In 2000, PAL received a substantial award from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. One of the questions which lay behind the NESTA award was ‘How could the PAL methodology help to open teachers’ eyes to new and innovative approaches to learning?’

So, in April 2001, teachers, artists from many disciplines and a lone scientist worked together over several days at Bore Place, experiencing different ways of tackling their work and finding out how others create their practice. They fearlessly acknowledged and challenged the formalities of education. They were enticed out of their comfort zones and tried their hands at performance, drawing, film, dance and much more besides. The confidence to go on the learning journey with students, to be able to take risks and make mistakes, and to break down the false notion of teacher as the holder of knowledge are core elements of the Labs in Learning philosophy which are embodied in the work with international clown Angela de Castro.

We witnessed some extraordinary transformations in the teachers at the Lab. It was clear that they were starved of opportunities to think more expansively and imaginatively and beyond the usual necessities of curriculum content and management. The pilot Lab gave the teachers — and other participants — the chance to find their own creative selves and to take that back into the classroom. And it assured PAL and NESTA that Labs in Learning had a valid role in education. Teachers on the Lab responded very positively:

“The Lab has just made me clearer about my educational philosophy, re-inspired me and enabled me to enjoy teaching more than I’ve ever done before”

“It has changed how I teach and reminded me why I went into teaching in the first place”

“I came back with a bank of activities and a framework for learning. PAL made me realise that there are like-minded teachers out there, and gave me confidence to think we can make room for creativity.  I still use it all the time”