The Ten Minute Session: The Initial Idea

I wanted to create The Ten Minute Session to get us all doing something creative, to bring a little joy and to spark some conversation in the mist of the Coronavirus lock down. Given that there is no time frame on this situation I have just tried to come up with as many different activities as possible, in the first instance I have around four weeks worth. Going forward I will continue to try and come up with new activities, however I am also open to revising some if an adequate amount of time had passed.


The Ten Minute Sessions consist of fun quick 10 minute activities - some arty ones, some mindful ones and are hosted across social media, with those joining in encouraged to shared their results. 

Search: #TheTenMinuteSession

I had tried to do these as ‘live activities’ around 6pm every day, from Monday 23rd March 2020. However, if participants could not in live, they are encouraged to add their contribution whenever they could!

I also wanted to develop this idea as the more I develop my art practice the more I see how important it is to me, for it be socially engaging. Activities like those feature in The Ten Minute Session allow me to explore this.

There are parallels with instructional art here, it is very much art-come-teaching, with tasks being set and participants completing them. This perhaps is not too unexpected, given that a lot of the activities I have included have been adapted from classroom delivery (albeit in most cases shortened considerably!).

The similarities do not stop there, as when planning these sessions I also used a basic session plan to keep the information consistent; topic title, instructions, resources needed* and developed accompanying handouts too.

*Given these activities are being designed to be completed in peoples homes I wanted to ensure that the  minimum amount of items where needed for each task; most only need pen and paper. Hopefully meaning that the activities are as accessible (and complete-able) as possible. 

The Ten Minute Session Topics

Week One

Intro to line drawing: Continuous Line

Yesterday
Scavenger hunt
Paper folding, make a secret teller
One challenge I have overcome today and how 
Doodle these images
Weekly Goal Setting

Week Two

Draw this
Intro to line drawing: blind line drawing
Word association
Paper folding, make a concertina
What is your daily routine
Automatic writing
Did you achieve your goal set 29th

Week Three

One thing you want to make time for this week
Draw straight lines
What have you done for yourself today, what can you do for yourself tomorrow
Portraits guess who
Share your self-care ideas
Drawing circles
Build the tallest tower 

Week Four

Non dominant hand drawing
One thing that is going well now, one thing to look forward to
Instructional art
Design a character
Share your self-care ideas
Double writing
Share a manta quote that keeps you going

However,  my initial plans changed around week one, as another blog asked me to provide them with ten minute activities. This opportunity would mean that more people would be able to access them.

More on that later!

Developing a Peer Support Programme: Part Two: Creative Practitioner Support Programme

Need to catch-up? Read part one here.

Expansion came in the form of moving to work with SPACE to develop the idea of a peer support programme.

Many of the same principles stood from Colchester Crit Collective, including the importance of it being something that happens outside of traditional arts education, with a much simpler structure (Vidokle and Rosler, 2008). We wanted to create a respectful environment in which peer feedback could be shared to help develop the practices of our attendees (Hattie and Timperley, 2007). Having SPACE as a permanent location for the sessions allowed us to develop this environment, as attendees start to become comfortable and accustomed to the room that sessions are held in (Davila and Waterston, 2009).

The Graduate and Creative Practitioner Support Programme was officially launched in October 2018 and offered two free sessions a month to creatives and continues to this day as the Creative Practitioner Support Programme. Sessions now run every third Thursday and fourth Saturday at 12-2pm. This along with the regular rooming makes the sessions more welcoming and predictable. 

The notion of building a supportive community (Day, 2012) is at the heart of what we do. Since we moved to the regular time slot, the session attendance has grown and we have started to create this community of creatives who are from in and around Colchester, each with their own practices.

The sessions allow for facilitated dialogues to take place (Lermans, 2018), rather than the sessions being a free-for-all, there is an element of structure. As the session facilitator I will manage attendees expectation and keep an eye on timing. Each attendee is asked if they wish to show work or are just there to observe. Those showing, will be asked to outline what it is they want from the session; do they have a specific set of questions they want answering, do they want their peers initial reactions to work. or something else. This allows for attendees to access the kind of support they require. This is also beneficial to attendees in terms of being able to bring more perspectives to the development and aid problem solving (Latham, 2018). Peers are able to offer critical analysis, allowing attendees to expand their practices and to sharing knowledge (Davis and Tilley, 2016).  Receiving peer feedback also highlights the opportunity for the attendees to become more self-reflective and critical about their own practices (Percy, 2004). 

Our Facebook group has also grown, bringing together our attendees on a digital site. This has allowed us to implement the use of technology into our offer (Wojak and Miller, 2015), allowing all of the elements listed above to continue outside of the meeting room. We currently have around 70 members within our Facebook group. This group is actively used by attendees, to continue conversations and for networking.

The Creative Practitioner Support Programme is currently in its second year. We will be running sessions every third Thursday and fourth Saturday until July 2020, when we stop for the summer break. 

References

Davila, J. and Waterston, E. (2009) Art Quilts at Play: Ignite Your Inner Artist-Experiment with Surface Design Techniques. C&T Publishing.

Davis, R. and Tilley, A. (2016) What they didn’t teach you in art school: What you need to know to survive as an artist. Ilex.

Day. P. (2012) The Are Group Crit: How do you make a firing squad less scary? [online] Available at: arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/networks/issue-18-july-2012/the-art-group-crit-how-do-you-make-a-firing-squad-less-scary. [accessed 30/01/20].

Hattie, J. and Timperley, H. (2007) The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research. 77 (1).

Lermans, L. (2018) Critical Response Process. [online] brooklynartscouncil.org. [accessed 04/02/20].

Percy, C. (2004) Critical absence versus critical engagement: Problematics of the crit in design and communication in Higher Education. 2 (3),

Vidokle, A. and Rosler, M. (2008) Exhibition as School as Work of Art. [online] www.art-lies.org/article.php?Id=1661&issue=59&5=1. [accessed 05/02/20].

Wojak, A. and Miller, S. (2015) Starting Your Career as an Artist: A Guide to Launching a Creative Life. Allworth Press; Second Edition.

Kim Anno: The Juxtaposition of ‘Nature Studies’ (2018)

Within this review I will be questioning Anno’s want to create community centred work in a world full of power structures, and undertones of simulacra. These are the themes that this review will examine; community, power and the use of simulation.

Anno is an environmental activist and so her intentions are almost didactic, to raise awareness of issues surrounding this. However, people don’t like being told things they already know. We know the sea levels are rising, it is well documented. Her angle differs slightly … The driving force is environmental change and ‘Nature Studies’ allows Anno to look at these issues more deeply. She is implicated by her own desires within the system. Inspired by Racheal Carson, Anno echo’s her “call for humans to act responsibly, carefully, and as stewards of the living earth”. Her work also draws on that of Robert Longo, namely his, Men in Cities. Anno’s video work mirrors this clearly in the titling, Men and Women in Water Cities.

The Waterfront Building, University of Suffolk, Thursday 22nd March 2018. Enter through University of Suffolk’s ‘Cargo café’, which has been taken over for the evening by waitresses circulating canapés. Fresh from Anno’s lecture on her work, held within the same building it is difficult to see the work with a clear mind.

The hanging of the work is varied from; large format photography, works on paper – some framed, some not, a concertina book – creating a strong visual narrative and a projected video.

The exhibition descriptor, penned by Anno talks of Darwin’s, ‘survival of the fittest’ and is aptly placed next to two framed works on paper of animals; ‘Family’ and ‘Amphibians’ rather than the photographs of the Men and Women – perhaps of telling clue of what is to follow.
Jakobson, Jespersen, and Reference. Semiotica.
and Hughes.

The clearest development, highlighted in both the lecture and the exhibition is her partial departure from abstract paintings – which she had been creating for the last 27 years. Anno subsequently development video and photography works, est 2009. The most notable ‘Men and Women of Water Cities’ – that is why she is here, after all – Ipswich is a water city. Well almost, the intention is there, but Ipswich is a town, not a city. The intention is there. Tenuous at best.

One of the main themes identified within this exhibition is community and Anno’s interests lie in nation states. The want to communicate is evident and ‘nothing is more powerful to unite minds than the community of language’ (Moryson, 1903, p.191). Within ‘Nature Studies’ she used English to unite these water cities as a common language. She is trying to say something about these environments and these men and women.

She examines how the citizens of the nation states are bound together by several factors; arguably the most important of these being a common language, based upon collective understandings and standardised conventions (Murrill, 2015). However, there is also a feeling that the men and women in these water cities are also bound by the rising water levels and how they have, as a community, ‘begun to train themselves to adapt’ to this situation (Ngcobo, 2011, p.76).

True to her environmental stance, within these works Anno is not only examining the relationship of the community, but also the relationship with the environment and animals. Anno was inspired by a trip to the zoo and has also visited and filmed the training of a lion in a reserve. The power structure here is what we may expect; humans asserting their dominance over the animal kingdom – we circle back to Darwin, in reality our chances of surviving head-to-head with a lion are slim. Zoo’s and nature reserves are surely, at best, a watered-down simulation of the wild. Within her wider practice her film, ‘Pieceable Kingdom’ celebrates the animal as the emblem of power. However, what we see is a trained animal and the human with the power.

The photographs of ‘Water Cities, Berkeley, Finale’ and ‘Alamada Kids’ which hang in this exhibition document the coming together of people. A staged narrative. Anno wants to bring celebration to her art work, in the same way that sports is celebrated (Anno, 2014) and appears to be doing this by building a relationship between sports and arts – by including them within her practice.

There is a notion to simulation within the work, with the use of actors within her film to aid the story telling. It must be questioned if this is just a simulation of water cities or the real thing – or perhaps in the era of the post-truth it does not matter either way. The objective fact, less important than our emotional response to these images (Ball, 2017). The use of simulacra is acknowledged within other areas of Anno’s art practice too, ‘Erasing Las Vegas’ sees her explore Paris, from her hotel room in Las Vegas.

Use of editing within the readings is evident, often many words are omitted from the original texts. Interestingly, Anno wants to bring together communities, but then creates spoken word piece such as, ‘The Mirror of Simple Souls’, which removes all religious quantitation’s from the text, changing the intent of the text and possibly isolating the intended audience – the intended community.

To conclude there are a couple of power struggles throughout ‘Nature Studies’ – nature versus humans, humans versus animals. It is not clear who wins, the fight may wager on until one of the elements does. However, Anno is the ringmaster here; narrating, editing and directing the story she wants to tell. Anno is documenting history and interrupting it in her own way, wanting to change how we think about nature. Decoding the mystery within texts and their multiple meanings, to convey her individual interpretations (Barthes, 1977, p.19).

Much like language the environmental issues highlighted by Anno continue to be a contemporary issue that we continue to try and understand. While the system of language remains unchanged, languages do evolve through time (Miller, 2001, p.299) and so will our understanding of these issues and how we communicate about them. For Anno, this is by moving into television – allowing her to address a mainstream audience, other than the exhibition go-er, further adding to her prowess.

We may be able to tame the animals, but the raising water levels may not be so easy to beat.

Bibliography

Anno, K. (2014) Statement. [online] Available at: http://www.kimanno.com/statement-2/ [accessed 20/04/18].

Ball, J. (2017) Post Truth: How Bullshit Conquered the World. Biteback Publishing

Barthes, R. (1977) Image, Music, Text. Hill and Wang.

Carson, R. (1962) Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Fludernik, M. (1991) Shifters and Deixis: Some Reflections on

Miller, J. R. (2001) The Handbook of Linguistics. Wiley-Blackwell; New Ed edition.

Moryson, F. (1903) Shakespeare’s Europe. In C. Hughes (ed) unpublished chapters of Fynes Moryson’s Itinerary. London: Sherratt

Murrill, R. (2015) Akademie X: Lessons in art and life. London: Phaidon.

Ngcobo, G. (2011) Don’t Panic. Jacana Media

Porete, M. (1993) The Mirror of Simple Souls. Paulist Press.

Orginally Publisher: https://www.a-n.co.uk/reviews/kim-anno-the-juxtaposition-of-nature-studies/

Resource Design

What is a resource? Historical and contemporary definitions outline that resources are essentially anything that aid in learners learning. The tools we use a resources change and develop as our use of technology develops, however some items hold their own (paper, pens, books...)

‘Something which can be turned to for support or help, or an available supply of something to be drawn upon when needed’

(Grolier, 1981)

‘Texts, videos, software and other materials that teachers use to assist students’

(Ministry of Education, 2017) 

Resource design is an important part of the role of tutor. When creating resources I want to create things that can be reused where possible - there is no time to keep inventing the wheel. I have also used ADDIES Model of Resources Design (Branch, 2014), when creating my resources as I feel that following the steps outlined in the model allow me to develop the resources in a logical way, while ensuring that I am taking into consideration a pedagogical approaches and also ensuring the resource is being produced to meet the learning outcomes.

     Analysis: Identifying learning problems

     Design: Prototypes developed

     Development: Actual creation of resources

     Implementation: Resources are implemented

     Evaluation: Feedback

The resources below I designed and created in accoracne to ADDIE (Branch, 2014) while teaching Level 2 Art and Design and an FE College during my PGCE placement. More recently I have used these same resources within my teaching of short art courses at ACL Essex. 

However, due to the vague nature of the text used, these could be used in any course or learning as they are not specific to art education. 

The resources where designed and are used as plenary questions at the end of a session to help consolidate the learning which as happened. The questions outlined prompt the learner to reflect on the session and their learning. The questions can be considered with reference to the session learning objectives (Beadle, 2012).

The resources can be used in a number of ways; 
     One question can be picked for the whole class to consider
     Each table or group can be given a different question to discuss
     Individuals can be given specific questions from the set
     Learners can think/pair/share their responses - Giving learners a structure way to reflect on a subject before they have to share their thoughts with the rest of the group (Holcomb, 2001)
     Answers can take place as discussion or can be written in sketchbook

The use of these resource also helps to build a structure into the sessions, as the learners come to expect this part of the session to take place. Having these to hand means that they can also be used throughout the session to prompt contentious reflection throughout. 


References

Beadle, P. (2012) The Book of Plenary: Here Endeth the Lesson… (How to Teach (Independent Thinking). Independent Thinking Press. 

Branch, R. M. (2014) Instructional Design: The ADDIE Approach [Online] Available at: https://www.learning-theories.com/addie-model.html [accessed15/03/20].

Grolier (1981) New Book of Knowledge Dictionary. Volume 1. Boston MA: Houghton.

Holcomb, E. L. (2001) Asking the Right Questions: Techniques for Collaboration and School Change. Corwin; Second edition.

Ministry of Education (2017) What is a learning recourse? [Online] Available at: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp_resources/ [accessed 15/03/20].

Some more thoughts: I'm an Associate Fellow! (AFHEA): The Application Process

To achieve my AFHEA I had to demonstrate how, within my teaching I meet two of the five areas of activities outline in the UKPSF (2011).

The two areas of activity which I chose to focus on where;

      A1 Design and plan learning activities and/or programmes of study 

      A2 Teach and/or support learning

Throughout the application references needed to be made to the core knowledge and professional values outlined in the UKPSF (2011), as well as theory which supports your practice. 

The application was set out in four parts; an evidence grid of professional activity, which asks you to outline examples of your professional activity and align them with the UKPSF (2011) and to evidence these with examples of how they are met. 

The second section asks you to outline your academic practice experience, your teaching and learning philosophy. 

In this section I outlined how long I had held the post at the HEI and what the role I do entails and how this relates to my teaching philosophy.

"Within my Study Skills role I plan, design and lead: one-to-one sessions, drop-ins, workshops, in-course sessions and online support on LibGuides and Brightspace (K2), this allows for flipped and home learning to take place (Bergmann and Sams, 2012), allowing learners to access materials to gain basic levels of understanding and knowledge before they seek face-to-face help to develop further skills. In addition, I provide workshops and tutorial support on using Microsoft Office. These are offered to both undergraduates and postgraduates. As part of this role I have also held study skills sessions for The Hold volunteers.

My teaching philosophy is concerned in promoting ‘mastery learning’ (Bloom, 1971). Objectives for all my sessions are set out according to Anderson and Krathwohls’ revised Blooms Taxonomy (Anderson et al, 2001) (K2, V3), as I am seeking to engage learners to move from lower to higher order thinking throughout a session. The benefit of this approach is that it provides me with a guide to plan and deliver appropriate content and supports my intention for meaningful leaning to take place (Armstrong, 2016). I also have an interest in peer learning and utilise more knowledgeable others within the classroom (Vygotsky, 1974) (V1, V2), as this allows for learners to achieve more with guidance from a skilled partner (Vygotsky, 1978). This also encourages learners to share perspectives and to reflect on their own understanding.

My teaching philosophy is concerned with the use of peer-learning and within my role as PASS Adviser role I actively explore this interest. Within this role I coordinate the institution’s Peer Assisted Student Success (PASS) scheme. This scheme employs level 5+6 students to be PASS Leaders. I design and deliver PASS Leader training across two 3hour training sessions. These sessions cover topics which allow PASS Leaders to facilitate peer sessions. PASS Leaders are also introduced to reflection models, allowing them to reflect on the experience of facilitating sessions (Schon, 1983) and enhance their practice. This allows them to continue to develop in their role and identify areas of improvement. From undertaking this role, I have developed my knowledge around the benefits of peer learning, I have also been able to gain insight from PASS Leaders about their role and identify gaps in training. This has enabled me to develop the PASS offering."

The next section focused on meeting the dimensions of practice and critically reflecting on how your recent experience, professional activities and current role evidence you meeting at least two of the areas of activity and relevant core knowledge and professional values in the Dimensions of Practice of the UK PSF (2011).

"A1 Design and plan learning activities and/or programmes of study

I have designed study skills sessions and facilitator training sessions to be delivered across the university. My design principles for programmes of study encompass developing online and face-to-face learning, reflection on my own teaching practice, and collaboration with colleagues.

To allow learners to practice high order thinking skills (Bloom, 1971), my sessions foster techniques used to promote active learning (Bonwell and Eison, 1991). This is accomplished by employing a diverse range of activities that enable learners to creatively articulate their knowledge. For example, within my PASS Leader training sessions students are asked to create subject-specific posters to advertise the benefits of PASS to learners on their course or write a one-minute paper allowing learners to apply their knowledge in a meaningful way, promoting active learning within the session (Cassidy, Charles and Slotta, 2019) (V2, K1). Providing different activities allows for flexibility and inclusivity in learning, allowing each learner to work in a way that they can make the most of the opportunity (Tomlinson, 1995), promoting equality of opportunity. These activities include higher order thinking skill activities such as creating new session activities. This reinforces their learning and allows them to apply abstract knowledge in a meaningful way. For example, by planning an activity which is inclusive or draws upon a specific approach to learning (Entwistle and Ramsden, 2015).

Within my Study Skills role, I highlight to learners how the knowledge applies to real-life situations.  For example, I have advised nursing students about creating a leaflet as a means of communicating their knowledge. This relates to using Microsoft Word and leaflet design, which are not implicitly linked to nursing. However, by relating this skill to communication and how they might use different kinds of communication when in placement, they are able to begin to see the benefit.  By linking the skill set to the wider world and employability the importance of the skill is made apparent (V4), allowing learners to assess the value of the experience in their learning (Dewey, 1963).

All of my sessions are supplemented by LibGuides (K1, K4, V2), on which session resources are hosted online. The Libguides pages hosts materials such as PowerPoints and printable handouts, the benefits of these are encompassed by flipped learning (Bergmann and Sams, 2012). For example, my Time Management LibGuides page hosts a range of resources which are differentiated to ensure that each learner can reach their full potential (Munro, 2012). These include monthly calendars and to-do lists. This is beneficial because resources can enable learning outside of university open hours (A2), thus supporting flexibility among a diverse learning community (V1). The use of online learning allows flexibility in when learners can access information and resources (Bridgland and Blanchard, 2013).

PASS Leader training is also supported by a Brightspace module which offers PASS Leaders the opportunity to access additional training material (K4). Upon completion of the in-person training, PASS Leaders can access an online formative assessment (K2), allowing them to test their own knowledge (V2). This online module also provides an area for PASS Leaders to communicate with each other in discussions, promoting the importance of sharing experiences with their peers (Dewey, 1971).

A2. Teach and/or support learning

As a Study Skills Advisor, I aim to facilitate learning by equipping students with the soft skills needed to demonstrate they are working effectively within their subject area (V2, V4). Soft skills encompass; time management, motivation, presentation skills. The workshops I facilitate are optional and give those attending an opportunity to close gaps in soft skills (V1). Attendees are encouraged to identify their own issues relating to the workshop theme and to set their own goals; this encourages learners to develop a “growth mindset” and become intrinsically motivated to develop such skills (Dweck, 2012).

During one-to-one tutorials, I can offer a focused interaction with learners and provide differentiated support. Allowing learners to treated individuals with different motivation, levels of knowledge and preferred approaches to leaning (Entwistle and Ramsden, 2015). My one-to-one sessions (particularly with learners that seek regular appointments) draw on higher-order needs as articulated by Maslow (1987). Maslow (1987) argues that it is not enough to support the learner with the content of the session: it is also important to build mutual trust, develop their self-confidence and to help them reach self-actualisation.

To support teaching and learning within in-course sessions, I collaborate with subject leads to develop content which directly relates to areas of the course by utilising the work of Bonwell and Eison (1991) and Mahmoud (2013) (V4). For example, I have designed an in-course session around visual literature and artefacts in collaboration with a course leader to prepare their cohort for a formative assessment (K2). Activities used within this session promote active learning: the cohort are asked to look at an image and then caption it and share their captions with each other. This activity provides opportunities for interpretation, as learners quickly find that while they are all looking at the same image, their interpretation of these images may vary. Students are also asked to think/pair/share in relation to definitions relating to the subject matter. I use this strategy to promote collaborative problem solving within the session (Mahmoud, 2013).

Part of my teaching philosophy looks at developing effective learning spaces and environments. For example, when running workshops, I find using a semi-circle seating arrangement allows for better interactions to take place (Ashwin et al, 2015). However, contemporary effective learning environments go beyond physical spaces, and I have therefore developed online learning environments (V2, K4). My Brightspace PASS training module is an example of an effective learning environment. The module was developed in collaboration with the digital learning team to develop easy to use online spaces (K1, K2, K4). My contribution to this included recording ‘talking head’ videos to welcome and inform learners about the webpage and designing resources, which can be assessed digitally, or downloaded and printed.

As part of my PASS Advisor role I am responsible for training PASS Leaders in facilitation of their session. In order to do this successfully, I must have an up to date understanding of teaching pedagogies. The benefit of supporting PASS Leaders to develop these skills, is that it better enables them to engage their level 4 attendees and help them to consolidate their knowledge collaboratively (Hogan, 2005). I emphasise the importance of PASS Leaders allowing the attendees to solve problems on their own, rather than being told the answers directly. These facilitation skills include the use of redirected questioning and wait time (Bellance, 2013). PASS Leaders are also trained in the importance of creating an inclusive environment for their PASS sessions and about how they may use different approaches to learning, within their PASS sessions. From developing and delivering the PASS training I have gained a better working knowledge of facilitation skills and how to develop these skills in others."

The final section asks for any other information which may support your application.

"As part of my CPD, I have completed online courses such as: Autism Training from the National Autistic Society, safeguarding, online mentoring and coaching, and Brightspace CPD module – allowing me to better design my PASS Leader Area effectively (V3).

I have also attended the university’s teaching and learning day; I found this a useful experience to meet other staff members within the university. The café tables that I participated in directly collate with my pedagogic interests around creative teaching and effective assessment (V3, V4, K2).

I am completing project work surrounding research into the use and value of 1-2-1 tutorials. This consists of both desk research and observations of those in my team. From this research, I hope to further develop my 1-2-1 support (K2, K5, K6, V3). Knowledge gained will also be disseminated to colleagues.

Within my role of PASS Adviser, I am promoting the benefits of PASS to both staff and students. The aim being to expand the PASS provision offered at Suffolk (V4), to promote andragogical learning (Knowles, 1984) from our learners and to create a network of peer support.

As part of my role as PASS Advisor I have also visited UEA, allowing me to grow professional networks with other universities (V2, V3, K5) and to learn from their approaches and experiences."

The biggest challenge of completing the application form was staying within the word count, I found that I had to cut whole chucks of information out to ensure that I stayed within the perimeter. However, it was suggested to me that the application would be stronger if fewer things where used as examples and more depth was went into. It is to some extent comforting to know that I could have extended and that I do have more to say, as I can include these examples and thoughts in my application for Fellowship in the next year or so.

I found the activity of completing the application to be a useful reflective tool and it highlighted to me how much I have achieved in that particularly setting in the time frame of around a year. 

References

Anderson, L.W., Krathwohl and Bloom, B.S. (2001) A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. Longman.

Armstrong, P. (2016) Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Centre for Teaching.

Ashwin, P., Boud, D., Coate, K., Hallett, F., Keane, E., Krause, K., Leibowitz, B., MacLaren, I., McArthur, J., McCune, V., Tooher, M. (2015) Reflective Teaching in Higher Education. Bloomsbury Academic; 1 edition.

Bellance, J. A. (2013) The Focus Factor: 8 Essential Twenty-First Century Thinking Skills for Deeper Student Learning. Teachers College Press; 1 edition.

Bergmann, J. and Sams, A. (2012) Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day. International Society for Technology in Education.

Bloom, B.S. (1971) Mastery Leaning. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Bonwell, C., Eison, J. (1991) Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom. AEHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1. Washington, D.C: Jossey-Bass.

Bridgland, A., and Blanchard, P. (2013) Flexible Delivery/Flexible Learning…Does it Make a Difference? Routledge.

Cassidy, R., Charles, E. S., and Slotta, J. D. (2019) Active Learning: Theoretical Perspectives, Empirical Studies and Design Profiles. Lausanne: Frontiers Media.

Entwistle, N. and Ramsden, P. (2015). Understanding Student Learning (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.

Dewey, J. (1963) Experience and Education. New York: Collier Books.

Dweck, C.S. (2012) Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential. London. Robinson.

Knowles, M. (1984) Andragogy in Action: Applying Modern Principles of Adult Learning. Jossey-Bass Inc.,U.S.; 1 edition.

Maslow, A.H. (1987) Motivation and Personality. (3^rd Edition). New York: HarperCollins.

Mahmoud, K. (2013) Think Pair Share: A Teaching Learning Strategy to Enhance Students' Critical Thinking. Educational Research Quarterly, v36 n4 p3-24 Jun 2013.

Munro, J., (2012) Effective strategies for implementing differentiated instruction. [online] Available at: http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1144&context=research_conference (Accessed 03/10/19).

Schon, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. Basic Books Inc.

UKPSF. (2011) UK Professional Standards Framework (PSF) for teaching and supporting learning in higher education. [PDF] https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.creode.advancehe-document-manager/documents/advance-he/UK%20Professional%20Standards%20Framework_1570613241.pdf. [accessed 15/03/20].

Vygotsky, L.S. (1974) Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press; New edition edition.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Developing a Peer Support Programme: Part One: Colchester Crit Collective

My plans to start a peer support programme started in 2018 while completing my MA Fine Art. The Professional Development module prompted me into action.

The rationale behind this decision was that after completing my BA Fine Art in 2016 I felt something of a creative isolation. Suddenly there was no-one to talk to about my practice and I felt as a result my work stopped progressing. In creating a creative support network, I hoped to develop my own art world (Tilley and Davis, 2016), of like-mined creatives. 

My focus was on the ‘art world’ rather than the ‘art market’ as I am more interested in the exchange of thoughts and ideas, than brute wealth (Thornton, 2009), as I felt that this would be more beneficial to my art practice and continued development - albeit, not as beneficial to my livelihood. However, the art world is larger than just the art market (Thornton, 2012).

I felt that there was a gap in the market for this kind of set-up based on my own lived experience. While Colchester plays host to many art groups, I had not found anything locally which put sharing ideas and feedback at its centre. 

Initially I started to develop Colchester Crit Collective, which brought together peer feedback and tea and cake. These sessions where hosted in a number of different cafes, as finding a free venue proved impossible. As the sessions where free to attend, there was no money to pay for venue hire. At this stage my lack of interest in money was doing the development of the sessions a disservice, as while I am interested in an meeting of minds, businesses are very much interested in the exchange for services for money. 

However, I felt that the groups being free was important and was also a common theme within my research (Thorne, 2012 and Madoff, 2009), just think, The Copenhagen Free Art School (Madoff, 2009).

The intention of Colchester Crit Collective was to create a group which would run regularly and give creatives a sense of stability and at its heart would focus on providing a supportive platform  for artists to show work, test ideas and receive critical feedback from their peers (Day, 2012), outside of an educational context.  Allowing creatives to develop their practices (Percy, 2004) and receive feedback opening the opportunity for development of work and possible collaborations and events (Davis and Tilley, 2016).

The Format 

·       Artists will be invited to join the monthly Colchester Crit Collective sessions–there is no commitment to attend all sessions (but it is encouraged!)

·       Sessions will take the form of an informal table discussion

·       Artists not showing works are encouraged to join and offer critique

Running Order

1. Start-Welcome and Introductions
2. Artists invited to layout work/documentation/ideas on the table
3. Group Discussion
4. End–Networking Opportunity

Showing Work

·       Artist are invited to bring work or work in progress to be critiqued and it is strongly recommended that artist have an aim for the session, such as questions they want answers to (in relation to how their work is developing, intent, content, use of materials, exhibiting etc.

As my Professional Development module came to an end the wheels started to come off Colchester Crit Collective, it had been successful in terms of creating a small community of creatives, attendees were encouraged to bring along their creative friends to expand the network (Bhandari and Melber, 2009). However, it was clear that expansion was needed to create something viable. 

Coming Soon

Developing a Peer Support Programme: Part Two: Creative Practitioner Support Programme

References

Bhandari, H. D. and Melber, J. (2009) ART/WORK: Everything You Need to Know (and Do) As You Pursue Your Art Career. FreePress; Original ed.

Davis, R. and Tilley, A. (2016) What they didn’t teach you in art school: What you need to know to survive as an artist. Ilex.

Day. P. (2012) The Are Group Crit: How do you make a firing squad less scary? [online] Available at: arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/networks/issue-18-july-2012/the-art-group-crit-how-do-you-make-a-firing-squad-less-scary. [accessed 30/01/20].

Madoff, S. H. (2009) Art School: Propositions for the 21st century. MIT Press.

Thornton, S. (2012) Seven Days in the Arts World. GrantaBooks.

Tilley, A. and Davis, R. (2016) What They Didn't Teach You in Art School: How to Survive as an Artist in the Real World. Ilex Press; 01 Edition.

My Current Artist Statement

My artistic practice explores the use of text and site, examining how the context of a site can change the reading of any given text and provides the cultural frame work for the art work to exist within. The work produced is usually temporary, drawing on notions of time and place, duration and mutability. This is echoed in the use of language, as that too is affected by these factors. Language changes depending on when and where it is exists, and the meaning of words is edited and changed as time passes. Nothing is fixed and my practice focuses very much on nowness.

One of the main processes which takes place within my practice is the playing with language, I will often use synonyms and antonyms. I enjoy breaking language and pushing it to its limits; whether this means the use of repetition or removal of text until the language no longer makes sense. The text used within my work varies: some works use found text, others are created by automatic means – the silliness of Dadaism draws me in. However, in both instances they depend on our shared public language and social facts. The everyday nature of language and its accessibility to audiences appeals to me.

The notion of audience/audiencing and community/communication are important to my practice, as the work exists outside of an art gallery context. Therefore, the viewers of the work may not necessarily be looking at it intentionally. To engage this everyman audience, I strive to make text choices which comment on life, rather than art. One of the main reasons I use text within my practice is because we have temporal relations with it and thus, even if the viewer does not reach the same interpretation as my intention, they are still engaging with it on some level. Time and place come into play here too, as the same text will be read differently by the same person if the text is placed in a new site. The text used within my practice is often vague and embraced the audience’s interpretations of the text and the loss of control over it, echoing Barthes feelings on the Death of the Author.

My practice lends itself to installation work, the usual criteria for sites used within my practice are the Duchampian unchoice. These territories appeal to me due to their usually overlooked presence.

My process swings between two opposing pillars; choosing text specifically fitting to sites and putting text into sites and allowing it to resonate. These are varying processes, however I find the process of both compelling, as either way a dialogical relationship will take place between the art and the site [and the audience]. Working within different sites appeals to me as each has their own specific limitation and these limits help to establish and frame the text.

My practice takes a DIY approach, again infused with Dadaism, as such I use materials which are often inexpensive and processes that are easily accessible. Simplisticity can rule and as such the text is curated into the site carefully.