Research

has always been a keen motivator for me, I am an observer and a learner. As an Art Department we have been part of TALE, a research project tracking cultural connections in school with Tate and RSC. I have attended two Summer Schools at Tate and use Tate Shots actively. Researchers; Becky Parry, Lexi Earl and Pat Thompson are travelling around the UK tracking the effect on young people of being involved with Tate and other galleries and The Royal Shakespeare Company. We are in our third year of being visited by researchers from the Nottingham University based research project. I am an artist/teacher, along with all the staff in the department,  I crave connections with sources of academic dialogue.

Last year, at our first departmental meeting of 2016, Graham Mason, Head of Art, gave us a blog print out(?) from UKEdChat by Dr.Gary Jones (@DrGaryJones) about research done on the ‘Sprial of Enquiry’ ….we saw the spiral as a department ….and applied it to what we already do.

I didn’t have time to review the research until the summer………I wondered what use this spiral could be for me as an artist/ teacher and my student/artists. This spiral, at first glance,  seems to be directed at the written experience, but on thinking and looking into the document further, I can see how it can/ might apply to my other studio practice and skills..and particularly to analysing the Charette week we have just had at school. This is the spiral….

Timperley (2011), Kaser and Halbert (2009/2011/2014)

I’ve seen versions of these spirals before and even invented a few myself! I think that they can all provoke teachers into thinking about the wider strategies and ideas in education and research, I’m interested to see the researchers returning again and again to the spiral as a shape in order to communicate their ideas and conclusions.

I’m struck how Pretzelish it is and I wonder which way round I would eat this if it was a pretzel….I know they look great, you buy one, have a bite …….and then leave the rest! How do you eat a pretzel?…..

The words on the spiral read……..scanning, focussing, developing a hunch,

learning, taking action, checking,…

…..how do we know what’s going on for learners…?

Florence Bill has been in school this week, a final year MArch 
student from Northumbria University. 

I enjoy inviting visitors into school, they bring a different dynamic;

“…the really important aspect of tacit learning, as any apprentice will tell you, is that it’s almost a process of osmosis. you gain more insight simply from being around someone, and sharing experiences with them, than you would by explicit instruction.”Ken Robinson.

Florence Bill presented her work and ideas and invited our students 
to make and build.

Here is her brilliant hand out;

RGS Charrette Week 2017 Print out for children

The photos below show the student/artists having worked with 
Florence, invented a costume that enabled them to negotiate a space 
differently, they moved around some local spaces.......

Will is wearing his costume and it enables him to challenge the idea of personal space.

( Will looked up the ‘Google wisdom’ and read that ‘personal space’

• personal space

…..can be defined by a measurement of space, the costume enables him to maintain this exact distance from places, objects and people). The photo, on the right of Will, shows random people using the underpass and completely ignoring what is going on!

….so back to this spiral….did this innovative, intense experience provide evidence for including this Spiral of Enquiry in this year’s teaching and learning strategies?

Scanning …what was going on for my learners…

According to Gary Jones….’Scanning phase’ is about ‘being open and seeking other sources of evidence’ for what is going on for my learners…..

• I can collect evidence from them by asking them where their

• learning is going.. I can look in their Visual Diaries for

• evidence of how they generated their ideas.

• Florence sat with the students, she asked great questions and

• made suggestions for how they could use the handout she gave

• them, in order to develop their ideas.

• I can seek acknowledgement of  the importance of the social nature of learning to them.

• Florence encouraged the student/artists to work in groups and to help each other in making, designing and then walking

• with their costume.

• Although to a certain extent the groups were predictable,

• the whole group became united when moving through the location.

• I can seek evidence of the emotional impact that learning has had, acknowledging individual learning differences and asking if the project stretched all my learners….some student/ artists were very much at home wearing a costume, others preferred observing the walk.

• All had input into some part of the process.

• All photographed

• each other and shared the images.

• I watched the students' body language carefully

• and tried to include everyone.

• Students said they had enjoyed the week and one student had his costume as his screen saver on his phone!

• I can find evidence of what quality work looks like..and ask the students how they can improve..Florence spent time looking at the students' work....critiquing and asking questions.

• She highlighted work that had resonance for her. The whole grouphad their work discussed and students made notes and photos weretaken of Florence interacting with their work.

• I can find out what connection my learners have made across subject areas and the wider world outside school...Florence and her tutor and myself discussed taking the students off site for a location exploration at our meeting in June

• and it was great to see how the students responded to

• taking their work out of school.

Focussing….

Focussing….

This phase involves encouraging concentration, spending time on a concentrated aspect of their work….

• I can gain evidence by displaying and selecting  photos that acknowledge concentration and encourage photographing and recording experiences in the studio that show concentration……inclusion of time spent on drawing or making…

• Florence spent time curating the walls of the studio.

• The exhibition had evidence of drawing, making and thinking.

• We used the "I see", "I notice" and "I wonder" prompts that I

• learned from Adam Goldwater and his team at

• The Great North Museum (TWAMS); they use these three prompts to enable deeper enquiry.

• Florence made displays that showed her reflections on the three prompts.

• I can include in displays ....evidence of individual research

• and co researching...seeking more information

• to gain a deeper understanding of their idea.

• I can video student/artists reviewing and talking

• about their work and learning......Florence and I created a mini symposium on the final days of the project.

• Adam Goodwin carefully and skilfully

• put the students at their ease as he made a film of their ideas and reflections.

Tasked with creating and making a costume that enabled the students to negotiate a space differently, the students created structural costumes and explored the difference between walking through a space in order to get somewhere, and moving/ performing.

Over the course of the week 
the students experienced Florence giving  superb presentations, 
making and building workshops, interacting with ideas inventively 
and always having patience and respect for the work and thinking theyhad done.

Developing a hunch…this phase is about how individuals (including teachers) are contributing …

• Hunches, says Dr Gary Jones..are often based on intuition.

He states that the value of intuition is massive 
but that teachers/ learners have to have an emotionally stable /safe learning environment in order to encourage the confidence to bring 
hunches to the fore...and acknowledge evidence of these hunches...

• I can build up my own confidence by continuing to exhibit

• and make work.

• Here I am at BALTIC with paintings from Playing the Waiting GameExhibition 2016.

• I can continue inviting collaborations with other creatives.

• Here I am with Sam Telford, poet.

• I collaborated with Seven other artists in my show at BALTIC. I loved working with other artists and want my student/artists to have the same collaborative opportunities.

• I can encourage group working and ethos building within the groups.

• Florence encouraged the students to develop their ideas

• and to chat to her and the other students and teachers

• in the room. Their ideas sometimes were drawn and other times

• inspired by the materials and handout.

• I can use and actively display the use of hunches when we are looking at student/artist works.

• Florence encouraged an open dialogue and her fantasy theme

• embraced and inspired everyone.

New Learning…this phase is about having evidence of how different approaches suit some students and not others.

• I have been interested in research for all of my

• teaching career, I should return to and collect evidence that I have used previously useful research documentation and make sure I am reminded that I have a variety of approaches to adapt and underpin the year's activities.

• Florence is collecting information for her own research project and will show us her project once it is complete. We hope our input has helped.

• I should collect evidence that students themselves recognise the kind of learner they are and realise that

• I have tried different ways to approach their learning.

• We can all feel confident to be proactive and creative in how we collect evidence

• of new learning.

last Phase..thank goodness!..Checking…

• This is about assessing how much difference we have made

• ...visitors/experiences/encounters/conversations.

• Evidence that the things we are doing are making a difference.

A brilliant week working with a fantastic Architect/Student, Florence showed us all how to work and think differently. Her brief and workshops, crits, walks, conversations about how we can use fantasy as a hinge to prise our brains into new learning has produced a range of evidence reflecting amazingly creative  work and potential. The week has set the scene for an excellent year…

Thank you to Florence Bill and to her amazing tutor, Sebastian Messer, Northumbria University ……and to all the teachers and support staff that made this week work. Most of all…thanks to our student/artists who have worked together, supported each other and made the week possible.

cef