Arvon is inviting applications from professional writers to play a key role as co-mentors with primary and secondary teachers in a research project in South West England.
Arvon, the Open University, and the University of Exeter are working together on an 18-month research project funded by Arts Council England, The Rayne Foundation and The United Kingdom Literacy Association. Teachers as Writers (TaW) will explore how writers and teachers can work together to improve student outcomes, and what impact this engagement has on teachers’ practice, skills and identities as writers, and young people’s motivation, confidence and skills as writers. It will also explore the impact of the work on professional writers.
How it works: TaW is not a traditional “writers in schools” project led by writers. It is a research project which seeks to position writers and teachers as learning partners. It innovatively frames the work as co-mentoring where professional writers and teachers work together for their own mutual benefit (as writers and pedagogues) and in order to support the development of student writers.
Each writer will be matched with two teachers and supported to develop a reciprocal co-mentoring relationship with them. Writers will need to commit to:
- a half-day professional development day including training on co-mentoring and co-planning the teaching of narrative writing with their teachers (18 May 2016, Exeter);
- one visit to each school to co-teach and to evaluate a lesson together with their teachers (June 2016);
- being interviewed by the research team and documenting their own learning (across the project);
- a one-day sharing of their co-mentoring work with all participating writer-teacher partnerships (29 September 2016 in Exeter);
- preparing to share their work at a Dissemination Conference if required (March 2017, Exeter, London).
Fee: £1,375 (based on £250 a day for 5.5 days)
How to apply: For full details on how to apply please download an information sheet here and equal opportunities form here.
Interviews will take place by arrangement.
Deadline for applications: Monday 22 February 2016 at 5pm
Source: Arts Jobs