The opportunity
Situated in the heart of Birmingham, Aston Business School develops the leaders of today and tomorrow. As a highly multicultural institution and centre of excellence in intercultural learning, ABS was looking for creative ways to celebrate and facilitate intercultural dynamics between staff and students. Through Arts & Business, ABS entered into an ambitious and innovative collaboration with arts based trainers, the MAP Consortium. MAP ran a series of unforgettable interactive workshops, which were developed with ABS’s own active research programme, for staff and students. The workshops drew on the creative tools and processes of the arts to explore themes such as group dynamics and shared learning in a multicultural environment.
The impact
600 undergraduate students and 100 MBA students and 30 staff participated in the workshops. MAP created an artistic space, in which staff and students could learn more about themselves and each other in a safe and stimulating environment. By using arts based initiatives in the workshops participants tried something completely new and achieved levels of understanding that traditional teaching methods cannot offer, engaging not just the brain but emotions and instincts too. Feedback showed that the workshops provided a life changing experience for ABS staff and students, increasing their understanding of diverse cultures, tolerance and readiness to experiment and providing them with skills they could apply to their learning forever after.
“Creative training was exciting and successful beyond our wildest dreams. Involving 600 first year students in workshops to improve their ability to work in intercultural/multicultural teams was a tour de force from Arts & Business and the MAP Consortium.” Professor Helen Higson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor External Relations, Aston University