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Comment by Naomi Chiffi on October 20, 2015 at 0:39

Dev - thank you so much for this; these schools are truly inspirational!  Why aren't any of them in Wales?  Or even the UK...?

Comment by Devinda De Silva on October 17, 2015 at 2:48

Article on the 13 most innovative schools in the world here

Comment by Naomi Chiffi on October 16, 2015 at 1:58

Also, any North Wales contacts, please do let us know if you would like to attend our meeting on 27th October in Wrexham!

Comment by Naomi Chiffi on October 16, 2015 at 1:58

I would like to direct everyone to our sister group - Resources: A Creative Curriculum.  This is a place to share any lesson ideas, plans or activities across the curriculum, with creativity at its heart.  Please join and start sharing ideas!  

Comment by Naomi Chiffi on October 13, 2015 at 23:29

This looks fantastic Gav, thanks for sharing!

Comment by Gavin Porter on October 13, 2015 at 5:08

Rabab Ghazoul and g39 are organising a study group as part of this MOOC, a free, 6-week online course, organised by Creative Time. The course looks at fundamental themes within socially engaged public art practice, through a series of video lectures and presentations by internationally acclaimed artists, curators, critics, and activists. As it’s online, it’s open to anyone in the world.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1640465932879634/

Comment by Naomi Chiffi on October 13, 2015 at 1:39

I know that as a teacher and a writer I certainly feel that I am financially unable to leave teaching in order to commit to writing and that as a result I do not give as much time and effort to my writing as I would like to and would need to in order to make writing my 'career,' which frustrates me enormously.  This is a tricky one however, as whilst I can see the benefits of paying artists that are also teachers a decent wage as an arts practitioner (giving them the opportunity to work as both teacher and artist) how does this fit into the practical life of a school, its pupils and their needs?  

As a teacher I enjoy the consistency of working with the same group over two years as I guide them through their GCSEs - we develop a bond and an understanding - I know how to engage with them and encourage enthusiasm for all aspects of literature by getting to know them and understanding them as individuals over a number of long (often turbulent) months.  If I were to dip out of their lives for a three month period to work on a play then I would be doing them a disservice in terms of their attainment and doing damage to a carefully established relationship.  I know this maybe isn't really what you are suggesting Sophie, but I think my point is that young people need consistency; if they trust and like the person standing in front of them, they will learn from them...but sometimes it takes a long time to develop that level of trust and understanding - dipping in and out of their lives may actually be damaging.  

Maybe we could fix it so that all teachers who are also artists only work three days a week at school and have two days a week to work on their art-form?   This would allow consistency for pupils and would be of enormous benefit to the mind and spirit of the artist, which would in turn have a positive impact on their performance as teachers.    There we are, have we sorted that one? ;)

Comment by Naomi Chiffi on October 13, 2015 at 1:25

Hi Sophie, many thanks for further clarifying your ideas - they are all genuinely interesting and inspirational suggestions - I'm so looking forward to your contributions to our Wrexham meeting.  I just thought I'd select a section from your blog and paste it here (I hope you don't mind) - it's just that they are really valid questions and I would like to hear what other people think in terms of trying to answer said questions:

"many who teach The Arts in schools already have their own artistic practices outside of this and I agree this needs recognition, support and encouragement. I know of a number of highly talented artists, writers, theatre makers etc who do a fantastic job as teachers, and with this in mind, my questions are:

*Are they teaching because it’s horribly difficult to make a living wage as an artist?
*If so how can we make it possible for these people to make an achievable living as artists and still teach within the education system?
*Also how can we open up the education system to support talented artists who are not yet teaching but whose experience and skill could greatly inspire our students?

I’m proposing that these teachers-who-are-also-artists or artists-who-are-also-teachers are offered the opportunity to earn a decent living wage as Arts Practitioners, with the freedom and scope to plan workshops and engage with students about the elements of their artistic practice that enthuses them. How many English teachers, honestly, have said to their students ‘yes we do have to study the poetry of XXXX this term, yes I think it’s dull too, I don’t particularly like it either but it’s on the curriculum’? Why not book a freelance Arts Practitioner who is brimming with enthusiasm about that particular poet or poetic form instead?

I want to be clear, I am absolutely not suggesting we ‘sack Miss Jones the art teacher’. I’m proposing we give Miss Jones the chance to truly flourish as an artist and educator by allowing her to step outside the confines of the curriculum and by supporting her to teach her specific art-form to a wider range of students as a Properly Paid Arts Practitioner. This would then allow Miss Jones the time to work on her own artistic practice, to exhibit, tour and produce new work, and all of these experiences would hopefully feed back into her education work."

This is just a snippet and Sophie goes on to elaborate further but I would love to hear some feedback on the questions and points that Sophie has raised here.

Comment by Sophie McKeand on October 4, 2015 at 8:44

Hi Naomi (and all), thanks for taking time to read the blog and reply. A few people have also come back to me with concerns about my vision for the role of existing teachers of The Arts so I've expanded on that element of the 'plan' ;-) here:

https://goglife.wordpress.com/2015/10/04/on-community-arts-educatio...

Cheers!

ps - Really looking forward to the next education meeting in Wrecsam - I can attend this one.

pps - Gav - Great news about Mess Up The Mess - exciting and engaging questions that need discussing.

Comment by Naomi Chiffi on October 2, 2015 at 3:26

This is wonderful Gavin - brilliantly inspirational.  It's great that Mess Up the Mess' proposal has been chosen as this is a very timely topic - I look forward to seeing their creations and hearing how young people really feel about these issues.

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