I reached out to Rob asking if he would be happy to collaborate with me. Below are the string of emails that were sent to one another regarding this.
I was over the moon when Rob confirmed that he would like to collaborate with me! After the final email, I went to PMZ and myself and Rob had a quick discussion regarding what the collaboration could be based around. Rob suggested three ideas.
As I am not a confident percussionist, I felt that choosing the Baton Beats session would not only be a challenge for me but also would be unlikely to benefit the people within the session. As an aspiring music therapist and a play worker who works with children with disabilities, I was most excited about the prospect of working with Highbury Trust and the Creative School. The Highbury Trust is a self help and support group for adults with disabilities (Plymouth Highbury Trust, 2015). The Creative School is a mainstream school within Plymouth that is sponsored by the Plymouth College of Art (Plymouth School of Creative Arts, 2014).
We decided my skill set and interests would benefit the workshop for the Highbury Trust and the Creative School more. However, Rob had to confirm with the Safeguarding manager that I would be allowed to attend the session. Working with vulnerable people means that safeguarding is extremely important both to protect them and yourselves. As I work with children with disabilities and neuro-developmental difficulties, I have undertaken Safeguarding training, Epilepsy and Buccolam administration training and have an enhanced DBS. Therefore, I understand the responsibility that I will have within the workshop and have experience in working with vulnerable people. Luckily, I was granted permission!
Once I was granted permission, we carried on to choose the date of the workshop that I would collaborate with Rob to develop. Following this we also arranged meeting dates. I was also interested to see what Rob had planned for the sessions prior to the date we had chosen (27th March 2020). I felt this was necessary as I wanted to ensure that the workshop I help to develop is relevant to the goals that Rob had already set. Rob sent me documents of his plans that I have also posted below. We then finalised the date of the workshop (27th March 2020) and the meeting dates. We are set to meet for the first planning session on Monday 10th of February. Below are the emails that discussed this.
I feel it is important to include these initial emails are they are the foundation on which this whole project will be built upon. Also, Rob is very enthusiastic about the collaboration and so I wanted to showcase this. I feel that when collaborating with somebody, it is just as important for them to be inspired as well as you.
The process of collaboration is a contextual practice within itself and this should not be ignored. Spencer (2017) outlined the ‘Seven Keys to Creative Collaboration’. In the short video below, he explains this.
I am confident that my collaborative project will access each of the seven keys. Throughout this blog I will refer back to the seven keys and discuss how my engagement with them has shaped my collaborative working practice. I will place them within the context of the collaborative relationship and skills.
To summarise, I have decided to collaborate with Rob from PMZ on a workshop that will develop a collective outcome (such as a composition), between the Highbury Trust and the Creative School. We have organised the date of the workshop that I will be developing and attending and have booked in our meetings. The workshop will be the final workshop within the series of sessions the two groups have attended. Rob and I will collaborate on how this workshop will run and what it will entail. Within a university workshop for this module, I developed a spider diagram outlining the project at this initial stage.
The next step within this process is to have the first meeting with Rob on Monday. Within this meeting we aim to develop an idea that we can collaborate on and develop our roles within the project. I am excited to work with Rob, PMZ and the two groups on this project.
Reference List
Plymouth Highbury Trust – Supporting People with Learning Disabilities. (2015). About Us. [online] Available at: http://www.plymouthhighburytrust.org.uk/about-us/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2020].
Plymouth School of Creative Arts. (2014). What’s on at PSCA – Plymouth School of Creative Arts. [online] Available at: https://plymouthschoolofcreativearts.co.uk/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2020].
Spencer, J. (2017). The 7 Keys to Creative Collaboration. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DmFFS0dqQc [Accessed 8 Feb. 2020].
Emily Pembridge MUS634 