Meeting Everyone Where and Who They Are: Thoughts on Programme Design

Classroom as Studio is a TDF project at the start of its second year. The programme develops the skills and confidence of primary teachers to introduce contemporary art practices into their teaching to impact on children’s social oracy and agency. It is taking place in schools in Wolverhampton, Dudley and Birmingham. This blog draws on semi-structured interviews with three teachers (Early career teachers, 7 years and 20 years + teaching experience) 

The core rationale for the learning design emerged from our reflections on our practice, namely:

As we started the programme, we soon noticed that this also applied to our artists, the school leaders and ourselves as the intensity of the programme, with all the insecurities and excitement, increased. 

We began with a three-day ​‘bootcamp’ with all participants to introduce them to every aspect of the programme and to build relationships. The most influential in-person development sessions throughout the year were at The New Art Gallery Walsall, where we could immerse ourselves in provocative exhibitions, exploring them with curators, designing ways to reframe the gallery as a learning space and investigating how artwork can inspire new teaching practices. 

We had regular reflection and planning days culminating in an end-of-year convention where we crystallised our learning through sculptures to make meaning through art processes and materials. These varied approaches helped to reveal the progress that teachers were making, which was getting forgotten amidst the busyness of school life. It also ascribed value to the small gains that are critical in shifting practice. 

The main mechanism for change within school is through the artists, who were allocated 90 hours over the year with each school and their two teachers. This was new work for the artists, in role as mentors, guides to art practice, critical friends, learning partners and when needed, modellers of new practice. They provided access to a previously unfamiliar and unapproachable art world for our teachers, which is now both accessible and meaningful. Artists told us that moving away from their ingrained practice of needing to ​‘perform’ and show impact in every session was a major mindset shift. 

Teachers told us how much the artists’ expert views gave them validation and confidence in three areas a) exploring radically different art approaches and techniques, b) using new art language and holding critical conversations, and c) understanding how to assess the wide variety of work and ideas that children were producing from the new and open ​‘Studio practices’. Some teachers made instant connections to their oracy teaching and their personal interests, such as philosophy for children or the potential of the outdoor spaces. Another key factor was a ​‘low prep’ approach, where artists might procure specific materials such as textiles or bicycle wheels for lessons that used found objects and sustainable materials. 

Our teachers began to see that ​‘studio practice’ is as much about the idea and creative process as it is the finished product. They told us that the most significant shift in their practice was the move from ​‘control-based’ to ​‘facilitation-based’ teaching and the reframing of classroom power and their relationships with their children. They were glowing about the new ​‘freedom’ that their children were enjoying as a result and their love of art making. 

Teachers also reported feeling less isolated and more empowered.

We know that these gains are significant in the context of the challenges of the schools, but they are fragile. A few schools left the programme in the year due to changes of priority and staff, but others joined who had heard about the programme from their partner schools. There was support and clarification needed to make everyone feel secure in an education culture of ​‘performativity’ and ​‘Ofsted appropriateness.’ We had to work through those moments of ​‘stuckness’ between teachers and artists, which proved critical in moving towards an honest exchange of realities, problem-solving solving and camaraderie. We are also aware of the additional demands and cognitive load that all this ​‘newness’ can add to teachers when combined with a packed job and their desire to give this their full commitment. 

We are expanding the number of teachers on the programme to build a critical mass of leaders and practitioners in each school who can form ​‘change teams’ with their SLT champion. The SLT members are forming a new steering group to guide the project. In year 2, we are making the explicit link between Classroom as Studio practices with the Oracy 21 framework and locating teacher enquiry questions in an exploration of that. 

It’s vital that all teachers keep practising so they grow their capabilities. At the same time, we are planning for the end of the programme and working out together what will become embedded in teaching practices and the curriculum with a long-lasting impact on school culture as the real prize.