Cultivating Interdependence - A guide to ethical work placements at Rumpus Room

A guide to ethical work placements at Rumpus Room

Cultivating Interdependence

A guide to ethical work placements at Rumpus Room

Written

by

Rosie Coleman

Collier in collaboration with Nadia Rossi, with contributions from Ardis Önnerfors, Rachel Walker, Dylan Beck, Tarka Heath and Leo Valenti. Dylan, Tarka & Leo have all taken part in work placements at Rumpus Room.

Printed by Tender Hands Press at Rumpus Room April 2023

The font used in this guide is Inconstant Regular created by Daniel Brokstad. It was created as part of the campaign “There’s Nothing Comic About Dyslexia” together with Dyslexia Scotland and Innocean Berlin.

Rumpus Room (RR) is an artist-led initiative working in collaboration with children and young people on art and social action projects. RR is led by a small team of artists & community workers, a committee of young artists & an advisory board of arts, cultural workers and members of the local community. The structure of our programme is open, democratic and a place that can be shaped by all of those who become a part of it.

RR is focused on the principles of community, autonomy, experimentation, mutual learning and the desire to work longterm in the places we live to cultivate meaningful exchanges and relationships that prioritise care. These values and ethics are embodied in RR’s approach to hosting and supporting work placement students.

This manual is an open resource that outlines RR’s commitment to hosting ethical work placements. As a free to download pdf, we hope it can be used as a reference point for arts organisations, students and universities to consider how work placements can be conducted in non-exploitative, enriching, formative and imaginative ways.

Due to neoliberalism, the growth of the marketised university and a resulting demand from students who face precarity, uncertainty and huge student debt upon graduation, work placements have gained more and more prominence across higher education programmes. Employability is increasingly becoming embedded into the university curriculum and seen as a requirement of academic accreditation. At RR, we offer an average of 2 placements a year across higher education institutions in Scotland.

These work placements vary in length, learning aims and objectives, but are united in the fact that they are forms of unpaid labour. RR recognises the ways in which the work placement normalises forms of unwaged labour and seeks to address this by creating alternative and flexible ways of working based on reciprocal exchange rather than extraction.

At RR the work placement is framed as something other than a way into a profession. It is a formative site to encourage the development of independent research and practice, student learning and the growth of interpersonal relationships. In recognising the conditions in which the work placement is taking place, RR supports students in developing an ethical code for approaching their own labour and working practice.

Quote from Precarious Workers Brigade, “Teaching students employability is problematic – employability also normalises certain subordinating attitudes towards work and the self, promoting free labour and individualistic behaviour, which discourages collective practice and solidarity”

RR is committed to creating a safe and supportive space for everyone contributing to the project, working in collaboration and prioritising care for all individuals involved. Work placement students will be invited at the start of the placement to provide a care/access rider, so that we can support any access needs as well as possible.

This can also take the form of a conversation between student & RR lead to think/discuss access support and may be something that evolves over the duration of the placement. Students on placement will also be provided with a studio access document that details what to expect at RR in terms of layout & space.

The work placement centres the learning needs of the student. A main point of contact/mentor from RR is established at the start of the work placement, who will be there to support the student through their learning and development. Both university and RR as host organisation recognise that different students have different needs, and the work placement must be flexible in nature and willing to adapt to the needs of the student.

The work placement should be co-research oriented. This means that the student and RR will work collectively to devise and develop the placement programme.

The work placement should start with a conversation that establishes mutual intentions, expectations, obligations and interests so that the placement becomes a mutually formative experience for both RR and the student. Both student and RR mentor will work together to develop a set of learning objectives that provide space for the students interests and personal objectives. RR will support students in identifying what they are interested in and how/what they would like to develop throughout the placement. RR recognises that learning objectives might change as the placement evolves.

Responsibilities and objectives will be personalised to each placement - using a strengths and rights based approach for each student to value/uphold their capacity, skills and embodied knowledge. Placements at RR are not solely ‘task’ focused (which can potentially create heavy admin/unwaged patterns of labour to evolve) and are focused more on meaningful engagement & learning for all involved.

Learning objectives agreed upon will act as a framework to help the student and host to critically reflect on the experience of the placement. RR will also work with the student to identify any delivery work they could facilitate as part of the placement (like hosting a workshop, talk etc). This work will be paid for at current RR rates of pay and will not take the form of unwaged labour. RR is committed to valuing all work by artists and facilitators, whether on placement or not, at the same rate.

Example learning objective: Undertaking independent research, producing a toolkit, organising and facilitating a workshop or developing a resource are examples of effective tasks the work placement student can undertake to gain ownership of their learning and resist extractive working practices.

Tarka Heath - Placement 2021

“The cornerstone of my placement with Rumpus was developing the Young Feminist Book Club - a project created with, and for young people to come together and respond to Banshee Books - a DIY library and resource of feminist, queer and questioning printed materials at Rumpus.

The book club became a brave and explorative space for young people to read, write, share and play. A collaborative zine of work made at YFBC can be found in the collection at Rumpus, Glasgow Zine Library and online via Rumpus Room’s website.

WorkingwithRumpuswasajoy.Ilearntsomuchaboutmeaningful engagement, co-design and youth informed practices and felt valued, respected and listened to. Whilst working with Rumpus, I was managing high levels of anxiety - the RR team were kind, supportive and non judgemental. Learning from Rumpus has supported me in my practice as an artist and coordinator work sustainably, playfully and collaboratively.”

Dylan Beck - Placement 2021

“My placement with Rumpus was definitely the highlight of my universitycourse,andprobablythemainreasonIdon’tregretdoing the course (that I then ended up not completing due to a variety of reasons–someofwhichhadalsomeantIwasn’tnecessarilydoing my best throughout my time with Rumpus, either, but I always felt supported when at the studio!).

My main project was sessions with young people in the run up to COP26:talkingaboutclimatejustice,activism,andmakingabanner to carry together when attending the march. Though I would say that the highlight of my time with Rumpus was actually before that, and this was helping out at the Summer School. It was such a joyful time, getting stuck in with many different activities, meeting lots of artists and makers, and getting really stuck in and feeling part of the team. It was also thanks to this that I learned how much I enjoyed working with the 7–12yo age group.”

Leo Valenti - Placement 2023

“During my placement I got involved in many groups at the studio; the Young Artist’s Committee, Garden Club and Yard Play sessions for7-12yrolds,butwhatIammostproudofisthegroupthatIstarted - Rumpus Queer Makers, a group for LGBTQ+ young people aged 12-16 to come together to try new artforms, create and socialise. The Rumpus team supported me to apply for funding to host the project which we were successful with.

Over the past months since the group started, it has grown in size and flourished into a thriving creative space where young people can be themselves and meet others like them. I have responsibility for the group and how we should spend our budget using it to pay artists at SAU fees (including my own fee) to work with the group alongside providing access costs for people taking part.

This placement has allowed me to grow as a facilitator but also become an active member of the community through creating lasting relationships with those around me. I also have a better insight into how a community arts organisation is run, and this is something that I find so valuable.”

RR looks to reframe the neoliberal logic of networking opportunities, self-reliance and incessant competition by placing emphasis on solidarity, cooperation and collective working. RR recognises the importance of mutual dependencies and embraces interconnectivity when hosting work placement students; materials, ideas, experiences, perspectives, skills and resources are shared and exchanged between host and student.

In an effort to destabilise hierarchies of knowledge, RR is open to the ways in which it can learn from the work placement student, creating a mutual way of working together where the student will contribute to the overall work of the organisation.

Championing interdependence, emphasis is given to fostering trust and openness between RR as the host and work placement student. RR considers friendships to be a radical practice that is capable of challenging hierarchies and building communities, and throughout the placement time is spent getting to know each other, working together and speaking openly and honestly to one another. At RR work placement students are not isolated in their work, but benefit from collaborating and working alongside others in the organisation

Quote from A Toolkit for Cooperative, Collective and Collaborative Cultural Work: ‘Multiple perspectives enable more nuanced work. In order to reflect on yourself, you need to know yourself in the context of others’.

The work placement is not only a site to gain experience and develop independent practice, but is also there to offer students advice, guidance and support on how to navigate the precarious working realities of arts & cultural employment.

RR will provide insight on working as a creative practitioner, through working with students on project development, funding applications, reports, budgets and navigating freelance work, whilst fostering a network of support that can continue after the duration of the placement.

The work placement embodies a culture of reflection and open communication. It should be a reflective practice, where both student and host organisation are encouraged to think about the experience throughout the placement in order to learn from it. Regular check-ins (weekly or fortnightly) between the host organisation, student and when required, university organisation will be set up. These will offer scope to both discuss work progress, but also critique the placement if necessary. By offering space to critically assess the placement throughout its duration, rather than just at the end of the placement, problems can be troubleshooted and the placement can become an evolving practice that benefits student, organisation and university.

At the end of the placement, the student will have the opportunity to give comprehensive feedback with RR, and the university institution in which they are affiliated. Again, this feedback session should not only be about evaluating work and learning objectives, but should also provide opportunities to critique and speak honestly about the placement experience at RR.

When possible, RR will find ways to keep in touch with placement students and follow up with them after the placement, so that they can see how their work/ideas/critiques/research have been incorporated into the organisation. By fostering durational and longer term relationships, the work placement can resist being a form of short term, extractive labour.

RR recognises that work placement students are balancing a range of other academic responsibilities and obligations, from meeting assessment deadlines to balancing the social, economic and emotional pressures of being a student. As a result, the work placement will be established as flexible to the students needs. Wherever possible, work placement students should have the option to work from home or university campus and should have as much autonomy and flexibility as possible with how they approach their working days and hours.

Where possible we do try to make space, time and support for students to work with RR but the questions below will define whether we, as a host organisation we are able to take on a student at the current time of request and may sometimes lead to us recognising that we can’t offer them a placement with RR.

Before hosting a student, RR will consider whether we have the resources, time, energy and capacity to do so effectively and fairly:

Canweasthehostorganisationofferthemthenecessarysupport? Can we provide this individual with fulfilling and formative resources/project based work that will help the student develop their creative practice? Do we have the capacity – not only to ensure the work placement student is supported – but also to ensure they are not taking on unwaged labour due to our own organisation itself being under-resourced?

Created during a workshop at RR hosted by Rosie Coleman Collier in collaboration with Ardis Önnerfors & Leo Valenti

RR recognises the complexities in providing an ethical contract within a system and arts landscape that is flawed and exploitative. This code of conduct outlines some of the key commitments RR makes to hosting work placement students in a fair and nonextractive way. The hope is that other organisations might use this as a guide when hosting their own placements.

-RR will consider thoughtfully before taking on a work placement student, whether the placement is a right fit for both individual and organisation, and be attentive to whether they have the resources to host and support a work placement student.

-At the start of the work placement, RR will establish a main contact/mentorwhowillbetheretosupportthestudent’slearning and development. The student will also be told of other contacts within the organisation inc. an advisory board member who they can speak to about any issues that might arise.

-RR will work closely with the student to develop a programme work activity/project based work that is reflective of their own interests and intentions; the work placement will be informed by the students interests and needs and centre what the student wants to get out of this placement.

-RR works with the student as an individual; the work placement holds space for individuality, will embrace independent and selfinitiated work and will always recognise and credit the work of the student.

-RR commits to creating an accessible working environment based on principles of care and trust; RR will work from access riders, students are encouraged to work flexibly across space/ time, expectations will be established clearly at the start of the placement.

-RRishonestaboutthematerialconditionsrequiredforstudentsto take on a work placement – where possible, it commits to finding opportunities for paid work for students on placement (eg. through hosting a workshop or a talk or project by supporting the student to apply for funding) at current rates of RR pay.

-RR will cover all travel and subsistence expenses for the student.

-RR commits to building a culture of open communication and trust and recognizes these as the basis for cooperative and collaborative working practice.

-RR commits to questioning established, exploitative ways of working

-RR works on ‘garden time’, it embraces slow and durational ways of working with a focus on growth before output.

-At the end of the work placement, RR commits to maintaining relationships. Not only will an opportunity to reflect on the work placement be provided, but RR will continue to maintain relationshipswiththestudentandconsideropportunitiesforfuture involvement.

Signed by (students name), printed name & date

Signed by (Rumpus mentor), printed name & date -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photos from ‘Developing an Ethical Code for Learning + Labour’ workshop by Rosie with Ardis & Leo, March 2023 RR Yard.

Precarious Workers Brigade, Training for Exploitation: Politicising Employability & Reclaiming Education, (Journal of Aesthetics & Protest Press)

Carrot Workers Collective, “Surviving Internships: A Counter Guide to Free Labour in the Arts”

A Toolkit for Cooperative, Collective and Collaborative Cultural Work, (Press Press & The Institute for Expanded Research)

Johanna Hedva, “Sick Woman Theory”

Pirate Care

www.syllabus.pirate.care

Critical Work Placements

www.criticalworkplacements.sophiehope.org.uk/

Not Going Back to Normal, A Disabled Artists Manifesto

www.notgoingbacktonormal.com

Light Collective + Collective Imaginings Podcast with Jamilla Prowse

www.lighthouse.org.uk/events/collective-imaginings-podcast

Industria, “Structurally F-cked”

www.we-industria.org/openletter

Access Docs for Artists

www.accessdocsforartists.com

Glossary:

autonomy - the right or condition of self-government.

hierarchies - systems in which members of an organization or society are ranked according to relative status or authority.

interconnectivity - to be or become mutually connected.

interdependence - the dependence of two or more people or things on each other.

neoliberalism - a policy model that encompasses both politics and economics. It favors private enterprise and seeks to transfer the control of economic factors from the government to the private sector.

precarity - the state of being precarious or uncertain.

reciprocal - given, felt, or done in return.

self-reliance - reliance on one’s own powers and resources rather than those of others.

solidarity - unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.

subordinating - treat or regard as of lesser importance than something else.