The Life Pursuit: The Life Pursuit: From student to teaching assistant to learning developer
A blog with an optional soundtrack (hyperlinks to the music are in bold)
Dr Mona O’Brien, LEADS, University of Glasgow
Every so often I remember snippets of my undergraduate essays, when my glasses are a little rose-tinted, I call them passionate; other days, I think they sounded a bit angry, especially where I tried ‘critiquing’ scholarly literature. The essays aimed for an air of confidence as I unpicked the literature, always focusing on shortcomings and problems. However, in reality, they said ‘I don’t know what I’m doing’. I was a full of imposter syndrome and lacked a thorough understanding of how argument and critique actually work in a university essay. Fortunately, I had some excellent lecturers and tutors who put a lot of time and effort into feedback, so over the course of my undergraduate degree I developed a more complete understanding of academic writing and its various facets.
Fast-forward several years and I’m a PhD candidate in History at the University of Glasgow, working on histories of illness and power. While doing my PhD, I became a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) in History. Working with the University of Glasgow’s wonderfully diverse student population (which my colleague Dr Andrew Struan has also written about recently on this blog), I began to recognise that many of the students were struggling, as I had, in developing their academic literacies. For instance, when discussing essay-writing, my questions on what makes an effective argument or critique were routinely met with the sound of silence.
This led me to the Learning Enhancement and Academic Development Service (LEADS), looking through their classes and resources I was amazed by the comprehensive student support they provided. The team is dedicated to developing students’ academic literacies and demystifying everything from research to criticality. Moreover, the department is committed to developing future learning developers and educators by employing a team of GTAs. When they were hiring, I applied, hoping they would take me on (take on me).
As a GTA at LEADS I delivered classes to develop undergraduate and taught postgraduate (PGT) students’ academic literacies around essay and dissertation writing (covering topics including structure, argumentation, research, editing, etc.); held individual appointments where students could come and discuss their academic work and development; and collaborated with colleagues to develop synchronous and asynchronous courses, such as a course on the History of Argumentation, which supports students in developing their skills in analysis and argumentation. There was always excellent training and support from the team’s permanent Effective Learning Advisers, who enthusiastically encouraged GTAs to bring new ideas and approaches to the department. Over my two happy years as a GTA, I gained a wealth of experience and knowledge, and my confidence in all aspects of my work grew, thanks to the positive work environment. Moreover, I also found the work fulfilling and greatly enjoyed supporting students in developing their understanding and skills.
In 2021, moving to a postdoctoral position in Germany was bittersweet as I had to say ‘auf Wiedersehen’ to a job that I really loved. While working on my research, I kept looking for opportunities to return to learning development. In January 2022, I was delighted to return to LEADS in a full-time role as an Effective Learning Adviser for International Students. These days, along with our regular classes and individual appointments, I’m working on developing further ways to support student learning and academic literacies development. For example, drawing on our own past anxieties as students, Dr Stuart Purcell and I are developing the course Theory for the Terrified, designed to give students a thorough grounding in understanding and using critical theory in their academic work. As well as this, myself and Dr Julia Bohlmann are starting an exciting project to collaborate with students to learn more about the experiences of international PGTs and, from there, develop resources to support their academic development and transitions across academic contexts.
It’s an exciting time to join the LD community as it continues to develop and expand, and I’m very hopeful that nothing’s going to stop us now.