Approaches to Creative Learning
Adesola sees learning as the on-going interest and inquiry into the world around us, and believes that this interest is something that can (and should) be with you all your life. Life-long learning; the life-long enjoyment in our interaction with the world. Creativity adds to this enjoyment by offering us multiple ways to see the world around us, and to interact with it.
Adesola sees both the ability to be interested and the ability to see things in more than one way as fundamental skills. These are skills that all young children possess, and it is the role of the education system to nurture and nourish these skills and eventually guide their use as children enter their adult lives. Creative learning is about the joy of the wonder of life. Creative learning gives us the skills with which to to ‘understand’ and the skills to dance through the steps of our lives rather than plod!
Creative Professional Biography
Adesola began working in arts in education in 1994. When she started her dance Company she partnered with a Primary school, being given rehearsal space in return for the provision of a resource for the school to draw on. In particular she devised programmes for children with behavioural problems.
After two years Adesola moved to New York. Her company worked with the local authority in Islip to develop an after-school programme in three of their childrens' centres, again in return for rehearsal space. This was so successful she received a total of $100,500 grant from New York State to develop a Center in Islip and to run programmes after school, Local Authority Summer Schools and a professional dance company touring schools and libraries.
For her work as artistic director of the company she won Woman of the Year award 1999 for work in dance in the community.
Adesola moved to Canada and worked as an artist with the government-run artist in residence programme, working for two years in this programme in schools across Manitoba. She was an artist with Learning Through the Arts in three school districts. She created her own arts programme and received funding from ArtSmarts. She also taught teacher training at University of Manitoba in the Physical Education Department.
Adesola returned to UK in 2005 where she became a Creative Catalyst/Agent with CP London North. She also worked with the Enfield LEA delivering CPD to teachers (Primary and Secondary) developing P.E. in their curriculum under the SSCo programme. She has lectured at London University and Middlesex University, and worked as a community dance artist with Green Candle Dance Company devising programmes for schools, particularly for deaf children.
Adesola is currently working as an artist and Creative Agent in a number of education projects and teaching in the Education Department at Christ Church Canterbury University. She has a special interest in bodies in space/environment and learning spaces, which is what her PhD research looks at, on which she presented a paper at BERA 09.