Challenges associated
with the teaching
of Art and Design
in HE in Cyprus

Introduction

• An ethnographic account
• Author's personal experiences
• Not an empirical study

Introduction

• Wider teaching + learning challenges
• Historical/structural challenges
• Societal attitude
• Learners and their learning
• Conclusion

Wider teaching + learning challenges

• Publicly funded HEIs - accountability
• Quality control procedures
• Outcomes based education
• Articulation of explicit instructional strategies
• Measurable and quantifiable learning outcomes

Wider teaching + learning challenges

• Inherently difficult for Art + Design education
• Disciplines of high + low paradigmatic development

Distinction between
high and low
paradigmatic
development

Degree to which academics agree about the methods and techniques associated
with their discipline

Biology, chemistry and physics are disciplines of high paradigmatic development in comparison to history, psychology and sociology

Low paradigmatic disciplines tend to adopt a discursive and student-centered approach to teaching and learning, emphasis on the development of critical thinking skills

Art and Design student outcomes are not fixed, but rather they are fluid, changeable, diverse and subject to interpretation

Uncertainty and
open-ended nature
of creative production

How is it possible to develop learning outcomes that can measure and quantify competencies and skills that cater for open-ended creative outcomes?

Art and Design
Benchmark Statement

Historical /structural challenges

• Two publicly funded HEIs
• University of Cyprus  + Cyprus University of Technology 
• 2007-08 CUT: Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts
• CUT: BA Multimedia and Graphic Arts
• CUT: MSc Design Computer Games, MA Graphics

Historical /structural challenges

• Limited range of programmes
• Reasons: New faculty, lack of govt. funding 
• Recent crisis - Halt to the launch of BA Fine Arts
• BA Fine Arts: Announced July 2012
• First students September 2015

Professor Niki Louizidi:
Established instructional practices in the Arts entail access to advanced technologies,
multimedia and visual communication resources.

Arguments put forward for the establishment of the Fine Arts Department exclusively focused on the cultural benefits for Limassol.
No effort to argue that there are economic benefits that come with and through the Arts.

‘The contribution of the arts and culture to the national economy - An analysis of the macroeconomic contribution of the arts and culture and of some of their indirect contributions through spillover effects felt in the wider economy’ (2013)

‘…arts and culture industry generated £12.8 billion
in turnover in 2008, before falling by around £1 billion in the recession year of 2009, when total turnover amounted to £11.9 billion. Subsequently, turnover recovered by 4.4 per cent over the years 2009‐11,
to reach a total of £12.4 billion...'

The societal attitude

• Prevailing characteristics of Greek-Cypriot society
• 'A society of louts' - Η κοινωνία των χώρκατων
• Cultural and political underdevelopment of Greek-Cypriots
• Caesar Mavratsas, a social scientist
• The lout: A regular and everyday occurrence

The societal attitude

• Combined with an element of barbarity and racism
• Excessive and annoying self-confidence 
• Aspiring nouveau riche - big houses
• Lack of cultural education 

The societal attitude

• Spoken and written language tends to be poor
• Complete reliance of louts on newspapers
• Questions: extent the arts are appreciated
• Consequently questions about education

Learners and their learning

• Mono-cultural classes
• Diverse cultural stimuli missing
• Erasmus exchanges difficult - Greek language teaching
• Missing: Cultural awareness + critical thinking
• No reading of books

Learners and their learning

• Social media dominate - but no information literacy skills
• A culture of ‘information obesity’ (Brabazon, 2013)
• Low quality info fills the day
• Intellectual challenge, imagination, questioning - missing

Learners and their learning

• Instructional strategies: Teacher centred
• Passive learning
• Heavy emphasis summative high-stakes exams
• 'At least this way they will learn something'
• Reflective, peer, collaborative learning - minimal

Conclusion

• Generic/wider challenges
• Historical/structural challenges
• Societal attitude
• Learners and their learning
• Not terminal - something unique

“Art is solving problems that cannot be formulated before they have been solved. The shaping of the question is part of the answer.” - Piet Hein

Any questions?