This post marks the end of my ARP and my time at the PgCert. I am very happy with what i have learnt about myself and about teaching during my time on this course.
Below you can find my final presentation with some reflection on what comes next.
To put it simply these comics were made for myself to better understand the thoughts and feelings I have developed around social justice in the workplace. They are not finished in any way yet, so i would like to continue making work around this topic to create something that does not just encourage myself but others.
What happens next?
In my meeting with Miriam, she asked to get the material when finished to use as the basis for staff development on the MA Illustration Course at Camberwell College of Art. I will be sending her my presentation with the comics and meet with her to discuss how they can be adapted into staff learning.
I have also been considering reaching out to a transformative justice educator named Alex Johnston. I want to see if there is potential for me to collaborate with them and combine their knowledge with my comics to create a stronger body of work around the topic of encouraging social justice.
During this project around my interviews and my drawing I have also been reading. Below you can find four references from my readings that I felt were espeically formative for my project.
Sara Ahmed: Complaint!
Sara Ahmed has been incredibly helpful for me during my ARP. Her book Complaint! was a good reminder of the power of collective action. I really want this to come across in my work as well.
“Collectivity was a way to share the cost of complaint. Rather than each of us being on her own, we would stand together” (Ahmed, 2021).
“Motivated by how we saw one another targeted and attacked, we intervened collectively. We were protective of one another.” (Ahmed, 2021).
Bell hooks: Teaching to Transgress
In Teaching to Transgress hooks says “I believe that students are currently not being provided with enough information and support to understand how much agency they have in the classroom” (Hooks, 1994).
After a year of listening to my colleagues at Camberwell or even my classmates in the PgCert I have also come to realise that many staff members also do not understand how much agency they have at work. So, I wanted my work to remind myself of the agency I have.
The other MA: How to Set up an Art School
Since I also work at an alternative art school, I have been looking into bringing resources from other alt schools into my research. I found this quote by Emma Edmonson, Director of The Other MA very helpful.
“Transparency is key for accountability, fairness and honesty and we try to implement it across the programme and the art school. We see criticism as care, and we don’t always get it right but are open to hearing if we don’t. Having it all out to see means others might actually be able to give helpful feedback. Being transparent means that failure can be seen publicly, and failure is a space to learn from.” (Edmonson, E. 2025, p.107)
adrienne maree brown: emergent strategy
“How we are at the small scale is how we are at the large scale. The patterns of the universe repeat at scale. There is a structural echo that suggests two things: one, that there are shapes and patterns fundamental to our universe, and two, that what we practice at a small scale can reverberate to the largest scale.” (Brown, A. 2017, p. 54)
You cannot start tackling social justice as an individual on a global scale. We need to grow internally first. And let it ripple out into the world. This is something I am keeping in mind when developing my work around social justice education.
Full Bibliography:
Ahmed, S. (2021) Complaint! Duke University Press.
Ahmed, S. (2012) On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life. Durham, N.C. ; London: Duke University Press.
Ahmed, S. (2017) Living A Feminist Life, Duke University Press.
Hooks, bell.Teaching to Transgress : Education As the Practice of Freedom, Taylor & Francis Group, 1994. ProQuest Ebook Central,
Edmonson, E. (2025) How to set up an Art School. Southend on sea: The Other MA
Richards, M, C. (1989) Centering: in Pottery, Poetry, and the Person. 2nd edn. Conneticut: Wesleyan University Press.
Early in this project I knew I wanted to draw as a response to my findings. I did not want to pretend I am something I am not. It was also important that i created something that spoke frankly but with kindness.
My process of making comics is very chaotic, I will not try to write a script for everything. Instead, I wrote down a list of bullet points of themes, and I intend to just draw with that in mind to see what visuals reveal themselves.
List of themes:
Social justice work is like building a staircase
People piling social justice onto individuals over sharing the labour (rejection)
People not wanting to take accountability (fragility)
People witnessing but ignoring (lack of care)
Social Justice is not a… meeting, an acknowledgement, a policy
Ingredients: Transparency, Accountability and Care
Social Justice work can be slow, but it shouldn’t take forever.
It is not something you can postpone out of fear, it is something you must face with honesty. Ask for help!
Getting another person to handle the social justice work is not asking for help, it is avoidance.
Asking for help could include coaching so that you can face the social justice work.
Theory is more than just interesting reads.
If you agree with the theoretical, put it into practice.
You will never feel “safe” or “comfortable” before doing Social Justice Work.
My previous comic work:
Excerpts from my series “Demon Faggots”
I am very used to my work being very sarcastic and a bit crass, so finding the kind and more sincere tone of voice would be new. Also avoiding turning the imagery into sexual innuendos.
Inspirations: Sam Wallman
Image of two of Sam Wallmans books that I have used as inspiration.
I used cartoonist Sam Wallman as a reference for my outcome. He works mainly with workers unions and workers’ rights, and he does not sugar coat anything. I find the way he talks really inspiring, and I hope my comics will have a similar sense of passion and clarity.
As a test I created this first idea as a sort of reminder to keep trying. This is very much based on my final conversation with Miriam, reminding myself to have hope. I am quite happy with it.
Now onto drawing the rest. I will try my best to have all comics finished by the final presentation, but some of them will probably be presented in sketch form rather than with polish.
Before starting to work on my outcome I organised a meeting with my mentor who chose to remain anonymous. I chose to interview them because of their past experiences as course leader and line manager. They been a mentor for me through my time working at UAL helping me formalise my position as an academic and social justice worker within an institution.
Unlike the other interviews this was more of a meeting where they helped me channel my findings over me asking them direct questions as a researcher.
Illustrate and discuss UAL structure (abstract drawing exercise)
Discuss outcome format and tone
Meeting Reflections:
Step 1: Brief Intro of Findings
How do you encourage someone so that they feel that they can stand up to social justice?
How do you make someone feel competent, safe and able to make mistakes without internalising it.
Moving away from language around comfort and safety as it seems unlikely that people would ever feel safe or comfortable when standing up to social justice.
Step 2: Drawings of UAL
My Drawing:
My drawing
I continued the train of thought established in my AL interviews around this shape where spikes face inwards in the institution. Often feeling a bit trapped and hostile. I drew UAL existing within a world of capitalism and how that creates a lot of pressure within the institution.
My mentors drawing:
Miriam’s drawing
Despite them openly acknowledging the flaws within UAL around social justice, their drawing still puts a big focus on hope and belief in all the people that make up UAL. They never forgett to believe that people can do good.
When creating my outcome, I will need to counter my cynicism with their strong sense of hope.
Step 3: Discuss Format Outcome and Tone
My doodle and notes from step 3
My mentor puts a lot of focus on the idea of “Doing Right” not “Being Right”. Focus on people, staff and students and the incredible work they are doing. There is an ever-changing network of complex challenges, but there are staff and students turning up to do this work together. These things help them to maintain a sense of hope.
We both agreed that social justice never stops, but that new developments and solutions should feel inspiring and exciting.
How do you build trust with people around justice work? Understand how radically different everyone is based on ideas and experiences around justice. Engaging with this helps create staff development that makes people feel able to participate in justice work.
They talk about the importance of teaching in a way that does not make anyone feel that they are being told off. Unconditional positive regard, giving support to a person even if you do not agree with what they are saying.
Thanks to this meeting I now feel ready to start drawing.
Examples of images drawn by me and interviewees during step 1:
Main takeaways:
Step 1 was straight forward, where clear communication seemed to have been something we could all agree on. And that a manager needs to be able to and interested in managing the bigger picture. There was also interesting point around boundaries and how as an ALs we often experience being dragged into workplace drama that does not concern us. Another big part of interview 1 was that we both felt strongly about shared values and the importance of unlearning things like white supremacy, ableism and more before even taking on a role of a manager.
With interviewee 1, one funny thing that happened was around step 2. We both drew almost the exact same shape that describes how we experience the handling of complaints and social justice in the workplace (See photos).
The other interviewee described the same prompt as feeling like it gets out in a corner and stared at but never resolved. The causes mentioned was around AL expertise not being valued or respected, policies being eroded due to lack of action from FTE staff members and a lack of lived experience (regarding questions around race and queerness).
The third and final prompt spent a lot of time with institutional things that are caused way above a programme director. Not having enough time or budget to enact positive change, and how that builds a lack of capacity and apathy to care about social justice. However, we all expressed a sense of hope. Building trust in a team is still possible.
Examples of images drawn by me and interviewees during step 2:
Key points to take on board:
Call in with care. No one is perfect.
Moments of friction as points of learning
Do not spread unnecessary gossip with AL staff
Remind each other of policies and how to uphold them
Be a role model
This last part might feel a bit goodie two shoes, but I believe we can break these behaviours if we want. But it is unlikely to happen unless we can get more people on board and start seeing social justice as something to be proud of and not scared of.
Examples of images drawn by me and interviewees during step 3:
As planned, I organised a TEAMS call with a UAL representative from HR named Andrew Culver. Based on my findings from reading the policy documents I had prepared the following questions to use during our conversation.
Questions:
Who is responsible for making staff feel “safe” enough to be active bystanders and/or have the confidence to report issues around harassment and bullying?
Why are these policies written with a lack of encouragement? (I want to look at the dignity at work quick guide together for this question.)
Regarding the first question, Andrew pointed out the UAL Staff Charter and a document around line manager expectations. And how they clearly explain the expectations placed upon all staff regarding looking after themselves and each other. These documents together with the policies I have read before set a very high level of expectation to how it would be to work within UAL.
He did share his own thoughts around the dynamics of “passing on responsibilities” within UAL, and how the way forward is not to rely on the traditional pyramid of power, where responsibilities get passed upward, but to instead start discussing social justice as a sort of star shape. Within this shape we can illustrate how the responsibility of tackling social justice goes up, down, back and forth. I really like this as a visual as the star is closed and goes in a sort of loop of responsibility where everyone is connected. No way to kind of sweep anything under the rug.
The second questions were a bit more straightforward. Where Andrew explained that the policies are there to be formal guides. When I asked, “Where does the more inspired and encouraging work around social justice supposed to happen?” he explained that in a perfect world it should happen within the teams themselves.
From my POV as an AL I think we could benefit from more encouraging language around social justice between colleagues, managers and students.
Using these findings I have now formulated a series of tasks and questions that I will be using in short meetings with other ALs to generate some imagery that will be used to support my outcome.
Step 1: Analysing policies from UAL and UCU around Bullying, Harassment and how to resolve issues according to both parties.
To start my ARP, I decided to read over UAL’s Dignity at Work Policy together with a post on Canvas about International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. Both containing guidelines for experiencing and witnessing different types of harassment in the workplace. To complement my reading, I also made use of UCU’s resources around bullying and harassment to compare how a union talks about it versus the institution.
What documents did I read?
UAL Staff Charter
UAL Dignity at Work Policy
UAL Professional Boundaries Guidance
UAL Line Manager Expectations
UCU Bullying Guidance Documents
My thoughts on the UAL Policy:
Cropped image of UAL Policy Document
On paper it reads extensive and considered. But the main thing that concerns me is the notion of only being an active bystander if you feel safe to do so. I have yet to find any guidance on how managers such as programme directors and course leaders.
One good thing is that it does provide a clear line of action in case your manager is the person responsible for your bullying or harassment. If you become a manager within UAL, what training do you get to hold yourself accountable?
It provides clear guidance that UAL does not tolerate people being punished for making complaints or contributing witness statements for a complaint. However, UAL is too big of an organisation to keep track of the inner workings of each course, so how are people expected to provide a working environment where they will feel safe enough to stand up for each other?
Cropped image of UCU Policy Document
My thoughts on the UCU Policy:
Their documents are way easier to read and straight to the point. Has a lot of similarities with UALs policy. It is way more focused on getting the union rep involved fast.
When talking about witnessing bullying or harassment it provides a nice check list that helps when being an active bystander. But it ends with a sort of warning to remind people that they might be called to be a witness in case of a formal complaint. I kind of want the tone to be more energetic and explain how it is good to support one another and share collective struggle and collective resolution.
Example of UCU writing:
“Remember that if a formal complaint is made, you may be called upon to give evidence.”
Example to rewrite:
“Be prepared and proud to provide a witness statement in case of a formal complaint. Displays of solidarity empowers others in the workplace.”
Final reflection on both:
All in all, these policies who that UAL and UCU are aware of the legal rights and expectations of the institute. But they fail to provide material that inspires workers to stand up against bullying and harassment. And I have yet to find material that places the responsibility on managers to provide a safe working environment.
What will I do next?
Step 2 in my project will be to meet with a representative from HR within UAL. I will conduct a casual interview where the outcome will not be the interview text, but some rough drafts for flow charts and other visuals. I am looking to translate all the policy guidelines into something more visually engaging, easier to understand and finally empowering for workers to stand up together.
In unit 2 of the PGCert I ended up creating a framework that was intended to boost student agency in the classroom but also serving as a reminder of everyone’s needs in the classroom. I had intended to create a manifesto with a tutor group that would be read out loud by me and my students at the start of every group meeting, workshop and talk.
Sadly, my role has changed, and I no longer have a tutor group that I get to follow through an academic year. So, my plans to put this into practice for the Action Research Project (ARP) had to change. Instead, my focus changed from students to staff.
I am asking the question: How am I supposed to be able to teach students to feel empowered when I do not feel empowered in the workplace?
This is a direct response to my frustrations around redundancy scares, lack of commitment to changing bad working conditions and outright ignoring pleas from staff at my current workplace within UAL.
I am interested in bringing a more energetic unionist language into this conversation, and to make use of my background as a comic artist to create visual material that illustrates the current issues in my workplace and provides a more inspired guidance to accountability and making and receiving complaints in the workplace.
Chosen research method:
In my other job at Queer Youth Art Collective I am very used to doing qualitative research based on talking to cohorts and reading transcripts over than statistics and numbers. So therefore I have chosen to conduct interviews and generate images as I believe i will be able to respond intuitively to this data.
In short, I intend to:
Analyse UAL and Union policy documents around bullying and harassment to better understand the expectations to resolve issues in the workplace.
I will meet and collaborate with an HR representative from UAL to generate visual representations of these policies.
I will include the voices of my associate lecturer peers to further develop these ideas.
Hopefully producing some form of sequential art resource.
