MICRO-BIO

• Dr Deborah Riding has worked within gallery education for 20 years. She currently holds a post at Tate Liverpool where she heads the team responsible for learning programmes for children and young people. Deborah has co-curated exhibitions at the ga...More

  Dr Deborah Riding has worked within gallery education for 20 years. She currently holds a post at Tate Liverpool where she heads the team responsible for learning programmes for children and young people. Deborah has co-curated exhibitions at the gallery alongside her learning role and has published several papers on gallery education and integrated and particiaptory practice. Deborah is a co-editor for the International Journal of Art and Design Education and a trustee for disability arts organisation, Venture Arts. Deborah recently graduated with a PhD. Her thesis was entitled, "Challenging the rules of engagement: Co-creation of knowledge in te public art museum".

  Less

EXPERIENCE

• Tate Gallery

  • Programme Manager: Children and Young People
  • Learning
  • Present

EDUCATION

• University of Chester

  • PhD
  • September 2012 to November 2017

  This research examined perceptions of knowledge about art in the gallery and explored the potential of co-creation as a possible model with which to genuinely learn with our audience. Data for the study was generated at a gallery I have been based at throughout the period of undertaking the research. Participants were recruited from this gallery from groups implicated in knowledge co-creation: educators, curators, gallery assistants and audience members. Participants took part in a group workshop at the gallery facilitated by an artist educator, designed to provide opportunities to develop new knowledge together. Following the workshop, participants were interviewed and their experiences analysed. Other data generated through the workshop, as well as analysis of organisational documentation, and reflection on my own practice as a gallery educator, have been drawn together through a bricolage approach. Through analysis of data, I have constructed a situated taxonomy of knowledge types in the gallery and a conceptual model of co-creation. Key paradigms of knowledge have been identified, and the issues associated with the authoritative nature of institutional knowledge presented as a significant barrier to co-creation. Findings indicate that a fundamental shift in the epistemological stance of the gallery is required. A new not-knowing paradigm has been constructed to accommodate models of co-creation shown to be successful in generating a collaborative learning experience, which I have termed ‘learning-with’

Links