ARTISTEACHER Toolkit

Which Way is Up? is a set of ‘playing’ cards designed by artist-teacher Hannah Rennie and artist Shepherd Manyika with Cement Fields to nurture new ways of teaching and making art within the school environment.

Acting as imaginative prompts, the cards support experimentation and creative risk-taking in the classroom, whilst also nurturing individual artistic practice – whether used by an artist, teacher, or student.

This short article takes the form of a reflective toolkit informed by the ARTISTEACHER event hosted by Freelands Foundation, where the cards were presented to fellow artist-teachers, through practical prompts for using the cards in their own classroom, alongside a discussion on how they might provide modes of engaging within diverse teaching contexts.

If you would like more information about theWhich Way is Up?  cards, or would like to request a set for your own practice, visit cementfields.org/projects/which-way-is-up.

1. Try out the cards

To introduce the idea of the cards, the entire group was presented with a card prompt that asked them to: ‘Draw a shape, add another and another and another’. They worked to respond to the prompt in their own individual ways using various art materials, sharing their responses at the end.

Provocation: Draw one card to work with individually or within a group, using whatever materials you have to hand. Record the result.

2. Group responses

The participants were asked to split into groups corresponding with the sectors in which they work. The groups were Primary, Secondary, Further and Higher Education, and Museums and Galleries. They were presented with a selection of two cards from the deck to respond to collectively, or the choice to select a new card from the deck.

Provocation: Split respondents into small groups and present them with a selection of cards to work with. How do each of the group’s responses compare?

3. Design a card

Having explored many of the cards, the participants were asked to design a new card based on their own ideas and experiences. These ideas were shared with the group at the end.

Provocation: Design your own card/s based on your experience. Can you incorporate your prompts into your own creative or teaching practice?

ARTISTEACHER was a regular discussion forum for art teachers and educators held by Freelands Foundation, and facilitated by guest art education practitioners and art educators.

Through the group and its activations in interactive workshops, artist-teachers explored the principles of teaching as artistic practice, shared projects and worked collaboratively to develop new ideas.

Which Way is Up?  was created by Hannah Rennie, Shepherd Manyika and Cement Fields as part of From Other Gardens, a project supported by Freelands Foundation.

Through a series of collaborative exchanges and in-depth, discursive workshops with students at Highsted Grammar School, the project explored the idea of radical art practice within the school environment, and considered how you can make space for risk and experimentation, and in doing so question the established norms of art teaching, the curriculum and learning.