Risks, reflection, rewards, and resistance: academic perspectives on creative pedagogies for active learning

Tasler, N. , Dale, V. H. M. , Breslin, M. , Charters, M., Docherty, F. T. , Karlsson-Brown, P. S. , Karadaglic, D., Reid, D. and Robertson-Kirkland, B. (2023) Risks, reflection, rewards, and resistance: academic perspectives on creative pedagogies for active learning. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 11(3), pp. 80-96. (doi: 10.56433/jpaap.v11i3.585)

Abstract

In recent decades there has been a paradigmatic shift in higher education towards active learning, requiring educators to adopt student-centred approaches to teaching to promote deep learning and the development of essential graduate attributes. A ‘Creative pedagogies for active learning’ course was designed to offer academic staff an opportunity to take risks in developing innovative student-centred teaching approaches. While participants encountered ‘dissonance’ during the early stages of the creative pedagogies course, the course leads were able to support participants through this period of uncertainty and risk-taking towards successfully disrupting their own teaching practice. This reflective analysis paper outlines the course and showcases several case studies of practice by participants. We also reflect on their experiences through a subsequent roundtable discussion. This revealed that the course had made a longer-term impact on some participants in terms of their teaching and assessment practice and showcasing this to other educators. However, resistance to change in some departments was noted, making it difficult for staff to implement creative pedagogies more widely in practice. Suggestions for overcoming resistance are presented, and the paper concludes with future directions for taking this work forward.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Charters, Mr Mark and Dale, Dr Vicki and Tasler, Dr Nathalie and Breslin, Mark and Docherty, Dr Frances and Karlsson-Brown, Dr Paula and Robertson-Kirkland, Dr Brianna and Reid, Dr Donald
• Authors: Tasler, N., Dale, V. H. M., Breslin, M., Charters, M., Docherty, F. T., Karlsson-Brown, P. S., Karadaglic, D., Reid, D., and Robertson-Kirkland, B.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies ; College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine; College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Pedagogy, Praxis & Faith; University Services > Student and Academic Services > Academic Services
• Journal Name: Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice
• Publisher: Edinburgh Napier University
• ISSN: 2051-9788
• ISSN (Online): 2051-9788
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 Nathalie Tasler, Vicki Harcus Morgan Dale, Mark Breslin, Mark Charters, Frances Therese Docherty, Paula S. Karlsson, Dejan Karadaglic, Donald Reid, Brianna Robertson-Kirkland
• First Published: First published in Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice 11(3):80-96
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license