International Conferences on
Learning and Teaching with Technology
in Art Design and Communication
DeL Sept 2005: programme: 2nd key speaker
Thurs 15.09.05 - Abstract
The Trouble with Content
Professor Judith Mottram, Professor of Visual Art at Nottingham Trent University
Whatever the technology, be it relational databases, video compilations, longhand letters, or pictures on a wall, someone needs to make some decisions on what its all about... someone must take the responsibility to author. As a counterpoint to the main themes of the conference and by way of an introduction, this paper will explore some of the related issues arising from thinking about the content of the teaching and leaning material we develop.
Within the parameters of art and design education, there are five areas that appear to warrant attention when considering content. These include our understanding, and changing expectations, of what Higher Education institutions are meant to do, and what the responsibilities of academics within these institutions might be. It is also important to take into account the theories of teaching and learning that we employ to help us effect our core role, as educators. It will be suggested that, given the nature of the disciplines that we are concerned with in this conference, art and design, it is particularly pertinent to consider models of creativity when thinking about the application of teaching and leaning models. This is especially the case when thinking about the content of our programmes, whatever technology is employed within its delivery. The remaining two factors that are felt to warrant exploration are the usefulness of the model of the 'community of practice', and the impact of characteristic values and beliefs held by some parts of that contemporary community that might cause some difficulty in reaching consensus on content.
... continued
By drawing upon a combination of literature from within and beyond the core domain, in combination with new data from some recent work on the role of discourse in contemporary art practice, the paper will suggest that our conception of the role and responsibility of the university academic might need to be developed. Developing the quality of future educational provision is seen to rest upon our ability to address not only the structures for learning, but also to develop our role as researchers and curators of our disciplines.
