Creative entrepreneurship education for graduate employability in the creative arts

The higher education sector in Australia is under increasing pressure to prove quality and efficacy of education provision, including graduate outcomes. One of the central tasks of higher education has become to prepare nascent professionals as far as possible for initial employment and future working lives beyond this (Boden & Nedeva, 2010). Tertiary educators in the creative arts face significant and distinctive challenges in demonstrating graduate employability, and creative graduates consistently have the poorest outcomes of any subject grouping. In part, this is because the national graduate destinations survey (Graduate Careers Council of Australia, 2012) does not cater to the distinctive ‘portfolio’ nature of creative careers, or take account of the fact that creative careers can take concerted effort over several years to establish (e.g., McCowan & Wyganowska, 2010). However, it is worth asking whether we as tertiary arts educators are doing enough to prepare creative arts students for the world of work, particularly given that the majority of them will be self-employed to some degree (Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2011, Throsby & Zednik, 2010), and will be challenged to build their own careers without recourse to the support of HR departments or intra-firm promotion schemes. It has been demonstrated empirically that career management and creative enterprise skills are among the most important graduate capabilities in determining early creative career success (Bridgstock, 2011), although these skills do not appear in the Learning and Teaching Academic Standards for the Creative and Performing Arts (2010). This paper explores the nature and development of enterprise capabilities for creative arts students (as distinct from students of the business school), examines best practice in the field internationally, and proposes a theoretically-driven creative arts-specific enterprise curriculum model which commences in first year, for demonstrable impact on student enterprise behaviours (such as grant seeking, professional networking and intention to start an enterprise) and employability.

Pedagogy and community engagement in environmental design courses

This article describes an evaluation of student experiences in environmental design courses with a community engagement focus. It aims to identify pedagogical approaches that minimize obstacles faced by students while maximizing learning opportunities. Focus groups composed of undergraduate students in seven classes generated three major findings: (1) learning how to effectively engage with community partners is one of the most beneficial challenges of this type of course; (2) logistical hurdles and course characteristics that limited students’ ability to connect with the community partners or synthesize the social, emotional, technical, and theoretical aspects of the course were perceived as learning obstacles; and (3) social and emotional connections with community partners are the most educationally significant part of the experience for students. The conclusion discusses recommendations for how environmental design instructors can take advantage of the unique social and emotional connections with community partners that facilitated community engagement can foster, while limiting the learning obstacles that students may experience. Areas for future research

Understanding the signature pedagogy of the design studio and the opportunities for its technological enhancement

This paper presents an analysis of the studio as the signature pedagogy of design education. A number of theoretical models of learning, pedagogy, and education are used to interrogate the studio for its advantages and shortcomings, and to identify opportunities for the integration of new technologies and to explore the affordances that they might offer. In particular the theoretical ideas of signature pedagogies, conversational frameworks, and pedagogical patterns are used to justify the ‘unique’ status of the studio as a dominant learning environment and mode of delivery within design education. Such analysis identifies the opportunities for technological intervention and enhancement of the design studio through a re-examining of its fundamental pedagogical signature. This paper maps the dimensions and qualities that define the signature pedagogy against a range of delivery modes and technological media forms. Through such investigation it seeks to identify appropriate opportunities for technology; in essence offering a structure or framework for the analysis of future enquiry and experimentation.

Risky Business : managing creative practice postgraduates

In Australia, as elsewhere, universities are being encouraged to grow their postgraduate research candidature base while at the same time there is increasing pressure on resources with which to manage the burgeoning groups. In this environment HDR supervision strategies are seen as increasingly important as research managers seek the best possible ‘fit’ for an applicant: the candidate who will provide a sound return on investment and demonstrate endurance in the pursuit of a timely completion.

Theatre-arts pedagogy for social justice : case study of the area youth foundation in Jamaica

In this paper I describe and analyse the socio-educational significance of a theatre arts approach to learning for young adults in Jamaica, implemented by the Area Youth Foundation (AYF). Briefly outlining the genesis and development of the AYF, I provide snapshots of the experiences and destinations of some of its young participants. The paper discusses AYF workshops to show how the pedagogy was shaped by the expressive arts and based on the critical praxis approach systematized by Paulo Freire in adult education and Augusto Boal in theatre. Based on interviews with AYF’s leader and some of the learners, I discuss how the foundation’s motto, “Youth Empowerment Through the Arts,” is played out in workshops and creative productions that are simultaneously learner-driven and teacher-guided, with the powerful impact of inspiring politically thoughtful creativity and skills in youths from less-privileged communities.

Learning processes in creative service teams : towards a dynamic systems theory

The fastest-growing segment of jobs in the creative sector are in those firms that provide creative services to other sectors (Hearn, Goldsmith, Bridgstock, Rodgers 2014, this volume; Cunningham 2014, this volume). There are also a large number of Creative Services (Architecture and Design, Advertising and Marketing, Software and Digital Content occupations) workers embedded in organizations in other industry sectors (Cunningham and Higgs 2009). Ben Goldsmith (2014, this volume) shows, for example, that the Financial Services sector is the largest employer of digital creative talent in Australia. But why should this be? We argue it is because ‘knowledge-based intangibles are increasingly the source of value creation and hence of sustainable competitive advantage (Mudambi 2008, 186). This value creation occurs primarily at the research and development (R and D) and the marketing ends of the supply chain. Both of these areas require strong creative capabilities in order to design for, and to persuade, consumers. It is no surprise that Jess Rodgers (2014, this volume), in a study of Australia’s Manufacturing sector, found designers and advertising and marketing occupations to be the most numerous creative occupations. Greg Hearn and Ruth Bridgstock (2013, forthcoming) suggest ‘the creative heart of the creative economy […] is the social and organisational routines that manage the generation of cultural novelty, both tacit and codified, internal and external, and [cultural novelty’s] combination with other knowledges […] produce and capture value’. 2 Moreover, the main “social and organisational routine” is usually a team (for example, Grabher 2002; 2004).

Objectifying the Subjective : Assessment and Feedback in Creative Arts Studio Learning and Teaching

This paper examines the Assessment and Feedback aspects of Studio Teaching as Creative Arts pedagogy. Prompted by USQ’s newly offered Bachelor of Creative Arts (BCA), the author has developed an Assessment Matrix specifically designed to satisfy a number of imperatives, including: • ‘objectifying’ the subjective aspects of creative practice as assessable coursework/research • providing the means by which accurate, detailed, personalised and confidential feedback may be provided to students individually • providing consistent, accurate, meaningful assessment records for student, lecturer, and institution • ensuring consistency, continuity, and transparency of assessment processes and records to satisfy quality audits • minimising marking and assessment time, whilst maximising assessment integrity and depth • requiring only basic level skills and knowledge of a computer application already in common use (Microsoft Excel) • adaptability to a range of creative courses ‐ across disciplines This Assessment Matrix has been in development (and trialled) since January 2009.

Too many cooks? Co-creating and co-teaching studio courses in the creative media context : a career-focussed approach

This Case Study relates to the creation and implementation of career‐focussed courses in Creative Media for film, television, animation, broadcast and web contexts. The paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of co‐teaching, and how different professional and academic backgrounds and disciplines can productively inform curriculum design and delivery in the academic/professional context. The authors, as co‐creators and co‐lecturers, have developed a number of courses which represent current working models for intermediate to advanced level academic/professional study, and attract students from across the creative disciplines; including theatre, media, visual arts and music. These courses are structured to develop in students a wide range of aesthetic and technical skills, as well as their ability to apply those skills professionally within and across the creative media industries. Issues regarding the balance between academic rigour, practical hands‐on skill development, assessment, logistics, resources, teamwork and other issues, are examined in the paper.

Technology : A mobilising force for a radical design pedagogy [Editorial - Special Issue]

This special issue of the Journal of Learning Design, led by Jill Franz and Lindy Osborne, from the School of Design in the Creative Industries Faculty at the Queensland University of Technology, is grounded in Design Education. Its papers are drawn from differing fields of design: digital media, architecture, and environmental design. Each makes use of technologies in differing ways but all share the singular purpose of achieving enhanced learning outcomes from students.

Pedagogy of Desire

Despite major inroads in demystifying creativity for the non-design disciplines, there has been little movement in the design disciplines themselves beyond traditional paradigms. This is particularly noticeable in design education where traditional pedagogical approaches persist despite the emergence of new experimental pedagogies. In response, this research aims to explore what a pedagogy of desire can offer and what this means in terms of curriculum development; learning environments; teaching approaches and staff development. Specifically, it seeks to: understand more fully the notion of desire and how students’ and teachers’ desires can be exploited in creative and productive ways; to further explore the relationship between risk (through experiencing uncertainties and anxieties) and pleasure (through assuming the subversive position of knowing); to identify and explore how to negotiate personal, professional and organisational implications; and to develop appropriate evaluation mechanisms.

In the right space : exploring the dynamics between design, environment and pedagogy

The environments that we inhabit shape our everyday lives, influencing our behaviors and responses (Manu, 2013). As we enter an immersive phase of education in which physical and digital environments become inseparable, should we reconsider the role and importance of design on pedagogical practice? This paper explores the reciprocal cause and effect of space, technology and pedagogy in shaping the design of educational experiences within Queensland University of Technology's collaborative learning spaces.

Writers as performers : developing reflexive and creative writing identities

Writing is a complex and learned activity in that it requires us to shape our thoughts into words and texts that are appropriate for the purpose, audience and medium of a variety of communicative forms. Writers must constantly make decisions about how to represent their subject matter and themselves through language. In this way, writing can be conceptualised as a performance whereby writers shape and represent their identities as they mediate social structures and personal considerations. In this paper I use theories of reflexivity and discourse to analyse interviews and writing samples of culturally and linguistically diverse Australian primary students for evidence of particular kinds of writing identities. Findings indicate a clear influence of particular teaching strategies and contexts on the writing identities of students. I argue that making students aware of their writing choices, the influences on, and the potential impact of those choices on themselves, their text and their audience, is a new imperative in the teaching of writing.

Design thinking frameworks as transformative cross-disciplinary pedagogy

Final report for the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. "This seed project ‘Design thinking frameworks as transformative cross-disciplinary pedagogy’ aimed to examine the way design thinking strategies are used across disciplines to scaffold the development of student attributes in the domain of problem solving and creativity in order to enhance the nation’s capacity for innovation. Generic graduate attributes associated with innovation, creativity and problem solving are considered to be amongst the most important of all targeted attributes (Bradley Review of Higher Education, 2009). The project also aimed to gather data on how academics across disciplines conceptualised design thinking methodologies and strategies. Insights into how design thinking strategies could be embedded at the subject level to improve student outcomes were of particular interest in this regard. A related aim was the investigation of how design thinking strategies could be used by academics when designing new and innovative subjects and courses." Case Study 3: QUT Community Engaged Learning Lab Design Thinking/Design Led Innovation Workshop by Natalie Wright Context "The author, from the discipline area of Interior Design in the QUT School of Design, Faculty of Creative Industries, is a contributing academic and tutor for The Community Engaged Learning Lab, which was initiated at Queensland University of Technology in 2012. The Lab facilitates university-wide service-learning experiences and engages students, academics, and key community organisations in interdisciplinary action research projects to support student learning and to explore complex and ongoing problems nominated by the community partners. In Week 3, Semester One 2013, with the assistance of co-lead Dr Cara Wrigley, Senior Lecturer in Design led Innovation, a Masters of Architecture research student and nine participating industry-embedded Masters of Research (Design led Innovation) facilitators, a Design Thinking/Design led Innovation workshop was conducted for the Community Engaged Learning Lab students, and action research outcomes published at 2013 Tsinghua International Design Management Symposium, December 2013 in Shenzhen, China (Morehen, Wright, & Wrigley, 2013)."

Heathcote’s practice-led teaching: Pioneering research as well as pioneering pedagogy

It is widely recognized that Dorothy Heathcote was a dynamic and radical teacher who transformed and continually reinvented drama teaching. She did this by allowing her emerging thinking and understandings to flow from, and be tested by, regular and intensive ‘practicing’ in the classroom. In this way theoretical claims were grounded and evidenced in authentic classroom practice. And yet, for all her impact, it is rare to hear the claim that Heathcote’s pedagogic breakthroughs resulted from a legitimate research methodology. Clever and charismatic teaching yes; research no. One of the world’s best teachers certainly, but not a researcher; even though every lesson was experimental and every classroom was a site for discovery. This paper investigates that conundrum firstly by acknowledging that Heathcote’s practice-led teaching approach to discovery did not map comfortably on to the established educational research traditions of the day. It argues that traditional research methodologies, with their well-established protocols and methods, could not understand or embrace a research process which does its work by creating ‘fictional realities’ of openness, allegory and uncertainty. In recent years however it can be seen that Heathcote’s practice led-teaching, so essential for advancing the field, closely aligns with what many contemporary researchers are now calling practice-led research or practice as research or, in many Nordic countries, artistic research. A form of performative research, practice-led research has not emerged from the field of education but rather from the creative arts. Seeking to develop ways of researching creative practice which is deeply sympathetic and respectful of that practice, artist-researchers have developed practice-led research “which is initiated in practice, where questions, problems, challenges are identified and formed by the needs of practice and practitioners” (Grey, 1996). This sits comfortably with Heathcote’s classroom priority of “discovering by trial, error and testing; using available materials with respect for their nature, and being guided by this appreciation of their potential” (Heathcote, 1967). The paper will conclude by testing the dynamics of Heathcote’s practice-led teaching against the six conditions of practice-led research (Haseman&Mafe, 2011), a testing which will allow for a re-interpretation and re-housing of Dorothy Heathcote’s classroom-based teaching methodology as a form of performative research in its own right.

Accolades or achievement? Addressing the unforeseen consequences of therapeutic pedagogy

Commentary "We have found little to indicate that indiscriminately promoting self-esteem in today’s children or adults, just for being themselves, offers society any compensatory benefits beyond the seductive pleasure it brings to those engaged in the exercise. (Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2005)" In June this year, Wellesley High School became a focus of attention worldwide, following a graduation speech made by a teacher at the school. Departing from the traditional rhetoric of such ceremonies, English teacher David McCullough told the assembled graduates that they were neither special nor exceptional, but may well believe they were because they had been ‘pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, and bubble-wrapped, feted and fawned over’, an effect, he argued, of Americans’ ‘love of accolades more than genuine achievement’ (Christakis, 2012, p. 1). This assertion struck a chord not only in his home country, but more widely in the Western world, with many educators, childcare workers and parents experiencing a sense of unease about the extent to which this claim was justifiable, and if so, what sort of corrective might be needed.