Teach Inspire Create 2024: Chief Examiners' Takeaways

At our recent Teach Inspire Create Conference 2024, UAL Awarding Body’s Chief Examiners reflected on the key themes and insights of the day. Drawing on their own unique experiences and perspectives, the chiefs provided guests with valuable takeaways and actionable strategies for applying this learning directly into the classroom and their own educational practices. ​Here is a roundup of what was discussed!

What provocations from the conference could you use in the classroom?

The opportunity to come together as educators and industry leaders allows for the sharing of ideas, the flow of imagination and innovation. At UAL Awarding Body, we believe in empowering teachers to make their practices specific to their students' needs, so they are able to benefit more widely from the courses they study.

How do you think teachers can incorporate sustainability into their teaching practices?

Teaching sustainability can empower students to see themselves as part of a community with a responsibility to the planet, using creative mindsets and innovation to contribute to creating a more sustainable future. Some ways of doing this include encouraging critical thinking on consumption: we can teach students to assess the impact of consumer choices on the environment and promote mindful consumption. We can also use storytelling methods to show the lifecycle of a product, for example discovering who sources materials, how these are made, where they are made and so on. Providing students with this knowledge can enable them to be more mindful as consumers and consider sustainable practices.

How would you like to see AI developed and integrated into teaching practices?

At the conference, we heard from keynote speaker, Sophie Deen, about how to use AI ethically. Echoing Sophie’s sentiments about using AI as a tool, we’d like to see more confidence in using AI as a means, rather than the end-product of a piece of work. AI can be a valuable research tool but it is also a huge energy consumption user so there are many things to consider when using AI when aiming for sustainability as well. Ultimately, the tool is available widely to use so educators and students should consider how to direct the use of this tool and how to maintain authenticity.

What can teachers do to equip students for their lifelong individual creative journeys?

Teachers are hugely influential in a student’s journey through education. They have the power to inspire, guide and improve a student’s work and practices. Alongside this, one of the most valuable things a teacher can give to a student is confidence: belief in themselves. Students should have the confidence to take risks and be successful, to be resilient, to be creative. When we teach, we aren’t just assessing a student, we’re cultivating an individual to be the best version of themselves.

Teachers should also seek to empower students by exploring how creativity lives in all professions and areas of life. By working collaboratively with teachers in other areas of learning, teachers can show students how their creative attributes can enable them to succeed in areas, disciplines and specialisms far beyond the perceived creative industries. An application of the creative process is just as applicable in the business and science sectors as it is in fashion or media industries. By opening students to these possibilities, it broadens their horizons, fosters their ambitions and gives them the confidence to step creatively into any sector of future employment.

There has been an emphasis on the importance of community today, how can we foster community and a sense of belonging in the classroom?

Building a creative community is about shared experiences, respect, and collective growth while working together. By using accessible technologies to engage with students, we can foster collaborative working through fun activities, for example, the Ricebox Studio workshop at the conference demonstrated how easily phone technology and apps in Instagram and Capcut could be used to engage learners with using special AR effects to enhance the art of storytelling and creative activism.

The Carboned-Out workshop was also a fun introduction that aims to connect leaners with their own understanding of carbon literacy. Through the art of board game playing and team work, the Carboned-Out game challenges you to work collectively to analyse and seek to understand, evaluate and modify our behaviours. A sense of belonging is essential and becomes even more pronounced in creative classroom environments when students are often making themselves vulnerable through their artistic expressions.

Building a creative community is therefore crucial in making the space safe for those vulnerabilities and anxieties to be safely held and to take flight. We talk a lot about taking risks and being brave enough to fail, but if the environment does not support that ethos, then students will not feel secure enough to move into aspects of their practice that they do not feel as confident in. Ivan Michael Blackstock spoke about this in his keynote and challenged educators to reconsider the college environment from a student perspective. Ivan asked how can we collectively create spaces that inspire young people? Should we have jazz music played in public areas to enhance the mood and atmosphere? These provocations are useful takeaways for us all to consider.

One piece of advice you would like everyone to take away?

In another workshop at the conference, Matt+Fiona asked us to explore both literal and imagined vistas. This workshop enabled us to be innovative, experiment and learn through making. The atmosphere in the space was one of collaboration, community and creativity. These are all traits that we embrace wholeheartedly and strive to cultivate at UAL Awarding Body, where we believe working together and providing support can empower educators and students to get the best outcomes possible in their creative journeys.

We are here to help any way we can and believe that true community is built through empathy, shared purpose, and lifting each other up, inside the classroom and beyond. So if you are an approved UAL centre and need anything from us, please don’t hesitate to reach out and know that we are here to support you.