facilitating fairer transitions into further and higher education in the performing and production...
TRANSCRIPT
Facilitating fairer transitions into further and higher
education in the performing and production arts
Tuesday 9 June 2015
Why is Transitions 20/40 needed?
“in dance and music particularly, opportunity for artistic and technical development must be available at a very early age. The Conservatoire is very aware that levels of access to those opportunities vary widely and are dependent upon a range of factors other than a young person’s natural ability or potential” RCS SFC Outcome Agreement for 2012-13 (2012) p15
Performing &
Production Arts
Music
Drama
DanceProduction
Screen
‘Transitions 20/40 seeks out and develops potential performing and production arts talent from the most deprived Scottish postcode areas.’
T20/40 provision
• Up to 150 hours of training and tuition
• A Personal Learning Plan (PLP)
• A one-to-one mentor
• Support for additional learning needs
• Support towards other potential barriers
T20/40 delivery
• ‘Junior’ conservatoire model for school age participants
• Short courses available with no upper age limit
• Proven track record for preparing students for HE
The Skills Gap
• Disciplines are not universally available in schools
• Additional private tuition is very common among conservatoire students
• Informal provision varies in quality and accessibility
‘In school its just what the SQA provide […] it’s really, really simple stuff, but then when you come here […] it’s like a really, really big jump. I go back to class and I’m like “this is really easy”.T20/40 Music Student ‘We’ve got sociology and psychology and no
Drama!’ T20/40 Drama Student
‘In our school from third year up to sixth year start going to college […] but in the dancing it’s just like the National 4 and national 5 dance you can do, but it’s not like, well, proper dance. ‘T20/40 Ballet Student
The Social Gap
• Conservatoire’s seen as ‘secret gardens’ (Perkins, 2006)
• Networks and social connections
• External factors that inhibit a young person’s ability to participate to their full potential
Additional barriers faced by 2014/15 cohort
Carer; 4% Care Leaver; 3% Ethnic Minority; 4%Disability; 3%
Disabled Guardian; 12%
Low Progression School; 43%
Adult Returner; 7%
First HE in Family; 40%EMA; 19%
Tax Credits; 15%
Low Income Household; 48%
No Income Household; 7%Ex Low Progression School; 10%
“That’s the thing about drama, it’s all about contacts and who you know, so I think this programme has completely opened that up for me. There’s all sorts of people, there’s even in my courses there’s a woman that owns a theatre company, there’s directors that come in, like that’s all amazing for me”T20/40 Drama Student ‘It feels like, because you’ve been picked for something like this,
you’ve got a bit more potential. They see potential there, which kinda gives you a bit of confidence that I’ve got something there, there must be something that someone’s seeing.’T20/40 Drama Student
What does Transitions 20/40 do for the students?
‘I’m actually noticing each month coming that actually I can do things now that I couldn’t do before, and a lot of it comes from this. I don’t want to sound cheesy but it’s a learning environment thing. It’s really, really focussed. You learn when you come here. There’s never a day where you come, and then you leave not knowing what you’ve done or what you’ve learned.’T20/40 Music Student
‘I quite liked how people who’ve not got the money have the opportunity to do something like this, because I find, especially with music, you see all the people that succeed and they’ve got the money and you know, they’ve got the resources to do it, whereas people like me who have got just average just mums and dads with average jobs find they like fall behind because they’ve just not got the support there to go on to degree level really.’ T20/40 Music Student
Suzanne KayWidening Access and Participation Manager
Graeme Smillie Transitions 20/40 PhD Student