Artists and designers have always taken inspiration from nature. It had never occurred to me that Teachers could also take inspiration from nature and not just nature but from artists and these compelling experiences that these artists create. When the course began I had no idea that we would draw these bridges and today as we stand at the ending, it is amazing to find these connections . Our task has just begun and it has opened a window for me to look at things in a different light and extract things that makes teaching a compelling experience.
The foundation was set by the Photography module. It stressed the importance of composition and proportion. How simple rules of placing an object makes a difference. Contrary to general belief, not always things that are at the center, at your face will be compelling. How focus and depth matters and where and when to focus. These bridges when drawn for a subject matter and a lesson plan brings in a huge change to it. How color happens to bring in emotion, how the direction of light not only illuminates an object but also speaks about the time of the day and so many other emotions. This module taught me that “God is in Details”. Only when you break apart a thing, you are able to view it in greater detail and our job as a teacher is to bring in order to this chaotic world of understanding. Only when we view a plant cell under an electronic microscope, we are able to see that it is so much similar to the structure of the Universe. These connections have allowed me to bridge the gap between the micro and the macro.
Then we moved to Architecture and started seeing the implication of proportions put to real world. Something like applied knowledge being different from pure science. Another dimension of volume came into picture and how it affects our mood and behavior. How color from nature is applied on artificial surfaces to make us still feel being close to nature. How units and modular designs make a design universal and barrier free. As teachers too we need to follow standards so that someone else can understand it and then carry the knowledge further. Barrier free concept needs to be applied to teaching as well so that no child is left behind. More than one way of representing information is so very important and I came to better know of these by going through the course. How light can become a tool to drive a design. How it can draw people. Similarly we need to show the light at the end of the tunnel to our students for them to cross the tunnel. In interior design we learnt how a couch is much more comfortable than a wooden chair and thus we should strive to make our teaching like a couch and not just like a chair which was passed to us from the previous generation.
The Film module taught me the concept of motion. How a film is a journey between two perfect still pictures became clearer in this module. A film not just has the compelling experiences of a still photograph but it also has a forward motion to it. This brings in another dimension, something similar to architecture. How different goals can be achieved by juxtaposing two frames on top of one another at the same time a complete different experience is achieved by placing them side by side. I became more aware of narration and its styles. The difference between continuous and discrete narration became clear and how it could be used to achieve various goals. Similarly as teachers we should look into this flow and try to teach lessons in a fashion that the narration becomes clear and not just blindly follow the sequence of the syllabus.
Music module stressed the importance of repetition and hook. A simple information when put in a rhythm becomes easy to remember. Similarly the Fashion module talks about change. The need to know your own body and your own strengths. Then decide and choose things that suit you. Students should become more aware of their own strengths. Then they should adopt a learning style that achieves the goal that they intend to complete. The whole course has given me a different lens to look through. It has allowed me to frame my problems through different parameters and not just the ones that I was looking till now. It has taught me that a teacher is like a photographer, artist, who needs to look at things through a lens and then make a composition that is most compelling for the particular experience.
