Continuation from previous post.
It was raised during our discussion on 24th February 2023, if we
felt that the university were purposely being deceitful to potential students.
My belief is yes, and this is what I’m uncomfortable with. If the framework has
changed, and we are required to give the students the skills they need to pass
the course, rather than getting a job, then why not be more transparent and
open about this? Will students still apply if we focused more on the sense of
creative self-discovery rather than employability, at the cost of
£10,000-£20,000 a year?
Having studied the course I teach on; I can see how it has changed in 15
years. Specific skill-based classes have reduced significantly and been
replaced with units such as Better Lives which is a different subject entirely,
other unrelated workshops implemented only to fulfil unit briefs. Changes should
be made to make the courses better, but this doesn’t need to be at the cost of
employability. Why can we not be a university that promotes creative
exploration and personal growth as well as giving the students the skills
required to increase job certainty after graduation?
I understand we are not a trade school; we are a University, but do students
really know the difference? On the BA costume course, the 2022 NSS scores show
in the free text comments last year that there was a clear expectation to have
more skills by the end of the degree than they did. This was a big contribution
to our very low score and shows that the students have a lack of understanding
about what we deliver in terms of practical employable skills for industry.
References
Advance HE. Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting
learning in higher education 2011 (2023) available at https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/ukpsf-2011-summary-document
(Accessed 5/03/23)
Advance HE. Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting
learning in higher education 2023 (2023) available at https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/teaching-and-learning/psf#psf2023
(Accessed 5/03/23)
Trust for London (2023) available at https://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/
(Accessed 5/03/23)
LCF course website (2023) available at https://www.arts.ac.uk/subjects/performance-and-design-for-theatre-and-screen/undergraduate/ba-hons-hair-make-up-and-prosthetics-for-performance-lcf
(Accessed 05/03/23)
Further reading
https://www.sustainable-fashion.com/making-for-change-waltham-forest