I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to keep in touch as I venture into this new work. There’s so much choice in terms of platforms to use but I have recently found an easy way to eliminate the majority of them and move forward. Turns out most apps and platforms are owned by nasty billionaire nazis’ so it feels like as good a reason as any to whittle down my options. It’s a minefield and I haven’t got it perfect (neither am I preaching!...I’m still on Instagram…for now) but something had to give.

Anyway, I’m going to figure this stuff out as i go but for now I’m offering an update about the work I’ve been doing over the last month and a small reflection.

Round up...

Organisational Development with Neurodivergent Friends in Thanet.

Neurodivergent Friends in Thanet is a community group helping local Neurodivergent adults meet their peers in safe spaces.

Over 6 sessions I'm working with the 3 Directors to dig deep into the motivations and core values of their organisation. We'll be figuring out how to embed and communicate them while exploring their roles in the organisation in terms of individual needs, strengths and ways of working. For the first session I introduced the group to forum theatre as a method that uses our bodies to remember and embody new realities. It was a profound way to articulate the problems experienced by neurodivergent people in a neurotypical world. This activity developed rich language to help the group think deeply about their core values and guiding principles.

Anti Oppressive Practice workshop with Essex Youth Service

I was invited by Essex Youth Service to run 2 workshops with over 60 Youth Workers. In these creative and discursive sessions we opened up a space to think differently and reflect on the spaces we create for young people; the broader systems and structures of oppression and the importance of play, creativity and critical thinking in resisting oppressive systems and facilitating transformation.
One of the things I referenced in the workshop was this articleabout Abraham Maslow and the unheard story behind his now ubiquitous theory: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. I really recommend reading it. I used it to challenge the assumption that creativity is a luxury reserved for selected individuals and rather a human necessity that is restricted by political environments built of principles of scarcity.

Evaluation with The Line

We're a month in to the Spaces To Explore project, a 2 year process based art project initiated by The Line, funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Having designed the evaluation framework at the end of last year, its been a joy to witness all the beautiful images and reflections arrive in Padlet, the digital platform we're using to collect data. Needless to say there has already been a measurable change in student engagement related to the introduction of creative and arts based learning in the primary classroom. More on this one soon.

Reflections...

The more I work with other organisations, the more my interests and experience come together and I'm realising how much art education, teaching, coaching and organisational development overlap. Creating spaces to think differently, question and imagine have all been part of my practice so it feels exciting to bring these practices together in one place. I've also felt so privileged and inspired to work with people, who have been so determined to bring something into existence that has been lacking or non existent. These brave souls have recognised the limitations of our systems and are working so tirelessly for strategically undervalued communities, often with lived experience of the issues their organisations are set up to address. 

'the key is to help participants cultivate a deep awareness of the current reality as something they have created instead of as something that exists outside of and independent of them' - David Peter Stroh from Systems Thinking for Social Change

Until next month!

Ollie