September 2019

CLARA BLOOMFIELD

The Next Generation of Teaching Artists: Art as Activism - Activating Your Own Truth

Session Synopsis

What can teaching artists learn from their students? What can students learn from their teachers and teaching artists? Does the way that we teach need to change?

In September of 2019, Clara Bloomfield moderated a panel discussion of her students from Edinburgh College. She used the guiding themes and questions of ITAC4 to explore what the students thought of their current and burgeoning careers in teaching artistry. The questions were:

  • What is the role of teaching artists as contributors to social justice?
  • What is the responsibility of the 21st-century artist as they engage in different communities?
  • How can artists transform skills and institutions as learning in radical ways?
  • What is the role of art as activism?

Over the course of an hour, it quickly becomes apparent that the future of teaching artistry is bright if youth like these are planning to make a change.

The students were Callum Thomson, Cat McInally, Hannah Louise MacFarlane, Rebecca “Becca” Thomson, Rhona Louise O’Donnell, and Zuzanna “Zazu” Klebba.

They were all part of the 2029/20 BA(Hons) Dance & Drama (Drama) cohort at Performing Arts Studio Scotland, Edinburgh College with Kingston University. As part of this degree program, students study Applied Theatre. The aim is to develop a greater understanding of current practice within a real Scottish Context whilst simultaneously interrogating their own, to arrive at a new understanding of their own Praxis as a Teaching Artist.

Additional Resources

Learn more about Clara and the students of Edinburgh College as The Next Generation of Teaching Artists exploring the additional resources below:

Teaching Artistry Websites:

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