Dr Heather Kavan - Tertiary Teaching Excellence Teaching Profile

Lecturer, Department of Communication, Journalism and Marketing, Massey University

Not quite a revolutionary

Before I gave my first lecture at University, I probably spent more time deciding what to wear than contemplating my educational philosophy. I know that sounds superficial, but I was excited. I’d been asked to give eight lectures at Massey University, and, as I got off the train at Palmerston North, I knew that even if I was only doing what I loved for four weeks of my life, I was happy.

The students gave my lectures fabulous ratings and I was invited back. Eight years and over 3,000 students later, I am still teaching. I’ve taught courses as diverse as Zen Buddhism and Media Law.

Throughout this time an old yellow and red paperback has never been far from my consciousness. The book Pedagogy of the Oppressed was a familiar sight in student flats in the seventies, next to Pink Floyd LPs and posters of Che Guevara. Author Paulo Freire had been thrown in jail by the Brazilian military police, and in this book he made his famous call for education for freedom.

My idea of freedom may not be as revolutionary as Freire’s, which was incited by a military coup and nurtured in a prison cell. Nevertheless, the aim of my teaching is to liberate students, whether this be liberation from a restrictive world view or simply the freedom to create the career they want.

I am fortunate that I teach subjects, like Communication, that empower people both in everyday life and the workplace. I show students how the success of all their ideas, from small suggestions to grand designs, depends on how they express them. By learning how best to convey their thoughts, and ensuring that their ideas aren’t cast aside simply because they’re not pitched correctly, many students find the value of my courses spills over into their lives.

My favourite subject is Speech Writing, a course that I developed out of my previous experience as a speech writer. Like music, great speeches can move us to tears and lift us to heights within seconds. When I share footage of a brilliant speech with students and see them engaged by its soulful rhythm, or entertained by its humour, there are few things that I would rather be doing.

More than an intellectual hunger

Earlier this year, 15 graduates from my Speech Writing course got up at 5 a.m. to re-unite in an email discussion group as President Obama’s inaugural address was broadcast live. Their work made it on to the front page of the Christchurch Press on Inauguration Day, featured in seven additional newspapers, was on international websites, and quoted on radio. The students’ discussion ignited national debate, including a blog on whether there are any New Zealand speeches as eloquent as Obama’s speeches. Several of the graduates expressed a desire to meet again to discuss further speeches. The sense of community we experienced reminded me that students come to University to satisfy more than an intellectual hunger. We all have basic needs: the need to belong, the need to create meaning, and the need to forge an identity. In class I’m conscious of these, and aim to create positive emotional experiences and a sense of belonging, where students can explore deeper paths and extend their reality.

Einstein’s light beam

My smaller classes usually run for two to three hours. I’m aware that if students don’t participate at the beginning of the class it becomes harder for them to engage later. Therefore I ask students to prepare something to discuss at the start of each class. I choose tasks that are enjoyable and that they can easily do without impinging on their other academic commitments.

I use several methods, such as asking them to recall relevant experiences or giving them a puzzle to ponder. However, the method that seems to work best is thought experiments.

My interest in thought experiments was sparked many years ago when I read the story of Einstein imagining he was riding on a beam of light, and in the process reinterpreting light, time, energy and gravity – the nature of the universe. I use thought experiments myself when grappling with a seemingly unsolvable research problem, and find them the best way of getting insights into things that I can’t know directly.

For example, to prepare for the Speech Writing class on rhythm, I ask students to think of their favourite piece of music and identify the feelings this evokes in them. Then they imagine giving a speech that stirs up the same feelings in the audience, and examine whether their imaginings give them clues for writing their speeches.

By getting students to articulate their ideas and experiences before they’ve learned about the topic or read the textbooks, I can begin where they’re at. Another advantage of thought experiments is that students tend to synthesise other concepts of the course during the experiment. Insights emerge and all students have to do is daydream, which they seem to like!

Celluloid

I’ve found film clips invaluable in helping students link theory to practice. This is especially the case with Speech Writing where writing a great speech when you had never heard one would be like writing a song when you had never heard music. Therefore I incorporate relevant speech scenes from movies, documentaries and TV programmes into my classes.

As it’s important to me that distance students experience the interactive elements that internal students enjoy, I’ve created DVDs for all my distance courses. The DVDs contain a series of engaging film clips for each week’s topic. I send them to students so that they receive something extra with the course – a ‘free’ gift that they can keep when it ends. Several students have told me of positive experiences they’ve had sharing the film with family and friends, and studying collaboratively within their social setting.

Students are always keen for variety in assessments, so I incorporate film in assignments as a way of intensifying learning. For distance students I also have weekly online discussions that require them to choose a clip from the week’s selection and discuss it in the light of theory. The variety of film I’ve put together incorporates a range of tastes, and students who dislike a particular programme, actor, or film genre, have the choice of analysing another clip instead.

Scheherazade

When I was a child I was fascinated by the story of the Persian woman, Scheherazade. According to the story, Scheherazade was married to the King who was going to behead her, but she postponed the execution by telling him a riveting story and stopping on such a suspenseful note that he delayed her beheading for a day so that she could resume the story the next night. The cycle of stories, suspense and delays continued for 1,000 nights.

Perhaps because of my childhood fascination, a characteristic of my teaching is that I often tell stories. For me, stories are the best way of humanising concepts. They also ignite interest, make information memorable, and help me create a bond with students. As I often spend as much as 10 hours a week in fieldwork for my research, I have a storehouse of stories that I can use.

Money, money

I was thrilled to get a National Tertiary Teaching Excellence award, and I’m using the money to buy an audience response system for Speech Writing. When listening to speeches, students will be able to record their moment by moment reactions by turning a dial on a meter to indicate which parts they are responding to favourably or unfavourably. Their combined responses will be displayed on a graph, which will allow the class to identify the words, phrases and rhythms that strike a chord or leave them unmoved.

Overseas this technology has been used in a variety of settings from film making to speed dating. Speech writers also use information from audience response systems, but the research so far only tells us the words and phrases that audiences in the United States love to hear, such as ‘all American’. Here in New Zealand, the students and I will be able to do joint research – gathering information on speech preferences that will not just be invaluable for political and business oratory, it will also help ordinary Kiwis prepare a speech.

Back to the sartorial future

I began by commenting that before my first lecture I probably gave more thought to what I would wear than my educational philosophy. The comparison is apt because educational philosophies are, in my view, a bit like clothes. A model can wear the most unbecoming clothes and look like a million dollars; conversely another person may look unsightly in even the most elegant attire. I think that, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter so much what philosophy we adopt, it’s the grace and dignity with which we carry it that counts.

So my plan for the future is to walk tall.

Peer and Student Comments

“Not sure what to say – I’m blown away. I feel overwhelmed but liberated .… this paper is so relevant – I see all the facets of communication every day …. I just want to know more!”
Anonymous student comment on extramural survey, 2007

“It was encouraging to hear Obama use the very same writing and speaking techniques that we used in our course. Even better, it was fantastic to see that they really work and can achieve amazing results.”
Speech writing graduate, Grayson Coutts

“Heather gave thought-provoking lectures which generated class discussions that often continued on outside of class, usually until the next lecture.”
Communication graduate, Mark Dittmer

“Heather’s passion for the subject meant that not only was she clear and coherent, she was also vivacious.”
Marie Elliott, peer evaluation of lecture

“This has been a fantastic course and has used a variety of medium to reinforce the theory. The lecturer has been extremely responsive and flexible and has offered personal comment and guidance. This is the best paper and most valuable learning I have undertaken.”
Anonymous comment on extramural survey, 2008

“In terms of “the best lecturer”, I not only mean that she has great professional teaching skills, but also mean that she has the most gracious and inspiring personality that influenced me to become a more diligent and successful person.”
Communication graduate Bin Hu