At the invitation of the visionary Sally Hall, who is Inclusive Environments Project Lead of Plymouth College of Art, Kai succesfully ran a workshop for staff members and associates at Plymouth College of Art on 25 June 2019. Entitled Un-reasonable Adjustments, Creative Health, Neurodiversity in HEI & Ways Forward , the day consisted of a presentation and workshop which based around #MagicCarpet. Sally had been coming up with innovative ways to help staff embed inclusive learning at PCA, which is said to top HESA table with its high number of students (39%) who identify as being disabled.
On that day, Participants included Sally Hall, Louise White Noakes, Olivia Lorne, Jason Hirons, Annie Millar, Helen Billinghurst, Emily Watkins, Michaela Woods, Sarah Jamieson, Amanda Leman and Eleonora Shishimanova. Examples of terms we unpacked include: -Neurodiversity: challenges and possibilities in HEI? -Reasonable/unreasonable adjustments -Inclusive assessment -Disorder versus (learning) Difference versus (hidden) Disability -Gender; intersectionality -Mind wandering: impairment or creative strategy? -Creative health/the role of the arts in health, and how art schools can contribute to this conversation |
It was an intense and productive day. Participants came up with ingenious ideas and presentations for an inclusive, neurodivergent curriculum. Manifesto statement we came up with include: BE HAPPY WITH THE UNFINISHED / NOT JUST DEAD WHITE MEN / EMBRACE ERRORS / ALL LEARNING SPACES (GO OUTDOORS).
Kai has since drew on these to develop 15 manifesto statements, and has incorporated them for a chapter. Entitled ‘Ill-Disciplined: Creative, Neurodivergent Intervention and Leadership in Higher Education – A Manifesto’, this was for the book Beyond Borders? Articulations, provocations and performativities in Arts & Humanities research, which explores the spaces, places and territories that exist above and below, amidst and with/out borders in Arts & Humanities research and is edited by Jacqueline Taylor et al (Birmingham City University). My 15 manifesto statements are: I. Step Up the Game II. Step into the Unknown III. Step Away from Comfort Zones IV. Embrace Errors V. Take Risks VI. Play VII. Change Culture VIII. Break Locks and Challenge Gatekeepers IX. Be Athletic X. Be a Running Post(hu)man XI. Be Promiscuous XII. Not All Dead White Men XIII. Be Ill-Disciplined XIV. Embrace Athletes of Creativity XV. Be Happy With The Unfinished |