Teaching in the Time of Coronavirus: Blended Learning & Online Teaching at London College of Fashion

Paper: Matti Juutilainen (London College of Fashion (LCF), University of the Arts London)

Abstract

This research investigated the experiences of 5 technicians and 5 academics teaching at London College of Fashion across a wide range of fashion design disciplines/roles during the Coronavirus Pandemic (March 2020 until January 2022). The main question for this inquiry:; How have teaching practices evolved for technicians and academics in an Arts and Design setting, while implementing a Blended learning approach towards teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic online and in-person? Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews focused on the teaching experiences of the 10 participants from across a range of disciplines/roles in Fashion subject specialisms. The investigation asked participants questions to comprehend how implementing a Blended learning approach towards teaching and learning during the Pandemic online has affected their current teaching practice. In conducting the literature review, there is recognised gap in the literature with a lack of research carried out in Art and Design institutions. The aim of this study is to contribute to this area of research. The literature review found in the Community of Inquiry model introduced by Garrison (2001) as an appropriate framework to support the development of the interview questions and analysis for the study. Communities of inquiry consist of three essential elements: Cognitive Presence, Social Presence and Teaching Presence. It is evident from analysis of the interview transcripts, that the three presences related to the wealth of descriptive coding generated for the interviewees accounts. Three supplementary themes emerged from the analysis that developed categories for teaching practice: Appropriate Tools, Staff Development & Support and Compassionate Pedagogy. It is felt that for the Community of Inquiry framework to work efficiently requires the supplementary themes as foundations in place to support it. To demonstrate this idea visually, Juutilainen (2022) created a diagram to illustrate how the additional three key foundations wrap around and support the three presences that comprise the Community of Inquiry. Through experiences of teaching staff in this case study I hope to provide some insights for the participants to gain a better understanding of how implement blended learning strategies, with the goal of helping university teachers (in particular those who have little experience with online teaching and learning) to navigate these new teaching modalities.