Achieving creative collaboration between language teachers and artists: An evaluation of a workshop-based approach

Andrews, Jane; Almohammad, Maryam

Abstract

Inspired by academic thinking and practice-based work on creativity and education (e.g. John Steiner, 2000) and creative approaches in language education (e.g. Frimberger et al 2017, Cummins & Early, 2011), this article is based on outcomes of the project “Creating Welcoming Learning Environments – Disseminating Arts-Based Approaches to Including All Learners”, funded by the UK Arts & Humanities Research Council (2017-2018) (AH/R004781/1). The project brought together creative artists (specialising in film-making, drama, crafting, poetry and the spoken word, textiles and music) and teachers in the south-west of England, who collaborated on integrating arts-based practices into language teaching, learning and assessment.
The focus of the project was to generate new ways of teaching a) children developing English as an Additional Language (EAL) in mainstream primary, secondary and special schools and b) all children in schools where there is a commitment to building an ethos of inclusion and diversity in relation to languages and cultures. The article reports on how co-operative, collaborative workshops were used to bring teachers, creative artists and researchers together in a way which valued everyone’s knowledge and expertise. A thematic analysis of data from evaluation interviews undertaken with the participating teachers is provided and the potential for workshop-based professional development opportunities as a way of achieving creative collaboration in schools is discussed.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 30, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Mar 27, 2024
• Publication Date: Mar 27, 2024
• Deposit Date: Feb 21, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 28, 2026
• Journal: Journal of Multilingual Theories and Practices
• Print ISSN: 2632-4490
• Publisher: Equinox Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 30-46
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/jmtp.25810
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11734931
• Publisher URL: https://journal.equinoxpub.com/JMTP/OA