‘Reframing’ - a tool to assist change

Another powerful technique for overcoming constraints in the teaching environment is to ‘reframe’ the situation. Here is an example. A lecturer says:

• ‘I always have to provide a lecture summary on a handout because this is what my colleagues tell me the students expect.’

This could be reframed as

• ‘Lecture summary handouts are what the students expect and they get upset if they don’t get them.’

This too could be reframed

• ‘The Department accedes to student pressure on lecture handouts rather than making a pedagogical decision.’

And in the case of the individual lecturer

• ‘I believe the class would not be satisfied and might complain if I did not provide a lecture summary handout.’

Reframing the situation in this hypothetical example has gone beneath the surface assumption (a lecture handout is always a good thing) to uncover a deeper reason (giving in to student pressure).

The question can now be considered from a pedagogical point of view:

• Is a lecture handout ALWAYS a good thing?’

You can bring various ‘lenses’ to bear on this question: theoretical, the views of your colleagues, and your own views. It is very likely that you will conclude that sometimes a lecture handout is a good thing, but sometimes there are more compelling reasons for not supplying one.

Your research into this question is also likely to throw up an immense variety of ways of using the lecture handout to make it an effective, active, learning tool in its own right. (To get further views on such issues, it’s always worthwhile doing a websearch to see if you can find an on-line discussion or resume of the arguments).