Hi Jain, oh no, what a shame!  Maybe you can be at the Cardiff meeting later in the year?  Will keep you posted about dates as would love to see you and hear your input. Many thanks x

Hi all, we are happy to announce that the first of our Regional Rethinking Education meetings is now confirmed for 5:30-7:30 on 15th September in Haverfordwest, West Wales - we would love you to be there to help us in this discussion - places are limited to please let me know if you would like to come along, either through this group or by emailing team@nationaltheatrewales.org.  Diolch!  

Hi Naomi I would love to come to The meeting

Whereabouts in Haverfordwest ?

Thank you Bill, that's great.  It will be at the Creative Common on Goat Street

Cheers!

Talking of Creative learning empowering people...

http://zenpencils.com/comic/rhodes/

This is fab thanks for sharing Bill - what a talented man he is and I loved his approach to trying to reintroduce musical instruments to primary schools - how did this essential part of education ever peter out?  Music and learning instruments was such an integral part of my childhood - I don't know what I would have done with my time if I hadn't had my piano, flute, harp, guitar and violin to go home to - yes I do, I'd have been numbing my brain in some way or another... What a shame then as adults that we are all guilty of thinking that creativity and 'play' is something confined to our distant pasts and is the opposite of what the 'real world' is...Time for a change!  

Oh my goodness, that should have read: This is fab thanks for sharing Ben! Sorry Ben - brain melt!  In other news, please could you let me know when you might be free for a chat about approaching Mid Wales contacts for the Rethinking Education meeting up there?  Thank you 

Hi Naomi

I am in Llanfair Caereinion in North Powys and would be interested in a Mid-Wales meeting, but the Mid is so big maybe you need 2 meetings, one North (say Newtown) and one South (Builth/Llandrindod)?  I am a member of a new networking group with people who may be interested also - https://www.facebook.com/groups/269682086527409/.  best wishes

Amanda (artist name Ceridwen Powell)

Thank you Amanda, that's excellent and really useful - a very valid point about the geographical enormity of 'Mid' - will have a think about this and be in touch soon. Thanks also for the link to the Facebook network - as soon as we have confirmed date(s) and venue(s) please could we post a message there? 

Hi Amanda

I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to talk last Thursday - it was a really interesting and useful session and was lovely to meet you (albeit very briefly!)

Hope to catch up properly soon

Naomi 

Hi all 

I'm just reading through a set of studies on the effectiveness and importance of arts in education.  I thought I'd share as it makes interesting reading. 

http://www.onlinecolleges.net/10-salient-studies-on-the-arts-in-edu...

From the site - I think this is a really important point and one that sits very well within NTW's philosophy

1. A 2005 REPORT BY THE RAND CORPORATION CALLED “A PORTRAIT OF THE VIS...

   "A bold assertion, but not one without merit. Students from lower income families often get little exposure to the arts if they are not provided by schools. The report shows that arts education can help close the gap between socioeconomic groups, creating a more level playing field between children who may not be exposed to these enrichment experiences outside of school and some of their more privileged peers."

From an article published on Edutopia entitled "Why Arts Education is Crucial"

"When you think about the purposes of education, there are three. We're preparing kids for jobs. We're preparing them to be citizens. And we're teaching them to be human beings who can enjoy the deeper forms of beauty. The third is as important as the other two."

I think this is a statement that we can all agree with but are there any other purposes to education? 

From Charles Leadbeater writing in The Observer on 12 Ideas that could help save the Labour party: "Education has become a 16-year apprenticeship in diligently delivering the right answers at the right time, when it needs to prepare young people to be adaptive, persistent, collaborative problem solvers, capable of coping with uncertainty with only limited resources.  Above all, young people should go to school to make things - films, software, food, products, art - and learn how to earn a living while also passing exams."  Absolutely!  It's time for a massive expansion in creative, vocational learning.

A theme of making things seems to be emerging. Making with hands as with Satish Kumar's Head, Heart and HANDS philosophy, Charles Leadbeater's" young people should go to school to make things. The music that Ben Tniswood pointed us to and our work in making theatre. Theatre as a physical and constructive, co operative event. it is not just Kinetic learners that benefit from active learning, movement is shown to enable us to embed learning and help make meaning in a teaching environment. I suppose we would be missing a trick and doing a disservice this process if the meeting in Haverfordwest was just sitting down to listen.

I agree Bill - there will be an opportunity for you to be creative - I'm hoping this meeting will be about sharing and actively participating - it certainly won't be about everyone passively listening!

Only five days left to submit idea for west Wales #BigDemocracy, please get in touch if you have questions

https://www.nationaltheatrewales.org/big-democracy-project

One week to go until our first Regional Rethinking Education Meeting - with West Wales being our first area covered.  If you are interested in coming along, please let me know and don't forget that you can add any thoughts to this page whenever you find a spare minute.  Many thanks!

As you may know we are now in the voting phase of the Big Democracy Project  nationaltheatrewales.org/big-democracy-project and we have arranged for an online conversation with people involved with the three shortlisted ideas.

Social Care, Education Reform and What can be done

This chat will happen on NTW’s community site community.nationaltheatrewales.org at 4pm on Thursday 10th September

Come and share your opinion on education reform, health and social care or what can be done to make positive changes at 4pm on the front page of this community site community.nationaltheatrewales.org 

This afternoon is our first Regional Rethinking Education Meeting - with West Wales being our first area covered.  If you are interested in coming along you are still welcome to do so, please let me know.  Don't forget that you can add any thoughts to this page whenever you find a spare minute.  Many thanks!

Hi all, the most enormous thanks to everyone who attended the West Wales meeting this week - it was a really beneficial and interesting meeting, which has given us lots to think about.  We are now happy to announce that the second meeting will be held in North Wales at the end of October: date and venue to be confirmed.  If you are interested in attending please let me know as we would love to see you there!  Diolch x

Blog I wrote proposing some radical changes to community arts in education:

https://goglife.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/a-radical-proposal-for-com...

Cheers! x

Yes Sophie. Yes and yes. The transferrable skills inherent in creative expression help us do everything better. We're on the right track with Lead Creative Schools. Hopefully this 5 year project will give us the hard evidence to prove what we know from our experience.

Re the Gog event. I'd like to attend, but I'm away the end of October, but, basically, I agree with Sophie - and probably anyone else who is interested to go.

Wow Sophie! Give that woman a job in government! 

Some very valid points raised by Sophie thanks for taking the time to create that blog post and share your thoughts.

thanks guys! Steve - that sounds like the most terrible sort of torture ;-)

No Sophie, I'm sure you would change the whole philosophy of the organisation. They need someone with imagination. :-)

Sophie, this is wonderful and you have honed in on much of what we discussed at our first meeting in West Wales - I agree with Steve that you should be shaking things up in government!  I think the points raised are all valid and are all actually achievable - this need not just be a poet's dream.  The one point I would make is that I don't think there is a need to do away with Music, Art, English Lit etc teachers in favour of a team of Creative Practitioners (though I understand your point perfectly in terms of the way in which pupils then view creativity) but it would be good for these practitioners to work alongside teachers as a properly salaried member of staff who can engage with and encourage pupils and staff alike - offering them visions outside the confines of the National Curriculum and the need to meet targets through a grading system that is largely irrelevant and stifles creativity.  This is such a great blog; I hope you are able to attend our North Wales meeting at the end of October as we really need your voice!   

Well said Naomi :-)

Hi everyone. The proposal submitted by Mess Up The Mess has been chosen for the west Wales round of the Big Democracy Project, the idea is titled 'Are we just another tick in the wall?' and some of the question MUTM are interested in exploring are:

WHO IS OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM REALLY SERVING?

HOW CAN WE CREATE EDUCATION THAT IS RELEVANT AND USEFUL TO THE FULL SPECTRUM OF YOUNG PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN WALES?

IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE TO A ONE SIZE FITS ALL EXAM BASED SYSTEM?

This event will be taking place in Ammanford in mid November (date tbc). When I first read their proposal it reminded me of the amazing TED talk below. 

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Thanks Gavin I am so glad you have found this link to Satish I mentioned him earlier in this discussion. I cant wait for the documentary about Satish that Emergence has crowdfunded to be out there and promoted

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.

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.

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.

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? ;)

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/

This looks fantastic Gav, thanks for sharing!

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!  

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

Article on the 13 most innovative schools in the world here

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

Exactly, definitely something to think about

I'm going to this in Liverpool on 1st November. Not strictly education in the schools sense but we're all agreed that social initiatives are a great way to educate :)

http://www.biennial.com/events/community-arts-conference

(tickets are free too!)

Education from an international perspective:

Shutting Down the Rainbow Nation: #FeesMustFall

Students shook the South African nation to its very core this week as protests swept across campuses with the so-called born frees at the helm.

Hi all,

We have enjoyed mulling over all of the fantastic contributions from our West and North Wales meetings and we are extremely grateful to all who came along.  We are now delighted to announce that our next Regional Rethinking Education meeting will be held in Brecon on Tuesday 1st December.  If you are interested in coming along, you would be more than welcome - please let us know via these pages or by emailing team@nationaltheatrewales.org 

Diolch! 

The venue for our next Regional Rethinking Education Meeting is now confirmed as The Muse, Brecon - we hope to see you there on 1st December from 4:30-6:30 - join us to help shape an innovative, imaginative approach to education!

Hi Naomi are you sharing any of the feedback from the meetings? Thanks