I Am Curious is a free, creative workbook to support school visits to Tate Modern and Tate Britain. Filled with exciting activities, students are encouraged to engage with art on their own terms.
Information labels clearly mark the histories and context behind the work on show at Tate; however, there’s always more to the story. Each student’s curiosity will lead them on a journey through the galleries, reflecting on their views, opinions, and understandings to encounter the art they see with confidence.
Workbook pages 2 and 3: Looking
Workbook pages 4 and 5: Thinking
Workbook pages 7 and 8: Making
How to use
The workbook supports your students to look, make and think during their gallery visit.
Opening with a page for your students to personalise and make their own by adding themselves into the illustrated crowd, it aims to ground student’s within the gallery space, building their confidence to skilfully engage with the Tate collection.
Looking
There’s no one way to view art. Simple, multi-sensory prompts encourage students to explore their surroundings with their whole body before moving on to look out for shapes, patterns and words during their visit. A built-in viewfinder encourages students to focus in on artworks, looking for key details and things within the collection that stand out to just them. What might they find that no one else could?
Example prompt: Now use your viewfinder to spot something else you are curious about. Without looking at your page draw the outline of what you see.
Making
From movement and collaborative conversation to moments of quiet reflection, each page of this workbook has plenty of space for students to play, make, and create. Your class can practice their observational drawing skills in new, exciting ways – including onto the illustrations! - and generate ideas to also make art of their own.
Example prompt: Fill this page to make something new, that is yours. Borrow what you can see in the artworks or things you remember from home.
Thinking
By recording their observations in this workbook, students will build a wealth of ideas they can return to in the classroom and at home, developing their critical thinking skills and making links with their own art practices. I Am Curious is intentionally expansive, and can be adapted for any artist, theme, or movement you might be looking at with your students.
Example prompt: Try asking an artwork some questions: When and where were you made? Where have you travelled from? Do you have a story to tell me?
FAQs
We invite all teachers to engage with this resource and assess whether it suits your class’s needs. The text elements of the workbook are designed as suggestions, in a highly visual, image-like font, and there is no obligation for students to follow them to the letter. However, as the resource focuses on drawing and observation, we do understand that it may not work for young people with complex needs, including disabled and blind or partially sighted students. The prompts can be spoken out loud or signed for a more conversational approach.
Get In Touch
If you’d like discuss other ways to adapt this resource for your class, please get in touch: schoolsandteachers@tate.org.uk
If the resource is not suitable for your group, we’d be happy to provide alternative resources for your self-led visit and welcome any feedback on how to better support your class when visiting Tate.
Visual Stories
Photographs and information of what you can expect from a visit to the gallery and downloadable communication cards.
Copies of the workbook will be available for collection upon your arrival at the schools desk. It is not necessary to reserve copies in advance.
Please bring drawing materials for your class. A pencil each will be enough!
This resource can be used throughout the permanent collections at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. The prompts and activities can be followed with any artwork on display, so you are free to move through the gallery and visit artwork that fits your curriculum.
If you have any questions or would like to leave us feedback about this workbook, please get in touch at: schoolsandteachers@tate.org.uk
Who Created I Am Curious
The Schools and Teachers Team at Tate champions spending time with art as a way to support students in learning about themselves and others in the world. We are committed to working with schools to expand the range of artwork that students encounter, as we firmly believe that young people should see themselves reflected in all that they encounter at Tate and in the classroom.
I Am Curious was produced in collaboration with education consultant Emily Gopaul and creative collective POCC, practising inclusivity as a central tenet throughout. We welcome all young people to bring all of themselves to Tate, and value their ideas, curiosities and their lived experiences as key to being with art.
