Learning

Part-time March 2003 - April 2004.

The LIFT Teacher Forum is a year-long part-time professional development opportunity for teachers. Established in 1999, the Teacher Forum aims to boost teacher creativity. The process is practical, equipping teachers with new ideas and approaches to making the most of working in partnership

Teacher Forum Aims

• To engage with the scholarship of creativity and its application to teaching and learning
• To support and encourage reflective practice
• To build skills in arts project management and partnerships with artists
• To create a group dynamic based on the principle of shared learning

How does it work?

Through a structured programme Teacher Forum participants have direct contact with LIFT theatre seasons and artists based in London. This experience is the catalyst for participants to reflect on what it is to be creative and how this affects their work as teachers.

What does the course include?

• 9 sessions, 1 per month in a range of teaching styles with expert tutors, artists and producers
• individual tutorials at intervals throughout the process
• attendance at LIFT performances and public discussion events
• design and delivery of a 5 day action-research project with an artist in school
• individual action-research assignment focussing on an aspect of creative education in schools

What do Participants Gain?

• Renewed confidence, energy and enthusiasm and personal creative revitalisation
• Enriched professional practice in using the arts to deepen children's learning
• Enhanced understanding of a range of culturally diverse performance practice
• Skills to advocate for the place of the arts in the professional practice of teachers and the school curriculum
• Enhanced skills in making the most of a partnership with an artist in school
• Social and professional links with artists and teaching colleagues from London and around the world

Action-research Project

This school based project is an opportunity for teachers to develop and reflect on aspects of their creative practice in school in partnership with an artist. The outcomes of the research will feed into a final course assignment.

Some examples of current research projects:

• How does a closer rapport between artist and teacher generate a creative process where children have ownership of the work?
• What is the impact of sustained partnerships with artists on the role of creative leaders in schools?
• How does working with an artist impact on 'safe' teaching methods? What value does creative risk-taking have in enhancing/enriching childrens' creative selves?
• How does working in a creative process affect the motivation and behaviour of students towards each other and adults?

Schools participating in the Teacher Forum 2003/4

Brookfield School Camden, Daniel House Pupil Referral Unit Hackney, Millennium School and Morden Mount Primary School Greenwich, Tuke Special Secondary School and Edmund Waller Primary School Lewisham, Chelsea Open Air Nursery and St Mary's R.C. Primary School Kensington & Chelsea, Highlands Primary School Redbridge, Dartmouth Grammar School for Girls Kent.

The Future

LIFT is currently planning a new professional development course for 10 teachers and 10 artists in collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Animarts, LEAP (London Education Arts Partnerships) and Newham VIth Form College. This course is still in development and is scheduled to start in January 2005.