As indicated in this post I’m often thwarted in my desire to share fantastic projects that I’ve worked on in schools because issues around online documentation are not clarified, discussed and agreed upon right at the start of the project, much less built into the time and financial planning.
I think we can – and should – do better.
The sorts of projects I’m talking about are typically – but not exclusively – those that come about through Creative Partnerships (CP) programmes that link artists and other creative practitioners with schools. I started working in schools about a year ago, and am about to embark on my 5th such project. There are obviously important child-protection issues that need to be taken into account when working with young people, however for this to be the only online documentation of the preceding 4 projects that I can officially and confidently link to is very frustrating for a number of reasons:
- Fabulous stuff has happened and I want to share it.
- Sharing fabulous stuff helps inspire more fabulous stuff to happen, where successive layers of fabulous stuff can build on what’s gone before it, rather than continuously having to re-invent the wheel.
- As a freelancer, my career development relies on my being able to evidence the projects I have worked on to potential future collaborators. Absence of public documentation leaves something of a black-hole that’s bad for me on a variety of different levels. (NB Part of the CP remit is to contribute to the professional development of the artists they work with.)
- Documentation and discussion of projects as they are in progress allows for valuable conversations that can shape the direction of the project in unpredictable, serendipitous ways.
- Whilst CP is pretty good at stipulating OK daily rates for artists, I always find that I spend more time on projects that what I am getting paid for. Utilising documentation to at least help secure the next chunk of income is a way of gaining more value from the project.
- When you’re pitching to a school that they should do something they wouldn’t normally do, it helps to be able to a) show them images/videos of something similar and b) some sort of evaluation of what the benefits were so that they have a reassuring frame of reference for your ideas.
There are various tactics that can be employed to ensure that images of vulnerable children are not circulated online. At a fundamental level, these often hinge upon a release signed by parents/guardians giving permission for images of their child to be used. Sometimes these are on a project-by-project basis, but increasingly I’m coming across schools that organises for blanket releases to be pursued for every child either at the start of their time at the school, or at the beginning of each academic year.
Working on CP-style projects though brings new things into the equation, so, even in schools that have acquired release permissions for all of their pupils, there is still a place for a document that outlines the implications of having different forms of online documentation and how the school wishes to address them. Not least because I am probably used to using the Internet and various online tools in a way unfamiliar to many teachers. I can’t assume that they are aware of blogging, video-streaming and discursive spaces in the same way that I am. Best to make sure everything is spelled out, right from the beginning.
There are a few things I always try and flag up in the first meetings I have with school staff, however there are often gaps or grey areas that prevent me from actively using online spaces to share projects that I’m involved in a similar way to that which I take for granted with my other work. I want to produce a document that outlines the different ways I might want to talk about the project online, what the implications of these might be and to allow the school to say “no, please don’t do that” to all or selected parts of that.
A standard, succinct, plain English guide that let’s everyone know where they stand and ensures that the documentation gathered (and there’s always lots that could potentially be used) isn’t left gathering dust afterwards.
After the response to the braindump of practicalities of using blogs in schools I’m sure this is a document that others would find invaluable too, so let’s crowdsource the process to get input from a range of viewpoints.
Creative practitioners, creative agents, agencies, schools and social media types: what do you think should be included in this document?
My initial thoughts of what could be included:
- Making it absolutely clear that once stuff is online it can be linked to, embedded and remixed by others.
- Reiterating that the internet has a memory, so you have to be sure before you put things online.
- Including discussion of work in progress, as well as showcasing completed projects.
- Gently reminding people that this all takes time and should be worked into the planning, rather than cobbled together as an afterthought.
- Getting explicit person-by-person confirmation (or otherwise) of permission status.
- Getting permission to write about projects on my blog, to link to this documentation from other places and to have permission to circulate links/documentation amongst my mailing lists etc
How about you? What challenges do you encounter and how can we work to lessen these? Please add your thoughts to the comments so I can begin to compile them into a useful tool for people working in this area.