Hall, James.; (2008) Engaging with students and tutors :understanding perceptions of practice-based coursework within an MA Art Education programme. Doctoral thesis , Institute of Education, University of London.

Preview	Text HALL, J_Redacted.pdf - Accepted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike. Download (1MB) | Preview
	Text HALL, J.pdf - Accepted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike. Download (1MB)

Abstract

The research aimed to develop deeper understandings of students' and tutors' perceptions of practical work in the MA Art, Craft and Design Education at Roehampton University, the main and traditional form of assessment being written work. I sought to capture something of the meanings and value that students and tutors attach to their experiences of doing and supervising practical work. The term 'Practice-based coursework' refers to the students' own practical work in art, craft or design, which, in this degree, is undertaken in an educational context indicating the visual work must relate to theories and practices of teaching and learning. Heuristic research emphasizes autobiography and internal searching as one seeks to understand phenomena in increasing depth, an approach that enabled me to connect the disciplines of educational research with the living of my professional life. My experience as an MA tutor was studied alongside the experiences of six students and another tutor, as co-participants in the research, through deep reflection upon my thinking and actions. My strategy was to narrate layers of lived experience through open-ended, unstructured interviews and my keeping a reflective diary. I aimed to connect the student and tutor accounts, narrating my own presence as an involved and implicated researcher who is part of the community of practice being studied. Reflexivity proved to be a key resource and dimension of the research, requiring the critical engagement of self by all participants. Students and tutors value practical enquiry for the opportunity to engage personally and reflexively with the complexities, ambiguities and emergent meanings of art. However, practical work sits somewhat uneasily with an outcome-oriented ethos prevalent in education, impatient for demonstrable and transferable results. The findings have implications for expanding provision for practice-based coursework in art education programmes in higher educatioq and for enhancing students' artistteacher identities.

Download activity - last month

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as XMLCSVJSON

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Archive Staff Only

View Item