One of the best things about my job is that I get to collaborate with people from various backgrounds all the time. The beauty of this exercise is that it allows me to unpack my work and question some of the processes that I take for granted. In the physical world this usually happens through the course of a number of conversations and I am curious if something similar can take place if I put a shout out into virtual space.
Earlier today I read the Observer article on Leonora Rustamova’s sacking because of the online publication of her book that gave a fictional account of the lives of the five teenage “unteachables”. Over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to work with a group of students who fall into a similar abhorrent category – “Potential NEETs”. My involvement has not been as extensive or as long-term as Miss Rusty’s, however I can imagine the huge challenge she faced and am full of admiration for the course of action she followed.
With regards to the publication of the book on the net, I don’t think I am in a position to pass a judgement on this action without further information because it is a fairly complex issue. It is clear that Leonora was unaware of the situation. Furthermore, there is no mention of the husband’s motive. I am certain he didn’t have bad-intentions and was probably a proud and enthusiastic supporter of his wife’s work and wanted to share it on a wider platform.
Continue reading “Leonora Rustamova & the case for digital literacy”
The Patch-Work Project is based on the principles of the late music educationalist and composer John Paynter. His values were to promote composition so that young people could have a real experience of handling sound as part of their education in schools. The project involves over 15 schools (lower, primary and secondary) as well as an all female choir. It is supported by the Local Education Authority (LEA), University of York and York St John University.
I think this project has set out to re-imagine music education at a time when it is under threat in the UK. This is why I am very excited to announce the commission to develop an outreach strategy, web-presence and provide ICT support for the project.
Continue reading “Music education matters: Patch-Work Project”
Grandfather’s shoes:
A young person’s interpretation of empathy
By gopaldass on July 15, 2011
Ismail is a young chap who is keen to develop a career in the creative industry. His areas of interest are film, music and writing. A few weeks ago I had a discussion with him about a possible internship. As I had nothing suitable at the time I gave him a little task instead. I have shared the result in this post. If you can offer a work-experience opportunity over the couple of weeks, please get in touch with him. He begins his course in Creative Media at York College in September.
Continue reading “Grandfather’s shoes:
A young person’s interpretation of empathy”
Posted in action, commentary | Tagged creative media, empathy, internship, york, york college | 2 Responses