The Constructor Project has been developed in response to Moor to Sea’s work with young people and young adults attending Lifeworks community projects over the last 3 years.
The Moor To Sea Music Collective supports people to connect, co-create and find a voice through music. They provide musical opportunities and experiences which encourage and nurture connection and which build trust and understanding across differences.
We are a group of researchers from Plymouth Institute of Education with interests in arts-based methodologies and conducted an evaluation of the Constructor project. We adopted elements of an Appreciative Inquiry approach: we have sought to identify what ‘gives life’ to the collective through collaborative exploration of themes and noticing and sharing telling moments.
During our observations, we identified three themes which shape the Facilitators’ practice: ‘knowledge and pedagogy’, ‘identity’ and ‘empathy and responsiveness’. To explore these three themes and connect them to the Facilitators’ aims, we structured our findings by answering the following questions:
- What are the Facilitators’ intentions?
- What do the Facilitators do that helps them to move towards their intentions?
- How do the young people respond?
