Title
A critical friend in the function of sustainable pedagogy at university
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Abstract
The ideas of sustainable development reach into all areas of human life. The 17 SDGs also include inclusive and quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning. In this context, we would like to introduce the 'Critical Friend Instrument'.
Education as a process of change, appropriation and cognitive interaction between learners and teachers requires rethinking the way we teach. The educational process is not limited to the transmission and exchange of knowledge, but to the creation of a space for the emergence and construction of knowledge. This underlines the need to develop teachers' competences and consequently to introduce new didactic methods and techniques, technological means and approaches. To be able to do this, university teachers must first be aware of themselves (self-knowledge), of others (of students' abilities) and of their collaboration with others (of the reality of their own actions and the impact of their actions (teaching) on students).
Self-awareness and openness to feedback on one's own work are important, because the examination of one's own development and application of pedagogical working methods ultimately leads to the shaping of one's own pedagogical practise. It is a kind of personal 'norm' for a university teacher's work, a way of working that is unique to the individual. The individual can become a "prisoner" of his or her own patterns of practise, which may include those that are not the best or that are not sufficiently adapted to changes in the teaching profession, the expectations of younger generations, etc. This can be overcome with the Critical Friend Instrument. This is a process where a teacher, a colleague, a so-called critical friend, gives feedback on the way knowledge is imparted to students based on pedagogical observation. This tool can contribute to the lifelong learning of the teachers themselves.
This kind of enriching conversation is based on relationship and mutual trust, and the basis for the conversation is a prepared structure of pedagogical observation. The structure focuses on the learning process rather than the content, and students are also included. Although there are different ideas about what constitutes good teaching and how students learn, the results of such a lesson observation and especially the conversation with a critical friend provide enough information for self-reflection and a possible change in teaching practise. In this we can see an aspect of sustainable action, as the focus is on collaboration and the exchange of views, practises and ideas rather than competition.
This paper discusses the aspect of pedagogical observation elaborated in the critical friend instrument used at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Public Administration. The characteristics of the instrument and the results of the analysis of the opinions of teachers who have used the Critical Friend Instrument in the past are presented, and suggestions are made for ways to improve the pedagogical process itself and for the further practise of the Critical Friend Instrument.
