North East Cluster Phase 2.1 Research Report

NORTH EAST CLUSTER PHASE 2.1 RESEARCH REPORT

Report on research undertaken by ISIS Arts in collaboration with the International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, University of Newcastle, and partner artists and teachers.

Final report by Anna Goulding, Andrew Newman and Chris Whitehead (University of Newcastle).

Contents

1Introduction

3Research questions

4Context

4Theoretical frameworks

10Research ethics

10Methodology

13Discussion of findings

27Conclusions

29Limitations and recommendations

30References

Introduction

Following the recommendations made in the enquire phase 1 report, this project focuses on the experiences of artists working in gallery education contexts with children and young people. The project involved two artists possessed of extensive experience of working in art gallery education mentoring two artists with relatively little experience in this area. As such, a peer group of professionals was developed and supported, providing both formal and informal Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The aim of the model was to provide the artists with:

• relevant training, comprising both formal and informal learning
• valuable peer support and potential career development
• the opportunity to share skills and gain an understanding of different professional perspectives
• mutual investigation of their practice, and a practical means of developing understanding, testing ideas and improving educational provision for children and young people

The research focused on a project developed in collaboration with ISIS Arts.It involved two artists with extensive experience of working with young people sharing their skills and knowledge with two less experienced artists. The artists decided to form pairs, each comprising one mentor and one mentee. The pairings seemed to suggest themselves naturally; the mentee and mentor in each pair noted similarities in their work.

During the project there were two visits to art galleries and six day-long sessions at Blyth Community College. The artists, teacher and students attended the visits. The time was split into two blocks. In the first block the group visited the Big M at Woodhorn Colliery Museum in Ashington and watched various films (including one by each of the mentors), which informed the videos that the pupils then made, over three sessions. For the second block there was a visit to the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, which they toured unsupervised. Marcus Coates’s video installation Dawn Chorus (2006) was amongst the artworks on show.They followed this with a guided tour around Newcastle University’s Hatton Art Gallery to see This Will Not Happen Without You: A touring exhibition from the collective archives of The Basement Group, Projects UK and Locus+ 1977–2006, chosen by the artists because it offered perspectives on curating. This aspect was not the focus of the work that the students subsequently produced, however. In school the students were divided into two groups and worked with each of the pairs of artists in turn.

The project involved Year 12 pupils studying Art and Design AS level. It was not compulsory but the teacher indicated that if their work were to engage with the theme of ‘contrast’, it could be submitted as coursework. There were twenty-one volunteers, aged between sixteen and seventeen.

ISIS Arts

ISIS promotes the professional status of the artist. It initiates and manages artist residencies, productions and exhibitions, and works with artists on collaborative projects and events. It also provides arts projects to benefit individual artists, schools and communities.

ISIS is a not-for-profit organisation and receives revenue funding from Arts Council England North East, Northumberland County Council and Newcastle City Council. It works with around seventy artists a year on its residency programme and a further forty as part of its training programmes. Based in the centre of Newcastle, it supports artist residencies across the northern region.

ISIS has a digital facility serving artists in the region and energetically promotes an interdisciplinary approach to the use of new media in the arts.

The two mentor artists had participated in the previous phase of enquire; they were asked to take part in the project to add a sense of continuity. The process to select the mentees became the responsibility of the mentors. They drew up a list of artists known to them; these artists were approached and asked to participate.

The participating artists

Kelly Richardson (1) (henceforth KR) is a mid-career digital-media artist with extensive experience of working with young people. She was one of the practitioners involved in the previous enquire project (Newman & Whitehead 2006).

John Quinn (henceforth JQ) is a mid-career digital media artist with a strong performance background and extensive experience of working with young people. Previously the education coordinator at ISIS, he also contributed to the first enquire project, but not in his capacity as an artist.

Both mentees are early- to mid-career digital media artists. Neither had much experience in education, although Ben Jones (henceforth BJ) had attended an ISIS training programme for artists in schools.

Cecilia Stenbom (2) (henceforth CS) focuses mainly on video and drawing in her work. In describing her practice, she states that she ‘uses herself as a template for the individual, exploring notions of identity and relationships in the mediated world.’ (personal commentary 2007)

Ben Jones (3) is interested in how people interact with themselves, each other and their environment through popular culture and mass media (personal commentary 2007).

Blyth Community College

Blyth Community College is a mixed comprehensive school for children aged between thirteen and eighteen years; with 1,293 students it is the main provider of education for this age group in the town. The sixth form is larger than average, with 260 students.

Most students are of white, mainly British backgrounds, with only very small numbers of students from Black-African, Bangladeshi, Chinese and other heritages (Ofsted 2005).

Overall the socio-economic background of students is below average, with a high proportion of students coming from very disadvantaged areas. The number of students eligible for free school meals in the sixth from is twice the national average for that age group.

Blyth Community College was last inspected by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) in 2005. The report stated that:

The overall effectiveness of the college is satisfactory, with many good aspects. Current improvement is rapid and the college no longer has serious weaknesses. Although standards in tests and examinations are still too low, students are achieving well in their current work. This is because of good and often very good, teaching that has been developed through good leadership and sound management.

(Ofsted, 2005)

Standards on entry to the sixth form are well below average (Ofsted 2005).

In 2004 the college achieved Artsmark Gold in recognition of its high level of provision in the arts – part of a national award scheme managed by Arts Council England). The Ofsted report in 2005 concluded that in relation to art and design in the sixth form, teaching was good, while standards were average.

Furthermore, the report noted that: ‘Students’ views of the sixth form are positive, and they are confident that their views matter. They appreciate the hard work of teachers and the mature relationships they have.’ (Ofsted 2005) The project’s participating students were all in thesixth form.

Research questions

The research project addresses a number of research questions relating to pedagogical skill-sharing amongst artists:

• what pedagogical models are utilised by the artists and what sorts of outcomes are intended?
• in what ways has the experience of skill-sharinghad an impact on the artists in terms of their attitudes to pedagogy, to art and to young people?
• in what ways has the experience of the activity(i.e. the project)had an impact on the artists in terms of their attitudes to pedagogy, to art and to young people?

The context for the research at Newcastle University

The research team is drawn from the International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, which has numerous research-active staff and doctoral students, a strong research culture and an emphasis on interdisciplinary, collaborative research. The core disciplinary areas are museum, gallery and heritage studies. Individual team members bring to this project significant expertise in, and experience of, qualitative research conducted in relation to museum and gallery visiting, and participation in museum and gallery activities. In particular, members of the research team have been involved in:

• The Contribution of Museums to an Inclusive Community: an exploratory study – a project examining the contribution of museums to the inclusive community (ref R000223294), funded by ESRC

• Five Arts Cities research project looking at the impact upon older peoples’ lives of participation in gallery education activities, funded by Arts Council England and Channel 5;

• DfES-funded Museums and Galleries Education Programme 2 (Stanley et al. 2004)

• enquire phase 1 – see the North East cluster report in Inspiring Learning in Galleries (Newman & Whitehead 2006)

• Artists’ Insights research project exploring the impact of writers and visual artists working with young people and educators/facilitators in cultural sites and schools, funded by Arts Council England and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (Buckley et al. forthcoming 2008)

• general and extensive research into theoretical and historical museology and art theor.

Theoretical frameworks

Teaching knowledges

Different aspects of teaching have been conceptualised, and teacher knowledge has been categorised into subject-matter knowledge, pedagogical-content knowledge and curricular knowledge (Shulman 1986: 47).

Subject-matter knowledge is defined as the amount and organisation of subject-based knowledge in the mind of the teacher (Shulman 1986). In this project, this is the artists’ knowledge about contemporary digital and film media.

Pedagogical-content knowledge consists of:

The most powerful analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations and demonstrations – in a word the ways of representing the subject which make it comprehensible to others … [it] also includes an understanding of what makes the learning of specific topics easy or difficult.

Shulman, 1986

In this project, this is how the artists communicate their subject-matter knowledge to the young people and how they conceptualise such communication.

Curricular knowledge is knowledge of the scope and sequence of teaching programmes. One would expect teachers in schools to develop this knowledge, while an artist–educator may not have had significant experience in this area.

The different aspects can interact: for example, it may be that an educator with strong artistic knowledge is able to use this to plan and deliver successful teaching interactions. In turn, the experience of teaching may enrich subject-matter knowledge. Without pedagogical skills, however, it is difficult to communicate subject matter. Equally, an artist–educator may have strong subject-matter knowledge but, without training or aptitude, may lack pedagogical-content knowledge and curricular knowledge. Furthermore, if an artist perceives her/himself as operating outside formal education, and does not wish to be restricted by curricular requirements, s/he may consciously not acquire or apply curricular knowledge.

The different pedagogical approaches of artists have been well documented. There are a variety of ways of conceptualising the role of artist within pedagogical settings. In 2002 Emily Pringle categorised artists in educational settings as, variously:

• educators – where the artists come closest to adopting a conventional ‘teaching’ role (p.19)
• collaborators – where the artists rely on working with the participants (p.25)
• social activists – when the agenda for projects is motivated by social exclusion issues, and the artists perceive they have a responsibility to ‘empower the participants’ (p.102)
• researchers – where artists explore how to develop their own individual practice; or investigate the nature of the knowledge created between themselves and the participants; or develop models of good practice in order to ‘improve the world’ (p.31)

Veronica Sekules, in her comprehensive genealogy of practice (2003), described the differing role of the artist in residence as:

• artisan–craftworker – teaching pupils how to copy craft techniques, or the ‘try-apply’ method (p.142)
• conceptual thinker –acting as a creative facilitator – their experimentation acting as a catalyst for new work in school (p.144)
• celebrity performer – adopting a cult personality status (p.143)
• issue-based activist – effecting a ‘life-changing’ impact upon participants and/or extending the artist’s own political and social messages (p.144)

Working largely outside the structure and constraints of the school curriculum, artists, as compared with teachers, are presumed to be more open to risk-taking and more interested in artistic processes than in the successful creation of a final product (i.e. an artwork) than teachers (Harding 2005).

Paul Martin, researching adult learning in the discipline of fine art, observes that ‘a significant barrier to learning for mature students is the extent to which established perceptions, values and beliefs can filter and block their ability to transform their understanding of the world in which they live.’ (Martin 2001: 1) For Martin it is necessary to challenge existing frameworks if new meaning is to be made. This has important implications for artists trying to enable students to ‘unlearn’ previous preconceptions about the subject. Martin draws on Jack Mezirow’s observations that individuals tend to filter new experiences through existing structures and, in order to ‘avoid anxiety’ or conform to peer group expectations, they merely reinforce existing constructs (Mezirow 1991: 1). In this context it is interesting to investigate how the artists address the effects of peer pressure and the operation of established norms upon the learning they instigate.

Socio-Constructivism

Socio-Constructivism implies that teaching is a subtle process, reliant on dialogue, which builds on the learner’s knowledge. It should be recognised that within the field of studies in constructivism there are various terms and schools of thought associated with these perspectives on learning. For the purposes of this report the focus will be primarily on co-constructivism. Definitions of the concept and process of co-construction vary and depend upon the theoretical context in which they are embedded:

Common to most theoretical contexts of co-construction is the implication of some kind of collaborative activity, and, through joint patterns of awareness, of seeking some sort of convergence, synthesis, intersubjectivity, or shared understanding, with language as a central mediator.

(Reusser 2001: 2059)

While constructivist learning theories may not be well known (as an academic field) to the majority of artists, it has been noted that some artists’ pedagogical practice has strong ties with many of the tenets of constructivism and its theories and perspectives (Buckley et al. 2008). For example, where discussion forms an important part of the learning process, many artists view themselves as co-learners (Carnell and Lodge 2002; Pringle 2002; Harding 2005) – a perception which accords with notions from socio-constructivism.

Constructivism is also preoccupied with the nature of the process whereby educators can expand their pupils’ knowledge and understanding: Lev Vygotsky’s notion of the zone of proximal development (ZPD). Vygotsky described this as:

the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers.

(Vygotsky 1978: 86)

Educators can aid learning by asking focused questions and through scaffolding learning, i.e. the provision of support to the learner when new concepts, skills and understandings are being introduced. Offering such structured support requires skill, as educators judge how to move from general verbal encouragement to offering specific verbal instruction and to demonstrating tasks. Scaffolding can be decreased in direct correspondence to the progress of the learner (Bruner 1986). An autonomy-support environment is one in which the teacher gives increasing responsibility to pupils.

Motivating students in school is a key priority. The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has therefore placed an emphasis on differentiated approaches to learning and independent enquiry:

Personalised learning demands teaching and learning strategies that develop the competence and confidence of every learner by actively engaging and stretching them.

(DfES 2007)

Effective learners are able to think about their own thinking. This process of self-regulation, or metacognition, involves evaluating alternative approaches, refining solutions and questioning their usual responses (Capel, Leask & Turner 2005: 195). Claxton argues that learning potential can be maximised if pupils are taught how to learn, and are given opportunities to reflect on the strategies they are using in their learning (Claxton 2002). Artists, coming from outside the formal school culture, and exposing their own thinking about their practice, may be able successfully to model metacognition for pupils.

Pringle notes that the normal format of contemporary gallery learning lends itself to co-constructivist learning because participants often work together in small groups and discuss the works, rather than being given guided tours or lectures (2006). The central role of dialogue, the sharing of knowledge within a supportive learning community, the co-learning role played by the educator, and the emphasis in an experimental and open-ended process of learning make this model particularly applicable (Pringle 2006: 17). bell hooks’s assertion that mutual respect is necessary for learning to take place reinforces this model (hooks 1994). Furthermore, running contrary to teacher-led models of learning, Paulo Freire, writing is his celebrated dialogical approach, calls for ‘problem-posing’ over ‘problem-solving’ in order to empower the learner (Freire 1993). To work with this approach students instigate projects based on their own interests and experiences rather than investigating a problem posed by another (Burgess 2006: 65).

Communities of practice, communities of enquiry

The collaboration between the artists involved peer learning, supporting the notion that knowledge is a social process situated within ‘communities of practice’ (Wenger 1999). It is rare for artists to work in collaboration with other artists when working in educational contexts. Indeed, all the artists participating in this project had previously only worked alone when in schools.