Ms Stella Tarrant - Faculty of ECEL

'Excellence in Teaching - what is it?'

The environment in which learning occurs is vital to its effectiveness. Learning, it seems to me, occurs best where fun is being had - where there is unself-conscious engagement in thinking, discussion, writing or reading. In my view, this engagement is most often achieved in the absence of fear and anxiety and where there is good-humour, enthusiasm - and time. I aim for a happy learning environment. To reduce fear and anxiety I: acknowledge how terrifying groups can be; make it an express basis of the seminars (in my introductory handout and orally) that there is "no such thing as a stupid question - yours or anyone else's"; use small-group and pair-discussions frequently; and respond to every student with the assumption that they have something very interesting to say, every time. Realising that I really like my students I believe makes an enormous difference to the quality of my teaching.