Introduction and Teaching Context
Over the summer, I run a series of six UAL short courses for students from China at CSM. For many, it is their first time in the UK and as such, it is important that they feel supported in unfamiliar surroundings.
One of my key aims was to increase the diversity and breadth of the resources and methodology of teaching that I offer to students.
The aim of my short courses is to create space for students to consider their own intersectional identities. As Kimberlee Crenshaw says: “Intersectionality is an analytic sensibility, a way of thinking about identity and its relationship to power.” 1
On a philosophical level, I view positionality as akin to identity: something which is ever changing, “as a place where meaning is constructed rather than a locus of already determined values.” 2
I acknowledge that the subject matter of identity can be sticky and challenging to traverse, I hope that the opportunity this creates to learn more about one another will increase each persons connection and capacity for empathy, as bell hooks says:
“As a classroom community, our capacity to generate excitement is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognising one another’s presence.” 3
hooks’ use of the word voice stresses the importance of moving away from the student as a silent listener and puts emphasis on the need to readdress the power balances at play in classrooms. All voices need to be heard and listened to. This allows students to connect with the views and positions of people other than themselves and their teacher, increasing their understanding.
hooks is discussing a person centered and empathy-based way of teaching, which is how I like to teach. Getting to know students and making a connection with them helps them to feel more confident to experiment with their work, this leads to more engagement, growth and better work. Augusto Boal says, “empathy is the most powerful tool.” 4
Positionality statement
It is imperative that my teaching methodology is inclusive for all students. Whilst I may be a tiny cog in a giant UAL wheel, it is within the classroom that we can help co-create the conditions for a just society.
This is how I perceive my positionality in the context of the short courses:
- I am teaching Chinese students in my mother tongue of English. What can I do to navigate this power imbalance?
- I am a white and a man, what power do I gain from this? And how can I use this power to ensure that all students on the course feel included and engaged?
- I will be asking students to engage in creating personal stories, how do I avoid creating another power structure?
As bell hooks says “Professors who expect students to share confessional narratives but who are themselves unwilling to share are exercising power in a manner that could be coercive” 5
I view my own intersectionality as a continually evolving, shifting, learning experience. As Crenshaw says:
“Intersectionality draws attention to invisibilities that exist in feminism, in anti-racism, in class politics, so, obviously, it takes a lot of work to consistently challenge ourselves to be attentive to aspects of power that we don’t ourselves experience.” 6
Inclusive and Diverse contextual resources
The contextual resources that I will offer students on the course will be broken down into the following themes:
Personal and Historical Identity: Amanda Ba’s work merging her Chinese and American heritage, Frank Bowling and his use of colour and personal objects in his paintings, Lubaina Himid’s work discussing and tracing the impacts of the slave trade, Chrstine Sun Kim’s use of sound as a deaf artist, Eddie Peake and his work looking at the unease of white privilege.
Place and Identity: Mark Bradford and his mapping of LAX and use of materials from his mother’s barber shop, Michael Rakowitz and his use of food as a call to place, Yin Xiuzhen’s work exploring globalisation and cultural identity)
Performing and Questioning Gender Identity: Jutta Koether’s reworking of the male gaze in renaissance works, Jordan Nasher’s stitched work using the traditionally/historically feminine format of the Tatreez, Lin Tianmaio’s textile installations exploring gender codes, Sula Bermudez-Silverman’s soft sculptures questioning the representation of the black female figure in art history
Objects as Carriers of Identity: Louise Nevelson’s assemblages, Steve Claydon’s work on how the meaning of an object can shift over time, Theaster Gates and his use of his father’s roofing materials and the hose pipes from the Civil Rights, Yin Xiuxhen’s use of tiles from destroyed traditional buildings.
For the course to be inclusive and diverse, it is imperative that the artists I offer to students come from a variety of backgrounds and work in different mediums. Diverse and inclusive contextual resources create a wider range of multi-cultural learning for students through both increasing a sense of belonging for students from minority groups and increasing the awareness of other students.
As Graeme Chalmers says in Celebrating Pluralism: “Multicultural education is not just for students from ethnic minority cultures, but for all students.” 7
By looking at work from a diverse range of cultures, I hope that art education can be a form of social inquiry. That we can ask the why of all artworks that we encounter, and students can be bonded by differences as well as by commonalities of experiences.
Teaching Methodology:
The territory of identity as subject matter is a challenging one. I am not trained as a pastoral carer and had to keep an eye on the nature of discussions. The course’s structure emphasises accessing personal identity through materiality, in other words, through the vehicles of making.
There are risks in accessing the personal, in looking at who we are and what we believe our identity to be, however, I hoped that with supportive dynamics and care for one another, we could move through fear to find connection, to celebrate difference as hooks says:
“Dominator culture has tried to keep us all afraid, to make us choose safety instead of risk, sameness instead of diversity. Moving through that fear, finding out what connects us, reveling in our differences; this is the process that brings us closer, that gives us a world of shared values, of meaningful community.” 8
Through inclusive and open discussion, we can move into a space where we get real freedom of creativity and expression. Augusto Boal’s text Theatre of the Oppressed puts forward theatre’s potential to transform the lives of the spectators to become activated participants, through active engagements, the classroom can be a stage for us to become more connected to the social justice issues that are embedded inside and outside of the classroom through engagement with one another. Teaching and learning spaces should be a space to share: “A form of knowledge; it should and can also be a means of transforming society. Theatre can help us build our future, rather than just waiting for it.” 9
By giving students, the stage to consider their own identity and their own choice in materials and objects, I aimed to give students agency and power, to be liberated from the power dynamics of the classroom and to make their own choices, based in how they define themselves as people and as makers. As Paulo Freire says:
“The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape the students. What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.” 10
Tools
In the UAL Tutor Hub, it is suggested that:
“All learners will benefit form a glossary document or access to written records of the class activities and presentations, but these can be extra support to learners with low English skills as they can translate the documents in their own time. Consider using a Padlet.” 11
I had not used Padlet before, but it is one of the tools I will now use for future short courses. I shared a glossary of terminology (such as assemblage or collage) and printed out the course and day outlines which students used to refer to or translate in their own time if they did not feel confident raising questions in class.
I used PowerPoint for my presentations for the artist references. These PowerPoints were also sent round via email at the end of each day for students and printed out to ensure that each student had multiple routes to learning.
Feedback
I asked the students who took the course the first week for some feedback on the following questions – please see the Appendix below for this.
I also asked my colleague Beatrice, who was working as my assistant on the course, for some feedback – please see the Appendix below for this also.
In addition to this, I ran the course online independently and have included the feedback for this also.
Reflections
One of my key reflections was that the language used for the PowerPoints was too advanced for most of the students studying from China. I found that I mostly ad-libbed from PowerPoints and used the images on the slideshow to discuss the work shown. In future I will try to make my language more accessible.
Beatrice’s suggestion of a visual step-by-step guide to the making processes on the course is an excellent idea, that I will incorporate into future courses.
The diversity of artists looked at both in terms of methods of making and identity were well received by students and increased their knowledge of contemporary artists. I want to continue to increase my awareness and engagement with artists from non-western backgrounds and marginalised communities. I see this as a task that must continually be worked at inside and outside of my teaching practice as Paulo Freire says:
“For apart from inquiry, apart from the praxis, individuals cannot be truly human. Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.” 12
I want to continue to find ways to enable students to bring an awareness of their own voice to the materials and methods they use to make their work. The planning and experience gained from running these courses has clarified for me that a key component of my teaching methodology is finding every opportunity to give students confidence and agency to make their own decisions around their learning and making.
I attempted to navigate the issue of students being forced to share or becoming the “native informer” 13 by offering my own examples for students. I asked students to choose their own identity and character traits and to bring in their own objects and materials that would act as carriers for this information. This felt like it was a successful way to navigate this.
The end goal of making teaching practices more inclusive is to ensure that students from minority groups have the support to achieve their full potential. This should carry through and result in a more diverse teaching staff and knowledge base, increasing engagement for all students. As Paulo Freire says:
“No pedagogy which is truly liberating can remain distant from the oppressed by treating them as unfortunates and by presenting models for their emulation from among the oppressors. The oppressed must be their own example in the struggle for their redemption” 14
Word count: 1,640 (minus indented quotes)
Appendix
Feedback from Beatrice Vorster, teaching assistant on short courses and fellow UAL tutor and PGCERTer
During two of the short courses, I was Tommy’s assistant. In both courses, the majority of students were under 18, in London for the first time, still developing their English language skills with many of them not knowing each other either. This is a challenging teaching scenario to navigate while addressing conversations around identity, diversity and inclusion.
I think the major point of success was that, by the end of the week, each student was able to say a few sentences about their final piece in front of the larger group. Although they struggled at times with the language differences, giving them some time to prepare what they wanted to say was a great way to make sure no one felt like they were being put on the spot. This is a more inclusive way of approaching crits that could be brought into teaching scenarios when everyone is comfortable with speaking in English, not just for students who are struggling with the additional language. For me, this was a sign that you did well to generate a group dynamic where each student felt like they had a place and a sense of agency – you have a lightness and sense of humour which seems to put students at ease and make you an approachable teacher.
In the future, it might be useful to prepare step-by-step visual guides to the activities which can cater for a wider range of language levels. This could include a ‘keywords’ section which might give a simple indication of areas to focus attention on.
The presentations did well to frame the conversation around the activities and included a culturally diverse range of artists. These also worked well as reminders when they were stuck on the wall which hopefully encouraged some independent research. In particular, for these groups of students who are based in China, it was useful to have a well known Chinese artist as a reference point from which to bring into conversation with artists they might be less familiar with.
Feedback from students from Art First International
Although it was only a few days, I learnt a lot of new things in your class after I came back from ual summer school. I learnt a lot of new things in your class, such as different forms of artistic expression and a lot of skills about painting. I have also learnt a lot of new things about the subject of Pure Art. And I really like the content and the atmosphere of your class.
You patiently told us what to do over and over again and always encouraged us by telling us that we were doing a good job.
Most importantly, after the course I realised that I had become very interested in the course and I liked the fact that I could think out of the box to express my views. When I came back I also searched for a lot of artists and works related to the course. To this I found that I was very interested. The course was very inspiring for me.
I love art and I want to express my attitude and crazy ideas through art and drawing. After coming to this school again I found that everything here fits with what I like.
Yi Fei Bao
Thank you very much for your great teaching in the class. I especially like your mode of education, the lessons are very interesting: the PowerPoint is very detailed, and it offers a wide variety of artists to make my mind more open. Moreover, you are very patient and will always encourage me and make me become more confident. For this short courses, I especially enjoyed it. Your courses filled me with passion, I took every piece of work especially seriously during the class and tried my best to do better. So all you may see of me is in position to do my artwork peacefully.
Thank you again for teaching me in this short courses, it helps me a lot in my future art study. I will go further to achieve my goal!
Warm regards
Your student,
Qianle Liao
Feedback from Online Course students
Tommy has very skilfully helped me find my way to my own very particular Narrative and Identity, which I always thought my work lacked. I was very excited to do this course and now I know why. I have found myself happy and curious not only in long forgotten but also in surprising new territories and materiality. He challenged us from the word go, both during the all-day Zooms and in the homework set. Expect your head to hurt and to feel sick as you start to shift and think differently. Tommy connected me with working from the bottom up and not the top down. I have so many ideas and lines of inquiry now! The Zoom group crits, dialogues and presentations with him and my fellow artists were invaluable and we now are a firm friendship group. We really have all been on an amazing journey together. Bravo Tommy, and thank you xx
Christine Turnbull
A very great experience of doing an on line practical course indeed. The course content covered different aspects of identity in contemporary art brilliantly and fantastic questions and discussions were raised which I found very beneficial for my practice.
Yasmin Noorbakash
This course is a glorious exploration, for it’s participants, of ways of inhabiting personal narratives and identities through the medium of art making. Each week is a fine balance of conversation, an opportunity to look at the work of edgy contemporary artists, art making with tutorials and the sharing of work with the group.
I found this approach wonderfully liberating. Tommy put us at ease. We were comfortable to share work and ideas and felt listened too. It was extremely valuable to receive careful and thoughtful feed back about our work from the group and Tommy himself. Each week Tommy suggested particular strategies for connecting with art materials and how we might use them, in new ways. This encouraged me to put aside some of my more familiar art making routes and I found myself embracing new materials and thinking about my emotional relationship with them. I was surprised by the work I created. The course took me in new directions, and I finish it with renewed energy to create work and with many different strategies for initiating and sustaining my work.
Tamsin Hayward
The course felt meaty in content…satisfying and unsettling at the same time. I feel like we all could have asked more questions of each other rather than making statements. I feel like i did not make the best use of the space but that i have lots of material and feedback to go back over and rework. I learnt a huge amount. Content and about myself.
Robyn Reeves
How did you find the PowerPoint presentations on artists
Very good. I have been introduced to a whole new world of artists and makers. Tommy found such excellent examples that really illustrated the point he was making about the topic for that week and that engendered some most interesting and personal discussions.
Christine Turnbull
PowerPoint presentation on artists was the most helpful tool to me, Specially the question asked at the end are so valuable. They were very generously sent after each lesson and were shared with the group in my surprise as many courses do not share their content fully with student.
Yasmin Noorbakash
Presentations were great. I hadn’t heard of any of these artists. I was thrilled to see this new work and also have the opportunity to think and talk about the pieces. You have such a relevant perspective on all this work as a young contemporary artist. You speak with real confidence and authority. You’re steeped in the vocabulary of Art talk. I would love it if you talked without looking down at notes, so we are looking either at the work or you, not the top of your head.
Tamsin Hayward
References:
- Crenshaw, Kimberlee, Seeing race again: countering colorblindness across the disciplines, edited by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Luke Charles Harris, Daniel Martinez HoSang and George Lipsitz, Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2019, Page 201
- Tien, Joanne, Teaching Racial Justice through Critical Pedagogy, Routledge, 2017, page 54
- hooks, bell, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, Routledge, 1994, page 145
- Baol, Augusto, Theatre of the Oppressed, Pluto Press, 1979, page 140
- hooks, bell, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, Routledge, 1994, page 21
- Crenshaw, Kimberlee, Seeing race again: countering colorblindness across the disciplines, edited by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Luke Charles Harris, Daniel Martinez HoSang and George Lipsitz, Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2019, Page 187
- Chalmers, Graeme, Celebrating Pluralism, Los Angeles, Calif. : J. Paul Getty Trust, 1996, page 70
- hooks, bell, Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope, Routledge: 2013, page 197
- Baol, Augusto, Theatre of the Oppressed, Pluto Press, 1979, page 90
- Freire, Paulo, We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change, Conversations on Education and Social Change, Myles Horton and Paulo Freire ; edited by Brenda Bell, John Gaventa, and John Peters, Temple Press, 1990, page 140
- Top Tips for Teaching learners with low English skills, UAL, page 1,
Accessed on July 1:
- Freire, Paulo, We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change, Conversations on Education and Social Change, Myles Horton and Paulo Freire ; edited by Brenda Bell, John Gaventa, and John Peters, Temple Press, 1990, page 100
- hooks, bell, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, Routledge, 1994, page 90
- Freire, Paulo, We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change, Conversations on Education and Social Change, Myles Horton and Paulo Freire ; edited by Brenda Bell, John Gaventa, and John Peters, Temple Press, 1990, page 87
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