Synopsis take 2!

I have redrafted my synopsis following feedback that I should include some information on how my workshops were iterated:

How can teenagers be encouraged to develop their personal identities through creative critical reflection?

My aim was to develop creative, positive and enjoyable workshops where young people can discuss society, culture, values, dreams and aspirations, engaging with their personal identities and role within their communities in a constructive way. 

The physical, psychological and social changes experienced by adolescents lead psychologists to regard adolescence as a critical period for self and identity development (Erikson, 1968; Marcia, 1987).  Identi-tee workshops are designed to encourage young people to reflect on their sense of self and community, enabling them to become confident individuals and responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society. 

Although there has been some recent interest in the development of social identity (e.g., Bennett & Sani, 2004), most research has been conducted with children, and researchers have assumed adolescents to be equivalent to adults (Ruble et al., 2004; Sani & Bennett, 2004). 

Personal wellbeing is currently a non-statutory part of the National Curriculum for 11-16 year olds, and crucial issues - including elements such as personal identity, relationships within the community, and diversity – are not explored in many schools.

Dewey (1933) talked about the value of critical reflection in education: it ‘gives attention to one’s experiences and behaviours, and meanings are interpreted from them to inform future decision-making… reflective action is an extremely useful tool for addressing social and emotional issues, especially those relating to race and culture.’ 

Identi-tee explores how creative critical reflection can be used in contemporary society to help teenagers build an awareness of self and identity in relation to both their culture and their community, in turn it looks at ways for teenagers and their communities to work collectively to produce work that reflects their experiences and the places they live. 

During the workshops, young people collaborate to discuss themselves, their relationships, their society and their environment, and how all these components affect sense of self.  The key theme of personal wellbeing is developed and explored through creativity and reflection exercises:

CREATIVITY Producing artefacts, experimenting with ideas, materials, tools and techniques, taking risks and learning from mistakes.
REFLECTION Exploring the visual, tactile and other sensory qualities of their own and others’ work, identifying how values and meanings are conveyed, developing views and expressing reasoned judgment, analysing and reflecting on their work and the work of others.

The exercises work differently on both a group and individual level, with certain topics and related exercises resonating with different individuals depending on their needs.  This was easy to tell from the depth of their responses.  The workshop iterations were therefore very intuitive - exercises were adapted on the spot and at the end of sessions from feedback received.  The young people were extremely vocal about what they enjoyed and what they didn’t - teenagers are very honest with their criticisms. 

I hope that these workshops could lead to developments in the field of personal identity in adolescents, help recognise its importance and lead to widespread use of the workshops in schools and youth groups.

Identi-tee is on going, there are further workshops in 2012, using drama, singing and dance to aid critical reflection, as well as workshops on other key topics, such as relationships or diversity. 

The workshops can also be tailored to help the homeless, people who can suffer the most from a lack of identity caused by a feeling of ‘hearthlessness’ and inability to identify with society. Feelings of isolation, rejection and alienation are extremely common with homeless people, these in turn can lead to psychological problems in relation to identity.  I feel there is room to help homeless people explore and stimulate their feelings of identity using a variety of exercises from my findings to date.

My exhibition has been inspired by the Fluxus movement.   Maciunas defined Fluxus products as ‘work that would occur as a result of performance activities, or as elements of participation environments.’ This resonates with what I am trying to represent; I have filled drawers with objects that represent the different workshop exercises involved in Identi-tee, reminiscent of the Fluxkits in which Maciunas collected performance-related cards, games, and ideas.

David Graas

I first became aware of David Graas's work when I bought the book 1000 New Eco Designs, so when I was planning my exhibition I emailed him to ask for help, and I am extremely pleased to say he has agreed to help me with my wardrobe design for the exhibition.  

I've been reflecting on the workshops and the key things I noticed.  One is that the specific exercises worked best for those young people who really needed it, by this I mean the ones who had already been thinking about the issues concerned due to reasons specific to them.  For example when we discussed our names and what they meant to us, and how they represented us ones of the most vocal members of the group had had occasion to discuss changing her name for legal reasons. 

Thought of the day

The shifts in adolescence are so significant, we need to ensure we support our young people, those who are not academic may not receive the support they need in the current school system, workshops that develop their existing skills and interests can help create confident and positive young people.  It can help young people develop a range of skills to ensure they can make the right decisions in a different period of their lives, assess risk and build healthy relationships. 

My entries are becoming slightly less regular at the moment, purely because I have been spending almost all my energy on a daily basis on the PR campaign for the exhibition.  It's going very well, I have a good range of journalists and bloggers interested in our exhibition, I have prepared and sent through case studies for them, and am writing a press release shortly. 

I am also trying to rally everyone into being a part of the PR campaign, I need them all to be active otherwise the information I am getting out there won't go very far!

I am also trying to figure out where I am going to get a child's wardrobe from for the exhibition.  I am worried about leaving it too late. 

Same with printing out my blog, I don't want to leave it so that it has more entries in the book but doesnt come in time for the exhibition!!

I will write more soon, about my reflective thoughts post workshops, as I have been formulating some thinking...

DRAFT Synopsis Submission

How can teenagers be encouraged to develop their personal identities through creative critical reflection?

My aim was to develop creative, positive and enjoyable workshops where young people can discuss society, culture, values, dreams and aspirations, engaging with their personal identities and role within their communities in a constructive way. 

The physical, psychological and social changes experienced by adolescents lead psychologists to regard adolescence as a critical period for self and identity development (Erikson, 1968; Marcia, 1987).  The Identi-tee workshops are designed to encourage young people to reflect on their sense of self and community, enabling them to become confident individuals and become responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society. 

Although there has been some recent interest in the development of social identity (e.g., Bennett & Sani, 2004), most research has been conducted with children, and researchers have assumed adolescents to be equivalent to adults (Ruble et al., 2004; Sani & Bennett, 2004). 

Personal wellbeing is a non-statutory part of the National Curriculum for 11-16 years olds, including elements such as personal identity, healthy lifestyles, relationships and diversity: key to helping young people develop their identities, feel confident, embrace change, recognize and manage risk, take responsibility for themselves and contribute in a positive nature to their communities. 

Dewey (1933) talked about the value of critical reflection in education: it ‘gives attention to one’s experiences and behaviours, and meanings are interpreted from them to inform future decision-making… reflective action is an extremely useful tool for addressing social and emotional issues, especially those relating to race and culture’. 

Identi-tee explores how creative critical reflection can be used in contemporary society to help teenagers build an awareness of self and identity in relation to both their culture and their community, in turn it looks at ways for teenagers and their communities to work collectively to produce work that reflects their experiences and the places they live. 

During the workshops, young people collaborate to discuss themselves, their relationship, their society and their environment, and how all these components affect sense of self.  The key themes of personal wellbeing are developed and explored through creativity and reflection:

CREATIVITY Producing artefacts, experimenting with ideas, materials, tools and techniques, taking risks and learning from mistakes.

REFLECTION Exploring the visual, tactile and other sensory qualities of their own and others’ work, identifying how values and meanings are conveyed, developing views and expressing reasoned judgment, analysing and reflecting on their work and the work of others.

(The results of the above interactions have been noted in my blog and can be seen in my exhibition).

I hope that these workshops could lead to developments in the field of personal identity in adolescences, its importance, and change it from a non-statutory component of the national curriculum, leading to widespread use of the workshops in schools and youth groups.

Identi-tee is on going, there are further workshops in 2012, using drama, singing and dance to aid critical reflection, as well as workshops on other key topics, such as relationships or diversity. 

During my research I have become extremely passionate about helping young people who have suffered homelessness.  Homelessness poses a real risk to identity, the social stigma and negative status associated with being homeless combined with 'hearthlessness', leads to a lack of attachment to and identification with temporary accommodation.  Emotional attachment to, and identification with, places is key to psychological health. Feelings of isolation, rejection and alienation is extremely common with homeless people, these in turn can lead to psychological problems in relation to identity.  Another key issue is having somewhere 'safe' for emotions and thoughts, without this 'psychological space' a person can become emotionally withdrawn and lock emotions away.  I feel there is room to investigate this using a variety of exercises developed from my findings to date. 

My exhibition has been inspired by the Fluxus movement.   Maciunas defined Fluxus products as ‘work that would occur as a result of performance activities, or as elements of participation environments.’ This resonates with what I am trying to represent; I have filled drawers with objects that represent the different workshop exercises involved in Identi-tee, reminiscent of the Fluxkits in which Maciunas collected performance-related cards, games, and ideas.

Feedback from the Guides

Last night was my last workshop with the Girl Guides, at the end of the session, I asked each girl to write something on 3 different post-its:

Green: Something they enjoyed about the workshop
Red: Something they didnt enjoy about the workshop
Yellow: Something new they learnt during the workshop

They were all extremely complimentary, as were he guide leaders, they said their wasnt any aspect of Identi-tee that they didn't enjoy.

These notes will be displayed in the exhibition.

October 2011

Time is really running out, there are literally only 5 weeks left till the exhibition!

Firstly exhibition planning, luckily everyone seems to have suddenly woken up to what is involved and has got engaged.  This has made a dramatic difference, immediately we have got more sponsors, actually money as well as goods.  The layout is seriously underway, the branding and graphics are in place, and shortly I will be able to start the PR campaign.  The website is getting there slowly, it's such hard work with so many opinions to consider.  The viral is ready though, and the facebook volunteers are doing a great job. 

Now for my project, I am finding it really hard to write down everything I have found out from testing my artefacts, the workshops, with a variety of audiences, from different backgrounds and with different age groups.  I think this is partly due to the emotional attachment I have to my project and the emotional reactions I have had to the young people I have met and their stories.  Although I really feel that what I am doing is helping the young people involved, I also feel slightly uncomfortable sharing their stories for my Masters.  I'm not sure I prepared myself for the realities of working with young people from backgrounds so different to my own.  The reason this project is so important to me is because of my personal identity journey.  Growing up in a totally white middle class area, going to a very conservative private school and my parents almost denying their background to ensure that as a family we fitted in.  I do not and never have felt English, but I can not say I am Iranian, as I know almost nothing about that culture.  I grew up feeling confused and lacking confidence in my own abilities, and only through a period of critical reflection have I grown into a more confident adult.  This period of reflection included using sketching to express myself.  A lot of my sketches relate to appearance, I think this is because as a fair skinned Iranian, my identity was even more blurred.  I start my workshops with the image of myself looking in the mirror and a featureless face staring back at me; I use this to help explain to the young people that I really didn't know who I was and explain how we will begin the process of finding out what's really important to them and how they can build on this.

There is so much more I need to do with these workshops and with the young people in my area.  Firstly the fact that the size of the groups really nearly needs to be reduced, to ensure that I can fully engage and support with each individual, and also to slightly change the group dynamics in some groups that do not particularly lend to honest and frank discussions.  I want to really build long term relationships where I can help mentor and develop these teenagers, and slowly incorporate other creative members of the community to help them with their journeys.  I really underestimated how long I would need with the groups, not just in one session, but how many repeated sessions would be  needed.  This makes me more convinced than ever that the best time to work through these issues would be at school during weekly sessions, in a period normally set aside for General Studies or Personal and Social Education. 

On a more positive note I am extremely pleased with the workshops that I have done and the creative critical reflection of the teenagers involved.  It has been difficult to record everything as a number of the young people involved can not be photographed or identified due to their complex family histories.  But I hope that I have managed to capture the most important moments and reflective periods by working with tools such as post it notes and worksheets.

I feel very proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone to work with young people without training and in an area where I knew that a larger percentage of the teenagers would have had difficult situations at home.  I did not have previous experience in running workshops or working with young people, yet I feel I have managed to successfully engage with a number of young people and have helped them produce T-shirts that represent a variety of important elements, such as:
Personal Identities
Relationships
Diversity
Values
Aspirations
This is done through the use of critical reflection, and a variety skills and processes.  Some of these skills are practical, such as sewing, others are more theoretical, processes that open natural doors, different in each individual, allowing them to develop more complex ideas.  Some young people do not take this step, but they all learn new practical skills, which I hope in time will benefit them.  I have been surprised by the number of teenagers that did not know how to sew, something I learned at an extremely young age, how to thread a needle and tie a knot in the thread was totally new to a lot of them.

I think my project still has a long way to go, the workshops will constantly evolve, and often evolve during the workshop itself depending on the young people involved.  I also hope in the new year to develop the music and drama based workshops. 

Wardrobe

Still no responses from any of the suppliers of the wardrobe, and nothing appropriate on Freecycle and Gumtree!

Images from Identi-tee Workshop

New York

I went to New York for the weekend, popped into the Guggenheim and MoMA, wandered around, all good for inspiration.

I was drawn by Fluxus and George Maciunas, he defined Fluxus products as work that would occur as a result of performance activities, or as elements of participation environments... I really felt this resonated with what I am trying to represent in the exhibition of my workshops.

I especially thought that the wardrobe idea, and filling the drawers with things to represent the different workshop exercises was reminiscent of his Fluxkits or Fluxus boxes, in which Maciunas collected printed cards, games, and ideas, these were all placed in small wooden boxes.  Examples below:

Dimensionalising the workshops

I have spent most of this weekend contacting the company that makes the children's wardrobe I would like to use for my exhibition to no avail.  I have also contacted all the UK suppliers of this wardrobe.  I have signed up to all the Freecycle groups in my area, in the hope that someone else is throwing out a children's wardrobe, and have been checking Gumtree ads. 

Reflection since last workshop

There is so much to think about after everything encounter with a new group of young people.  Each individual is just that, and I find it extremely difficult to spread myself across the whole group to ensure everyone gets the most they can.  I feel that smaller groups would probably work better.  Not only are we discussing, thinking and developing quite complex thoughts and feelings, but the young people are also learning new skills.  I have been surprised by the lack of craft skills in this peer group.  Only one new how to sew, and most of them had not used a lot of the craft materials I had bought with me.  They each have such interesting stories and backgrounds, and with more one on one time I feel I could really help them reflect deeply on their identities and communities.  All exercises have worked extremely well, there was a good mix of fun and concentration, however, they all take so much longer than you think they will.  I also underestimated the effect of group dynamics.  As this group was one that has been meeting regularly for some time, I thought that would all be at ease with each other and feel confident to express themselves in front of the group.  Some of the girls are extremely confident, but others painfully shy, and in a large group it is difficult to look after everyone's needs.  I found it easy to develop a good rapport with the girls, and feel confident that they enjoy my company and are listening to what I am saying.  I would really enjoy working longer term with each group to develop each element of personal identity in more detail.  I would also like to develop my previous idea of music-based workshops, as music, singing and dancing are extremely important to this peer group, led by their love of celebrity and pop stars. 

Identi-tee Images from Workshops

Possible exhibition ideas

Exhibition synopsis

The below is my first draft 350 words to be used in the exhibition/catalogue:

Identi-tee explores how creative critical reflection can be used in contemporary society to help teenagers build an awareness of self and identity in relation to both their culture and their community, in turn it looks at ways for teenagers and their communities to work collectively to produce work that reflects their experiences and the places they live. 

A strong sense of self and place can allow young people to feel confident, embrace change, recognise and manage risk, take responsibility for themselves and contribute in a positive nature to their communities.  

A central aspect of Identi-tee was encouraging encounters between teenagers, designer makers and local people of different generations leading to rich experiences and helping young people develop expertise, understanding, communication skills, confidence and awareness to create stronger families and communities.  These encounters can have a positive affect on the teenagers involved, allowing them to reflect on and develop their hopes, dreams and aspirations. 

Workshops were run with youth organisations, allowing young people to collaborate and discuss themselves, their relationships, their society and their environment, and how all these components affect sense of self.  

Key themes of personal wellbeing were developed and explored through creativity and reflection, the results of which can be seen in my exhibition.

These workshops could lead to developments in the field of personal identity in adolescences, its importance, and change it from a non-statutory component of the national curriculum, which could lead to widespread use of the workshops in schools and youth groups.

Exhibition wardrobe

Today I have been emailing furniture companies all day asking for sponsorship.  I have found the type of child's wardrobe I would really like to use to create my exhibition piece, and am hoping someone might give me one for free! Fingers crossed..

Notes from workshop

Exhibition idea

Workshop Iterations