Join the International Teaching Artist Collaborative on Tuesday, November 23 from 2:00-3:30pm United Kingdom time (9:00-10:30am New York time) for our November Think Tank, exploring mental health and wellbeing, and the role of Teaching Artistry.
This session is a part of our ITAC Innovator Think Tank series! Every month, Think Tank hosts invite interested participants to engage beyond the initial session and form working groups which can collectively address a specific need or topic linked to the Think Tank's original theme. Participants are welcome to join the sessions, learn more about hosts' chosen topics, and then choose to opt-in to these collaborative working groups. Why not come along, learn about different practices, and discover the ways you can get involved?
About the November 23 Think Tank:
The Think Tank will focus on the role of the Teaching Artist in supporting mental health and wellbeing within the various cohorts and communities we work. What are we currently doing well? What could we do better? What training needs to be in place for Teaching Artists to feel enabled, informed, and supported in this work?
This online session will look at existing research that supports creative arts practice for mental health and wellbeing, and will draw a clear boundary between the work of trained therapists and the work of Teaching Artists. Small group exercises will be used to create dialogue between participants and encourage them to think about the ways in which Teaching Artists can use their skills to benefit mental health and wellbeing. Participants will explore the benefits—and challenges—being a Teaching Artist can have on our own mental wellbeing. This session will use a variety of presentation, discussion, and digital resources to provoke participants' thinking on the subject and gather evidence as to 'where are we now?' in our thinking around mental health and wellbeing as a Teaching Artist community.
The follow-up working group will collaborate and discuss where the current resources and gaps exist in supporting TA mental health and wellbeing (both in ourselves and our participants). The group will collectively determine the way in which we choose to work, but will likely focus on:
working to establish a code of effective and ethical practice for Teaching Artists with regards to mental health and wellbeing,
collating existing resources in this area for use by Teaching Artists, and
identifying areas which require further input/research/professional development opportunities, with a view to then developing these opportunities by identifying individuals or organisations who can produce them, and/or securing funding with which to do so.
With mental health problems affecting a quarter of our population (at least!), which are increasing due to COVID, it is timely that Teaching Artists bring this conversation to the forefront.