Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

We present long-term collaborative project Virtually There, initiated and managed by Irish children’s arts organisation Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership, in which artists work with teachers and children through interactive technology in eight Northern Irish schools. Our showcase focuses on process in Virtually There. For this purpose we define process as: exploration and experimentation privileging means over ends and embracing negative capability and uncertainty. It is generally held that artists tend to hold themselves in process. In contrast, by virtue of conventional teacher-training and the demands of curriculum-focused pedagogy, teachers tend to hurry through process to reach specific outcomes at specific stages. We are interested in how artists and teachers together, by fully entering process, make space for children to engage fluidly and open-endedly in, and shape, ideas and methodologies and activities. Outcomes, where they happen, are decided upon collaboratively and late in process. We examine how and why this is done in Virtually There, looking particularly at teachers’ experiences because their training and the systems within which they work tend to under-value process. Remaining with uncertainty and deferring closure are integral to the relationship between artist and teacher and to Virtually There as a project. Likewise, time is integral to the teacher-artist relationship. Virtually There and some artist-teacher partnerships are more than a decade old, offering rich research data on long-term engagements. We will explore these themes through informal and conversational presentation methods, aiming to replicate something of what we argue has made Virtually There so innovative and so effective.