Page 23 - Studio International - September 1968

This statement has developed out of my thoughts and 9. Together with whatever boards of studies are
considerations given to the present situation in art deemed necessary, colleges should have a
education. I have been personally involved in some practical division of authority and leadership.
of the centres of dissatisfaction, such as Hornsey, The principal will deal with social, political and
Corsham, etc, etc. I have also lectured at other prob- external relationships. A director of studies
lematic places such as Guildford, and altogether it is should implement the agreed and evolving
very likely that lecturing up and down the country policy relative to ideas and internal working. He
more or less continuously I see more of colleges, their can be the person who implements the agreed
problems and developments than almost anyone else programmes, a co-ordinator, an integrator,
in Art Education. promoter of developments, catalyst of ideas, the
However now that the excitement of ideological executor of his own and other people's ideas.
revolution has settled down to some degree, a period He will collect and relate ideas and policy at all
levels—both with staff and students.
Points in a of reconstruction should inevitably take place. It is 10. Large faculties should have a similar person to
very apparent that most students and indeed many
staff of Colleges of Art do not know what it is possible deal with co-ordination between different
reconstructive to achieve, and what autonomy can exist within the aspects of the same specialization. It is fallacious
present system. to believe that integration and cross-fertilization
In spite of everything, our discipline has been the
primer for the most progressive and the most soul-searching of all will organically ensue. If you want something
specific from education you must educate for it.
areas of education. In spite of everything I still believe 11. Education should at least be time-saving and
creative that art education in this country is in a healthier con- principled. Any teacher/college should have
dition than anywhere else in the world. In France they decided generally what can be taught and
individual still labour under the educational system which is 12. Different disciplines and different processes
what must be discovered for oneself.
Napoleonic in history and character. We in this
country demonstrated our rejection of absolutist should not be taught in the same way.
nineteenth-century education and examinations a 13. Too much teaching is by 'linear', schematic
decade ago. Where difficulties and dissatisfaction processes with preferences for memory, repeti-
Tom Hudson have arisen it is largely because of the incapacity of tion, exercises based on irrelevant historical
teachers to implement the original ideological style and fashionable modes.
revolution of the fifties which achieved the hard won 14. Not enough teaching deals with the problems of
autonomy. individuals, their psychological orientation, con-
It is obvious that students will not accept the con- ceptual understanding and processes.
tinuation of educational confidence tricks. We are 15. Objective, informative, process and technical
now in a position of reassessment where we can courses and intellectual (so-called academic)
make good the deficiencies which have grown up in developments should be taught as creative
the past few years. processes.
16. Third-rate historicism and third-rate art journal-
1. Basically, once we are contracted as teachers, ism are worthless. The student in the visual and
we can teach what we like. As there is no official plastic disciplines is working 'within' his
education policy, creative teachers can present subject—he is 'playing in the game'; why
and demonstrate viable alternatives to what write and be trained to react as if you are sitting
already exists. in the press-box? The student should study the
2. Within the Summerson specifications / presume subject of the collective experience of his own
that we can teach what we like ; / do in a radical discipline—from his own point of view—and use
and revolutionary way. Studios are the test-bed this to understand his own predicament and to
of personal and educational ideas. support his own position as well as to under-
3. Colleges which are truly autonomous must stand the progress and processes of other men
demonstrate this in a rigorous way—they should and their ideas.
be different and differentiated, defining their 17. We work within the history and development of
objectives, making their own way and able to our own culture; we must understand it, recog-
defend their position and policies. nize the growing body of knowledge which is
4. Any list of external examiners should be con- our culture and its inter-relationships. We can
stantly reviewed and changed—or each College understand dynamically and comparatively but
should choose its own assessors whether on the our concern with other cultures can be preferen-
official list or not. tial, based on personal selection and a sense of
5. The present constitution and administration of personal orientation, certainly not on chrono-
education by its very origin and nature is anti- logical sequence or on automatic and impersonal
creative—it must be changed. Timetables, preferences such as the dominance of Western
departmentalism, separatism, isolationism, are to European culture.
be deplored. Fragmentation and exercises 18. Tutorial subject matter should normally be 'real'
should give way to experiment, analysis, rather than hypothetical, related to what is
development and integration with every possi- happening in the studios.
bility given to intuitive and inspired activity. 19. The media for the study of collective experience
6. 'Open' studio methods, shared and general (i.e. history) and the pursuit of knowledge
workshops should be developed instead of the should be the most relevant and demonstrable
closed classroom complex and sacrosanct self- for the subject/problem.
interest of the so-called specialist workshop. 20. Any testing should be of sufficient variety of
7. The creative teachers—e.g. studio staff—must form, media and method for all types of ability
have more authority, must be free to teach and intellect to demonstrate themselves effec-
creatively, must do more class-contact instead tively.
of less as they are promoted; they are paid for 21. The student must be assessed on his whole
being creative—don't emasculate them with progress throughout the course but not by
low-level administration. creating artificial incidental, restrictive tests,
8. Studio-staff and creative teachers should con- and not based on performance in examinations
trol the policy—ideas, work—of the studios. and 'final' exhibits.
Other staff should be executives to administer 22. A well-run, truly educational course should not
the courses—students to be informed and con- envisage failure except due to mental aberration,
sulted by duly agreed constitution. previously undiagnosed psychosis, or a student's
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