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What led you to doing your current role?
Six years ago I completed a Secondary Education PGCE in art and design. Having previously worked in community education with adult users of mental health services, taught in mainstream education and Special Educational Needs, I was keen to continue to develop a more holistic view of art and design education. After teaching in the museum and gallery sector, I realised it was an area that suited me as an educator, and the opportunity to work with great collections of art and artefacts added to this appeal.
What was your art education background before you did your PGCE? Did you study art at school?
I did GCSE, A Level and Foundation Art followed by a degree in Fine Art. The artwork I make is about the viewer, so it was quite natural to veer towards art and design education. I still make artwork, but since starting at Tate Modern my making time has been restricted. I commute from Brighton and that impacts upon how many hours I have left in a day.
What does your role as Curator of Schools Programme mean?
Tate is one of the few organisations who refer to someone working in gallery education as a ‘Curator’, instead of an ‘Education Officer’. I meet people who are sceptical of the role having a curatorial title, but it helps to raise the profile of interpretation and education within the sector.
What are the main aspects of your job?
I design and manage education programmes for school-age learners and Professional Development Programmes for their teachers, so it is vital to have a sound knowledge of the National Curriculum. However, the programmes that we run are not curriculum-specific. My main objective is to make modern and contemporary art accessible, with an emphasis on the individual’s personal response to the work. We encourage multiple interpretations of the work, with no correct answers about the meaning or your feeling about the work We use resource-based teaching methods, working in front of the artworks in the gallery. We encourage young people to develop their critical thinking skills and think about their identity and the role they play in the communities they are part of.
Do you get a lot of contact with young people in terms of your role?
It has been exciting working with Raw Canvas, and its peer-led nature attracted me to apply when I was initially looking at the job specification. When I worked on the Youth Programme, I had a lot of contact with young people, but now that I am working with schools and teachers managing the programme takes up all of my time. So I rarely work directly with young people, which is something that I miss...
What is a typical working day for you?
One of the best things about the job is that I don’t have a typical
working day. There are administrative duties, but there is an Assistant
Curator who works with me to support the programme and the team. Today
I wrote a funding proposal for an organisation that I would like to contribute
financially to a new project I’m thinking about. I also wrote a
document for a teacher’s course we are going to run in the summer.
Tomorrow I’ll be attending the Qualification and Curriculum Agency
as we are working to develop the national curriculum for art and design,
so day to day my job changes.
What was the most difficult or important decision
in regards to your career?
The year I left art school was difficult as a lot of BA degrees don’t equip you with the skills to exist as an artist, such as knowledge of funding, educational opportunities or the professional bodies or creative communities you can access to further your career. It is a steep learning curve. I saw my decision to work in education as a way to validate my making, giving it a purpose and a role in the world.
What attracted you to working at Tate?
I had been working as an educator in museums and galleries part-time, alongside my other teaching jobs, before I went travelling for six months. Whilst away I visited some wonderful museums and galleries, which helped me to decide that I would commit myself to that area of education on my return. The post at Tate required someone who had experience of working in various learning environments. I had the variety of experience needed which, coupled with having always loved Tate, made the post ideal for me.
What advice would you give to a young people interested in your job?
There are now many routes into working in gallery education, such as starting with working in formal education and moving across, or entering through a museum and gallery studies course. There are now several courses specifically designed for gallery education training. There is no definitive route, but as a starting point I would recommend getting involved with courses, activities and events that are running at your local museums and galleries so you have some experience of being involved in the sector, and take it from there.
