A Gift to Birmingham: Teacher Twilight CPD

Teachers and art educators are invited to join academics and artists to consider critical questions, on subjects of race, language, culture and religion, and take part in creative exercises that allow learners to express their identities.

The first part of the session is led by Dr Reza Gholami, Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Race and Education, University of Birmingham, who invites participants to feedback on education packs made for A Gift to Birmingham. These packs are designed to challenge assumptions about migration and break down institutional and intercommunal barriers within the classroom. 

The second part involves creative exercises by photographer Maryam Wahid and artist-educator Haseebah Ali for teachers and learners to reflect on and share aspects of their cultural heritage and identity. 

About the Presenters  

Dr Reza Gholami, Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Race and Education, University of Birmingham, is leading an ESRC-funded research project (the ‘NICE-B’ project) that works with non-formal educators in Birmingham, as well as the city’s diverse communities, to produce innovative inter-communal education. 

Maryam Wahid is an artist who uses photography to convey her identity as a British Pakistani Muslim woman. Through her deeply rooted family history and her exploration of the mass integration of South Asian migrants within the UK, her photographs consider womanhood, memory, migration and notions of home and belonging.  

Haseebah Ali is an artist and printmaker based in Birmingham. Her work is based on cultural themes and political circumstances and has been included in group and solo exhibitions. An artist educator, she has facilitated workshops with multiple members of the community in Birmingham. 

Free Activity Packs 

Ikon’s free activity packs (Key Stages 1 – 3) for A Gift to Birmingham are available to download. Designed for creative learning at home or at school, they include questions for thinking and talking about art in relation to other subjects, including global cultures and environments.