Teaching

Me teaching Key Stage 5 (16-18 year olds) students
Me teaching Key Stage 5 (16 to 18-year-olds) students

Qualifications:
I gained a MA in Education (2010) and PGCE (2008) from the Institute of Education, University of London, and I am DBS checked.

Freelancing and museum education
I have taught art to older people, adults, young people and children in museums and art galleries, where often the institution’s collections and exhibitions are used as inspiration. I’ve led in-person and online creative workshops exploring how to draw using traditional and digital media and model-making techniques at cultural organisations such as Engage, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Wallace Collection and Watts Gallery.

Since 2015, I have been leading workshops at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), London, teaching adults and children to use technology such as coding, 3D printing and iPad drawing to make art with architecture as the inspiration. In the RIBA’s Explore and Make workshops for over 50s I have been devising and leading art sessions where participants are supported to explore a different media each month.

Secondary schools
I was formerly a full-time art teacher in schools. I have experience teaching all age groups, in particular Key Stages 3 to 5 in the state sector, either working in tandem with other teachers and educators, or leading lessons on my own. The focus of my teaching was art and design, where I would find ways to bring architecture and the work of architects into the classroom. Whilst devising schemes of work and supporting students’ learning, I also oversaw the welfare of my students.

 

A few examples of me teaching, via Twitter:

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Examples of my teaching projects:

1. iPad drawing workshops (all ages)

At the Royal Institute of British Architects, London, teaching adults and children to draw and manipulate images on iPads.

Me leading an iPad drawing workshop with a group of lifelong learners
Me leading an iPad drawing workshop with a group of lifelong learners, 2015

 

iPad drawings by 8 to 9 year olds from Cayley Primary School
iPad drawing by an 8-year-old, created during one of the workshops I led, 2015.

 

iPad drawings by 8 to 9 year olds from Cayley Primary School
iPad drawing by an 8-year-old, created during one of the workshops I led, 2015.

 

 

2. Year 7 lesson (ages 11-12):  Enclosing space

As an art and design teacher I devised lessons where students explored the possibilities of enclosing space. Looking at their own homes in plan and learning simple conventions in construction drawings, the students were asked to transform their own home to create new forms without limits, for the pre-exisiting spaces. This was the first part of several architecture lessons and the aim was to open the students up to new ways of looking at their local environment and the varied forms architecture can take. Architects used for inspiration included EMBT Architects, Zaha Hadid and Christopher Wren.

Year 7 work: Students worked from a plan they drew of their own home and created a new form/enclosure
Year 7 work: Students worked from a plan they drew of their own home and created a new form/enclosure
Year 7 work: Students' work brought together to create a city.
Year 7 work: Students’ work brought together to create a city

3. Year 9 lesson (ages 13-14): Finding new inspiration

Students explored the delicate structural forms made possible by re-adapting everyday objects. Careful cutting skills and manipulation of material, such as maps, were to give new skills to these students in preparation for their GCSEs the following year. It was part of a series of lessons I devised as an art and design teacher, where students were exposed to different materials used in architecture and finding inspiration from unlikely sources. Architects and artists such as Toyo Ito and Simon Patterson were used to inspire.

Year 9: Maps cut and fashioned into imaginary structures
Year 9: Maps cut and fashioned into imaginary structures
Year 9: Maps cut and remade as part of the city
Year 9: Maps cut and remade as part of the city
Year 9: Maps cut and remade as part of the city
Year 9: Maps cut and remade as part of the city

4. Year 10 lesson (ages 15-16): Fractal structures and natural forms

Students studied a range of natural forms as inspiration, e.g. leaves, cells and bones. Each learner made cut-outs of one chosen shape and used their imaginations to create a unique structure out of these repeating elements. Extension tasks for students included drawing their new structure and describing it through keywords. The work of artist Richard Sweeney was used to inspire.

Students' work: Fractal structures
Students’ work: Fractal structures
Student work: Fractal structure
Student work: Fractal structure
Student work: Fractal structure
Student work: Fractal structure