Tag Archives: feedback

Feedback from Fifth Intervention

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I would like to start this post by giving my own feedback for this intervention. I didn’t take part in it, obviously. But I feel like I’ve come full circle. Let me explain. For my application for MAAI we were asked to write about creativity. This is what I wrote:

Creativity is defined as the state of being creative and also as the ability to move away from traditional ideas, rules, patterns and relationships, to create new ideas and interpretations. I think this is so important as a lot of people struggle to express themselves with words. It’s seen as ‘weak’ or ‘embarrassing’ especially amongst men. But this is why creativity is so important and can make the world a better, and arguably healthier place. Being creative gives a voice to society, where they have the ability to say something and communicate a message without having to say anything. 

Considering I wrote the above when I was half asleep, I’m amazed at how much it still rings true and how my project ended up back where I started.

Now for the intervention.

Going into this I had no idea what would happen. I had no idea how many people would engage with it or be willing to create art as well as write about their feelings. After all, I’d already established that one group of my stakeholders aren’t the most open when it comes to sharing feelings. I posted the challenge on my personal Instagram account, as well as my photography Instagram account, alongside a post on Facebook. I also emailed it to people that I had interacted with over the course of my research in case they were interested and wanted to participate.

Feedback:

Someone who took part told me in person that they didn’t see the point in this and that it was just one more thing for them to get done. Another told me that it was the wrong time of year for them but they would be willing to try it when they are less busy with work.

Survey Results:

I find it interesting that the people who took part in this were at the lower end of my target age group for my stakeholders. This could be for a few reasons:
a) the older students didn’t see my challenge because they’re not on social media as much
b) the younger students were willing to try something to see if it helped
c) the students at the lower end of my age range have more free time to take part in something like this
This is a pretty even split between three answers. The number of answers was pretty small however so I would be interested to see what the answers would be with a larger number of participants/respondents. I also think that writing about feelings could be seen as off putting, even if you’re the only one reading it back.
I think this is what I expected. After all, it was just one 10 day challenge and things don’t change overnight, especially when it comes to feeling like an imposter. I would be interested to see the responses after a series of interventions like this to see if over time there was a gradual change.

*Looking at my survey again (the day before my final presentation), I realise I should have asked the gender of the people who took part in my challenge. This would have allowed me to see if this approach would be helpful for working class students in general, or just one group of them. I am slightly annoyed that I overlooked this detail and that I have no time to rectify it.*

Expert Feedback:

I didn’t receive any replies to emails I sent to experts about this intervention, however I did discuss this intervention during a job interview I had. One of the people interviewing me is partnering with Museum as Muck for a research project (it hasn’t been formally announced yet), an organisation that aims to get more working class people in the arts. She was very interested in my research project, especially this intervention, because she said that keeping creative working class students interested in pursuing a career in the arts once they graduate is important and something that she has noticed needs work on. She suggested that I reach out to more arts universities and trial creative interventions such as workshops and challenges such as this one, to encourage students to be creative for fun again, instead of just having to meet deadlines.

Tutorial 3/10

Tutorials, , , , ,

First tutorial with David and I feel as though my mental block has disappeared! I think that I have been second guessing myself and my project too much, and focusing on the roadblocks I’m encountering rather than the successes I am having. We spoke about how CSM specifically has a reputation for it being difficult to get answers to questions and he suggested that I contact one or more of the other colleges that make up UAL such as CCW and LCC. Another conversation we had was about how in the UK, class is always the elephant in the room – it’s rarely spoken about but there’s always an undercurrent of it in the majority of situations.

Moving Forwards – Action points, ideas to research/think about etc

  • Show my academic argument for focusing on female working class students. Show why it is needed academically, rather than anecdotally. Illustrate why I’m focusing on what I am focusing on with the help of research and data, and pivot if needed. ✔️
  • Look at my project from the antithesis perspective. Potential arguments against my question, and also look at my question as less of a theory/idea. ✔️
  • Think about whether my stakeholder group has expanded to include potential applicants to universities for the next academic year. *If I am working on outreach as part of my research and interventions, then this would make sense, I think?* ✔️
  • Contact outreach at other institutions. How do other schools, not just art schools, entice students to study with them? What is working and not working? ✔️
  • Talk to educational policy officers at various universities, not just arts focused universities
  • Compare outreach at other arts universities – what are they doing that UAL are not? Compare and contrast and show the areas that UAL specifically are lacking, if any. ✔️
  • Contact the SU to work with them on a survey to work out how many female working class students there are – using re-enrolment figures potentially. They don’t have to disclose this under GDPR so I need to be inventive to get this data. ✔️
  • Offer to work directly with outreach teams. On a voluntary basis to collect data for my project. Kind of a quid pro quo situation. Have something to offer them in exchange for them helping me with my research – they are more likely to be receptive if this is the case.
  • Offer to volunteer with students who are potentially applying to university this year. Are they choosing an arts school? If not, why not? Have they thought about studying in London instead of staying where they currently are? *I have applied for a mentorship in this area at the Whitechapel Gallery which starts in November and I will look for other similar opportunities – this could lead into a paid role if successful* ✔️
  • Why are most HE teachers women? Did they go to an arts based university? Do they teach where they studied? *Look at the staff I see around me, as well as statistics if available. Maybe look at the ONS?*

The main takeaway from this tutorial for me, apart from all the advice, was David saying that the point of research isn’t to solve the problem. Research provides data and insight into what the problem is and presents possible solutions. I think up to this point, I’ve convinced myself that I’m going to make a huge change through my project. But really, that’s not what matters and that’s not how success is defined in the context of my project.