SEND · Research · Visual Art · Sound · Co-construction
The enquiry
This long-term body of work developed with artist Marc Woodhead and Paul Morrow from SEND arts projects into a wider enquiry into what creative education can become when students are not asked to fit one predetermined model of participation, communication or artistic outcome.
What changed
The project shifted attention away from narrow ideas of task completion and toward multiple entry points, material exploration, special interests, repetition, non-verbal communication, absorption, self-direction and the subtle changes that can be missed by conventional assessment.
Key principles
- Difference treated as an artistic asset
- Co-constructed learning
- Multiple entry points
- Sound, movement and material given equal status
- Participant agency and refusal respected
- Invisible processes noticed and documented
- Qualitative and narrative assessment
“Difference is seen as an asset and a positive, and a space for creative exploration.”
Paul Morrow
Why it matters
The work suggests that inclusion is not simply about fitting more people into an existing structure. Sometimes the structure itself needs to change in response to different ways of sensing, communicating and creating.