“Unchartered Territory”
A year in the life of an esports teacher (Part 3)
This is the third in a series of blog posts by lecturer, consultant, and teacher of esports, Nik Turner.
With induction and diagnostic complete it’s time start some ‘proper’ teaching.. or at least that’s what I originally thought — but my plans were about to change!
Having looked at the work that had been produced by the groups, along with the sorts of discussions we were having in class, something obvious hit me — and hit me hard — I had no benchmark to work with in terms of prior learning, or established knowledge, as school leavers don’t do esports at school! None of them can wave a GCSE certificate showing that they’ve achieved a grade 9 in esports, in fact there is literally nothing they can give me, there is no baseline!
But that’s not just the students… With the brand new BTEC, as educators we’re in a very similar boat in that we haven’t delivered it before, so where on earth should we start? In my years of experience in education I’ve found there’s usually two sorts of teachers when it comes to delivering completely new courses and curriculum.
Firstly, you have those with a ‘I don’t want to do it’ attitude – this can be a dangerous tactic when considering your career in teaching, everyone likes familiarity and even better if that familiarity brings with it the option of using previously prepared resources. However, it’s also important that any resources that are being re-used are updated. Far too often I see teachers delivering material that hasn’t been refreshed in years, case studies are being used that are out of date and at times no longer even relevant!
Then, you have the ‘let me at it’ attitude which usually (not always) results in a far better learning experience for the student. When delivering the BTEC in esports you only have one option and it’s this one! You will struggle to find pre-existing resources; you almost definitely won’t be able to ask a colleague for what they used last year so you have to start from fresh. To me, and many others, this isn’t seen as a problem but more of an opportunity – an opportunity to shape the way you teach and the content and strategy you use. Over time you will of course be able to re-use resources which is why it’s so important to do it right from the start!
“To me, and many others, this isn’t seen as a problem but more of an opportunity – an opportunity to shape the way you teach and the content and strategy you use.”
To read the rest of the article please visit Pearson who created the qualificiation.
