Paragliding the Cliff Edge: Introducing Open Mic Studies. A creative response to navigating the post-18 landscape for Young Adults with SEND.

Authors

• James Tarling, Plymouth UniversityFollow
• Charlie Robinson, The Pelican ProjectFollow
• Nick Hall, Music in Devon InitiativeFollow
• Sammy Shepherd, Plymouth UniversityFollow

Abstract

This conceptual article investigates novel ways of thinking about Open Mic Nights (OMN) – performance spaces understood as free, community arts and performance opportunities where the members of the public are welcome to perform music, poetry and comedy in front of an audience. For the purposes of this article, music-related OMN that take place in pubs or community centres are discussed.

The article is intended to be a primer for OMN studies that offers new and emerging trailheads for future research and discussion. Its central focus is how OMN may benefit the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) community with an emphasis on education, inclusion and creativity. In this respect, the article seeks to illustrate and evaluate the possibilities of OMN as informal music education spaces. To do so, it makes use of a novel articulation of ‘everyday creativity’ as a way of understanding OMN that challenges ableist or elitist models of inclusion.

Although informed by pilot studies and ongoing funded research in post-18 community arts settings, this article is not an empirical study. It is an opportunity to contextualise OMN in terms of existing gaps in research and to give voice to an eclectic range of plural voices from the SEND community and OMN scene who have made contributions to the writing of this article (sections 2.1, 2.2, 3.2, 3.3) and see the benefits and challenges of OMN as inclusive arts spaces.

Additionally, this article suggests that OMN could make a difference to the post-18 provision ‘cliff edge’, whilst shifting the narrative of SEND participation in creative spaces form one of deficit to one of contribution, agency, and potential. It offers the provocation that OMN are spaces with the potential to address deficits and inequalities of provision post-18 that affect the SEND community by promoting inclusion through acts of everyday creativity, providing informal education and music making opportunities. Overall, the article has one primary aim: to re-imagine and reframe OMN as spaces worthy of further research, with the potential for promoting education, inclusion and creativity.

Recommended Citation

Tarling, James; Robinson, Charlie; Hall, Nick; and Shepherd, Sammy (2026) "Paragliding the Cliff Edge: Introducing Open Mic Studies. A creative response to navigating the post-18 landscape for Young Adults with SEND.," Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal: Vol. 4: Iss. 4, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70156/2634-8594.1038
Available at: https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/pieoj/vol4/iss4/6