Summary
Reading 1: How do art and design technicians conceive of their role in
higher education? by Clare Sams
This research examines the roles of art and design technicians at the University of the Arts London (UAL). Through various research methods, participants reflected on their perspectives regarding their higher education roles. The findings reveal that technicians view themselves both as support staff for faculty, students, and events in physical and digital learning spaces, annd as educators and skilled practitioners who bring specialized expertise to their fields.
Reading 2: Embracing the silence: introverted learning and the online
classroom by Karen Harris
This study investigates how the shift to online learning has led educators to reevaluate core concepts of student engagement. The online environment offers significant opportunities for transformation, potentially fostering a more contemplative and inclusive teaching approach that better serves introverted students, whose learning preferences have traditionally been overlooked in conventional classroom settings.
Reflection
These readings align closely with my professional experience as a specialist technician in Camberwell’s Sculpture and Computational Arts departments. The research participants described their role as:
Helping students achieve their creative potential, supporting staff and students with technical queries, promoting sustainability and reuse of materials, balancing health and safety and creativity in a workshop environment.
However, this description omits two crucial aspects of the specialist technician role: Learning and Teaching. Learning encompasses continuous skill development and staying current with technological advancements, while Teaching involves transmitting this knowledge and making informed decisions about studio/workshop equipment updates. These responsibilities are so fundamental that they appear in my job title: Specialist Technician (L&T) Studio Trans-disciplinary Practice Fine Arts.
Yet despite this official recognition, institutional support falls short. Our learning responsibilities parallel academic staff’s research practices, but lack comparable support in terms of pay grade, resources, time allocation, and funding opportunities. This disparity between titular acknowledgment and practical support creates frustration among technical staff, reflecting the research finding that while technicians feel their skills are valued, they lack adequate career development support.
“Embracing the silence” resonated with me due to my own tendency to fill conversational gaps—a protective mechanism against being perceived as disengaged or slow-thinking. Over years of personal and professional development, I’ve learned to understand and appreciate silence, making the paper’s three provocations particularly relevant to educators navigating multiple roles.
While the research focuses on online learning environments, its principles apply equally to physical settings, especially in one-to-one tutorials and group workshops. The key paradigm shift involves accepting one’s limitations as an educator and embracing the role of facilitator rather than all-knowing expert. This perspective alleviates the pressure to constantly demonstrate expertise through speech, creating space for deep listening and silent reflection—essential elements for understanding diverse perspectives and resolving conflicts.
Reference
Weeks, D. (2018). The Value of Silence in Schools. [online] Edutopia. Available at: https://www.edutopia.org/article/value-silence-schools.