Ms Suzy Tutchell

Biography

Ms Suzy Tutchell is currently working as a Lecturer in the Department of Institute of Education, University of Reading , United Kingdom. Responsibilities: Institute of Education Responsibilities: • Subject lead for BA Ed Art • PGCE lead for Primary Art • Lecturer in Art and Design in Education (BA Ed and PGCE) • Art Subject Specialist and Curriculum tutor (BA Ed and PGCE) Current and recent Research Projects: • Making it Happen: A three year funded project aiming to develop aspects of art teaching at university level to equip students with greater confidence in the workplace and to enhance university/workplace links. Working in conjunction with student researchers, this project investigates the factors which can help (or inhibit) students to transfer skills in art teaching, gained within the PGCE and BEd programmes, into workplace experience and future employment. • Role of art coordinator: A collaborative and ongoing research interest group comprising of school-based art coordinators and primary art colleagues at Roehampton University and Canterbury Christchurch to investigate the role of the coordinator, with a focus on the current National Curriculum and EYFS. • Sculpture in School: is an ongoing annual research study, working with an Oxford-based primary school and two different primary year groups to investigate sculpture within a thematic curriculum. Summer 2015 is the third year of the project and has been developed in order to raise the profile of art within the school whilst working with a high demographic of Gypsy Roma Traveller children. The projects have resulted in case studies which feed directly into the teaching content of university-based art sessions. • Open Sesame! (2011): was the result of a partnership between early years and arts professionals across Sussex and Surrey, supported by Arts Council England. The project brought together artists and early years practitioners, focusing on communities with high levels of deprivation. Trainee artists worked with the nurseries, learning from each other and from a team of experienced artist mentors, to introduce art, music, dance and other forms of creative expression into the day-to-day play and development of under 5's. • ECHO (2010): was developed and completed as an action research project funded by Creative Partnerships, which aimed to look at how Creative Development was embedded in 6 early years settings, through the eyes of the children, families and practitioners. As a result extensive documentation was produce and the research findings of which were made pertinent to focused support in this area of learning. • Inspiring Creativity & Imagination (2007): www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/research/inspiringcreativity is an archived online resource, researched and devised by Curiosity & Imagination and Sure Start. The resource is about making exciting spaces for children's learning and development in settings. A range of researched case studies demonstrated how anyone working with young children can transform their space into somewhere which inspires children's curiosity, imagination and creativity. Research groups / Centres: • Member of National Society for Art and Design in Education. • Member of AccessArt. • Member of Cambridge Primary Review Trust (South). • Member of TACTYC.

Research Interest

Art and Education Movement and Art in the Primary School Collaborative art Art in the Early Years Dialogue in art education Sculpture and somatic art experiences Artist-in-residencies The role of the adult in art education Intergenerational art Outreach art initiatives