learning

Reading the Times Education Supplement in bed this morning, after a mind-opening cup off coffee, I found myself leaping up and reaching for pen and paper.

This small item caught my eye…

“Creative Skills Get Results: Children who worked with actors, fashion designers and writers under the Government’s Creative Partnerships scheme behaved better, worked better and became more mature at school, said an Ofsted report…”

For years now I have been thinking about ways we can work with and listen to young people better. Ways we can go beyond paying lip-service to consultation and move into a world where children and young adults are empowered to stand up and speak out about what matters to them.
To speak out about what their world is like, what needs to happen in it - and how it’s going to happen. Ways we can help young people shape their world, be causal and active in it. To let them grow braver and stronger through that process.

Without doubt, young people have the potential to develop revolutionary new ways of thinking, of offering practical, creative and innovative solutions to their own and the world’s problems. (See previous post “Kids Creating New Paradigms”.) That’s if apathy doesn’t get them first.

So why don’t we listen?

The research is clear. If you kids get shut down, shut up and told they don’t matter often enough, they’ll end up believing it. If they think they’re not being heard, they’ll stop speaking out. It’s the worst thing to watch. Disengaged. Alienated. Beyond caring. You’ve all seen the t-shirts and the hand signals..

LIKE.. WHATEVER!

Surely that’s what we’re really fighting.

We need to educate tomorrow’s leaders today. Damn it, they have basic human rights in this stuff. See the United Nations Rights of the Child on this for a start.

Article 12

1. …assure to the child …the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child…

Article 13

1. …the right to freedom of expression… freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice.

Plus just about every other Article enshrined in this foundational document signed by nearly every country in the world.

So does the Climate Crisis affect children? I guess the answer it clear.

So here’s the idea… I thought I may has well blog now and keep it fresh.

At its basic level, it’s about developing a process to:

• engage a group of young people in actively watching the seminal film “An Inconvenient Truth” (Participant Productions 2006)
• capture their initial thoughts, feeling and ideas in response
• inviting them to participate in the development of a film script that extends these thoughts into their own response. To enter into deeper dialogue within and between themselves and with others. To be heard.
• documenting the process (within a person-centred research context) into class materials that can be replicated for other issues, other films in other settings, linking it to curriculum, eg. media studies, environment studies, english.

Potentially then - and why not aim high, when the future of the planet is at stake and progressive education might be one of the only ways to save and shape it - the project also looks at…

• the participants working alongside leading script writers and educators to develop these responses into a film script, with a high degree of creative control being maintained in order to ensure their “voice” comes through. Kids as auteurs, but in a collective sense… although individual voices might shine through.
• for this script to be considered by Participant Productions for full production and an international release - with fine cinematography, indeed a superb team to bring the work to the world stage. Unlike student films, where production quality is often so low that the story can’t adequately be told, the vision here is for young people to get the full support of a genuine auteur. Hey, Robert Altman never had to do his own costumes, lighting and editing - even if he did hold the camera occasionally.
• or, if not, for a team of local film makers to work collaboratively for an international release through a viral campaign, community group screenings and other ways to achieve the project’s goal of making sure kid’s voices are heard. Of making sure the kids know they’re being listened to.
• to extend the pilot project into several continents, then feed this work back in to a follow-up film or other communications outcome, keeping the dialogue (and hope) alive.
• to document the process and share it with educators, film makers and other people working with children and young people. We will always be looking for the multiplier effect, through online social networks (my husband is a gun at this), developing class materials for download and by making it entertaining and real.

Yes, an ambitious plan. But nothing ventured, nothing gained as the old saying goes. Of course it could not happen without the input of a great many talented people. When you realise that we already know and/or are working with everyone on the “Dream Team”, or know someone who does, then it starts to seem possible.

I have a background in film and cultural studies, creative writing, stakeholder relations and communications - now moving into an educational context. The basic aim would be to embed the journey in the MA in Person Centred Education, with supervision from Michael Fielding. Taking it step be step, recognising the need for sustainable funding for each stage and that everyone involved need only put in what they can and want to (eg. Ben & Richard might just drop in once or act as advisors, the major work of script development would be done with talented local volunteers, for example)… then you start to see it really could happen. If nothing else, I am a good project manager and can be very practical. Plus I have embarked on similarly ambitious projects in the past and learnt a lot along the way…

So, our “Dream Team” of advisors, supporters and collaborators (and the reasons why we would want them involved) are:

Prof. Michael Fielding (educator, poet) - a perfect fit for the radical, student voice aspect, for learning in community and for his emancipatory approach to education and communication.

Jeff Skoll (Skoll Foundation, Participant Productions) - For his ‘can do’ approach to harnessing the power of film as an agent for social change.

Kate Mundle (founder, Education Television Network) - for her proven track record in running participatory educational / communication projects, internationally, and her passion for young people and music. For her connections in the music industry.

Ben Elton (writer, comedian, activist, impresario, film maker) - for his social, environmental and political intelligence, for the inspiration he can offer young people and just for the laffs!

Richard Curtis (writer, activist, film maker, all round good guy) - for his remarkable ability to deeply connect people through film, for his social conscience and his public commitment to activism.

Jamie Catto (musician, script writer, creative catalyst) - for his ability to manifest astounding, innovative projects involving music, film and politics - connecting us globally. For being groovy.

Guerrand-Hermes Foundation for Peace - for their deep commitment to peace through education and dialogue.

BBC Innovation Unit - for being champions of innovation, being willing to take risks and for connecting to audiences.

Commissioner for Children (UK) - for getting young people and children to stand up and speak out.

Creative Partnerships - for commissioning the kind of projects referred to above.

What do you think?