Assembling Agency: Learning in Liminal Spaces

Agents, Agency, Agencies in Assembling Liminal Learning Spaces is an ongoing London College of Communication (LCC) teaching and learning funded research project that is an investigation into the types of learning landscapes we have at the University of the Arts London (UAL). My proposition is to develop a remodeling of the way we think about how students are taught and learn in the spaces and places that already exist and might exist in the future. It recognizes that the more involved all participants in the hosting, delivery and acquisition of teaching and learning become in this research, the more likely we are to have spaces that deliver even more world class teaching and learning. As Dr Cathy Hall (2013), states, “To create a world-class learning environment for students [it is] by offering opportunities for collaboration, team work, a sense of belonging, a creative culture and opportunities to excel…” (Hall 2013).

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Leap into Action asks: "What happens when performative arts meet pedagogy?" and views performative teaching as building students’ understanding of complex ideas and concepts "through action." It provides the theoretical, philosophical, and conceptual terrain by setting forth the scholarly rationale as to what performative pedagogy is at this moment across Art & Design education. Contributions are made from individuals and groups across art and design disciplines who deploy innovative pedagogic approaches with an emphasis on performativity. To underline that Art & Design does not only happen within the institution, Leap into Action provides rich intertextual material that draws upon the experiences of practitioners. Leap into Action is intended to prompt new angles from which to examine one’s practice including and beyond pedagogy, mainly in terms of art, design and performance, and disciplines　further afield. Whilst Leap into Action engages with performative pedagogies through disruptions, interruptions, tricksters, liminalities, affective bodies, sensory encounters, and technoparticipation, it calls into question what risk-taking means in an arts school context and the tension (even paradox) that exists between wanting to create a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment and provoking students out of their comfort zones through experimental performative pedagogy and playfulness. Whilst engagement with performative strategies may be a ‘risky’ strategy, the rewards can be great. Enter the unknown, take a leap into action, and have fun

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