Delivering training on the Child-led pilot project

Art Inspiring Change - Philosophical & Fierce

‘We are children who art. And think’ Young Arts Leader

The success of the youth navigator programme has led to the gallery posing the question ‘What if children are given the opportunity to regenerate their own town?’ By building an enabling environment for the 80 children on this pilot project, they were supported to begin perceiving themselves as leaders, and to begin considering how they might regenerate their own town.  A group of twenty children in 4 Margate schools selected an artist each, then worked over 18 months to explore, design and install a temporary public artwork. In this process they also visited the Thanet council chambers to present their ideas and propose their chosen sites in the town. I worked with the project to look at concepts of child and childhood, and to explore with the children themselves what ‘child-led’ might mean if everyone involved took the attitude that children are beings in their own right, not simply adults in training. My role was to encourage both the YALs and adults to develop and share habits of inquiry throughout the 18 month programme, creating a common structure at the heart of their communication, facilitating conversation and creating a safe space for different views.  Contrary to Piaget’s stage maturation theory it is now widely acknowledged that children can think abstractly from as young as 3 years old so the Community of Philosophical inquiry process remains the same whatever the age of the participants. Dialogue became a key element in building a sense of agency amongst the Young Arts Leaders (the name they chose to call themselves). The creation of this space for inquiry was fundamental to the project and was referenced many times by those involved. It is both about finding time and place to make art, and creating spaces of mind where original thought can flourish.

“We made lots of things to think about and we drew all the things we thought  of” Young Arts Leader (8 Years old)

“The YALs can teach artists how to step back into themselves, to step back to free play and break down the things we have learned as adults!” Artist