" “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” (Aristotle) According to a recent study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), funded by the Health and Safety Authority, the instances of work-related stress amongst employees in Ireland has doubled between 2010 and 2015. Work-Related Stress (WRS) is stress caused or made worse by work. It simply refers to when a person perceives the work environment in such a way that his or her reaction involves feelings of an inability to cope. ‘Stress occurs when an individual perceives an imbalance between the demands placed on them on the one hand, and their ability to cope on the other. It often occurs in situations characterised by low levels of control and support.’ (Professor Tom Cox, I-WHO, University of Nottingham, UK). As we all know, higher education can be a particularly stressful environment for both staff and students due to a variety of competing demands and deadlines at various stages during the academic year, many of which are beyond their control. Rather than just focusing on students, this workshop was all about staff and helping them survive! It aimed to provide participants with some suggestions to help reduce, or at least manage, some of the causes and effects of stress and hopefully help participants to take control of their workload and stress levels. Participants who attended this workshop: Identified strategies that could be utilised to better manage their workload Became more aware of the signs and symptoms of stress Identified some useful strategies to help deal with stress Examined the value of feedback on lectures and the importance of reflecting on one’s teaching for one’s own professional development Discussed some of the shared challenges faced in higher education today and potential solutions"

"Miles Davis, musical creator extraordinaire, once asserted that sometimes it takes a long time to play like yourself. The 21st century’s complexity and uncertainty requires unprecedented cognitive, affective and operative flexibility, inquiry and creativity. As educators, we are for a short, albeit significant, time company on our students’ developmental journeys. We must be acutely aware of the increasing demands on our students to acquire the competence, capacity and capability to develop authentic life plans – to play like themselves - if our curricula are to support students meet the demands of the curriculum of life (Robert Kegan). The significant challenges for our students are thus challenges of the Self (awareness of values, deepest beliefs and purposes). To be good company on our students’ journeys educators should engage students qua persons; immersing them in teaching and learning environments that challenge and support such Self-development. Accordingly, educators must disrupt ourselves (Randy Bass), embedding an ontological dimension to our curricula so that we cultivate within our students the competence, capacity and capability to live life as inquiry. Scaffolding such reflective practice requires the cultivation of space for students to explore how (for instance) disciplinary understanding is shaping who they are becoming as they transition through formal education in preparation for transition out to (primarily) professional environments. As educators we hold a key to these existentialist doors through how encounters with curricula are designed. If an overarching purpose of Higher Education is framed as the cultivation of intentional learning capacity embodying ‘assessment as learning’ then educators must scaffold students to unlock these existential doors. This may be psychologically and developmentally difficult, but it is perhaps an imperative if students qua graduates are to successfully engage with the unknown, unknowns and unknown knowns of the 21st century. In this workshop, the facilitator shared his own experiments embedding reflective practice into his curricula. He sharde his experiences in designing, implementing and assessing student-centred reflective assessment performances (for example Critical Incident Analysis; Immunity to Change Maps; Picturing Your Future Self Diagrams; Transformative Learning Videos and Lived Experience Portfolios) that explicitly integrate knowing, doing and being; an integration of epistemology with ontology. The aims of this workshop were, to: Justify the concept of reflective practice as a key part of a student-centred curriculum Offer a rationale for reflective practice as a core component of assessment as learning Outline how to embed reflective practice into the curriculum Construct different ways of designing, implementing and assessing student-centred reflective assessment performances The through line of this workshop was to plant (or re-enforce) the seed that we qua educators ought to privilege our role as mentors enabling our students to sing their own ‘developmental’ songs, giving them the courage, to quote Miles Davis again, to don’t play what is there, play what is not there."

Using phenomenological and performative action research methods as a way to explore space, place and context Collette and Bill outlined their recent research projects and showed how the research outcomes were introduced into the Year 1 curriculum.

Getting feedback from our learners is important because it is the only way we can determine if our teaching methods are effective. On a day-to-day basis we can use a variety of short classroom assessment techniques to determine if our learners are “getting it”. While we can put a lot of time and effort into making our lectures clear and well organised, that the pace is right, etc. it is only by asking students that we find out if they are perceived that way or not. Simple mid-term evaluation forms are highly effective as they can be acted upon and changes made to enhance the quality of the lecture. Examples of commonly used end of semester evaluation forms will also be highlighted.

Getting feedback from our learners is important because it is the only way we can determine if our teaching methods are effective. On a day-to-day basis we can use a variety of short classroom assessment techniques to determine if our learners are “getting it”. While we can put a lot of time and effort into making our lectures clear and well organised, that the pace is right, etc. it is only by asking students that we find out if they are perceived that way or not. Simple mid-term evaluation forms are highly effective as they can be acted upon and changes made to enhance the quality of the lecture. Examples of commonly used end of semester evaluation forms will also be highlighted.

Reflective practice is a key skill in many professions including education. but is particularly relevant to students in the context of work placement. We as educators expect students embarking on work placement to have, at some point in their studies, developed sufficient reflection skills to enable them effectively capture their learning from the placement experience. However, this is not always the case as students often receive little explicit instruction, practice or guidance about how to reflect. In this seminar participants will be guided through the process of reflection and engage in reflective practices. There will be opportunities for discussion in breakout rooms. Discussions will cover how other colleagues are engaging students on reflection in placement settings. Expect to be busy at this workshop with reading, discussion, shared practice and maybe even some drawing.

Reflective practice is a key skill in many professions including education. but is particularly relevant to students in the context of work placement. We as educators expect students embarking on work placement to have, at some point in their studies, developed sufficient reflection skills to enable them effectively capture their learning from the placement experience. However, this is not always the case as students often receive little explicit instruction, practice or guidance about how to reflect. In this seminar participants will be guided through the process of reflection and engage in reflective practices. There will be opportunities for discussion in breakout rooms. Discussions will cover how other colleagues are engaging students on reflection in placement settings. Expect to be busy at this workshop with reading, discussion, shared practice and maybe even some drawing.

Reflective practice is a key skill in many professions including education. but is particularly relevant to students in the context of work placement. We as ...