Newcastle University School of Education Communication and Language Sciences - Centre for Learning and Teaching Showcase 2016

Organised by Newcastle University's Centre for Learning and Teaching, this showcase event addressed themes of: Social justice; Innovative research methodologies; Professional development, leadership & learning; Innovative pedagogy and curriculum; Learning spaces; Teaching and learning in HE.

The event was split into 4 parts, with a choice of 3 different sessions in the first 3 parts, followed by the entire group coming together to join in the final part, a 'Moot' (a term meaning an assembly held for debate).

Attendees ranged from students from the department to Academics, teachers, educational psychologists and others involved in education in some form.

The first session dealt with Communication Aware Teaching and how labels may discriminate people. I was interested to hear about the Pygmalion effect, the term given to the phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people (such as children, students, or employees) the better they perform. Tajfel's findings are also of interest to me: "Whenever we are confronted with a situation to which sort form of intergroup categorisation appears directly relevant, we are likely to act in a manner that discriminates against the outgroup and favours the ingroup."

The second session I went to was an 'Art and SOLE' workshop. SOLE is about learning in groups, with minimal facilitation and often using the internet.

It has affinities with the artistic process in the following ways
- they are cognitive activities (as opposed to craft which is purely about making with the hands)
- they encourage us to think for ourselves
- they are an enquiry
- they are creative
- questions the role of the artist/facilitator
- art is a form of free expression

We did an exercise in groups whereby we had to make some form of sculpture that represented what our learning looks like. This is the outcome!



The third part featured 2 presentations, one by Sam Shields who is researching assessment in the UK and the Netherlands. She analysed the methodological traditions of these two countries.

The other presentation was by Lydia Wysocki who discussed words and pictures and learning: comics as a method of reflecting on learning, facilitating collaboration and working with narratives. For a comic novice like me, her talk gave an excellent insight into the value of comics and how to read them.

To end the evening, we all gathered for a Moot. A 'Moot' is a medieval word meaning an assembly held for debate. Three colleagues were given 5 minutes to share their views in relation to the question: How can we ensure all children achieve?

Here is a summary of some of the suggestions made:

-WELLBEING
- the importance of ensuring the wellbeing of both children and teachers
- not letting results be the most important thing
- every child matters

- CATEGORIES AND LABELLING
- eliminating categories and labels in order to limit the Pygmalion effect

- SUBJECT CHOICES AT GCSE AND ALEVEL
- Parents occupation and socioeconomic background has been linked to the choice of GCSE and A-Level subjects made by children
- Lower socio economic background = less children choosing STEM subjects
- Better education about what different subjects could entail and be used for

The event ended with another question being posed:

How do we ensure all teachers achieve?

'Changin' Scotland

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the latest event organised by AHM, namely, 'Changin' Scotland – The Role of the Arts, Culture and Identity in Scotland' in Ullapool, 2-4 November 2012. Thankfully Richard Taylor has written a comprehensive report on the conference.

http://new.a-n.co.uk/news/single/visual-arts-role-in-scotlands-social-transformation

'Changin' Scotland – The Role of the Arts, Culture and Identity in Scotland' looked at how artists and others can influence public policy.

By: Richard Taylor

Introduced by writer and commentator Gerry Hassan and Highlands and Islands MSP Jean Urquhart, 'Changin' Scotland – The Role of the Arts, Culture and Identity in Scotland' took a 'Yes' campaign slant on how Scottish cultural identity could help educate public opinion on Scotland’s independence referendum in 2014.

The conference was organised by artists and facilitators AHM (Sam Ainsley, David Harding and Sandy Moffat), who in 2011 produced the State of Play – Art and Culture in Scotland Today symposia. In their opening session, and in light of having attended the open public meeting at Glasgow's Tramway on October 31 which addressed the need for change at funding body Creative Scotland, AHM asked: "How do artists and those involved in the arts change public policy?"

Further sessions followed over a full day on the Saturday, with a screening of 'Brigadoon' in the evening, and two morning sessions on the Sunday. Representatives of Scotland’s cultural sector presented their ideas, followed by open discussion facilitated by AHM. The role of cultural action as a stimulus for social transformation and political change was discussed in terms of national institutions, such as the Royal Scottish Academy, the role of Creative Scotland, and events in recent Scottish arts history such as 'Windfall 91', a seminal artist-led exhibition in Glasgow involving Scottish and European artists. All sessions were visually recorded through drawing by artist Emily Wilkinson.

www.mindfulmaps.com

There was strong support for Scottish independence throughout the three days. Artists such as Jim Mooney and Roderick Buchanan, art historians, politicians, poets and literary figures such as Janet Paisley and Alan Bissett, as well as former representatives of what was the Scottish Arts Council, including Sam Ainsley and Lindsay Gordon, put forward arguments that harkened to late '70s Scottish nationalism and its influence in the arts in the '80s and '90s. Creative Scotland was also scrutinised on its dismantling of the specialist voice of artists at board level.

Speakers from the visual arts sector included Malcolm Maclean, former CEO of Proiseact nan Ealan (the Gaelic Arts Agency); Will Maclean (RSA), former Senior Research Fellow and tutor at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design; Craig Richardson, Professor of Fine Art, Northumbria University; novelist, journalist and filmmaker Ewan Morrision; and Tom Normand from School of Art History, St Andrews University.

A strong argument came from Malcolm Maclean’s Saturday morning session 'Out of the Invisible: The role of the visual-arts in re-imagining Gaelic Scotland'. In presenting historical events that dealt with the promotion of Gaelic language through visual art, Maclean put forward ideas on how artists can project change through media coverage and a public voice.
He commented: "The blank canvas of giving artists full license to realise their ideas whilst working with the Gaelic language – Proiseact nan Ealan’s foremost ethos – in turn allows an effective politicisation of ideas… a slow-burner effect of instilling social and political movement." Foundation funding was this year withdrawn from Proiseact nan Ealan by Creative Scotland.

The importance of history
Craig Richardson’s Saturday afternoon talk, ‘Scottish Art since 1960’ discussed historical definitions of Scottish contemporary art in light of post-modernism, Thatcherism and devolution – all reference points that were brought together in the conference to promote 2014’s independence vote, and to politicise the creative act.

Anchoring social change to artists' responses, Richardson stated: "An insurance policy for Scottish artists is the knowledge of their recent art history, a record of which has been difficult to trace in a British sense… to look at the topology of Scottish visual art since 1960 unearths either exclusion or inclusion – a predicament the artists’ national confidence will face in upcoming political shifts."

Ewan Morrison’s later talk, 'The role of great art and art education in social transformation', questioned whether social change is indeed possible through the work of artists. He instead suggested that such tasks should be left to politicians. He said: "Artists feel the need to symptomatically respond to politics, yet successful practitioners have responded instead with entrepreneurship in order to survive."

With many artists now avoiding the art market to pursue alternative ways to make a living, context-specific work is realisable, as are socially engaged projects that look to the community. Yet this type of work is clearly dependent on funding.

Much focus was brought back to Creative Scotland’s role. It was characterised as a product of decisions made by governmental shifts ignorant of Scotland’s international cultural standing and overly focused on activity in the central belt (Edinburgh and Glasgow). The overiding message of Changin' Scotland was that the change brought about by being an independent nation would allow for inclusivity, rather than exclusivity.

'Changin’ Scotland – The Role of the Arts, Culture and Identity in Scotland' took place 2-4 November, in Ullapool, Scotland.

Images from the event can be viewed on the AHM blog:

http://theahmblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/conference-report-arts-and-identity-at.htmlhttp://theahmblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/conference-report-arts-and-identity-at.html