September 2020 – Critical Research Journal

Is the Documentary Group a vehicle for innovation?

I find some aspects inspire me to try things that are new to me. Equally there are some that don’t. It has most definitely given me the confidence to want to innovate and to find at least one way of doing so.

It was membership of this group that helped me through my OU certificate, that helped me identify the genre and subgenres that I resonate with, and that led me to want to explore a more formal preparation in applied documentary photography.

It led me to sign up for the Falmouth MA (although that wasn’t for me in the longer run). It introduced me to people further into their own journeys, who engaged with me as an equal, and who helped me understand my own development path. It provided advice and guidance about choosing alternative routes.

Membership has provided me with ways of volunteering that allow me to contribute to the group by drawing on my existing skills, and through which I can be inspired and get a better perspective on the world of documentary photography.

As you said elsewhere, it is often at the interfaces of disciplines that innovation occurs, and I am delighted to have found a potential way of uniting my interest in behavioural science with my photography to achieve a far bigger impact with my work than I had perhaps dreamt of.

It was members of this group who helped me rebuild my confidence when it was knocked by someone whose approach seemed so alien to mine, who adopted an antagonistic stance, and used his position of authority to undermine me.

In a few weeks’ time, the group has provided me with an opportunity to try out some of my ideas for collaborative working in documentary projects. Some might not consider this ‘innovative’, but it appears to be an idea that is slowly coming of its time, and is certainly innovative to many.

The fastest way to learn is to teach, and it was because of my experience within the Documentary Group that I was able to get a foot in the door of the educational element of photography, and to become a member of its embryonic professional body.

Again, it was membership of this group that gave me the confidence to step in to help run a special interest group in Street Photography in Oxford – we have over 100 members, organise six events a year and are about to have our first public exhibition. This simply wouldn’t have happened if I had not been a member of the Documentary Group, and had this forum in which to bounce ideas around, and balance my fledgling views with the wisdom of others.

Last week, I wrote the first half chapter of my first serious photography book. I won’t give the game away, but it certainly tries to teach photography (not exclusively documentary) in a modern, and highly innovative, way. It was conversations on this forum, especially, that highlighted the need and a path to do something.

So, personally, YES, the Documentary Group is very much a vehicle for innovation. We have to define that for ourselves, and we have to be prepared to put work in, in order to get something out. But that is life.

Reflections on the last two terms of teaching online…

This is college “Peach Week”, a time when all staff have a week of preparation, collaboration, team meetings, Faculty get-togethers, CPD, and so on, before the students start ‘arriving’ next Monday.

I’ve not made as much progress with my OU module as I had hoped, but will try to do so this week, along with the one from the BACP (given that I’m now teaching the therapeutic counselling course). The other consequence of the last point is that I am now formally a member of two faculties (TOBES and SHED), though I am also involved in teaching in Adult Learning and Engineering from time-to-time. This means double the number of faculty sessions and the inevitable clashes.

The college has asked us all to reflect on the experience of the last two terms of teaching online – I believe that the material is being collated today and will be discussed by the ‘leadership’ team later in the week. So here’s my effort:

#1 – Really impressed

(1) The students didn’t flinch – many of them were more familiar with TEAMS from work that I was, so they kept teaching me which was a big relief.
(2) Once I’d got a better camera, a directional microphone, and a second screen, going to work was rather like going to NASA Ground Control! [Note to self: Stop humming David Bowie!]
(3) Teaching online meant the students were more likely to engage with pre-prepared material in the Notebook – so, this term I want to push flipped learning even more.
(4) In the ASC, having a one-to-one is very obvious, but online we could just have a quick chat by message or call really easily, so I felt that most students got more personal contact than previously.
(5) I felt much more connected to the faculty (and college) than I had before. With TEAMS it is so much easier (as an HPL) to have quick conversations with key people – not having to wait until the next week, or to schedule something days in advance.
(6) If online teaching becomes much more common in the future, then I’m really hopeful that we will extend our catchment with students only having to attend, maybe, once a term – which will mean more courses can be viable…
(7) Which will also mean that we can teach from anywhere in the world…provided there’s a decent broadband connection!

#2 – Under the circumstances, Mark did a brilliant job!

I really don’t know how he kept his sanity.
(1) What this did highlight to me, though, is how much more support we need in the area of digital learning. I don’t know if he would agree, but I felt that he needs more resources to deliver the kind of service that would help us all raise our game. [PS And that doesn’t mean an apprentice that he has to train from scratch, but an experienced teacher with a track record of digital learning.]
(2) It would be hugely helpful to have a vetted playlist of good online resources (eg YouTube videos) for things like TEAMS (especially its subtler tools and integrations), Class Notebook, OneNote (again, of the subtler tools and integrations), and online teaching. There’s so much Mickey Mouse stuff and general garbage that otherwise takes ages to sift through. This doesn’t need to be developed in isolation – let’s collaborate with Oxford Brookes, the OU, and Oxford Uni who have a lot of this already in place.
(3) I really didn’t get the impression that IT were quick enough to get their act together.
(3a) It beggars belief that EBS wasn’t accessible off campus; and that the security settings weren’t adjusted so that it could be as soon as lockdown became a reality.
(3b) Some checklists of useful equipment to have and even recommendations as to what to buy would have been helpful [of course, a one-off allowance of £100 would have been great too ;-)! ]
(3c) When students had trouble getting into their accounts, or with their hardware, it would have been really helpful to have had a hotline telephone number and twitter account to message. AND for that to be staffed throughout the teaching day.
(3d) And when they did make contact, for the IT team to metaphorically hold their hands while they got connected to the ongoing class. [I really didn’t feel it was right that teachers were expected to manage this process while teaching too.]