A reading group organised by Natasha Brown, hosted by FIELDNOTES at their office in Stratford. 

This informal group will focus on thinking through alternative models of teaching and learning. We will be paying particular attention to arts-based education but the group is open to anyone working within a learning environment in any capacity.

We will read some critical pedagogy texts, including excerpts from Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968) and Felicity Allen’s Education Reader (2011), in conjunction with the bureaucratic texts and paperwork that are encountered within the fields of formal and academic learning (such as learning outcomes, course handbooks, schemes of work). Can we read the paperwork of our jobs differently (together, in turns, backwards…)?

Taking both critical and creative approaches we will consider educational theory alongside the practical documents that make up much of the day to day of teaching with the aim of finding entry points for the loooooosening of language and challenging some of the established phrases we use within educational institutions.

There is no expectation to read anything beforehand, it will all be read together during the session. This is an opportunity to be part of a community which aims to continue to share ideas about teaching.

This is a FREE event but spaces are limited, please only book if you are able to attend. 

Fieldnotes HQ is on the ground floor with step free access from the street and disabled toilets. Our nearest stations are Pudding Mill Lane and Stratford, both stations have step-free access from street to train. Please contact us at info@fieldnotes.site with any queries about access requirements.

ABOUT NATASHA BROWN

As an artist, my practice is concerned with the revealing of mechanics behind both illusion and representation. Engaged in practical tricks, my work touches on the contemporary notion of post-truth and what it means to engage in an illusion already revealed or obvious. My personal research spans critical pedagogy, affect theory and practical magic tricks. Currently a tutor for foundation art & design and non-acredited adult learning, I am most currently interested in invisible things that amplify or dampen a lesson.

ABOUT FIELDNOTES
FIELDNOTES is an artist-run publishing project based in Newham in east London. We produce an annual print journal alongside a public programme of workshops, mentoring opportunities, radio broadcasts, screenings and readings. Founded in 2020, FIELDNOTES aims to promote and support non-conforming creative practices that pioneer new cultural forms. We seek to challenge the systemic inequalities that limit opportunities in the arts by working with individuals and communities who may not find support elsewhere. Our purpose is to provide a test site for poetic innovation, a place for new voices and collaborations, a venue for experimental modes and fresh departures between disciplines. We are interested in the third thing between two known things; we are looking for the spaces between translations and transitions.