Creating Spaces of Possibility: Applying Theory to Your Practice

Many cultural educators are driven by a strong sense of purpose - but finding the time and space to translate big ideas such as equity, power, cultural democracy, intersectionality and participation into everyday practice can be challenging.

• Do you want to think deeply about your practice and how it intersects with social justice?
• Do you want to reflect on who you are and how it impacts your work?
• Do you want to challenge yourself?
• Do you want to do something interactive and thoughtful?
• Do you want to explore all this with your peers?

If so, then come along and challenge yourself and prepare for the unexpected.

Join Dr Chrissie Tiller and Stella Barnes for an interactive in-person session, where you'll be invited to engage in deep thinking about your individual and/or organisational values and purpose and how these translate into practice and build confidence in articulating this.

Drawing on Chrissie Tiller's essay in , this session will examine how cultural education is never neutral. It is shaped by whose voices are heard, whose culture is valued, and who has access to participate and lead. Together, we'll explore how practitioners can use these insights to rethink programmes, challenge assumptions and design learning experiences that are more equitable and participatory. Without intentional design, programmes can unintentionally reinforce exclusion—even when aiming to be inclusive. This session invites practitioners to apply critical theory to real work with children and young people.

Whether you're looking to deepen your thinking, strengthen your advocacy, or connect with others committed to creating change, this session offers a valuable space to pause, reflect and imagine new possibilities for cultural education.

Participants will:

• Turn theory into a methodology they can apply immediately

• Rethink how power operates in their programmes

• Design more equitable, participatory learning experiences

• Reflect on their individual and organisational purpose

• Gain insight into intentional design

• Build confidence in articulating practice

This event is for:

• Young, intermediate and experienced cultural educators working with children and young people
• Organisational leaders seeking to embed equity, participation and inclusion more intentionally in their work
• Anyone interested in exploring how theory and reflection can inform more equitable and impactful practice

At this event you will hear from:

Chrissie Tiller:

Chrissie is a writer, thinker, practitioner and educator whose work sits at the intersection between critical pedagogy, political activism and collaborative and social art practice. Her book Power Up has become a seminal text in this field.

Stella Barnes:

Stella is freelance arts consultant, participatory artist and specialist in arts and social justice. She was awarded the Simon Research Fellowship at the University of Manchester in 2023 to undertake collaborative research into the cultural exclusion of artists with experience of forced migration.

Timings & Refreshments

Tea & coffee at 10 am for a prompt start at 10.30am

Lunch will be provided

About this series

This free event is part of Leading with Purpose: Cultural Education in Practice, a series of publications, conversations and events exploring the future of leadership in cultural education. The series creates space to reflect on, discuss and reimagine leadership, drawing on the ideas, experiences and insights of today’s leaders. We hope it sparks reflection, conversation and action.

Book on to more events, and read the publications here: www.anewdirection.org.uk/research/leadingwithpurpose