Plan for and support student learning, with a focus on teaching an international classroom
Introduction
I designed and taught a brand-new Option Unit for BA Year 2 in 2024. The Unit teaches creative writing theories and applies them to journalistic writing. I did my schooling in India. In my board system, we were not taught any writing theories. For this Unit, I compiled a series of useful writing theories that I learnt through online writing courses and a creative writing master’s degree in the UK.
Recently, I read through students’ Unit feedback. It was mostly positive. One student mentioned that they had learnt some of the writing theories in GCSE English and found that content repetitive. In this case study, I examine how I can improve the Unit content to cater to a full classroom’s needs.
Evaluation
English at GCSE level is compulsory for students in England (BBC nd). This usually comprises English Language and Literature and test students’ writing skills. Thus, a student highly engaged with this part of their GCSE education can be expected to be aware of some writing theories. However, UAL includes international students and English is taught differently across schooling systems in other countries. Our students come to University with varying knowledge bases and interests. Our goal must be to teach for the median – the majority group of students sitting at the middle in terms of difficulty/complexity of teaching material. Simultaneously, we must ensure that we provide safe space and opportunities for students on either end of the spectrum to clarify their doubts and be engaged and challenged. The question arises – how to practically do this?
Moving Forward
I cannot assume knowledge in my students, and each cohort will come to the Unit with different knowledge bases and experience. Thus, to customise the teaching material and understand which theories require more learning time as per each cohort, I will utilise an early formative assessment in the first class. This is based on suggestions on ‘Assessing Prior Knowledge & Addressing Learning Gaps’ (nd) by Cornell University’s Centre for Teaching Innovation. This formative assessment can be a short survey in which I place the names of writing theories/ideas and ask students to tick the ones that they are familiar with. I will assure the students that they are not expected to know any and that the purpose of the Unit is to introduce them to these concepts, so they do not feel judged or embarrassed.
The caveat remains that even if one student does not tick a certain concept, I must introduce it to the class and engage in that topic. I cannot brush over foundational knowledge that is required to apply the theories to journalistic writing. What the survey can help me with is learning the prior knowledge the students have and distributing my time on foundational vs more complex ideas accordingly. However, in any situation where one educator is teaching more than one student, the content becomes broader to cater to wider audiences and there may be a few students who find the foundational knowledge repetitive. Formative assessments, class activities, and 1-on-1 time can ensure that each student feels their needs are being catered to.
This Unit will begin again in Autumn 2025, wherein I will employ this survey as a formative assessment. I will also share the thinking behind the survey as well as any repetition the students may find in the Unit to maintain transparency with my students and so that they can better understand the dynamics of teaching an international classroom.
References
BBC (nd) ‘GCSE options in England: Everything you need to know about choosing your GCSE subjects’, BBC. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zrjh92p#zv9vg7h (Accessed 12 March 2025).
Cornell University’s Centre for Teaching Innovation (nd) ‘Assessing Prior Knowledge & Addressing Learning Gaps’. Available at: https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/assessment-evaluation/assessing-prior-knowledge-addressing-learning-gaps (Accessed 13 March 2025).