Class Photo: Lessons in Photography

After months of consulting, thinking, planning and collaborating our Tate Exchange project for 2018 is just round the corner - the 12th and 13th of February to be precise. Following last year's student centred activities in the main Tate Exchange space, this year's focus is a dedicated team of photography teacher colleagues who are joining us from the four corners of the land to experience some fun and games in the PhotoPedagogy playground.

We are excited and a little apprehensive. This is our first CPD adventure and we've been working hard to ensure that folks get value for money. Here's how the two days are shaping up:

The Tate Exchange theme this year is production.​ What is produced in a photography classroom? What is seen and unseen? Who are the workers, what materials do they use and who profits from their labour? To what extent are photography classrooms spaces of agency and empowerment? In an age of measurement, how can photography teachers re-connect with a sense of purpose and provide a good education, in all senses of the word?

We are delighted to be working with amazing professionals from the world of photography. Marysa Dowling, Dafna Talmor and Elliott Wilcox are all practising photographers who are also gifted communicators. Ali Eisa and Katie Reynolds work in the education departments of pioneering public galleries and are passionate about photography education. We are also delighted that Simon Baker from Tate will be joining us on Monday morning to welcome participants to Tate Exchange. We are very grateful for the fantastic support of these individuals and the Tate Exchange team. It is a real privilege to be working in such an amazing building and alongside so much great photography on display.

Marysa Dowling - Conceal Mexico #32 2015

Dafna Talmor - From the Constructed Landscapes II series

Elliott Wilcox, 2017

We'll be giving away copies of our latest newspaper and we are grateful for the many contributions from photographers across the world to our Threshold Memories feature. We've got photographs of classroom palimpsests, exceptional student projects and lots more besides. Make sure to pick up a copy!

It is wonderful to be able to spend two whole days discussing photography education with our colleagues and, hopefully, providing some food for photographic thought. We have been guided by the spirit of creative mischief that, we think, characterises the photography classroom. There will be plenty of hands-on activity as we playfully blur the boundaries between teacher, student, artist (and classroom visitor). Members of the public will be able to drop in unannounced to conduct learning walks, providing feedback about what they think they can see. What does a photography classroom look like? What kinds of activities take place there? How do people behave? What habits of mind might they be exercising? Does it all make any sense?

Our view, of course, is that photography is a core subject, deserving of a central place in any school curriculum. Not only is it utterly inter-disciplinary - including aspects of maths, philosophy, physics, chemistry, sociology, languages, visual, media and performing arts, geography, history etc. - but it addresses one of the core competencies of our age: visual literacy. Moreover, students of photography study ethics, consider semiotics, explore mental health issues, debate social justice and monitor their own personal growth. We are all photographers now and yet how many of us realise that photography has changed everything?

Two days isn't long to put the world to rights. But we're going to do our best and hope to emerge with some fresh ideas, renewed vigour, a few photos and a smile on our faces.

Watch this space!