Abigail Horn Inclusive Arts

I have been working as an early years Atelierista since 2019 and qualified as an early years teacher in 2021. I view the Atelier as an emergent curriculum and work across all the EYFS Areas of Learning. I pay great attention to the prime areas of learning; Communication and Language, PSED and Physical Development as well incorporating literacy, mathematics and understanding the world in my learning environments. My practice as an Atelierista involves providing thoughtful provocations and high-quality, open ended materials to spark intrinsic motivation explore big ideas. I watch and listen carefully, documenting the children’s artwork, thoughts and play and reflecting it back to them in their learning environment. Using pedagogies such as visible learning and sustained shared thinking, I aim to give all participants a sense of ownership and agency and am committed to amplifying the beauty in their play and learning rather than imposing pre-determined end results. I see my job as being in dialogue with the children, as opposed to leading or directing them, and I am hugely rewarded by this role. You can see some video and sound work from a previous year-long project exploring identity with preschool age children here or below, where I have also made a slideshow of documentation and provocations from my work with children aged from 18 months to 5 years.