All Young Stories!
Access and inclusion in children’s research and art
Art Research Together (ART) organised a one-day symposium on the 26th of June at Keele University.The day brought together young people, parents, teaching staff, artists and academics. This page will share what happened during the day and the ideas that were presented and discussed.
We shared the day via Twitter (#AllYoungStories):
The most important question of the day was:
How we can make sure all young stories are being heard and taken seriously as well as being represented in literature and performance?
The collaborating young artists from Springfield School (Crewe) had a very good answer:
“We need more books, make more art and eat dinner!”
Yes, we need more books telling the stories of lots of different children, experiences and adventures! We need more books for children who may not like too many words (or none at all) but still want to share a good story. We need more books (and performances and films) so children can see and recognise themselves in what is created for them.
We also need more books (and research) for adults to explain why all children have the right to a good story, should be invited to join making art and, importantly, why adults should listen to all the different stories children share everyday and in lots of different ways!
Yes, we need more opportunities to make art so everyone can express themselves and explore the world around them. And yes, we need to eat more dinner! Not just because dinner can be lovely to eat, but also because a dinner brings us together and gives us time to share our ideas.
It is a great answer and summarises much of what the adults and young people discussed during the day. And as we all had something to eat during our break, we were able to meet new people, discuss ideas that could help our work or possibilities of working together in the future.
During the symposium we had an exhibition of art made by children and young people from Springfield School. We made artwork to answer two questions:
What do I know? What would I like to know more about?
The results where beautiful! Click on the picture to see the full Gallery:
Stand up poet Kate Fox attended the event and wrote a wonderful poem to respond to and summarise the day.
The Symposium also had:
- A film by Oscar Kraft titled ‘Come Full Circle’
- Keynote speakers: Ellie Griffiths (Oily Cart), discussed creating performances for neurodiverse young audiences; Nicola Shaughnessy (University of Kent), talked about participatory arts and Autism; and Ben Fletcher-Watson (Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh), talked about the future of relaxed performances
- A panel discussion lead by Gill Brigg (Theatre Maker, SEN Teacher and Lecturer), which focused on storytelling, alongside contributions from: Boo Sujiwaro (Writer), Eva Galova (SEN Teacher), Nikkie Hallam (Augmentative and Alternative Communication Specialist), Oscar Kraft (Film Maker), Sally Markwells (SEN Teacher) and Susannah Kraft Levene (Parent)
- There were presentations on the subject of puppetry by Caroline Astell-Burt (London School of Puppetry); Joe Wright (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) focused on music; Jennifer Essex (Teesside University and Fully Booked Theatre) discussed interactive dance theatre; and Leonie Elliott-Graves (Goldsmiths, University of London and Wac Arts) and Chas Mollet (Wac Arts) focused on advocacy, art and assistive technology
Click here to download the programme where you can read about the participants as well as see abstracts of the presentations
“Stories, at their best, can help reconcile our differences by showing to us that there’s no one right way of looking at the world. Diverse stories put us into the hearts and minds of characters who aren’t at all like ourselves, so that we may see that they aren’t as unlike us as we were made to believe.” (Boo Sujiwaro)
Boo is a young writer. She spoke as part of the panel during the All Young Story event about diverse storytelling and shared her lived experience. The other attendees found her words very powerful and as such it is great to have the opportunity to share it on this page (with great thanks to Boo). Please click on the picture to read
The day was organised as an inclusive event and we aimed to make sure it was accessible for everyone. There was a separate space available during the day and we encouraged participants to get in touch about any other ways they may be supported to take part. We also supported attendees by making a document about how to get to the venue and what the spaces at the event looked like through lots of pictures. Dr Abigail Pearson was a great help and together we are working on a document that shares some ideas about achieving an event that is accessible for all. Please feel free to contact me for further information
MOBILE VERSION
All Young Stories!
Access and inclusion in children’s research and art
Art Research Together (ART) organised a one-day symposium on the 26th of June at Keele University.The day brought together young people, parents, teaching staff, artists and academics. This page will share what happened during the day and the ideas that were presented and discussed.
We shared the day via Twitter (#AllYoungStories):
The most important question of the day was:
How we can make sure all young stories are being heard and taken seriously as well as being represented in literature and performance?
The collaborating young artists from Springfield School (Crewe) had a very good answer:
“We need more books, make more art and eat dinner!”
Yes, we need more books telling the stories of lots of different children, experiences and adventures! We need more books for children who may not like too many words (or none at all) but still want to share a good story. We need more books (and performances and films) so children can see and recognise themselves in what is created for them.
We also need more books (and research) for adults to explain why all children have the right to a good story, should be invited to join making art and, importantly, why adults should listen to all the different stories children share everyday and in lots of different ways!
Yes, we need more opportunities to make art so everyone can express themselves and explore the world around them. And yes, we need to eat more dinner! Not just because dinner can be lovely to eat, but also because a dinner brings us together and gives us time to share our ideas.
It is a great answer and summarises much of what the adults and young people discussed during the day. And as we all had something to eat during our break, we were able to meet new people, discuss ideas that could help our work or possibilities of working together in the future.
During the symposium we had an exhibition of art made by children and young people from Springfield School. We made artwork to answer two questions:
What do I know? What would I like to know more about?
The results where beautiful! Click on the picture to see the full Gallery:
Stand up poet Kate Fox attended the event and wrote a wonderful poem to respond to and summarise the day. Click on the picture below to read the poem…
The Symposium also had:
A film by Oscar Kraft titled ‘Come Full Circle’
Keynote speakers: Ellie Griffiths (Oily Cart), discussed creating performances for neurodiverse young audiences; Nicola Shaughnessy (University of Kent), talked about participatory arts and Autism; and Ben Fletcher-Watson (Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh), talked about the future of relaxed performances
A panel discussion lead by Gill Brigg (Theatre Maker, SEN Teacher and Lecturer), which focused on storytelling, alongside contributions from: Boo Sujiwaro (Writer), Eva Galova (SEN Teacher), Nikkie Hallam (Augmentative and Alternative Communication Specialist), Oscar Kraft (Film Maker), Sally Markwells (SEN Teacher) and Susannah Kraft Levene (Parent)
There were presentations on the subject of puppetry by Caroline Astell-Burt (London School of Puppetry); Joe Wright (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) focused on music; Jennifer Essex (Teesside University and Fully Booked Theatre) discussed interactive dance theatre; and Leonie Elliott-Graves (Goldsmiths, University of London and Wac Arts) and Chas Mollet (Wac Arts) focused on advocacy, art and assistive technology
Click here to download the programme where you can read about the participants as well as see abstracts of the presentations
“Stories, at their best, can help reconcile our differences by showing to us that there’s no one right way of looking at the world. Diverse stories put us into the hearts and minds of characters who aren’t at all like ourselves, so that we may see that they aren’t as unlike us as we were made to believe.” (Boo Sujiwaro)
Boo is a young writer. She spoke as part of the panel during the All Young Story event about diverse storytelling and shared her lived experience. The other attendees found her words very powerful and as such it is great to have the opportunity to share it on this page (with great thanks to Boo).
Please click on the picture to read
The day was organised as an inclusive event and we aimed to make sure it was accessible for everyone. There was a separate space available during the day and we encouraged participants to get in touch about any other ways they may be supported to take part. We also supported attendees by making a document about how to get to the venue and what the spaces at the event looked like through lots of pictures. Dr Abigail Pearson was a great help and together we are working on a document that shares some ideas about achieving an event that is accessible for all. Please feel free to contact me for further information