About
Over the past few years in England, since the coalition government of 2010, there has been a narrowing of the curriculum by successive education ministers, specifically Michael Gove and Nicky Morgan. This has seen the arts devalued and subjects divided into two opposing ideologies. Either being seen as ‘hard’ academic subjects, which were categorised into what is known as the English Baccalaureate (Ebacc), or ‘soft’ subjects which include the creative arts and contemporary subjects such as computing and media studies (Gove, 2009, 2014; Morgan, 2016). The value of what educational success looks like, in this model, does not include any form of artistic knowledge, as Nicholas Addison and Lesley Burgess (2013) of the Institute of Education argue is a ‘reactionary failure to acknowledge one hundred and fifty years of art education’ (1). A history which encompasses the explosion of the creative industries and the seismic shift in human and non-human technological advancements. At the same time a focus on linear examinations and results became the key focus of school inspections. By splitting the curriculum into these dichotomies and creating a what is often argued a teach to the test model of education, the student also becomes positioned in the same context. Either the student that fits into the Ebacc model or they don't. To draw on the ideas of educationalist and philosopher Paulo Freire (1996: 53), he describes such a system as a 'banking' system. Freire explains that this system see the student become a mould ready to be ‘filled’ by the teacher (Freire, 1996: 53). The model obviously takes any agency away from the students and positions the teacher as the source of all knowledge as in they teach the students to pass a test. This system also has the students who don't fit into it, they often become the student that is ill-fitting and therefore troublesome (see Ahmed, 2000; Brown, 2008; Mirza, 1992, 2009, 2014 for more discussion on how some students don't fit into the educational system). With this product focused, ‘banking’ system, Dennis Atkinson, an educational theorist from Goldsmiths University, argues that too little consideration is given to ‘the pedagogical obligations and values for supporting each individual ‘how’’ (2018: 3). Although this neo-liberal educational shift, that Michael Gove and Nicky Morgan supported, focuses on the individual as in command of their academic and ultimately economic destiny, it also then posits students who fail within this system as lazy, or problematic (see Camilla Stanger: 2018 for further discussions on this). When the commentary is focused towards only a specific group of learners who can achieve in these white patriarchal Westernised structures it opens up the questions of what or who therefore is being rendered invisible?
With this educational backdrop, The Centre for Creative Explorations (CCE) was formed as a direct opposition to the current understanding of art education. It positions the creative act at the centre of the researching process and values the power of arts practice as a force that can uncover and confront often difficult issues (Manning: 2014, Renold: 2018). An important factor of the CCE is that it is based in the lively situation of a secondary school, Harris Girls Academy East Dulwich (HGAED), rather than the traditional research centre which is usually based in a university. Being part of a secondary school environment positions young people at the heart of the process as active agents in the research.
The aims of the CCE are to:
•To explore and question society and the constructs in which we live
•To develop feminist creative research practices and methods that decolonize the curriculum
•To bring artists, academics, students and teachers together through collaborative research practice
•To engage with research that is socially or culturally relevant to the students of HGAED and the wider community
•To publish research findings in innovative formats
We are open to propositions from students, academics, creative practitioners, educators and anyone who is interested in questioning and exploring the world through creative research methods.
With this educational backdrop, The Centre for Creative Explorations (CCE) was formed as a direct opposition to the current understanding of art education. It positions the creative act at the centre of the researching process and values the power of arts practice as a force that can uncover and confront often difficult issues (Manning: 2014, Renold: 2018). An important factor of the CCE is that it is based in the lively situation of a secondary school, Harris Girls Academy East Dulwich (HGAED), rather than the traditional research centre which is usually based in a university. Being part of a secondary school environment positions young people at the heart of the process as active agents in the research.
The aims of the CCE are to:
•To explore and question society and the constructs in which we live
•To develop feminist creative research practices and methods that decolonize the curriculum
•To bring artists, academics, students and teachers together through collaborative research practice
•To engage with research that is socially or culturally relevant to the students of HGAED and the wider community
•To publish research findings in innovative formats
We are open to propositions from students, academics, creative practitioners, educators and anyone who is interested in questioning and exploring the world through creative research methods.
References:
Addison, N. and Burgess, L. (eds) (2013) Debates in Art and Design Education. New York: Routledge.
Ahmed, S. (2000) Strange Encounters: Embodied Others in Post-Coloniality. 1 edition. London ; New York: Routledge.
Atkinson, D. (2018) Art, Disobedience, and Ethics: The Adventure of Pedagogy. 1st ed. 2018 edition. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Brown, R.N. (2008) Black Girlhood Celebration: Toward a Hip-Hop Feminist Pedagogy. New edition edition. New York, Peter Lang Publishing.
Gove, M. (2009) What is Education for? Speech to RSA 30th June. [Online]. Available from: https://www.thersa.org/globalassets/pdfs/blogs/gove-speech-to-rsa.pdf[Accessed: 26 January 2019].
Freire, P. (1996) Pedagogy of the oppressed. Harmondsworth, Penguin.
Gove, M. (2014) GCSE and A level reform. [Online]. 2014. GOV.UK. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/gcse-and-a-level-reform[Accessed: 1 February 2019].
Manning, E. (2013) Always More Than One: Individuation’s Dance. Durham: Duke University Press.
Mirza, H.S. (1992) Young, Female and Black. 1st edition. London ; New York, Routledge.
Mirza, H. S. and Meetoo, V. (2012) Respecting Difference: Race, faith and culture for teacher educators. 01 edition. London: Institute of Education.
Morgan, N. (2016) Nicky Morgan speaks at launch of Your Life campaign, GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/nicky-morgan-speaks-at-launch-of-your-life-campaign(Accessed: 17 February 2016).
Renold, E. (2018) ‘Feel what I feel’: making da(r)ta with teen girls for creative activisms on how sexual violence matters. Journal of Gender Studies. 27 (1), 1–19.
Stanger, C. (2018) From Critical Education to An Embodied Pedagogy of Hope: Seeking a Liberatory Praxis with Black, Working Class Girls in the Neoliberal 16–19 College. Studies in Philosophy and Education. [Online] 37 (1), 47–63.
Addison, N. and Burgess, L. (eds) (2013) Debates in Art and Design Education. New York: Routledge.
Ahmed, S. (2000) Strange Encounters: Embodied Others in Post-Coloniality. 1 edition. London ; New York: Routledge.
Atkinson, D. (2018) Art, Disobedience, and Ethics: The Adventure of Pedagogy. 1st ed. 2018 edition. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Brown, R.N. (2008) Black Girlhood Celebration: Toward a Hip-Hop Feminist Pedagogy. New edition edition. New York, Peter Lang Publishing.
Gove, M. (2009) What is Education for? Speech to RSA 30th June. [Online]. Available from: https://www.thersa.org/globalassets/pdfs/blogs/gove-speech-to-rsa.pdf[Accessed: 26 January 2019].
Freire, P. (1996) Pedagogy of the oppressed. Harmondsworth, Penguin.
Gove, M. (2014) GCSE and A level reform. [Online]. 2014. GOV.UK. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/gcse-and-a-level-reform[Accessed: 1 February 2019].
Manning, E. (2013) Always More Than One: Individuation’s Dance. Durham: Duke University Press.
Mirza, H.S. (1992) Young, Female and Black. 1st edition. London ; New York, Routledge.
Mirza, H. S. and Meetoo, V. (2012) Respecting Difference: Race, faith and culture for teacher educators. 01 edition. London: Institute of Education.
Morgan, N. (2016) Nicky Morgan speaks at launch of Your Life campaign, GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/nicky-morgan-speaks-at-launch-of-your-life-campaign(Accessed: 17 February 2016).
Renold, E. (2018) ‘Feel what I feel’: making da(r)ta with teen girls for creative activisms on how sexual violence matters. Journal of Gender Studies. 27 (1), 1–19.
Stanger, C. (2018) From Critical Education to An Embodied Pedagogy of Hope: Seeking a Liberatory Praxis with Black, Working Class Girls in the Neoliberal 16–19 College. Studies in Philosophy and Education. [Online] 37 (1), 47–63.
