11 Sep 2025

Ciara Kerr is a Lecturer in Animation at UCA and an alumni student of the PgCert in Creative Education.

Ciara Clay Head 1

Dunstone wrote, “communities of practice framework can be applied to existing teaching practices common to art and design teaching, reflecting the shared repertoire, joint enterprise and mutual engagement already at work in design teaching” (ibid:83). There is an importance to the framework of Wenger’s Communities of Practice framework in relation to the subject of Mental Health as it can; “Create a sense of belonging: Close personal relationships and a sense of belonging to a community can both benefit wellbeing and protect against poor mental health” (Advance HE 2022).

This sense of belonging being protection against poor mental health is an essential consideration in the wider context of Higher Education for a multitude of reasons, “the Office for Students (OfS) reports that students with mental health conditions tend to have lower rates of continuation, attainment, and progression into skilled work or further study,” (Office for Students, 2022). The series of clay heads represents the theme of mental health in higher education. The heads are all made from the same piece of clay, but each one is unique. There is something pertinent to the qualities of the material and the correlation between the metaphor of mental health, the hard sturdy nature of the clay and contrastingly the fragility of it once it is dry. I captured these faces in a photograph and brought them to life in the manipulation of these images to create ‘moving’ animation.

Through this animation I wanted to create an illustration of social capital which Gauntlet describes as “a resource based on trust and shared values, and develops from the weaving-together of people in communities.” (ibid:107). In this artwork I weave together these people to create something larger. Because of the shared nature of our studios not only are the students connected to one another through their subject but also by the space that they share with one another. Through this shared space there can be a positive impact on a student’s sense of belonging through “legitimate peripheral participation” (Dunstone, K. 2024:81) as they can observe and learn from their peers around them. 

Already pieces have begun to fall off or crack which connects to issues in HE of mental illness in students perpetuated by a multitude of factors which, Mander (2022), identified to be, “Academic pressure, financial concerns, social adjustments, increase in cases of abuse, external responsibilities, lack of institutional support, post graduation uncertainty.”

Like the clay faces, we can support and minimise the damage of the cracking clay as we can support and maximise student wellbeing despite these external factors which are not all in our control. It is not our job to ‘fix’ the students but as is stated in The Equality Act 2010 – the definition of disability includes ‘mental impairments’, which means it our legal responsibility as educators to support students who are suffering from mental illnesses. 

Earlier I interlinked the concept of social capital to the animation I have made with these sculpted faces coming together to form a new piece of art. Despite the faces being different from one another, there is a homogeneity that connects them, they were all from the same block of clay but it begins with the “individuals, in the sense that social well-being is a responsibility of us all, and then it tends to reach towards a more inclusive, participatory, community-based view of the solutions.” (Gauntlett, D 2011:105). There are communities of practice that we can nurture in higher education, like the faces being made from the same clay, our students have strands that connect them to one another. 

The indicators of delicacy in the clay are visible markers that should influence the way in which one handles them, if it looks as though a part of the sculpture will break off, pressure should not be applied there. These indicators should be acknowledged in students also as this should inform how we interact with the learners and action support for them. As Mander (2022) acknowledges, we should monitor to see if a student is feeling stress by observing indicators such as “mood changes, withdrawal, sleep / appetite changes, decline in personal care, unusual or uncharacteristic behaviour, problems concentrating, low morale, frustration, aggression, lack  of confidence/ self-esteem”. This can inform my teaching practice by considering the concept of the cracking clay and contrasting this with a learner, if a learner is displaying signs of stress, then I need to reevaluate my approach in supporting them and their learning. Mental wellbeing and academic success are intrinsically linked, “Students are more likely to persist and graduate when they find themselves in supportive, inclusive, and engaged learning environments.” (Tinto. 2012).

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