New terms: radical education workshops

Banks, M., Ivison, T., Jacobi, S., Theodoropoulou, L., Adams, J., Smith, M., Moonasinghe, H., Monsisyan, A. and Kontopoulou, A. (2015) New terms: radical education workshops. [Project]

Abstract/Summary

A monthly programme of participatory workshops connecting artists, students, educators and curators in order to rethink arts education and radical art practices of today; addressing ‘learning’ and ‘teaching’ in the wider sense, whilst also acknowledging the specifics of art pedagogy. It brought primary, secondary and higher educationalists together in dialogue with students and practitioners, as well as with guests from the wider ‘radical’ and ‘alternative’ education collectives around London to co-research new ways of thinking around arts education. Its purpose was to propose a new set of questions surrounding arts education in response to the ever-changing political and social climate. Research questions included: -The importance of accessibility to and independence of arts education in a climate of soaring higher education fees. -The imposed monetization of the value of arts education and its effects - The autonomy of artistic knowledge and its mediation through the value form -The concept of experimenting for experiment’s sake -The importance of group work Experimental research methodologies: Within the process of trying to define ourselves as a group we tried to transverse the different paths of action (engagement with experience and history), research (soundness of though and the growth of our knowedlge) and participation (life in society and democracy): by meeting other groups, collaborating with different collectives, attending public events together, producing a video on the importance of skills-based learning, writing a manifesto, reading and sharing references, ad researching case studies (The Hornsey College of Art sit-in, 1969). Research outputs: After almost a year of working together, we decided to further expand our relations and potential collaborations by organizing one day public event that included sessions like: -Where does arts education happen? -The Democratic Table -When is Art? -Cutting Up Arts Education -Human Library