Hi Ruth, this looks like it's going to be a really interesting and worthwhile dissertation. The sources you have selected are all appropriate and good quality. What I think your research needs is some more contextual information as a background to the debates around art and education. Your focus on pedagogy is very relevant, but it's worth looking at the bigger picture outside of the classroom, in terms of government policy and ideological drivers.
Hi Ruth, this looks like it's going to be a really interesting and worthwhile dissertation. The sources you have selected are all appropriate and good quality. What I think your research needs is some more contextual information as a background to the debates around art and education. Your focus on pedagogy is very relevant, but it's worth looking at the bigger picture outside of the classroom, in terms of government policy and ideological drivers.
ReplyDeleteIt's arguable that the current government has focused on education that aims to produce workers with generic skills, rather than rounded individuals who are free to pursue their own talents. It could also be argued that this approach is because the party in power favours the needs of businesses and the market over those of ordinary citizens. For reference, see this summary of education policy for 2010 - 2015 and its emphasis on literacy and numeracy and how it relates to the needs of employers: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-school-and-college-qualifications-and-curriculum/2010-to-2015-government-policy-school-and-college-qualifications-and-curriculum. This London Review o Education article provides a critique of that period of education policy: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/62528/1/West_Education%20policy_2016.pdf.
You should also explore the debates around privatisation and academisation in UK education (https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/academisation-really-privatisation-another-name-evidence-suggests-it) and the impact of austerity (http://infed.org/mobi/the-impact-of-austerity-on-schools-and-childrens-education-and-well-being/ as these factors arguably help to explain the dropoff in creative arts education in UK schools (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/sep/21/proportion-of-students-taking-arts-subjects-falls-to-lowest-level-in-decade.
Exploring how tuition fees and fears over future employment turn some people away from studying creative subjects may also be relevant (https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/6-12-february-2017/why-are-less-students-taking-on-art-design-at-university/, especially contrasted to the value of the creative sector to the economy (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/creative-industries-record-contribution-to-uk-economy).
As you're studying education in Finland it would be interesting to compare and contrast their education policy with that in the UK - you can find a summary document here: http://www.oph.fi/download/146428_Finnish_Education_in_a_Nutshell.pdf.
I hope this helps - if you want to discuss you research in depth it might be good to book a tutorial.
Andrew
Thank you, this is great! I shall start looking into the links right away :)
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