Abstract

 Abstract

This paper is a case study reflection on the experience of initiating and launching a full work based learning programme in creative education and, specifically, the aspect of student focused, creativity led learning. In the process of developing this Masters programme the team encountered obstacles and barriers that may be construed as institutional constraints but they could be caused by a culture of teaching that has influenced Arts and Creative Education to the extent where compliance with systems is potentially fostering conservatism. The case study describes a programme development that seeks to open up the curriculum to embrace the ideal of experience initiated learning as it is described in Europe and liberate the student from obsessive and, therefore, oppressive assessment regimes. It aims to revisit a constructivist form of education that has been traditionally associated with teaching in creative disciplines. This has been a conscious attempt to redress the excesses of formal education; the prescription of overbearing curriculum structures and, as a consequence, the tendency to undermine the role of emotional intelligences in learning. The emphasis of the programme has been; reflective education, independent learning, peer networking, open source knowledge exchange, blended and convergent interaction, context driven practice, evidence based enquiry and heuristic discovery; or education as a creative set of practices in its own right (something similar to Contemporary Fine art). Development work on new programme fields has already commenced with the intention of generating impetus and critical space for a whole approach to creativity centred, experience initiated learning, some of which will engage with European and International collaborations.

Notes

Abstract

This paper is a case study reflection on the experience of initiating and launching a full work

based learning programme in creative education and, specifically, the aspect of student

focused, creativity led learning. In the process of developing this Masters programme the

team encountered obstacles and barriers that may be construed as institutional constraints

but they could be caused by a culture of teaching that has influenced Arts and Creative

Education to the extent where compliance with systems is potentially fostering conservatism.

The case study describes a programme development that seeks to open up the curriculum to

embrace the ideal of experience initiated learning as it is described in Europe and liberate

the student from obsessive and, therefore, oppressive assessment regimes. It aims to revisit a

constructivist form of education that has been traditionally associated with teaching in

creative disciplines. This has been a conscious attempt to redress the excesses of formal

education; the prescription of overbearing curriculum structures and, as a consequence, the

tendency to undermine the role of emotional intelligences in learning. The emphasis of the

programme has been; reflective education, independent learning, peer networking, open

source knowledge exchange, blended and convergent interaction, context driven practice,

evidence based enquiry and heuristic discovery; or education as a creative set of practices in

its own right (something similar to Contemporary Fine art). Development work on new

programme fields has already commenced with the intention of generating impetus and

critical space for a whole approach to creativity centred, experience initiatedlearning, some

of which will engage with European and International collaborations.