As a key part of improving the digital resources for teachers, parents and carers we are working with Leeds Becket University on an international project. ArtEd. ArtEd is an action research project led by Leeds Beckett University (Dr Lisa Stephens). ArtEd is funded by the EU’s Erasmus programme and draws upon the expertise of a wide range of artists (visual and expressive) practising in the six partner countries of England, Iceland, Germany, Greece, Italy and Austria. The purpose of the project is to consider how the knowledge and skills of artists can be transferred, through interactive guides, to teachers, trainee teachers and parents and carers in order to help them to engage creatively with young people.
ArtEd has enabled Interplay to take a more pedagogical approach to our work exploring how we can produce materials, available digitally, to support teachers, parents and carers in undertaking creative activities linked to our sensory theatre work, learning from different approaches taken by international partners. On a practical basis we have been able to produce and trial the use of materials with trainee teacher, parents and carers. This will have a positive impact on the digital materials we produce as part of our plans to provide digital resources to support our touring sensory theatre work.
“ArtEd” employs a participatory co-design model, involving young people, artists, teachers, and parents, to produce a range of inclusive, interactive guides, which focus on how to engage young people with the creative arts. These guides will be online and open access and include an interactive game and audio-visual immersive experiences of artists in practice. The guides will help teachers, trainee teachers, parents, and carers engage in the development of creative learning opportunities for young people across Europe.