It has been a while since I last posted, mainly because I am on the final push of writing the PhD! In addition to that, I have been teaching and marking. The usual academic activities! However I did manage to attend the iJADE conference in November last year. I started attending iJADE a few years ago and always really value the opportunity to mix with people who are passionate about art education, both nationally and internationally. Much of my daily focus is on the teaching of generalist primary teachers however my key research areas, and the focus of the PhD, is on art education in primary schools and children’s voice; iJADE provides me with the annual boost I need to keep me focused on what I believe in and wish to explore further through my work.

The conference this time was held in the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. It was my first visit to Ireland and so my first time in Dublin, and the college was an ideal setting for the conference; built on the site of an old distillery there was a sense of feeling at home there!

The focus of the conference this year was ‘Art and Design for Agents of Change’ and I particularly enjoyed the first keynote presentation by Professor Sharon Todd entitled ‘Forms of Relational Encounter: Sensory experience and social change in art and education’. She posed the question ‘If the aesthetic dimension was governing society and not the economic, and if tactile perception was valued as highly as the rational, then how would you teach?’ Increasingly in my own work I am questioning the established order of how we do things in education, and why, and in particular thinking about the role that curricula play as tools of power reflecting economic and political institutions; this philosophical question turned all that on its head and opened up new possibilities of thinking in my own research and teaching. It was a good start!

 

I presented a paper called ‘‘Jings’, ‘Crivvens’ and ‘Help Ma Boab’! A discussion regarding the impact of public art trails on local communities in the UK’. The presentation was based on data gathered from speaking to children in primary schools in Dundee and their comments on the Oor Wullie Buckettrail which took place a couple of years ago. The Buckettrail was overseen by an organisation called Wild in Art  who organise a range of these trails across the UK; Dundee is set for penguins this summer. I am fascinated however by public reactions towards these trails and the role they play in people’s perceptions of what art is, connecting this with theories surrounding cultural capital and taste. The discussion following my presentation certainly reflected a range of conflicting opinions but that is what makes presenting at conferences enjoyable and essential; I now have some further avenues to explore as a result!

The other highlight of the conference was the preview and drinks reception at the NCAD Gallery; the exhibition was composed of artist recipients of the Clancy Quay Studio Residency NCAD/Kennedy Wilson Ireland. I particularly enjoyed the portraits by Sean O’Rourke.

There is a sense at the moment that the status of art education in the UK is gradually being eroded; attending the conference brings home to me how strongly this is felt by artist-educators, particularly in England. I worry that this is happening north of the border also but perhaps we are being too quiet about it. Attending iJade however tends to put me in a positive frame of mind, in that there is a large and significant group of people who believe in art as a human right and it spurs me on with my own work!