First week of laidlaw life!
Starting my research project of ‘thinking inside the box’ which was a project that was based on using archival sources to gain a different perspective on the political resistance and struggle in Latin America in the 1970s, supervised by professor Anna Grimaldi. I have been busy arranging interviews (much harder than it sounds) and conducting pair based interviews to collate students' opinions and experiences of taking part in this project. The project Involved collaboration of students from Kings college London and Leeds university interacting with a range of archival collections such as political pamphlets, vinyls and official documents to gather understanding of the struggles and solidarity of Chilean Exiles during the fight for human rights in Latin America in 1973. This lead to outcomes of expeditions where students would teach the community on the events of Latin America, poster workshops showing how Chileans had to convey their resistance against dictatorship through art rather than words due to censorship. Additionally events such as a concert by Carlos Mejía Godoy, Nicaraguan singer and songwriter, lead to the chilean exile community coming together and bonding with larger international student groups across the university.
Specifically my interests in this project from a psychological background is understanding why using archive-based teaching methods increased engagement among students during the project and led them to producing multiple essays, arranging cultural concerts and workshops despite not being directly assessed (links to their projects attached). Having the choice of archives seemed to motivate students through their own interests and provided them with autonomy to determine the outcomes of their project. Comparing this to the current lecture based teaching methods in which have been described as ‘disengaging’ or not having ‘real life relevance’ that has led to resistance from students against lecturers and the current curriculum. Understanding the learning differences between these teaching methods can innovate change in content and how we learn it by introducing successful elements from the project such as authentic and synoptic assessment, collaboration with communities and unique skill acquisition.
One of the end goals of the project is to use collated data to provide evidence that can be used in a module application, in order to form a completely student-led module based on archives or to integrate elements of archive based teaching into pre-existing modules. I am so happy to say I am not doing this project alone, I am in collaboration with two amazing scholars Hazel Maris and Grace Nash who also aim to widen the access to archives from other colonial countries such as France, Spain and Portugal with hopes of implementing them into teaching strategies and diversifying primary resources. Not to mention my supervisor Anna Grimaldi who has been developing this project for a long time and shows so much passion and big ideas for the future. If anyone is doing research on archival sources and how they can be used to improve teaching strategies and the student experience, drop a message and I'm happy to share and discuss our research :)
Residential- The first leadership residential was an amazing opportunity to understand more about myself and the bright individuals I will be working alongside in the 2023 laidlaw cohort. Meeting individuals was initially intimidating but soon became a relief when everyone was so friendly and we connected on so many levels of interest. Sharing our passions and gathering an understanding of our different personalities and how they contribute to leadership and teamwork. To think, a week ago I didn't know anyone and now I have 25+ new connections that I look forward to experiencing the programme with.
Next week is our second residential in the Yorkshire Dales so let's pray I don't get stuck in a cave, fall off a cliff or get eaten by sheep. If I do survive, there will be an update of Lily’s Laidlaw life (gotta love alliteration).
Hi! I’m Lily and currently study advanced psychology at the university of Leeds. Theorising why something has happened is something I consider myself good at (also known as overthinking).
One of the perks of psychology is that you are forced to socialise with people, which a few years ago would have been my my introverted selfs nightmare. However, interacting with individuals from such diverse backgrounds has developed such a passion to help people and has lead to massive growths in my confidence. Now specifically having interests in forming interventions and strategies to improve the quality of life and mental stability of vulnerable individuals from groups such as survivors of domestic abuse, service users and addicts.
My research project is called “thinking inside the box” centred around reverting back to our primary archival sources to provide a different perspective on the political resistance in Latin American rather than relying on information that has been extensively modified. Specifically introducing archive-based teaching methods and evidencing that they can act as critical and liberators pedagogies. Ultimately wanting to challenge the curriculum by using authentic methods of assessment and promote autonomous skill acquisition that provides practical application to their futures.
In my spare time I am a gym rat (unfortunately) and I like trying out new sports such as snowboarding which I am currently horrific at but it’s still very fun!
i would love to discuss psychological research or potential career paths with new people, so do drop a message :)
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This is super interesting! I am intrigued to see how your project compares to Hazel and Grace's, since you mentioned that using the archives allows for more freedom in the research conducted.
Thank you! I believe we are focusing on different aspects of the project so definitely check out Grace and Hazels posts!!
Hello from New York! I can relate to facing interview complications, excited to see how you utilize the colonial archives from Portugal, France, and Spain with the support of a great advisor.
Hi! I am glad I’m not the only one who has found interviewing surprisingly challenging (I don’t wish interview difficulties upon anyone!). I look forward to seeing what your research project is about :)