By Jon Nicholls, Thomas Tallis School

It might seem like an odd decision for a teacher to spend the first week of a summer holiday going back to school but the lure of Tate's Summer School proved too much for me to resist (more on resistance later). There were several inducements. I was offered a bursary. I had worked with one of the artists before, Anna Lucas, whose practice I admired. The blurb suggested an engagement with lens and light based media: "What happens when a photograph meets a sculpture or when painting looks at video?" The Summer School would be situated in the Tate Exchange space on Level 5 of the new Switch House at Tate Modern. I had a sense of what the experience might be like, what it might offer for a tired teacher, having worked alongside members of the Learning team exploring the affordances of a previous Summer School. It seemed like this was the year when I could see it all in extreme close-up.

Rather than give you a scene by scene account of each day (this is already available on Pat Thomson's blog for those interested), I'm going to attempt to identify those things that I plan to take away and use in my photography teaching next year. Here goes:

Beginnings (or Wake and Shake)​
Starters aren't a new idea for educators but Anna and Alex had designed a series of activities they referred to as 'Wake and Shake' that stimulated a number of different opportunities for learning.

• We were required to collaborate in a structured way (time, resources, 'rules') leading to the production of an artefact
• We were quickly immersed in artistic strategies (describing, sorting, arranging, deciding etc.) with very little preliminary explanation or justification
• Experimental and playful making and performance activities were foregrounded - the talking came later in the day
• There appeared to be a strong emphasis on process over product. 'Rules' were provided but quickly tested and broken. Contingencies were welcomed.
• The activities didn't often have a clear end point but bled into the next phase of the day's activities.

I don't always use starter activities in my lessons, sometimes because I only see the class for a single hour and the time is too precious. However, 'Wake and Shake' has slightly re-framed how I might think about the beginnings of lessons or units of work. 

• How can I encourage more purposeful collaboration?
• How can we all begin making much sooner and immerse ourselves in a dialogue with materials, not just photographic?
• How might we use the products of these preliminary making sessions in the next phase of our activities?

There is much still to ponder here but I'm hopeful that beginnings might look and feel a bit different come September.

Looking, Talking & Drawing
Throughout the week, a range of drawing activities were used in parallel with looking and talking. Anna took us to see the Joan Jonas projection 'Songdelay' from 1973 where we created Blind Movie Drawings using carbon paper and black card. Each day we had a discussion beginning with a question (E.g. What is the value? How can you resist?) during which we were encouraged to doodle. These drawings were then made into  badges and attached to banners (as an alternative to the conventional flip chart documentation). Two activities involved working in a pair, either facing each other or back to back, with one partner describing (an image or something observed in the space) and the other attempting to draw it. Silver gouache paint was also available so that we could make drawings of the light in photographs we had selected. Graham Hooper has written informatively of the various ways drawing can be incorporated into the photography lesson. The Summer School strategies, perhaps more conceptual in nature, will definitely form part of my regular pedagogy next year.

Still Moving
At the beginning of the week we were shown a series of posters with sets of words, the first of which, "Ball, Block, Blank", would be a continuous idea underpinning our explorations. Our opening activity involved selecting and arranging sets of photographic images of balls, blocks and blanks provided by the lead artists. As the week progressed we made objects in clay, cardboard, sticks and tape which, along with the endlessly recycled photographs, were used as props in a variety of video and film making activities. We explored the interplay between 2 and 3 dimensions, the flattening effect of photography, film and video and the relationship between stillness and movement. I was really inspired by the ways in which a tripod mounted DSLR could be used, in conjunction with a rotating circular table, to dramatise pictures and objects. The camera could look in (on objects placed on the table) or look out (at objects placed on its periphery). In both cases the rotating table created a tracking shot. Later in the week, other kinds of tracking shots were made using a tripod mounted slider and a track made from a wooden board, two plastic poles and skateboard wheels. I enjoyed the way these devices helped to make still objects move and intend to explore this approach much more with students next year.

The week ended with some analogue 16mm experiments, prompted by the visit of artist Bill Leslie. We drew on some 16mm film with coloured pens, shot our own film with his Bolex camera and even processed it by hand in a series of buckets before hanging it to dry with paper clips on a hastily rigged washing line.

Thanks to our darkroom, departmental expertise and the students' fascination with analogue photography and film, this is definitely something I would like to attempt next year.

The classroom as studio
​The Tate Exchange space is very generous and open plan. There are few walls and a minimum of furniture - mobile walls, a couple of plinths, some sofas and chairs. That's about it. There is a small kitchen in the centre and a large cupboard but, otherwise, not much to interrupt the flow of space. Obviously classrooms tend to be a bit more restricted than this. However, I was struck by the way our lead artists, Anna and Alex, used the space they had available to zone activities. We could work as a whole group, then break off into smaller groups or work individually. The morning activities took place near the entrance (and down in the galleries) whereas afternoons were mostly spent at the other end of the space where tables (and the floor) were used to provide a range of prompts for making activities. For example:

• Photograph of photograph (after Jiro Takamatsu). Select a photograph. Re-photograph this image at least three times.
• Photo tracing. Trace the area where two photos you have chosen join together. Trace another over the top. Repeat.
• Looking straight through. Take an image from a magazine that includes a ball, block or blank. Cut a circle from the page and tape to one of the windows. Position the camera on a tripod so that the image fills the screen. Record the shot for 20 seconds.

The room where I teach is zoned to some extent - studio and backdrop at one end, darkroom at the other, and a relatively large classroom set up with desks in the centre. However, this week has encouraged me to re-think both the layout of the central space, the furniture and the use of the various surfaces available for display and experimentation (including the windows). How can I create more of a studio environment in the classroom? How might the students feel more ownership of the space(s)? How can I use display/exhibition in a more integrated way so that students can see their work in process (as well as final outcomes)?

Materials for making
Teaching photography is a tricky business. I am often torn between wanting to focus my pedagogy and resources on the specific processes and materials particular to photography and offering a more expanded version of photography practice that embraces contemporary art. This week has made me realise that this isn't an either/or proposition and that the diversity of practice related to photography should be embraced and celebrated. Alex has recently experimented with Instagram, for example, as a platform for creating a digital exhibition catalogue. Anna's 16mm films and videos often include footage of photographs she has taken being sorted. The fluidity of our making and use of materials this week has been entirely inter-disciplinary - sculpture, drawing, video, film, installation etc. The materials have been mostly cheap and easily accessible - tape, cardboard, clay, pens, papers, gouache, ink - but also surprising - dowel rods, black plasticine, foam blocks, 16mm film. We made tiny clay sculptures, cardboard plinths, crazy pointers and huge apertures all in a matter of minutes. Some of the equipment has been high tech - projectors, flat screen monitors, DSLRs, video cameras, tripods, iPads - but these were used to capture and share other kinds of making, rather than as a focus in themselves. There was a sense in which the technology was there to facilitate other kinds of imaginative activity and making. Most of the photographs made during the week were taken on mobile devices and instantly shared on social networks. I feel I need to expand the repertoire of materials easily available to my students next year.

Time
One of the issues I've been thinking about this year has been the relationship between content and depth. Our GCSE photography course lasts for three years. The temptation has been to pack a lot into this time, partly to give students a really rich and diverse experience but also because we can feel that spending too long on a project can lead to boredom and loss of momentum. This week has again raised the question of how to long to spend refining and developing. There were moments in the week when I felt an urge to keep working on something and was slightly frustrated by being called over for a crit or a new instruction. However, the activities over the five days were structured in such a way that we were able to return to our 'sketches', our initial ideas or half-completed experiments, to further refine them.

We have stripped back the content and number of projects in a our GCSE course for September. We've attempted to do the same to our A level course, getting rid of the AS examination altogether and extending Component 1 into Year 12. We're hoping that this will give students greater opportunities to refine and develop their work, taking a bit longer and perhaps working a bit more deliberately over a series of lessons on a single experiment, rather than being constrained by discrete lesson blocks.

​Another thought I had, following a slightly anarchic performance in the Tanks with our 30 huge cardboard apertures, was whether we could make interesting use of break and lunchtimes to share work with the wider school community and use the element of surprise. This could apply right across the arts with each department taking turns to 'perform' something to a wider audience, making artistic practice more visible and bringing an element of fun to the in-between times and spaces of the building. This needs a bit more thought and planning but I love the idea that ephemeral performances and/or installations might pop up all over the place from September.

As you can probably tell, Tate's Summer School offers a wide range of stimuli, experiences, ideas and encouragement. It was my first time and I hope to do it again next year. If you're an art and/or photography teacher, and can find a way to be in London for five days at the start of the summer holiday (and you can persuade your school to pay for the professional development), I would urge you to consider applying to be part of next year's Summer School. Working alongside exciting artists and colleagues from all sectors and parts of the world has been an enriching,  life-enhancing and joyful experience quite apart from the wonderful CPD. How could you resist?

​Thank you to everyone involved at Tate for offering me the opportunity to get involved, to my fellow participants and to Anna and Alex for their expertise and creativity.

My photos and videos of Summer School 2016 on Flickr.
Tate Summer School 2016 Storify
​Teach Tate Summer School 2016 blog

What follows is a very personal reflection on the books about art and photography that have really influenced my thinking and practice this year. These are the books I read (or re-read) in 2015 rather than just those that were published this year. They are in no particular order.

The book is large format and generously illustrated. Many of the artists included would be considered art photographers, exploring conceptual issues, but there is a strong sense of continuity with photography pioneers of the past. I've referenced some of the artists included in a recent scheme of work which explores the relationship between photography and surfaces. Who knows how long film and light sensitive papers will be around? Until such time as these technologies cease to exist, this crop of artists seem determined to wring the last drop of creative potential from a dwindling resource. Our students are fascinated by the darkroom, by film and old cameras. The department in which I work is also committed to analogue photography (for want of a better phrase) and both Freecycle and eBay (plus donations from neighbouring schools and colleges who are closing down their darkrooms and getting rid of equipment) have proved to be rich sources of cheap materials. I don't know how long we'll be able to continue to work in this way but this book is a useful reminder that many contemporary artists are still excited by the affordances of traditional materials and techniques whilst also questioning their relevance and meaning in the 21st century.

Related:
​An introduction to the exhibition at the ICP

I'm determined to build into my teaching this year some of the many insights, questions and provocations about our relationships with photographic images raised by this book. Who knows, it may turn out to be as significant in our thinking about visual culture as John Berger's was all those years ago.

I'm also interested in teaching photography as both an art form in its own right (with its own particular set of affordances, constraints, techniques and processes) and as a form of contemporary art practice. In this respect, I am fascinated by the conceptual artists of the 1970s as much as I am by the early modernist pioneers of photography in the 20s and 30s. Robin Kelsey's brilliant book explores the different ways in which we can understand the role that chance plays for a number of photographers and artists, the main protagonists being William Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, Alfred Stieglitz, Frederick Sommer and John Baldessari. It's a brilliantly researched and illuminating journey that puts paid to the tiresome argument that photography teachers should concentrate on developing their craft and not be troubled by art. As Kelsey explains, art and photography have always been in dialogue:

Related:
On Chance and Photography, a conversation between Robin Kelsey and Samuel Ewing.

So, what are your favourite reads of 2015? Which books have inspired you to invent new projects or re-invigorated your own photography practice? Let us know in the comments below or, alternatively, why not write your own guest blog post? Get in touch!

Having recently visited the USA for a family holiday, and having decided to shoot pictures on film with my Yashica rangefinder, I have been enjoying editing the resulting images. They are mostly street pictures influenced by a combination of my favourite American photographers - William Eggleston, Garry Winogrand, Joel Meyerowitz, Stephen Shore, Henry Wessel etc. They don't all include people. I took them over a period of 3 weeks in various locations from New Hampshire to New York City. Some are obviously urban, some very rural. Some are taken close to the subject, others from a distance. It would be hard to define an overall mood to the pictures - I was excited when I took them, mostly because I was thrilled to be using film again with all the attendant risks and uncertainty - but some of the images could be interpreted as ironic or quizzical interpretations of American culture. I have sequences of hats, umbrellas, empty and abandoned chairs, signs and other sets of objects. Simply throwing all the photographs together in a random order has produced some intriguing results. However, I have also enjoyed using more coherent strategies like those listed above.

Here, for example is a sequence of images connected by colour - in this case, red. When I used to shoot exclusively with Kodachrome 64 transparency film (now sadly unavailable) it was always the reds that seemed most vivid in the resulting slides. Perhaps I'm still subconsciously drawn to red when I make photographs, although it could also be argued that so are advertisers and shop window display artists and sign designers and others who create our visual landscape, precisely because red is so seductive, leaping out at you and grabbing your attention. Perhaps one of the most famous red photographs ever made is William Eggleston's fly's eye view of his friend's ceiling. As Eggleston himself observed:

Anyway, here are my red photographs, which I've decided to title 'Songs everybody knows':

This isn't the definitive set of images, just one of many potential edits. I love photography precisely because it offers this ongoing experience of meaning making long after the images themselves have been created. I hope it's one of the things I try to communicate to my students. Taking the photograph is just the start of a creative journey. It's definitely a feature of my Photopedagogy.

-- Jon Nicholls

Welcome to the new Photopedagogy website and blog. Over the last couple of years we have noticed the growth in the number of photography courses being established by colleagues across the UK. This is really encouraging, not only because we love photography and are excited by opportunities for students to study the subject, but also in the context of the effects of the EBacc and the overall squeeze on arts and creativity in schools. Whilst we don't have any accurate statistics about the increase in the number of photography courses specifically, our sense is that there is a growing need for colleagues to connect with each other, to share good practice, debate the nature of the subject and seek support for the development of exciting initiatives.

For example, the NSEAD's Facebook Group 'Through the Lens' provides a fantastic support network. We are very grateful for the support of the NSEAD and other leading organisations in developing this resource. Our aim in establishing this website is to enhance existing networks and develop the capacity of colleagues to refine and develop their practice through a deep engagement with photography pedagogy.

Our aim is to invite colleagues to write guest blog posts, contribute longer articles and share tried and tested lesson plans on the site. We are keen to showcase examples of good practice by students in our Gallery pages, both the process and the products of their creativity. We aim to harness the wealth of talent and expertise amongst existing photography teachers in order to support colleagues new to the discipline and extend the quality of debate about what it means to study photography at this point in the history of the medium.

The site is in its infancy and, so far, features resources that we have largely created ourselves. Our aim is to expand its range and quality considerably over the coming months. We hope you find the site useful and see its potential. If you'd like to get involved in creating content for the site, please get in touch. Thank you for your interest so far and we look forward to working with you in the near future.

Jon and Chris