Pockets of Magic: Conceptualising Open Mic Nights (OMN) as Creative Spaces for Social Inclusion, Informal Pedagogy, and SEND Advocacy

This workshop aims to provide a fun, informative and interactive insight into two years of research that aims to address the ‘cliff edge’ in post-18 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) arts provision and inequalities in music education buy bringing together the SEND and Open Mic Night (OMN) Communities. There will be opportunities to play with a range of accessible and inclusive music technology and watch a mini documentary of the Youth Music funded, ‘sofa to stage’ project TOPLINE recently featured on BBC Radio.
Open Mic Nights (OMN) are ubiquitous within the UK’s cultural landscape, yet they remain profoundly under-researched and frequently misunderstood. Often dismissed as peripheral or amateur (Asgard, 2023), this workshop asserts that OMNs are, in fact, inherently democratic, inclusive, and vital community arts spaces.
The UK music industry faces significant systemic pressure, with venue closures and revenue remaining 31% lower than pre-pandemic levels (UK Music, 2023). Amidst this ‘crisis of the grassroots’, OMNs persist as resilient ecosystems. This workshop explores the affordances and limitations of these spaces, specifically for the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) community.
This research sits within the context of ‘everyday creativity’ (Gauntlett, 2018), reclaiming creative expression as a fundamental human practice. OMNs share cultural DNA with DIY and Punk scenes, offering an ‘enabling realm’ (Edensor et al., 2014) that ruptures the traditional barrier between artist and audience.
The theory of panpsychism (Goff, 2019) will briefly be used to critique OMN culture. Themes of embodiment, belonging, and flow in inclusive arts-based practice are explored as an intermediary for wider philosophical discussion about how these experiences might be framed. It uses the novel theoretical perspectives of panpsychism as a new way of seeing education.
A primary focus of this workshop is the role of OMNs as sites of informal music education. With formal music education in UK schools currently in crisis—marked by a severe shortage of teachers and declining participation in disadvantaged areas (BPI, 2023)—OMNs provide an essential vocational pipeline. They offer "pockets of magic" where participants learn stagecraft, instrumental skills, and gain the self-efficacy required to navigate professional networks.
Crucially, this workshop discusses the post-18 ‘cliff edge’: the devastating deficit of provision facing young people with SEND as they transition from protected educational environments into adulthood. The metaphor of ‘paragliding’ can be used to describe the agile but fragile nature of grassroots organisations attempting to bridge this gap. OMNs offer a social locus to address this exclusion, shifting the narrative from a "deficit model" of disability to one of agency and contribution.
While primarily conceptual, this workshop is informed by two pilot studies and an ongoing Youth Music funded project. We adopt creative, responsive methodologies—such as participatory filmmaking and co-created workshopping—to "bottle" the aesthetic experiences of OMN participation.
The workshop hopes to offer four ‘trailheads’ for future research:
1. OMNs as informal music education spaces for those excluded from formal tuition.
2. OMNs as social loci for addressing the SEND ‘cliff edge’.
3. Creative methodologies (e.g., film and film rushes, songwriting as data) for exploring dynamic performance spaces.
4. Theoretical critique through the lens of panpsychism and every day creativity.
By revitalising the small music venue through diverse and inclusive participation, OMNs can challenge prevailing perceptions of the SEND community’s contribution to the creative economy. We argue that OMNs are not merely background noise in a pub; they are essential, democratised spaces for human flourishing and social evolution.