As part of my continued research into arts education, artist involvement and the general role artists have in education, I have decided to look at the thoughts of Artist Michael Craig-Martin. Understanding the thoughts of former teachers who are practicing artists is an important aspect of my research because their experience in both fields is valuable to to gaining an understanding about my subject area. Craig-Martin's account of his teaching career in his book 'On being an Artist' was particularly interesting because it offered a perspective of a teacher from a very candid point of view, while outlining his role and his aim as an educator at an art school. As well as this, he goes into brief detail about the issues in education that have affected the arts and how these problems in education are affecting students now more than ever. This adds to my research because it gives direct example of the role teachers play in education, their thoughts and their purpose in the classroom. Establishing a first hand account of the role a teacher plays in art education is crucial to understanding and developing ways artists can become more involved in the delivery of such a syllabus.
Craig-Martin's account of his role as a teacher at Goldsmiths is a section of his book I found particularly interesting. Although it is important to note that his account is based on higher education, undergraduate level and above, the role he played as a teacher is still noteworthy in this discussion. His admission that "although I led group seminars based on critical discussion of student work, I never 'taught a class' in drawing, painting or anything else" (Craig-Martin, 2019) was particularly eye-opening. An expectation of a role of a teacher is that they help students learn key skills, approaches and methods of doing something to achieve an ultimate goal. However, Craig-Martin's account of not teaching a class in any particular discipline shows the position of the teacher being much more than showing students 'how' to do something. Although it is vital to remember that the need for skills based teaching is necessary to a students development, the account offered by Craig-Martin is from a higher education perspective where there is an expectation that creative ability and skill is at above competent level. Therefore the role of the teacher is that of a guide to unlocking further experimentation through critical, historical and contextual thinking or even through encouragement to pursue new areas of a project.
However, if this same sentiment was applied to secondary education, this simply would not be as effective. As secondary education is a compulsory level of study that demands student learns a full spectrum of subjects, the approach to how they are taught has to be more hands on. A vital part of early development in the arts is learning through doing, developing new skills and understanding how to create projects, which requires teaching that both shows a student how to do these things, and the relevant skills in the use of materials to articulate their ideas creatively. Due to the current issues in the curriculum, specifically at primary and secondary level, the limited time, the academia driven curriculum, resources and priority for creative learning heavily impacts the students abilities in the arts. As will as this, the impact to higher education has and will become even more apparent. Limited understanding of drawing, painting and other artistic disciplines will become more evident among students, and numbers of those both interested in taking the arts at higher education level will lower.
I believe that although it is understandable that Craig-Martin's lack of teaching a class due to the demands of teaching at that level of education, that from my research, similar sentiments have been echoed in earlier areas of my research regarding High school education in particular. I think that it comes down to what is prioritised in teaching; teaching to show someone how to do something or unlock understanding, or teaching someone how to pass a qualification.
Another aspect of Craig-Martin's experience of teaching was his acknowledgement of the differences in approach between UK education, specifically Goldsmiths, and German schools. I found this particularly interesting because it showed how important the use of a working professional can be to a student's education, at any age. In German schools, the approach described as an 'attachment to a particular artist' (Craig-Martin, 2019), whereas the English school approach was 'open access that enabled and encouraged all of its students and all of its staff" (Craig-Martin, 2019). The German approach of a one-to-one working relationship between student and artist has its benefits. Direct teaching, picking up skills in your specialism from a professional and an understanding of their critical thinking and theory is invaluable Whereas, the English approach is equally as beneficial. The ability to talk to a wide range of creatives that specialise in different areas of the arts to gain wider contexts, understandings and thus develop your practice allows you to develop more in depth, wide-ranging projects. I believe having a wider understanding and appreciation of other artistic methods only improves your abilities as an artist, and thus has tremendous benefits on your work. Highlighting the difference shows the importance of having artists in the classroom because it shows how specialised skills, techniques and experiences can enrich, expand and boost the curriculum for a student. If this was done at secondary school level through artist educators or artist residencies, I believe there would be an improvement in the quality of education, as well as student's understanding of creative subjects.
The damage done to UK education is also an important talking point in Craig-Martin's book. Although exclusively talking about higher education, universities and high level qualifications like PhD's, the notion that government policies having an affect on the quality of education delivered and specifically the damage done to arts education can be agreed with. Craig-Martin's account of "Mrs Thatcher's sudden pronouncement in the late 1980s that all schools of higher education were to become universities" (Craig-Martin, 2019) highlights the start of the decline in quality in arts education. This is because the loss of art schools, polytechnics and other creatively-driven sites for learning in light of the switch to more academic approaches to all subjects switched the emphasis in creative subjects. It took away the ability for art schools and universities to set up their own "admission criteria, their own methods for teaching and their own procedures for assessing students" (Craig-Martin, 2019). This has resulted in their offering of an alternative approach completely taken away, giving students little option of how they want to earn a qualification at higher education. The unique aspects of an arts lead institution have been taken away, as well as their identity, making it a space where many do not consider it important enough to take at degree level. Craig-Martin's opinion that students are not getting what they are paying for and the merging of universities and creative sites for learning highlight how the arts are not prioritised by the UK government. It shows that the need for academic success and higher status put on higher education outweighs the need for meaningful arts education across all artistic disciplines. This can also be found throughout primary and secondary schooling within the arts lack of funding, time and lower uptake of art teachers in the profession.
Throughout this area of my research I have found that areas of higher and secondary education have mirroring issues, just to different degrees. This, coupled with historic government policy mistakes have severely harboured the success of arts based subjects throughout education, keeping them limited, narrow and with a number of problems. Although I want to investigate Craig-Martin's involvement in education further and his thoughts and feelings on his time as a teacher, I feel this brief starting point opens up the discussion of the systemic issues surrounding the arts in education. Making links between all areas of education only solidifies my desire for artists to be more involved in the curriculum and justifies their need. Overall, I think this research as been very beneficial to my overall understanding of my chosen subject area.
Craig-Martin, M., 2019. On Being An Artist. 1st ed. [S.l.]: ART BOOKS, pp.218-221.
Comentarios