Artists.

Here, let me break it down for you,
so you know what I say is true:
Teachers make a god damn difference!
Now what about you?

-- Taylor Mali


Today I went to Glasgow at an indecently early hour for a conference. It was grey, it was raining, it was blowing a gale, and there was Traffic with a capital T, but my heart still did a little somersault. I love that city, I lived there for 14 years so it's part of me.

The conference was at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, which is where I studied for my Postgraduate Masters in Arts in Social Contexts, and I've also worked there on a few arts education and youth theatre projects. The institution was renamed a couple of years ago (it used to be called the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) and since then they've done a few wee upgrades, which from what I could see included automatic taps, some plush leather sofas and a reception desk that looks more like a spaceship than anything else I've ever seen in my life. Oh, and the toilet graffiti is now in glitter glue instead of pen. Classy.

Anyway, enough nostalgia. The conference itself was really interesting. It was about how we can nurture and promote a way of working in the arts which is truly inclusive. For example, how do we support young artists with disabilities through a degree programme? What are the benefits, barriers and implications? Who are the arts for - only the very best, the elite, or everyone? How does funding impact on this?

There were presentations, provocations and performance. We debated, we shared ideas, and we drank a lot of tea! It was definitely encouraging with the wealth of experience in the room, so it will be interesting to see what the next step is!

Today's quotation comes from a video I spied on the TED website by poet and teacher Taylor Mali called What teachers make, or Objection overruled, or If things don't work out, you can always go to Law school. It's only 3 minutes long. Check it out here. It sums up for me the power of inspirational teachers to provide a good education and why access to this is so vital ... and I mean for everyone, regardless of their dis/ability.

See it Large