Why and How? 2020
Engaging children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in creative experiences
Saturday 28 March 2020 10am - 6pm
Meet in the front hall of Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts
£75. £55 reductions and disabled concession.
Join us for a day of talks, workshops, networking and discussion as we explore, stretch and question creative approaches to engage children with SEND.
This conference will provide a space for attendees to consider approaches and develop ideas around the nature and value of cultural and creative engagement for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Attendees will explore their own creativity and share ideas and experiences while taking part and contributing to talks, round-table discussions and practical workshops.
To receive updates about the Why & How? 2020 conference, please add your name to our mailing list.
About the conference
• Access to a range of talks and workshops delivered by SEN teachers, artist educators, disability specialists and gallery and museum professionals
• Networking opportunities
• Session learning materials and handouts
• Lunch and refreshments
If you require BSL interpretation to access this conference, please email access@royalacademy.org.uk.
Anyone who is interested in learning and contributing to learning about how and why we engage children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in exploring and creating art.
Last year’s attendees included:
• teachers
• gallery and museum professionals
• consultants
• advocates
• artist educators
We encourage friends and colleagues learning together, so when you buy a £75 ticket, you can buy a second ticket for £55.
Schedule of the day
Join us for a variety of talks, discussions and workshops from experts working creatively with children with SEND!
Presenters include:
• Professor Adam Boddison, Chief Executive of nasen
• Gemma Wright, Head of Education at Camden Arts Centre
• Paul Morrow, co-author of the Cultural Inclusion Manifesto
All activities will be geared towards educators working creatively with children with SEND in both school and museum settings. For a full list of presenters and activities, please download a schedule.
The Evaluation Project
Your feedback is extremely important to us and helps us shape future conferences. At Why & How? 2020, we want to demonstrate and practice alternative evaluation methods.
As a conference attendee, you’ll be invited to respond throughout the day to three key themes using drawing, colour, writing and more. The evaluation themes are:
• Attitudes: preconceptions about creative experiences for children and young people with SEND. How can we challenge these preconceptions?
• Pedagogy: the transmission of knowledge between people and the situation in which this occurs. How can we explore and expand pedagogy?
• Practice: the way in which we engage with creative experiences and make art. How can we stretch the boundaries of creative experiences for children with SEND?
Before the final panel discussion, you’ll be asked to respond creatively to the question: where next?
The Evaluation Project will be facilitated by Paul Morrow, co-founder of the Cultural Inclusion Manifesto.
Biographies
Professor Adam Boddison is the Chief Executive for nasen. Prior to this, Adam held a number of senior education roles including Director of the Centre for Professional Education at the University of Warwick.
Lynn Cox is an established mixed and multi-media artist who specialises in enabling others to release their creativity. She is a Psychogeographer and experiments with the Situationist ideas of work and leisure.
Trizia Wells is the Inclusion Manager for Eureka! the National Children’s Museum in Halifax, West Yorkshire. A former teacher and advocate for parents of children with SEND, she leads the museum’s award-winning Access All Areas programme for disabled children which includes 20 annual arts clubs.
Carl has a BA in Primary Education with a specialism in AEN (additional educational needs). His degree led him to a career in museum learning. His current post at Leeds Museums and Galleries is managing the Career for All programme.
Paul Morrow co-authored the Cultural Inclusion Manifesto, he works both as practising artist and a teacher and co-ordinates the West London Inclusive Arts Festival. Paul has worked as a consultant with a number of of cultural organisations to promote inclusion.
Olivia Armstrong is a professional storyteller who regularly performs and creates site-specific stories for clients including the Royal Collections Trust, the National Trust, the Royal Academy and the National Gallery. She also delivers SEND-specific storytelling sessions for many leading cultural institutions, including British Museum, British Library, and Museum of London.
Gemma is the Head of Education at Camden Arts Centre. After studying BA (Hons) Fine Art and an MA Printmaking, she worked at Spike Island in Bristol, then Leicester Print Workshop. She has been Head of Education at Camden Arts Centre for nearly 4 years. As part of her role she develops strategies that widen the reach of the gallery’s programme to increase opportunities and progression routes for schools, communities, families and young people, and has a specialist focus on increasing access to the arts for people with learning disabilities.
Set up in 1989 Corali is a leader in dance created by artists with a learning disability. Corali explore the relationship between dance and other art-forms and between professional and participatory practice to create original performance work. Most recently Corali performed at the International Mime Festival January 2020 and created a new film with Tate, Dancing to Art, December 2019. Corali’s youth company Kick Up was formed in 2016 and last year performed at the Bonnie Bird Theatre, Laban.
Mr Freddie Adu is the headteacher of Queensmill School which is partnered with the Flute Theatre Company and the John Lyons Charity. The Creative Arts programme offers marginalised children and their families the opportunity to celebrate and express themselves within the school and beyond in their local community.
India is an artist and researcher whose work explores the possibilities of having multiple, distinct and complex relationships with the texture of our lived environments. India often collaborates with others, working in interdisciplinary and cross-generational contexts, foregrounding sensorial listening, agitating against ocular-centrism and centring non-linear (playful) processes and outcomes. Currently India is working on a number of pedagogic and creative projects including commissions with Tate Schools and Teachers, Sadlers Wells, Barbican Creative Learning, MKAC and South London Gallery.
It was a rich day in all respects that allowed for sharing of knowledge and exchanging best practice. There was opportunity for networking and workshops, an inspiring keynote and panel discussion.
Why & How? 2019 attendee