One identity entwining with another,
their dappled layering illuminating the unseen and the unsaid.
Waves from each other, rippling across the surface,
Creases forming, holding important things in place.
Each identity stained by another.
Teresa Smith, 2023
On not belonging: the interdisciplinary relationship between creative, teacher, teacher-educator, researcher+
Ongoing explorations engaging practically and artistically with issues of wayward, slippery identity, as a way of thinking about my teacher-educator-artist-writer practice and pedagogy. That liminal place, of being not quite there, not quite one thing nor the other, of journeying towards something, but of never quite making it, felt awkward, yet also interesting and appealing.
Drawing on academic and professional literature, as well as my own experiences as a Primary PGCE tutor, my aim is to produce a body of artistic work and/or writings that explore themes relating to teacher-educator identity, belonging, liminality, and the challenges of being positioned at the intersection of several interconnecting fields at the same time (including but not limited to art, writing, teaching, research, ITT, motherhood).