Practice-based learning: A safe place to make mistakes. Presentation by Myra Evans BA Journalism Programme Leader and Senior Lecturer of Journalism UWE Learning and Teaching, June 2017 Conference

UWE Bristol Strategy 2020 Priority 2: Ready and able graduates Our graduates ready and able to realise their full potential; well equipped to make a positive contribution to society and their chosen field of work or further study; and primed to play their part in developing a sustainable global society and knowledge economy.

We achieve this by: • offering a portfolio of ‘first choice’ undergraduate and postgraduate programmes with an applied or professional focus, underpinned by practice, applied research, scholarship and employer engagement • offering real world opportunities for every student, such as internships, coaching, peer-assisted learning, placements, project work, community service and volunteering. (UWE Strategy 2020. p8)

Hands-on learning “With practice-based learning a central part of our offer, we have invested in state-of the-art learning environments to give our students plenty of opportunities to practice the skills they need for their careers. From the latest healthcare simulation facilities, and diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy equipment, to our Bloomberg financial trading room, mock law courts and media green room, we are ensuring our students can develop their skills and confidence in highly realistic practice-based environments. “ (UWE Strategy 2020. p9)

Pedagogy: Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle (1984) Concrete Experience (doing/having an experience) Reflective Observation (reviewing/reflecting on the experience) Abstract Conceptualisation (concluding/ learning from experience) Active Experimentation (planning/trying out what you have learned)

How do we do that in journalism? News Days: A news day is a hybrid of simulation and experiential learning where students become practising journalists working in UWE’s multi-media newsroom producing news to a live brief and to a real deadline. The material is currently only broadcast within the newsroom . After each news day programme there is a scheduled feedback and reflection session.

My initial research (Evans 2016) Semi-structured interviews and focus groups with students of journalism at the University of the West of England and Coventry University. Semi-structured group interview with former journalism students at UWE now working in the journalism industry. Findings: Doing it for Real: Benefits of “doing it for real” are widespread (work experience and industry skills) and provide a “safe place to make mistakes” Level of lecturer involvement: Incremental autonomy that comes with the scaffolded learning (Vygotsky, 1987) employed on news days creates a deeper level of learning. Repetition and reflection – surprising amount of self reflection Preparation for Industry

But, something else came out of all of this… “ I think one of the nice things about being very autonomous is that you do figure out more stuff on your own than you think you would. Because I think the hands-off approach is nice because I make a lot of mistakes that are really stupid, and once I’ve made them once I’m like “Okay, that was really stupid”. I’m aware that’s really stupid and I’m probably never going to do it again. If a tutor had caught that earlier and told me not to do it, it might not have sunk in in the same way.” (R18, 2015)

A safe place to make mistakes “In the first and second year, definitely I would rather it have stayed none broadcast, as it did, because I was fully aware that I would make mistakes and I’m sure my peers were as well. That’s fine as long as it is not broadcast. You have got to make mistakes to learn, or at least I do anyway, and if I muck something up I’m not going to do it again, generally. If I muck something up that’s live, that becomes legally unsound, that gets shown to people who are going to complain about it, maybe it gets my name remembered for a massive muck up.” (R1, 2015)

But what did the staff think? (Evans 2017) Scratch Head Clip Art Clipart Panda Free Clipart Images

Getting the balance right Exposure: Makes it real. Motivates. Increases accountability. People can see it. Safety net: Allows students to learn from mistakes. Quality control. Legal issues. V

On the one hand “..making it outward facing, publishing on a platform for the world to see does have its risks, but there are ways to compensate for that and it’s worth doing because actually it does motivate, it does galvanise, it does give them a sense of urgency that you don’t quite get if it’s purely in house.” (R2, 2016) “We’ve made a decision to do that because we think that students are better motivated by having that wider audience. With regard to the limitations, yes, tutors have to be very mindful that this is an outward facing website, it is potentially out there for all to see and therefore, must adhere to ethical and legal professional standards.” (R2, 2016)

On the other hand , if you put it in the public domain then it gives them the confidence of being able to do it for real and they can show their mum you know and it gives them that added excitement that you mentioned but it also then adds that extra pressure, am I getting it right?” (R4, 2016)

What does this mean for the teacher’s role? Lecturer News Days Facilitator Public Domain News Editor Feedback

Maybe it’s a bit like this Lecturer Facilitator News Editor

Questions: How do we provide ”real world opportunities” alongside maintaining that safe place to make mistakes? Are we equipped as teachers and universities to carry the responsibility of publishing/broadcasting to the outside world? Does publishing/broadcasting the material eventually mean less autonomy for the student and more staff intervention? DISCUSS

References: Evans, M. (2016) Storytelling in the newsroom: An investigation into practice-based learning methods in the training and employment of tomorrow’s journalists . Journalism Education, 5 (2). pp. 37-45 Evans, M. (2017) Providing students with real experience while maintaining a safe place to make mistakes . Journalism Education, 6 (1). pp. 76-83 UWE Strategy 2020. Available from: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/about/corporateinformation/strategy.aspx. [Accessed 9 June, 2017] Vygotsky, L. (1987) Thinking and speech. In L. S. Vygotsky, Collected works (vol. 1, pp. 39–285) New York: Plenum. (Original works published in 1934, 1960).