Cairns, A. (2024) ‘Finding Peace in the Artist-Teacher Identity: A Comparison Between Artist-Teachers in Adult Community Learning and Higher Education in the UK’, Peace Conference. International Journal of Art and Design and National Society for Art and Design Education.
This paper explores the artist-teacher identity in practitioners from an adult community learning (ACL) and higher education (HE) perspective. The paper draws on Artist-Teacher Likert Scale (ATLS) results to compare where on a ten-point scale between the poles of teacher and artist, practitioners feel most at peace with their identity.
Artist-teachers in ACL have been defined as professional artists and teachers who are dedicated to and have the competencies needed to work as both (Cairns, 2022). Artist-teachers in HE have not been defined in the published literature.
ACL in the UK is understood as a subsector of further education, often provided by local authorities and general further education (FE) colleges for adults (19+) (Department for Education, 2019). In comparison, HE in the UK is understood as a pathway offering qualifications at level 4 or above, often delivered by universities and FE colleges (House of Commons, 2023).
Written from the perspective of ACL and HE in the UK, this paper will consider how the different qualities of each sector impact the ATLS results of participants. The results presented are from two small-scale grounded theory studies that each utilized online semi-structured interviews.
Cairns, A. (2024) ‘What are the values of adult community learning in the UK today?: An artist-teacher perspective’, BERA 10th September 2024. University of Manchester.
The values held by artist-teachers in the adult community learning (ACL) sector are not clear. Indeed, the values of the ACL sector more widely are not clear. ACL is often an overlooked educational sector, which can be understood as a sub-sector of further education (FE) in the UK. The sector primarily caters to adult learners aged 19+ (Local Government Association 2020). This paper focuses on the professional values of artist-teachers in ACL, these are dual professionals, defined as ‘Professional artists and teachers who are dedicated to both [practices], and have the competencies needed to work in and through art and adult community learning’ (Cairns 2022).
Within the sector there are legal requirement which require settings, and teachers within the, to uphold British values. Additionally, other values are expected of teachers and trainers in FE, outlined in the Education and Training Foundations 2022 professional standards. In contrast artists are without sets of professional values, creating a thought-provoking dichotomy between the two professions of teacher and artist. When values are not standardised across professions, and across providers the professionalism of the sector is called into question.
The published literature outlines the values of teachers, artists, and artist-teachers, to varying degrees, with the most written on teacher values. The literature focuses in on what Briggs (2007) named professional values. Values that are shared and monitored within a profession (2007). Professional values are influenced by many complex social factors as well as those formed from occupational identity (Smithers 2017). Due to the nature of this topic, this paper does not provide a systematic review of values across the three outlined profession, but instead draws on a few key texts. The paper will outline the values of the three groups in turn.
This research engaged with participants and was approved through Norwich University of the Arts and University of the Arts London University Research Ethics procedures before participation commenced.
Data presented in this paper was collected from research undertaken as part of a larger second-generation grounded theory study into the phenomena of how artist-teachers in ACL transform into this identity. This paper draws on interview data of eight artist-teachers and three managers working in ACL in the UK today. The paper further draws upon a systematic review of fourteen ACL providers websites to provide an overview of values upheld in the sector. The data is brought together to highlight the disconnect between the values of artist-teachers, managers, and ACL providers. The data presented in this paper comes from semi-structured interviews which were conducted within the grounded theory approach. Interviews were one-shot, online and scheduled to last 1 hour.
Artist-teacher and manager participants were recruitment through multistage sampling from a previous online survey (Denscombe 2014), the data of which is not relevant to this paper, where participants were invited to opt into future research. Participants were additionally recruited through snowball sampling (2014).
This paper presents findings on from the published literate, interviews, and a systematic review of ACL centre websites. The paper highlights that while there may be an expectation for FE teachers in the UK to have a set of shared values, this is not the case. Standards for artist-teachers in ACL are not standardised between artist-teacher, ACL centres, or artist-teachers and their own ACL centres. Further managers values were also shown not to align to their own ACL centres. The implications of this lack of shared values are considered, including the impact on the professional identity of artist-teachers in ACL, raising as a question about if values should be standardised to help improve the professionalism of both the ACL sector and the role of the artist-teacher in ACL (Briggs 2007). The role of British values was considered throughout, and while three of the British values, individual liberty, respect, and tolerance, were salient in the research, it became clear that ACL centres need to better state their commitment to these values, externally (Elliott 2017), and better embed them into their artist-teachers.
Cairns, A. (2024) ‘Examining FE teacher motivations’, InTuition. Society for Education and Training. Autumn 2024. pp. 29-31.
Written from through the lens of artist-teachers in adult community learning (ACL), this article explores the motivations held by FE teachers in the UK to teach. This article draws on findings from participant research with artist-teachers, their managers, and their learners to ascertain motivations and perceived motivations for teaching in FE. The research reveals that for artist-teachers in ACL, learners are a key source of motivation, showing them to be truly generative people.
The article includes a short literature review that drawing both on the work of phycologist Edward Deci, as well as published literature from the field on FE teacher motivation (Daley et al., 2015; Steadman, 2023). The literature review explores both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. The article also explores the role altruism plays for those in the sector and how this impacts motivation, as well as threats to motivation and the impact of this on individuals.
Cairns, A. (2024) ‘How arts-based adult community learning transforms community well-being: From isolation to belonging,’ Journal of Vocational Education & Training. Doi: 10.1080/13636820.2024.2393111.
This paper explores the artist-teacher identity in practitioners from an adult community learning (ACL) and higher education (HE) perspective. The paper draws on Artist-Teacher Likert Scale (ATLS) results to compare where on a ten-point scale between the poles of teacher and artist, practitioners feel most at peace with their identity.
Artist-teachers in ACL have been defined as professional artists and teachers who are dedicated to and have the competencies needed to work as both (Cairns, 2022). Artist-teachers in HE have not been defined in the published literature.
ACL in the UK is understood as a subsector of further education, often provided by local authorities and general further education (FE) colleges for adults (19+) (Department for Education, 2019). In comparison, HE in the UK is understood as a pathway offering qualifications at level 4 or above, often delivered by universities and FE colleges (House of Commons, 2023).
Written from the perspective of ACL and HE in the UK, this paper will consider how the different qualities of each sector impact the ATLS results of participants. The results presented are from two small-scale grounded theory studies that each utilized online semi-structured interviews.
Cairns, A. (2024) ‘Interrogating artist-teacher identity transformation in adult community learning,’ Journal of Vocational Education & Training. Doi: 10.1080/13636820.2024.2388408.
This research analyses how the experience of artist-teachers in ACL differs from that of artist-teachers in other educational sectors, and the impact of this difference on artist-teachers in ACL. This responds to the gap in the published literature on the role of artist-teachers working in FE generally and ACL more specifically. There is significant published research on artist-teachers in secondary and higher education within the UK and North America, where they are defined, and their role and experience delineated. However, the artist-teacher in Adult Community Learning (ACL), in the UK, has been overlooked. There is no data on the number or demographic of artist-teachers in this sector, with no acknowledgment in government data, or published research. Indeed, there is no comprehensive list of ACL centres in the UK or extant data on how many ACL centres are operating and offering adult art courses.
This research defines artist-teachers in ACL in the UK as a distinctive sub-section of artist-teachers by providing a sector-specific definition co-created with artist-teachers in ACL participants. The definition is supported by visual models of the artist-teacher, the Network of Enterprises (Wallace and Gruber, 1989; Daichendt, 2009), and the Artist-Teacher Likert Scale.
The research employs a mixed QUAL-qual methodology, not previously seen in this area of study, and was carried out in the context of local authority-delivered ACL art provisions in the UK. Storytelling becomes the golden thread of the research, allowing the stories of my participants, and me, to be told. The research developed a constructed substantive theory of artist-teachers in ACL identity transformation using second-generation and constructivist grounded theory approaches. This methodology chronicles how an artist-teacher in ACL comes to be. Additionally, autoethnography is used throughout to position my lived experiences with those of the participants, through vignettes based on memory work, while collaborative autoethnography is used to create composite characters and stories which bring to life the constructed substantive theory.
The constructed substantive theory posited in the thesis shows three different groups of artist-teachers in ACL, separated across generations. Each group of artist-teachers in ACL encounter a series of basic social processes which have helped them transform into the identity they hold today. Additionally, the theory draws attention to three themes for the artist-teacher in ACL: motivations, conflicts, and values. The research is the first of its kind in providing an in-depth interrogation of the artist-teacher in ACL in the UK.
Cairns, A. (2024) Fusion.mag: The Next Chapter Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9SP8Ems4oK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== (Accessed 18 July 2024).
Cairns, A. (2024) ‘The role of subject-specific continued professional development for vocational teachers in further education: An artist-teacher in adult community learning perspective’, ARPCE conference 13th July 2024. University of Oxford.
Within further education (FE) there are no legal requirements for teachers and trainers to undertake CPD, with the legal requirement removed in 2013 (European Commission, 2019). In contrast, their compulsory education counterparts are required to completed 30 hours of CPD a year (DfE, 2016). Despite this the Education and Training Foundation (2022) outline professional knowledge and understanding as essential, including the development and continuous updating of subject knowledge.
Published literature shows the role of CPD for vocational FE teachers as a divisive topic. Historical research from the DfE found that in 2015-2016 over 60% of surveyed FE teachers had spent no time on CPD (2018), despite it being believed that teachers are duty boundto keep up to date with changes in their field (Avis et al., 2015).
This paper explores the role of subject specific CPD for artist-teachers working in adult community learning (ACL) in the UK. ACL is a subsector of FE, often based in local authorities and general FE colleges, for adults (DfE, 2019). Artist-teachers in this sector are understood as professional artists and teachers, who are dedicated to both, and have the competencies needed to work in and through art and ACL (Cairns, 2022).
Data from this paper is taken from a constructivist grounded theory study on the identity transformation of artist-teachers in ACL. The paper utilising data from online survey, interview and focus group which shows artist-teachers in ACL as engaged in their own art practices but lacking in workplace provided subject specific CPD.
Cairns, A. (2024) ‘Networks of enterprises and multifaceted identities in further education,’ LSRN: Staying with the troublemakers: A celebration of research in FE, pp. 30-32.
Cairns, A. (2024) ‘Likert Scales for Dual Identities’ LSRN. April 25 April 2024. Online. College of West Anglia Research & Innovation Forum.
Cairns, A. (2024) ‘Communities of practice and constellations: For artist-teachers in adult community learning’, 2nd artist-teacher in adult community learning conference. 25 March 2024. Online. National Society for Art and Design Education.
This presentation explores the role of communities of practice for artist-teachers in adult community learning. Based on my lived experience of an artist-teacher in this sector I reflect on the artist, teacher, and artist-teacher communities that I find myself in and consider visual ways of mapping involvement.
The presentation draws on the work of Lave and Wenger (1991), Wenger et al (2002), and Daley et al (2015), and begins with an overview of their work on communities of practice. I will outline what communities of practice are, how they work, and different types of membership, in reference to these publications. The presentation will also consider what happens when you are excluded from communities of practice, and the negative implications of this on identity.
The presentation ends with an invitation to map your own communities and your involvement in them, as a reflective tool.
Cairns, A. (2024) ‘Artist-Teacher-Research-Student(?)’ CWA College Community Conference. 27 March 2024.
Cairns, A. (2024) ‘Network of Enterprises: A tool for empowerment for further education teachers’, STudents’ Ongoing Research in Educational Studies. 13 March 2024. Online. University of Oxford.
Cairns, A. (2024) ‘Values in Adult Community Learning’, InTuition. Society for Education and Training. Spring 2024. pp.29– 31.
