I am Associate Dean of Learning, Teaching and Enhancement and Reader in Hybrid and Participatory Pedagogies at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK and have worked in creative arts education in a variety of roles, organisations, across levels, subjects, and geographical borders. I am passionate about applying creative processes to challenge societal perspectives and in changing institutional structures through innovative and propositional forms of practices.
My wide-ranging experience of teaching across diverse learning abilities, combined with my research into art and design pedagogies led to my involvement as an educational researcher and practitioner in inspiring projects such as the European Academy of Participation, a partnership that brought together ten organisations from across Europe – from higher education, the arts and culture – all of whom aspire to make a contribution to a more inclusive Europe, in which people live together in mutual respect of their differences.
I have been committed to creative, collaborative, inclusive and student-centred approaches to teaching since sharing my knowledge and experience of working as a photographer in industry and advertisement with undergraduates on Photography degrees in the UK in the 1990’s. Since then, I have contributed to educational provision at several institutions at various levels, including HE, FE, and the community sector, as well as across disciplinary divides. I have long been an advocate for staff and students to co-create curricula and develop educational models which provide fora for students to explore collaborative working practices across disciplines within the arts, the creative industries, and beyond. This form of participation is one of my research interests, along with the creative process, collective learning, interdisciplinarity, learning environments and intercultural exchange.
I have presented widely on all of these subjects at national and international events such as the Arts & Design Teaching Centre at Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design in Israel, the UAL Learning and Teaching Conference, conference on the Arts in Society in London, the GLAD conference in Sheffield, a discussion panel on interdisciplinarity and cross-disciplinary collaboration between the arts and sciences in HE hosted by GV Art in London, and a collaborative book writing symposium to create the international anthology on Learning Space Design in Higher Education at the University of Michigan, USA.
Along with my educational research, I have continued to engage in creative practice. In spring 2018 I shared some of my frustration about Brexit through a collaborative, unruly Dada-inspired performance under the umbrella of Creative Unions, an initiative of Central Saint Martins and other colleges of the University of the Arts London that brought together events, actions, and voices to demonstrate that creativity must operate across borders – geographical, social, and disciplinary. 59 minutes and 59 seconds was performed by the Defiant Dilettantes, its central theme was wondrous bewilderment at multifarious fragments expressive of our contemporary political experience.
My involvements with national and international educational institutions include also working as adviser and consultant. I have been external examiner for BA (Hons) in Photography and New Media at Accademia Italiana, Florence, Italy and the MA Design Future Society, a joint degree between University of Leeds and University of Applied Sciences Mannheim. I have worked as a consultant for the Open University Centre for Inclusion and Collaborative Partnerships and am a trained EQ- Arts International Quality Assurance Expert. I have chaired and participated in several validations, institutional accreditations, and reviews.