Untrammelled ways: Reflecting on the written text, nourishment and care in online teaching.

What is it about?

As the COVID-19 pandemic gathered momentum in 2020, it became clear that online teaching spaces risked a distancing from the embodied knowledge so necessary to creative education. Teaching written texts to creative practitioners is a process that calls for alternative spatial and visual literacies, for honouring experience and reflection – especially in higher education. In my teaching practice, as well as writing and painting practices, I like so many others have sought spaces for nourishment during this era. Through my teaching and a collaborative research group, one space in which I located this was via hope. This is a time to ask if we can use this moment in history to encourage thinking in an untrammelled manner and to move more freely in the unfamiliar, to transform the classroom; to seek materiality as a method of interpretation, even online; to encourage fearlessness; to use craft methods; and to enter a space of care and emotional openness.

Featured Image

Photo by Faris Mohammed on Unsplash

Photo by Faris Mohammed on Unsplash

Why is it important?

In a time of highly pressurised teaching environments, how do we find spaces of care and nourishment in allyship with our students? This article explores making and craft methods that may allow us to pause and think about this important need for both staff and students.