Guest Lecture - Alice Davies
Alice Davies's lecture was on Widening Access in Wales and she concentrated on how it functions and what it consists of.
Her first slide explained that "Widening access is about increasing opportunities for people from a diverse range of backgrounds to benefit from higher education (HE)."
There was then a quote from Jane Davidson (Minister for Education and Lifelong learning in 2002)
"We want to see a country where every individual is given equal opportunity to fulfil their potential, maximise their earning potential and contribute to society"
This is an area of education that I take a particular interest in and to an extent agree with the equal opportunities for all therefore found it a very interesting lecture. Alice went on to discuss the different social classes and what ones dominate Higher Education, she also explained that the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation shows that poverty persists and that's why we need the widening access. The lecture moved on to discuss the more deprived areas in Wales, and this was shown with a map picture with the more deprived areas targeted.
The next point that Alice discussed was the Three Regional Partnerships ( North and Mid Wales, First Campus - South East and the South West Wales Partnership). These partnerships aim to encourage progression to higher education, enhance individuals achievement, they help work with areas with social disadvantages and they focus on the underrepresented communities. The partnerships are made up of Higher Education, Further Education, the local authorities, Careers Wales, the third sector and Communities first which are all come together to give these more deprived communities better opportunities.
Before this lecture I was unaware of these Partnerships therefore I was very interested when Alice began discussing them, I was particularly interested when she went into some more depth about what these partnerships do for children at different ages. For example the art projects that they've set up for primary school children and the weekend clubs for comprehensive schools. The fact that they have in fact set up these opportunities for children from an early age right the way through to higher education is something that is very important to Wales and also something that I feel needs to be developed further.
Overall I feel as though this lecture was very interesting and introduced me to the work that these partnerships actually do for the social community's who are a little less fortunate.
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Guest Lecturer- Graham Allen
Graham Allen's lecture was based around sustainable Education, and the use of education to address the environment and developmental issues. This lecture was something different to the usual education lecture as it brought some more important living issues into the educational environment. Once again it was something that I was instantly drawn to and another part of education that I hadn't really heard about before hand. Graham Allen's presentation was also very interesting as he had a very dry sense of humor and his delivery was very entertaining and easy to listen to.
The basic idea of the lecture was to introduce the idea of education for sustainable development and encouraging its use for individuals to think for themselves and make their own personal opinions. It was also focusing on the education that is learned through life experiences and to value what we learn.
He then went on to discuss corporate responsibility, another term that I am unaware of therefore was glad to learn about. This was explained through using different graphs and bullet points, it was also categorized into four different sections for Corporate Responsibility in the education sector: community, environment, marketplace and workplace.
Graham then moved on to discuss the benefits of growth (once again something that I didn't really understand) and certain benefits for example creates employment, higher incomes and decreases poverty. He also went on to discuss the alternatives and lead on to the great depression and bullet points to what adds to the Great Depression including things like war, divorce and pollution.
He then moved back to education for sustainability to conclude the lecture, concentrating on the changes that have happened including different dates movements in education.
To summarise I felt that Graham Allen's lecture included several issues that I knew little about and perhaps I was unable to understand the majority as it was all crammed into one hour therefore I struggled to gather everything that was said.
Graham Allen's lecture was based around sustainable Education, and the use of education to address the environment and developmental issues. This lecture was something different to the usual education lecture as it brought some more important living issues into the educational environment. Once again it was something that I was instantly drawn to and another part of education that I hadn't really heard about before hand. Graham Allen's presentation was also very interesting as he had a very dry sense of humor and his delivery was very entertaining and easy to listen to.
The basic idea of the lecture was to introduce the idea of education for sustainable development and encouraging its use for individuals to think for themselves and make their own personal opinions. It was also focusing on the education that is learned through life experiences and to value what we learn.
He then went on to discuss corporate responsibility, another term that I am unaware of therefore was glad to learn about. This was explained through using different graphs and bullet points, it was also categorized into four different sections for Corporate Responsibility in the education sector: community, environment, marketplace and workplace.
Graham then moved on to discuss the benefits of growth (once again something that I didn't really understand) and certain benefits for example creates employment, higher incomes and decreases poverty. He also went on to discuss the alternatives and lead on to the great depression and bullet points to what adds to the Great Depression including things like war, divorce and pollution.
He then moved back to education for sustainability to conclude the lecture, concentrating on the changes that have happened including different dates movements in education.
To summarise I felt that Graham Allen's lecture included several issues that I knew little about and perhaps I was unable to understand the majority as it was all crammed into one hour therefore I struggled to gather everything that was said.
Guest Lecture - Professor David Warner
The lecture we received from Professor Warner was one that I will remember for a long time, mainly because of his peculiar sense of humor or his slightly Victorian style of presentation, expecting the wooden ruler to slam on the table at any second kept me 100% concentrated throughout.
Having said this it did turn out to be a very interesting lecture as he discussed several issues, summarizing higher education. He began with a form of quiz, by initially putting a shortlist of different university's on the power point slide and asking us to categorize them from oldest to youngest. To my surprise when he revealed the answer it turned out that the Trinty campus Lampeter was in fact one of the oldest in Britain when I expected that to be one of the more recently formed University's. He then went on to discuss the diversity in higher education and some recent key legislation for example the education reform act, the further and higher education act and the teacher and higher education act. Again this is an area of education that I was very unaware of and it was interesting to gather this knowledge and see how everything has progressed over the years.
The most interesting part for me however is when he went on to discuss the Swansea Metropolitan and where we fit into this picture. How we are in fact one of the newest and oldest universities in Britain, and also the comparison between us and Swansea University and how we are different. He finished with two controversial issues with why do we go to university? and why the student fees? where the money and jobs seem to be equally as good in areas of trade.
This lecture was in fact one of my favorite yet as Professor David Warner was able to transfer the information in good humor and in a way that made an area of education that would possibly be less interesting than others seem compelling.
The lecture we received from Professor Warner was one that I will remember for a long time, mainly because of his peculiar sense of humor or his slightly Victorian style of presentation, expecting the wooden ruler to slam on the table at any second kept me 100% concentrated throughout.
Having said this it did turn out to be a very interesting lecture as he discussed several issues, summarizing higher education. He began with a form of quiz, by initially putting a shortlist of different university's on the power point slide and asking us to categorize them from oldest to youngest. To my surprise when he revealed the answer it turned out that the Trinty campus Lampeter was in fact one of the oldest in Britain when I expected that to be one of the more recently formed University's. He then went on to discuss the diversity in higher education and some recent key legislation for example the education reform act, the further and higher education act and the teacher and higher education act. Again this is an area of education that I was very unaware of and it was interesting to gather this knowledge and see how everything has progressed over the years.
The most interesting part for me however is when he went on to discuss the Swansea Metropolitan and where we fit into this picture. How we are in fact one of the newest and oldest universities in Britain, and also the comparison between us and Swansea University and how we are different. He finished with two controversial issues with why do we go to university? and why the student fees? where the money and jobs seem to be equally as good in areas of trade.
This lecture was in fact one of my favorite yet as Professor David Warner was able to transfer the information in good humor and in a way that made an area of education that would possibly be less interesting than others seem compelling.
Guest Lecturer
Stephen Gill
This is my first of four blogs on the guest lecturers that we had during Andy's absence. Stephen Gill was one of the first guest lecturers that came in and gave us two lectures and two seminars teaching us about governing body's in an educational environment. This is an area of education that I have a personal interest in as I spent a year working in a Primary School and never really understood what the governing body's purpose was. In the first lecture we received some basic information of what the governing body are for and in fact how important they are to a school environment. I learned that the governing body is possibly the most important part of the educational environment and that every incident or issue within the school is taken to the governing body.
We then had a seminar with Stephen where we learned some information on his personal teaching history and the parts hes had to play in a governing body as a headteacher. We also had an opportunity to put ourselves in the situation of a governing body where we were asked to put a school curriculum together and also to organize a list of items and objects that are required for an overnight school trip. These activity's really put it into perspective, by showing how hard it is to be a governor and how many different complicated decisions that have to be made. For example the list of different things that were needed for a school trip was something that none of us as a seminar group were able to compare to Stephens list, which shows how much thought is put in to such a small event.
After the lectures and seminars with Stephen Gill I have learned how important a governing body is to an educational environment and also how much work is put in by individuals who are volunteering to be apart of the school and therefore receive nothing but travel expenses. Therefore you have to give credit to the people who are a member of these body's as it seems as if it they are putting in so much time and effort only to give the pupils of the school the best possible educational opportunities.
Stephen Gill
This is my first of four blogs on the guest lecturers that we had during Andy's absence. Stephen Gill was one of the first guest lecturers that came in and gave us two lectures and two seminars teaching us about governing body's in an educational environment. This is an area of education that I have a personal interest in as I spent a year working in a Primary School and never really understood what the governing body's purpose was. In the first lecture we received some basic information of what the governing body are for and in fact how important they are to a school environment. I learned that the governing body is possibly the most important part of the educational environment and that every incident or issue within the school is taken to the governing body.
We then had a seminar with Stephen where we learned some information on his personal teaching history and the parts hes had to play in a governing body as a headteacher. We also had an opportunity to put ourselves in the situation of a governing body where we were asked to put a school curriculum together and also to organize a list of items and objects that are required for an overnight school trip. These activity's really put it into perspective, by showing how hard it is to be a governor and how many different complicated decisions that have to be made. For example the list of different things that were needed for a school trip was something that none of us as a seminar group were able to compare to Stephens list, which shows how much thought is put in to such a small event.
After the lectures and seminars with Stephen Gill I have learned how important a governing body is to an educational environment and also how much work is put in by individuals who are volunteering to be apart of the school and therefore receive nothing but travel expenses. Therefore you have to give credit to the people who are a member of these body's as it seems as if it they are putting in so much time and effort only to give the pupils of the school the best possible educational opportunities.
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Finished my final piece and ready to hand the work in now. Very happy with the outcome, I have managed to capture myself playing rugby successfully in a sketch form. I am particularly happy with the main picture of me in the Swansea jersey as it was the hardest to get a simular image. There is a definate comparision to the Inglorious Basterds poster but it still has its own personal identity, this is another thing that I aimed out to do.
There are a couple of things that I would like to have improved on. There were a couple of the sketches dont quite have enough depth, for example the four beneath the title are a little too basic. I also feel as if I have got a couple of the images wrong, as in body parts too large or too small. There is also a little too much colour, when starting the final piece I was hoping that I could just use one or two colours but unfortunatley I was unable to fill the paper completely and without the addition of the green and yellow the piece would have looked unfinished. Also I feel as if the green is quite symbolic to the page as it really captures a rugby pitch and I have infact managed to get the illusion of several different fields with one colour pen.
There are a couple of things that I would like to have improved on. There were a couple of the sketches dont quite have enough depth, for example the four beneath the title are a little too basic. I also feel as if I have got a couple of the images wrong, as in body parts too large or too small. There is also a little too much colour, when starting the final piece I was hoping that I could just use one or two colours but unfortunatley I was unable to fill the paper completely and without the addition of the green and yellow the piece would have looked unfinished. Also I feel as if the green is quite symbolic to the page as it really captures a rugby pitch and I have infact managed to get the illusion of several different fields with one colour pen.
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Visual Communications Assignment
Initially I struggled with this project, as I had no idea whatsoever on the meaning of "A sense of place." Personally I felt that the title was far too open for an assignment and that there was no direction to look towards. Therefore I purchased a sketchbook and began with a spider diagram. Beggining with a sense of place and developing it into over 8 different topics then developing it further untill I had about a hundred ideas on the page. Although this did not help me find a direction to aim my sketches, I realised that I could infact use my artistic side to just sketch things in everyday life or that are attached to me and hopefully stumble apon a couple of ideas that I would find compelling enough to develop further.
After sketching around the house and a couple of things that are important or take up most of my time ( Fruit Ninja on the IPad) I moved on to some of the other things that I had written down on the spider diagram. First was Film and Television, two sketches of screens that had several different posters and titles from my favourite programs/films. Then I went further into film, especially the films of Quentin Tarantino whose unique style to use cartoon like images for his posters was something that I could relate to in my style of drawing. After developing a couple of his posters I found my drawing of the "Inglorious Basterds" poster the most compelling. I felt that I could perhaps use this format but bring my own sketches and create my own personal movie poster.
Therefore I moved on to another two key elements of my life, family and friends and sport. With the family and friends section I used a different form of sketching, it was a more childish basic cartoon that id taken from some of my A level work when my module was based on that. I attempted to recreate my family, close friends and rugby team by using this method but unfortunatley I couldnt see it fitting on the poster as it was too simple a form of drawing. The next section I used was sport, again I began with a spider diagram and browsed all the different sports that I am interested in. But realistically the only one that I wanted to develop was rugby as it is the only sport I currently play, it also takes up a massive chunk of my life.
I sketched different elements of rugby from the movement in a tackle to a poster demonstrating the rivalry between Wales and England. I also included some famous quotes that could possibly go on the poster somewhere as a tagline. After doing rugby in general I moved on to a more personal aspect. My own personal career, beggining with a page that showed all the different competative sports teams I have been a part of in my life. I then wrote a page on all the teams I have played in and how my personal position has changed through the years.
After this research I decided that I was going to make a movie poster on my rugby career, which would show my development from playing school rugby to seniors with my local club (which has to hold a large amount of importance as I am very close with the club) and the developing into this year which I have spent with semi proffesional team Swansea the club I have supported since I was a child.
The poster will be in Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" style and the title with be Sam Crowley's Journey to the Centre... Coming Soon.
Initially I struggled with this project, as I had no idea whatsoever on the meaning of "A sense of place." Personally I felt that the title was far too open for an assignment and that there was no direction to look towards. Therefore I purchased a sketchbook and began with a spider diagram. Beggining with a sense of place and developing it into over 8 different topics then developing it further untill I had about a hundred ideas on the page. Although this did not help me find a direction to aim my sketches, I realised that I could infact use my artistic side to just sketch things in everyday life or that are attached to me and hopefully stumble apon a couple of ideas that I would find compelling enough to develop further.
After sketching around the house and a couple of things that are important or take up most of my time ( Fruit Ninja on the IPad) I moved on to some of the other things that I had written down on the spider diagram. First was Film and Television, two sketches of screens that had several different posters and titles from my favourite programs/films. Then I went further into film, especially the films of Quentin Tarantino whose unique style to use cartoon like images for his posters was something that I could relate to in my style of drawing. After developing a couple of his posters I found my drawing of the "Inglorious Basterds" poster the most compelling. I felt that I could perhaps use this format but bring my own sketches and create my own personal movie poster.
Therefore I moved on to another two key elements of my life, family and friends and sport. With the family and friends section I used a different form of sketching, it was a more childish basic cartoon that id taken from some of my A level work when my module was based on that. I attempted to recreate my family, close friends and rugby team by using this method but unfortunatley I couldnt see it fitting on the poster as it was too simple a form of drawing. The next section I used was sport, again I began with a spider diagram and browsed all the different sports that I am interested in. But realistically the only one that I wanted to develop was rugby as it is the only sport I currently play, it also takes up a massive chunk of my life.
I sketched different elements of rugby from the movement in a tackle to a poster demonstrating the rivalry between Wales and England. I also included some famous quotes that could possibly go on the poster somewhere as a tagline. After doing rugby in general I moved on to a more personal aspect. My own personal career, beggining with a page that showed all the different competative sports teams I have been a part of in my life. I then wrote a page on all the teams I have played in and how my personal position has changed through the years.
After this research I decided that I was going to make a movie poster on my rugby career, which would show my development from playing school rugby to seniors with my local club (which has to hold a large amount of importance as I am very close with the club) and the developing into this year which I have spent with semi proffesional team Swansea the club I have supported since I was a child.
The poster will be in Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" style and the title with be Sam Crowley's Journey to the Centre... Coming Soon.
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