I am working with artists from Germany and Poland. As a youth worker I find the skills used to motivate children are similar even when the language is different, but I have noticed the artists can be abrupt in their judgments about the young people’s artwork. How do I tackle it?
How are the young people responding to this? Does it encourage them to start again or does it make them more determined to continue with what they are doing? Do they down tools and give up?
What I mean is that if the young people find this amusing, they are unlikely to allow it to damage their self-worth and creativity. However, if you sense they are upset by such comments then it is only right to follow it up.
There are different cultures around creativity and it is important to gauge the relationships that exist between the artists and the young people. This may all be gentle, friendly banter and I suspect that if they had any thoughts that it might discourage the participants they would be devastated.
Answered by Tracie Trimmer-Platman, senior lecturer in youth and community work at the University of East London
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