Throughout the blog posts I have spoken about my goals for the next two years - improving my own practice and starting to earn a small part of my living through selling my artwork, I do have a bigger, longer term goal, and that is to teach. For many years I have been a mentor, working with young people at risk of offending, young people looking to get back into work, or with people in the workplace. I have worked with schools in the capacity of IT advisor, for example showing teachers how to use the technology available to them, to maximise their teaching, specifically using Apple iPads and apps to replace old, out of date computer programs. I have a diploma in humanistic, person centred psychotherapy and truly believe Carl Rodgers self actualising theory - the theory that each of us has what we need to grow and learn and to realise our potential in order to have the best human experience possible. The job of a teacher is to nurture, guide and support others in achieving this potential. With this in mind, I decided to run a workshop for children as one of the module deliverables for self promotion.
Edie and Mimi in action
I have worked with children as a Face Painter, and have a current DBS check (Disclosure and Barring Service - formerly known as CRB), which proves that I do not have a criminal record that would prevent me from working with vulnerable people and children, but as I am not practicing I don't currently have Public Liability Insurance. Given this I could not run a workshop in my studio for the paying public. Luckily, I have my own student at home who is always eager to learn, especially with anything creative, namely my daughter Edie. A conversation with my friend and fellow student John Carpenter revealed that his granddaughter, Mimi, is similarly creative and of a similar age to Edie. As John is an animations student and therefore perfectly placed to film a workshop, we decided to team up and run a creative workshop together, in John's house, where he kindly and bravely offered a blank wall which the girls could use as a canvas. The first thing was to come up with a lesson plan. We didn't want the workshop to be too structured and prescriptive as the intent was to encourage creativity and narrative, and to allow the girls to form their own roles as a team. We also wanted the workshop to be fun. With this in mind we created this lesson plan, which, following the workshop, was also completed with the learning outcomes.
I thoroughly enjoyed running the workshop and interviewing the girls for the video at the end. I was impressed with the layers and complexity of the 'world' the girls built. Since running the workshop I have been in touch with the Home Education community in Nottingham to look into the possibility of running some workshops from my studio for home educated children. This would mean renewing my Public Liability Insurance and there will be considerations such as cost per pupil, any workshop would have to be affordable; health and safety - fire regulations etc, disability access, toilets and hand washing facilities etc, but if possible I would like to run a series of workshops over the Summer where children can experiment with different mediums and techniques. My eventual aim is to teach in Higher Education, but workshops, combined with my own practice and continued education will provide me with relevant experience so that I can confidently apply for positions in the future. Watch our short film of the workshop here - 'The Wall is Landscape'. Thanks to John for filming and for the use of his wall. H. x
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