduce the chances of something getting lost.
Gamify the Powerpoint experience
Students spend at least half of the lessons writing on their Powerpoints. It is something that is necessary, as stated before, due to the fact that this is the method of assessing their work and reasoning. However, they can be very unproductive if left to it, which was evidenced by the fact that Year elevens had to engage in after school sessions in order to catch up with the work. Even with a teacher supervising, students will get distracted if they do not receive a clear structure of time to follow. The recommendation here would be to attempt to gamify the process, perhaps using a technique like Pomodoro, with breaks on their mobile phones as a reward. Teachers also experimented with rotation of students in between different environments, completing different sets of tasks. This works only if more than one teacher is available, but it would still be possible to execute some sort of dynamic of this type in a smaller scale. This gamifying process would result in students having more time engaging in practical exercises, such as taking photos, shooting short films, producing magazines and creating animations.
Time for team building activities
If students spend less time on their Powerpoints, teachers will also be able to allot time periods for team bonding activities. After observing students, it is a fact that groups that had good dynamics were often more successful on their tasks, were less distracted and less stressed while engaging in activities and had better results. Creative digital media is a field where you succeed when working with a cooperative team, with members that trust and are open with each other. This is achieved either with years of working together and/or doing team building activities. Dynamics such as the team canvas, which lists roles, values and responsibilities for the group, and reflection sessions, where members promote the growth of their peers, are valuable tools to strengthen teamwork abilities. As future members of the Creative Industry, every student could benefit from that.
Reinforce roles and behaviours
Based on testing, students get more engaged in activities that lay a specific structure for them to follow, as a set of rules for a board game. It clarifies how dynamics are supposed to work, timings for activities and who is responsible for what. Roles are an important element of this recommendation, as it states what every student should be doing and how they are contributing towards the final product of the lesson. It creates companionship amongst team members, as well a system of trust and demand, where students will push each other for the completion of the activity. It encourages individual accountability, since it demonstrates clearly that if one team member is not actively participating, the whole group will go down. It unites students and strengthens their teamwork abilities.
Behaviours that are stimulated at the beginning of class were also successful when tested. It constitutes of good foundation work for students to understand what kinds of conduct are acceptable or not in the Creative Industry. This would also aid teachers, who would be able to call students out for not following the specific set of rules which were delivered at the beginning of every class. It builds a habit, which could result in less stressful lessons and organised classrooms.
More project based learning days
The project based learning day that I witnessed was a success. Students from Years ten, twelve and thirteen all interacted and worked together to create a short zombie movie. They respected the instructions laid out by the teacher, as well as the roles assigned to them. The eldest taught and supervised the young ones. The environment was advocated by Montessori (1966) “This atmosphere of quiet activity develops a fellow-feeling, an attitude of mutual aid, and, most wonderful of all, an intelligent interest on the part of the older children in the progress of their little companions.” Furthermore, I believe that this dynamic worked towards building a stronger school identity, as one large united crew. I would recommend that more days like these are promoted and that students could be evaluated on it. This was done for the Year thirteen girls, it could be for the rest of the students as well.
Unify the feedback experience and make it a habit
If the school teaches a single system of how students should give feedback to one another and created a habit out of it, it would greatly improve their abilities on this area. Crucial when working in teams, feedback is often overlooked in the school and it should not. If a single system of feedback was adopted by the school, as it turned into a constant practice throughout the year, ideally every student would become more receptive to constructive criticism, which would in turn increase the chances of better grades and behaviour.
Industry Report Cards for everyone
Probably one of the most successful tools that were tested in this project. If the school welcomes more members of industry, it could become a good practice, as students understood behaviours that are acceptable or not in their possible future careers. Furthermore, I believe that they would feel more confident when looking for jobs, as it created a welcoming atmosphere from the industry towards the students. Finally, it is one more way of giving feedback while also giving individualized attention to pupils.
Coaching and mentoring program
Results from one single coaching session with two students were very positive. They felt supported by the school and more assertive of their desires for their future careers. Teachers also saw it as a valid exercise. As stated previously, this project was developed under the premise that every student is unique, has different needs and react differently to certain situations. I believe that pupils could benefit from coaching if it were a regular practice, such as once a month, as it offers them individualized attention, care and feedback. Furthermore, it could aid push students forwards towards their dreams, keeping in check those who are bright but lethargic.
A mentoring program could be a good idea as well, as it would bring students closer to people from areas that interest them. Mentors could offer career advice and feedback on their portfolios, as well as contacts in industry. Mentoring would differ from coaching, as a mentor “has already achieved what the client is setting out to do, mentors are usually older, more experienced, and share advice.” (Academic Life Coaching, 2015) In this case, a variety of representatives of various areas in the Creative Industry would be ideal. A mentor for a Game Design student might not be the appropriate pick for a Creative Media, as careers are different.
Bring students closer to the teachers
Both students that were coached for this project said that a great teacher is a person that understands each pupil and their specific needs. Coaches and mentors are good supporting characters, but the protagonists of the student’s life in school are its teachers. If students felt more support coming from them, they would probably improve considerably as learners and members of the school community.
Bridging the gap between students and teachers could be executed in a number of ways. One of the teachers that were interviewed mentioned that she was thinking of a new reward system for students, which would include lunch with their teachers once a month. This could be a good start to stimulate children to want to excel, but it should not act on its own. One key takeaway from the coaching sessions were how both students felt closer to me after I drew my three favorite elements. They felt that they knew me a little better, which strengthened our relationship. It could be another good practice if teachers would participate in team building exercises with their classes, as they are indeed captains of those groups.
Base Groups
Cooperative base groups could be a good addition to this system of support and interpersonal relationships between school and student. These are pupils teams that extrapolate from the classroom, meeting before or after class regularly to motivate each other. “These groups provide students with permanent, committed relationships that allow groups members to give each other the needed support, help, encouragement, and assistance to consistently work hard in school, make academic progress (attend class, complete all assignments, learn), and develop on cognitively and socially healthy ways.” (Johnson, Johnson and Holubec 1992 in Johnson, Johnson and Holubec, 1994) Groups can be from the same class or even different years, and have an identity, such as flag and a set of common values, like a team canvas. This could help stimulate students fostering their own relationships with one another, as well as building towards a stronger school unity. Teachers could advise groups once a week, in order to supervise how everyone is progressing.
