Final Synopsis

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 and aspirations, engaging with their personal identities and role within their communities in a constructive way, something I am personally very passionate about. 

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 decision makers. 

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.

My workshops aim to address this using critical reflection, which is considered ‘an extremely useful tool for addressing social and emotional issues, especially those relating to race and culture.’ (Dewey, 1933)

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.

I have been extremely moved by the powerful discussions and observations during Identi-tee but have found it difficult to record these without feeling like I am exploiting the young people involved.  I have been left with an overwhelming sense of urgency and concern regarding the futures of many of the participant. 

The exercises work differently on both a group and individual level, with certain topics and related exercises resonating with specific individuals depending on their needs, noticeable 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.

This summer has really opened my eyes to the group dynamics and peer pressure young people are exposed to everyday, and without a strong sense of self it would be extremely difficult for them to display their true selves in such an environment, where they are under real pressure to conform. 

I hope these workshops can 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 ongoing, with further workshops in 2012, using drama, singing, dance, as well as workshops on other key topics, such as relationships and 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.

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.

Artefact iteration

My initial artifact looked at ways of combining modern technologies and traditional crafting techniques in order to explore how people and groups pass on their cultural identity through crafting, and whether technology can help to facilitate this process.  I initially created woven lights made from LED tape.  I quickly realised I was more interested in the interaction of people with products, and created kits that encouraged craft-based cross-generational interactions.  To this end, I started investigating crafting as a social network - I spent a lot of time at crafts groups and also investigated how people were searching for and learning new skills online. 

At this point I had 3 very different artifacts, all of which used traditional techniques in a modern setting. These included a chandelier kit for parties, BBQs, music festivals etc., a knitting based artefact, and an Olympic Games based artifact.  After testing all of these I found I was still more interested in finding out about the people using these kits and their relationship with crafting. What I wanted to explore was the demographic of the people and groups, and in turn how to encourage more people to get involved, pass on skills, and to really interact and explore their sense of self and community. Attempting to find a way for young people to get more involved with crafting and the community, and ways that this could help them explore their identity, became my prime focus.

My next artifact focused more on this: an activity based workshop for young people. My aim was to encourage encounters between teenagers and designer makers and local people of different generations.  These encounters led to extremely rich experiences and helped the young people develop a variety of new skills. Whilst volunteering at the local youth club, and testing these activities with the local teenagers, I came up with Graffi-tee – activities to encourage young people to investigate their sense of self through creative critical reflection. 

Through testing this I moved onto Identi-tee, a crafts-based workshop that I have been using with the Girl Guides in North West London since the Summer.  These workshops have been iterated a number of times, after feedback from youth workers and from the teenagers themselves post-workshop. 

The above artifacts have been tested in groups and with experts in their field.

Whilst carrying out testing on Identi-tee and Graffi-tee I noticed another way of engaging with the teenagers, which I hope to develop in 2012.  A number of the young people I worked with would have preferred activities that involved music, dance, and singing.  I have found a number of appropriate practitioners in my area, but have not as yet been able to fully design and test this workshop, although I have adapted a number of improvisation techniques from those I have come across in my research. 

I also spoke to the charity Depaul and the Willesden Hostel as whilst I have been researching teenage identity I became extremely interested in the identity issues that young homeless people suffer from.  I have prepared some exercises for a workshop with them in the New Year, which I will be doing with the support of the appropriate case workers from Depaul. 

Gatekeepers

Artifact 1 Research and Development team, Crafts Council Sarah Hewett, Professional Development Manager, Craft Central Tessa Damer, Studio Manager, Craft Central Craft Central Interns Helen Batley, Minnie Bats Design iGuzzini, lighting designer The Make Lounge team Jane Friend, Craft Residencies Coordinator, Farnham Maltings

Artifact 2 Marsha Oza, jewellery designer, community projects director Chloe Haywood, Milliner, experienced in carrying out workshops with adults and children Karen Hobbs, Costume Designer, experienced in carrying out workshops with young people Josie Boyce, writer, illustrator, art director Jodie May, Crafts enthusiast, new mum Natalie Wiggins, crafts enthusiast Nicola Barron, Founder, Homemade London Jane Gois, Founder, Tea & Crafting Claire Heafford, Founder, The Papered Parlour Jackie Woosnam-Savage, Founder, Create Boutique

Artifact 3 Graffi-tee: Keith Lunn, Director of OK Club, Kilburn Stuart, Youth Worker, OK Club Kilburn Youth workers at the Granville Plus Arts Centre Dan Thompson, Empty Shops Network, has carried out an arts programme in my area Sharyn Farnan, MakeSpace, co-design with commmunities to transfrom empty spaces Over 30 teenagers at the OK Club from ages 12-22. 10 teenagers from the American School of Dubai.  Held an identity brainstorm with 5 adult respondents.

Artifact 4 Identi-tee: Girl Guide leader, Sandra Kitchen Brown Owl, Patricia Rose Vanessa Jarrett, Therapist, regarding identity issues and young people Over 15 Girl guides from ages 12-17.  Ami Ghadia, Youth Worker, Clapham, currently completing an Art Therapy Masters. Musical Arts Workshop: Viola Newbury, Actor and Educational Performer Simon Porter, Performance Poet Identity and Homelessness: Depaul UK Willesden Hostel, Steps House and Crash Pad

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.

Submission - Last term!

Your research question:

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

A progress summary (650 maximum):

Firstly I am very pleased with the momentum I have kept over the summer.  As I didn’t break for 2 weeks until the end of September, I have been able to power through my work during August and the start of September.

August saw a further 2 or 3 iterations of my workshop with feedback from young people, youth group leaders and teachers.  The process is a very fluid one, and in fact each workshop differs greatly because of the young people involved.  Sometimes I find an activity isn't really working and so I just move onto to the next, each group has an extremely different dynamic.

A very big event over the summer was the London Riots.  This has really helped bring attention to what my project is about, engaging with young people to help them understand the decisions they can make in their own lives, what they really want, and how they can achieve it.  There has been some interesting research over the month on why this happened, who was involved, and how they feel.  I have been observing everything unfold and taking from the events what learnings I can.  I think this has helped me secure 3 further workshops with the Girl Guides.It's strange but I really feel that this period of unrest has helped open doors, gatekeepers now seem more intereested in what I am trying to do.  I am not sure why, whether it's because they have complete a certain quota of activities with young people to show that they are engaging with the community, I don't know...

I now have a bank of information collated during the workshops, this details what young people want for themselves, what they love, how they feel about their communities and societies and how the process of creative reflection has really helped them develop their personal identities, with a very visual finally, the Identi-tee.

I have started to prepare my final synopsis, it's a working document, I was initially very worried about how I could write up so much of my hard work in so few words, but you can see a summary of what I have so far, below, also not sure how much it needs to explain what I did and why, or my findings?  I have printed my blog book from last year, and so will be well prepared when I need to print this years record as my reflective journal. I can bring this to the next tutorial, I understand there are concerns about printed reflective journals, so would love your feedback on this when you see what I have from the first year of the course.

WHAT

By developing creative, positive and enjoyable workshops, young people can discuss society, culture, values, hopes, dreams and aspirations and engage with their personal identities and communities in a constructive way.

WHY

The physical, psychological and social changes experienced by adolescents are such that psychologists generally regard adolescence as a critical period for self and identity development (Erikson, 1968; Marcia, 1987). These workshops could encourage young people to be confident individuals, enjoy learning, progress, achieve, and become responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society. They could also be used to help reduce the youth gang culture mentality that can evolve from family breakdown (which leads to crisis in cultural and personal identity). The looting in the UK in the summer of 2011 was a very real and graphic demonstration of the number of young people who are currently in crisis within our communities.

Personal wellbeing is currently a non-statutory part of the National Curriculum for 11-16 years olds, it includes elements such as personal identities, healthy lifestyles, relationships and diversity. These are key to helping young people develop their personal identities, to feel confident, embrace change, recognize and manage risk, take responsibility for themselves and contribute in a positive nature to their communities. We need to ensure that all young people in our society get the help and guidance they need to develop their personal wellbeing.

We must also consider that many students’ cultural, ethnic, linguistic, racial and social class backgrounds differ from their homogeneous teaching population (mostly white, female, and middle class), young people need to be provided with relevant social and cultural realities (Howard, 2003) to give them the tools to deal with the physical, psychological and social changes they are experiencing.

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

HOW

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, analyzing

and reflecting on their work and the work of others.

IF

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.

Next Steps

I still have 3 more sessions booked in to carry out workshops with the Girl Guides in October, so there may be further iterations of the workshops during this time and obviously there will be further findings.

I have also been thinking about ways to dimensionalise the workshop for the purposes of the final exhibition, and will need to formalise these further, but I hope to demonstrate a variety of exercises carried out and the responses from the young people to these.

I will need to print my blog book for this year (2011 January to date).

I will keep trying get sponsorship (have had some very positive chats with an advertising agency about getting some booze for the private view) for the exhibition and continue with daily twitter and facebook updates, as well as develop relationships with appropriate PR contacts.

Your bibliography and resource list.: 

 http://madsjourney.blogspot.com/search/label/References

Your role in the Degree Show project and your input to date (40 words max):

-       Co-lead role in the marketing team, preparing the marketing/PR plan with Bushra, viral idea, organising meetings and distributing tasks

-       weekly news coverage report

-       website framework

-       set up the twitter and facebook accounts, (there is now a team of helpers updating these with me)

-       built a database of PR contacts for the 6 week PR campaign prior to the exhibition, and have already discussed our exhibition with the Guardian’s Alex Needham

-       secured over £3000 worth of advertising with Creative Review (with the help of the Central Illustration Agency), which will run for 6 weeks before the exhibition and will be designed by the graphic designers Staziker Jones.

-       actively taken part in all group meetings

-       continuing to seek further exhibition sponsors

Year 2 - STUDENT PROGRESS REPORT

STUDENT NAME: Annahita Mackee

RESEARCH QUESTION:

How can traditional practices and culture be maintained with the use of crafting in contemporary society?

WHO ARE YOUR KEY FEEDBACK RESPONDENTS TO DATE? (individuals, companies, or interest groups):

Designer makers at Craft Central and Great Western Studios

Business support team and tutors at Craft Central

Researchers at Craft Council research centre

WHO ARE YOUR KEY COLLABORATORS TO DATE? (that is, people who are assisting you with artefact creation, surveys etc)

I have not collaborated as yet, I have written my own surveys, filmed the subjects myself and created my own artefacts, I will however need help from a graphic designer and editor soon.  I propose to ask my friends and colleagues for support.    

BRIEFLY, WHAT ARE YOUR KEY FINDINGS SINCE DECEMBER 2010?

Since December my question and artefact have evolved.  I am taking a keener interest in the community aspects of my project and how I can produce something or lead something that can make a difference in people’s lives. 

I have analysed my survey results, which narrowed down the scope of my question. 

I have developed new ways of displaying my process and journey.

I have decided and embarked on new research methods – video ethnography. 

WHAT ARE YOUR NEXT KEY ACTIONS?

To complete the video ethnography, and meet with a number of designer makers who are involved in community engagement craft projects.  To iterate my artefact from the findings of the video ethnography and interviews, specifically the key practices and cultural aspects that will redefine my question further.  Re-test artefact with my key respondents.  

PLEASE ALSO SEND WITH THIS FORM:

• Evidence of the artefact which you are currently testing

• Bibliography  - I am maintaining a blog for my MADS journal which is fully indexed, I will print this out for the final exhibition.  I write my bibliography up every 3 months, these are my references to date.

WHAT ARE THE STRENGTHS OF YOUR PROJECT?

I am researching an interesting topic, which I am passionate about.  I have had goo and positive feedback and am now investigating further the ways in which my project could aid community engagement.

WHERE ARE THE GAPS IN, OR THREATS TO, YOUR PROJECT?

Time – it’s difficult to do my project in the evenings and on weekends, the participants and collaborators are usually only available during the day. 

I need to collaborate with a graphic designer and create a brief for the ‘kits’. 

Motivation and Momentum – there is an awful lot to be done, I need to ensure I keep going otherwise I will run out of time.  I have high standards and I really want to ensure that for the exhibition in December I can be 100% proud of what I have achieved. 

Project 3 - Shaping your future - Submission

Project 2 - The garden of earthly delights - Submission