The Value of Touch: Amanda’s Story
I’m an art teacher based in Leicester. I teach students from year 6 through to year 13 at a day school. We are highly academic, and are very much a school that people want to send their children to and where they are very keen on getting something out of it and doing well. I would say the emphasis for parents is more likely to be on the value of maths rather than the arts.
I think I first heard about the residential via a Facebook link from NSEAD. I looked at it and immediately assumed ‘I’m not what they’re looking for…I don’t meet the criteria’. But my next thought was ‘you know what, I’ll fill it in anyway’ and so I did.
This was in 2020 and we all know what happened next…Covid occurred and so the residential was transformed into an online version of PPP via Zoom to which all applicants were invited. It was a very strange version (in retrospect) of what PPP does. But it was so fantastic to be reached out to in that COVID period by people who were excited about everything that we were all trying to do. And it was a fantastic way of communicating with other art teachers that were in the horrible position where we were all flying by the seat of our pants just to get through each day.
It was just really good, and, as a result of that, I then applied for the residential the following year. This was Summer 2021 and we were just beginning to emerge out of lockdown. That July, we were just back in school. This was one of the first events back on campus too and we all had to be meters apart – it was hilarious really and we sat with masks on. But, on PPP, we went outside and took masks off and that experience, at that time, was transformational in my thinking.
I think it’s important for the residential that there is such good sculpture on the University of Leeds campus and we were fortunate enough to go and visit and the Barbara Hepworth. A conservator was cleaning it, including waxing it again and, because of this she said we could touch. The whole experience, being post Covid, felt wonderfully weird. It had been really difficult teaching in school.
It still felt very separated. We’d had this huge period, the separation where everything was online and everything was so distanced. I was at one stage teaching in a plastic bubble. It’s just it crazy when you look back on it, but it’s what we did to get through. I went up to Leeds and I touched this sculpture and it was electric. It genuinely was. It felt like somebody had jolted me and they’d gone ‘come on’ – This is actually what art is about. The whole experience was joyous and celebratory. It was like a medical shot, like anti-COVID. Being with other people that understood where you were and understood what you were trying to do, which is normally difficult and was magnified by COVID, was empowering.
I hadn’t thought before attending about how much connecting with other teachers would impact me in a positive way.
I had been motivated to attend the residential because I wanted CPD that was that was completely relevant to me, and my students. It wasn’t going to be CPD where I just sat there and listened to the theory and it clearly delivered practical things I could take back into a classroom. I think that is the value of PPP, and the network is brilliant. I hadn’t thought before attending about how much connecting with other teachers would impact me in a positive way. Plus, you leave thinking ‘yeah, I’m going to do that’. The tutors are very inspiring and bring the best out of people.
I came home from the residential and I just went – these are my people. This was my gang. I need these people. I had already completed a masters and so I did not need another post-grad qualification. And I am really busy in my work. And while I knew I could do it, I asked myself – does my brain work like that anymore? But I already knew a PG Cert at Leeds would be massively inspirational.
So I applied. And then I got it, and I also managed to get a fellowship. Once I got the fellowship I thought, right, I need to do a decent job of this. For me the Featherstone Fellowship was a really intrinsic part of the process because I didn’t want to let anyone down. Someone was paying for me to have this experience and do this work, so I knew I needed to make a decent and as good a job of it as I could. And, in return, I got loads out of the experience.
My research project was about the value of touch. It was a reaction to Covid 19. It was clay-based and the evidence I got from that was extraordinary. I absolutely loved doing it. I actually got really into that academic side of things and really surprised myself. I loved reading, loved writing, loved crafting the academic writing. It has been really beneficial in school because obviously as well as teaching art, we teach the personal study element and I now use the research and methodology skills to support students. I’ve refreshed and updated my skills. And the practical side was fascinating It has provided real evidence of the mental health benefits of using your hands. And one impact has been that we’ve improved our numbers across our exam group, so instead of having one ceramics group, we got two.
I have the evidence through my PG Cert – that’s my armour – you can’t argue with it. This isn’t me in my classroom, just saying this is what I see. I’ve actually done something rigorous and evidence-based – here is my proof of the value of this subject and the value of this specific area of my subject. I have demonstrated that it is worth it, is worth my while, it’s worth your while – it is worth the fight.
So what are my lessons learnt? Initially, the qualification can be quite scary. And I still wonder how I managed to accommodate it. But I want other art teachers to know that you can make the time and you can fit it into your schedule. PPP doesn’t have the same academic pressures and barriers you experience in other courses. It felt more like CPD Christmas, sitting there, receiving and sharing gifts of knowledge. The whole programme is joyful.
A lot of teachers are struggling with our own value and worth. The lack of funding, support and connections make being an Art teacher exceedingly difficult. But the encouragement and passion you feel as a part of ATC reignites your professional fire. If I could, I would camp out at every ATC event…