Unit X Beginnings

 For this year’s Unit X I chose to take part in College One – arts education and teaching. I chose this option for several reasons, mostly because its something I’ve been interested in possibly pursuing after finishing university. I’ve not currently decided on exactly which kind of career I’d like to go into within the general teaching are so I thought taking this unit would enable me to explore a number of different pathways. I have mostly thought about doing a PGCE and going into further or secondary education. I am also interested into going into a number of more holistic areas such as mental health and wellbeing, working with women in shelters, or doing some kind of holistic therapy course.

The first week of Unit X consisted of presentations and workshops by all the different organisations involved. I missed the first two days of Unit X through illness but attended todays lecture / workshop by Kirsteen Aubrey. I found her talk on working with dementia sufferers very interesting, particularly when she discussed adjusting environments and spaces to meet the needs of the groups. I really liked the DACA and Start presentations in particular.

Start is an organisation that offers a kind of art therapy service to people with mental health issues. It is open to all ages with different groups for each different group; Youth, Adults and Seniors. They provide short courses for members but mostly focus on improving self confidence.