VIRTUAL New Schools of Thought
Abstract
Traditional pedagogies in university creative writing programs often prioritise narrow metrics, such as grades and course completions, over holistic student development. As creative writing teachers, we sought a pedagogy that encouraged students to collaborate in shaping their learning, allowing them to reframe their success in terms of their growth as writers and individuals. Inspired by the TV series, Ted Lasso, and particularly Lasso’s focus on empowering individuals to become their best selves, this paper explores the development and implementation of this inclusive pedagogy. In 2024, we designed a pedagogical framework focused upon an inclusive community of practice within the classroom. This approach integrated insights from Blackfoot wisdom predating Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Nguyen’s work on unsilencing the writing workshop, and alternative assessment strategies such as ungrading and contract grading. The framework emphasised collaborative and individual growth, aiming to deepen students’ understanding of creative writing practice and of themselves. Our inclusive pedagogy was trialled in an 11-week, online undergraduate creative writing course for third-year students. Our methodology included collaborative course design, self-initiated writing experimentation, unsilenced peer-centred workshops, self-reflective writing tasks, student surveys, and weekly facilitator documentation and reflection on student engagement. Key outcomes included increased student engagement, improved collaborative skills, and more personally relevant, risk-taking approaches to writing. This paper summarises the trial’s outcomes, challenges encountered, and our reflections upon the potential for our approach to reframe success in terms of personal and communal growth, leading to more meaningful and sustainable learning experiences for students and learning facilitators.
Dr Nike Sulway is Senior Lecturer in Creative and Critical Writing at University of Southern Queensland. Her research focuses on diversity and inclusivity in creative writing practice, research and teaching. Her work is strongly focused on speculative fiction narratives, including fairy tales, speculative fiction, and the weird. She is an award-winning writer of novels, short stories, and poetry, including Winter’s tale, Dying in the first person, What the sky knows, Rupetta, The true green of hope, and The bone flute, and co-editor of the literary journal The Orange & Bee (with Carina Bissett
Dr Maria Arena is a Lecturer in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of Southern Queensland. Her research interests include creative writing practice, student engagement, and inclusivity and collaboration in teaching practice. Her creative work focuses upon on speculative fiction, with a penchant for horror and science fiction. She is a writer of novels, including ‘Mira Falling’, ‘Sisterhood’, and ‘Shroudeaters’, and of short stories and novellas, including ‘The Hut’.
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Friday 10th January, 2025