Craft & Higher Education: an update
An update on craft and higher education.
In February last year, we remarked on at least nine notable crafts course closures since 1993. Since then, further closures have included the MA in Textile Cultures at Norwich University College of Art, the weaving option within the Textiles BA at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, and the Ceramics and Glass BA at Buckinghamshire New University.
At the same time, the debate around the future of Higher Education has intensified in the face of radical policy changes, reflected initially in a speech made in July by Dr Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and subsequently – and substantially – by the findings of Lord Browne’s review of Higher Education funding and student finance, the government’s response to the report’s recommendations and the outcome of the Spending Review.
There is wide-spread and very valid concern for the future of craft in higher education. Reviewing government announcements to date alongside the previous precarious position, what implications can we draw for the way forward?
Early Speeches
Dr Cable’s July speech characterised the state’s role as supporting subjects that are costly to teach but offer high public and social return. STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) were singled out as specific examples of the type of course that government funds should support, although the speech also referenced the role of creative arts subjects in driving some successful growth industries such as design and music.
Other government ministers subsequently echoed these views, with Ministers at both the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Education DfE) also beginning to advocate the return of an economy based on skills and calling for the broadening of routes into the creative and cultural industries, with particular emphasis on apprenticeships and further education.
Some of these interventions have focussed very specifically against the concept, formed over several years, of Higher Education as the main route into the professional craft sector.
On 9 September, at the Universities UK Annual Conference, David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science set out different options for the future of university funding saying
“We cannot have a society where university is the only route to a well-paid job and a career. That is bad for social mobility. We are committed to ensuring young people have a wider range of options to choose from: apprenticeships; places at FE college; part-time study online learning; an ordinary degree first, and then honours – and not necessarily at 18 either.”
He also spoke about the need for renewed emphasis on teaching in universities while recognising the significance of research and innovation to the UK economy. Read the full speech here
On the same day, Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education delivered a keynote speech for the Edge Foundation, an independent Foundation whose aim is to raise the status of practical and vocational learning. In his speech Elevating the Practical, Gove championed practical skills, including craft skills at school level and as routes to employment, particularly through apprenticeships, speaking of the
‘passionate understanding of, and commitment to, the joy of technical accomplishment, the beauty of craft skills, and the submission to vocational disciplines which lie at the heart of a truly practical education.’
And in October, John Hayes, whose role as Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning is held jointly in BIS and the DfE invoked both Chaucer and William Morris in his speech The Craft so long to lerne saying:
“For decades, people have been calling for greater parity of esteem between academic and vocational qualifications … Instead, we’ve seen a dilution both. Too many things that are fundamentally practical have been given an academic veneer. Not because it’s needed to produce a better craftsman, but simply because it seems to legitimise craft for those who are fundamentally insecure about practical learning. Ironically, many such people have done academic study no favours. But regardless, the academic route continues to enjoy greater esteem.”
It is notable that, throughout these speeches, “craft” is increasingly used as a proxy for “manual skills” in a way that many currently teaching, researching or craft at HE level would not recognise. At the same time, it is equally notable that “craft” has not had such a high profile on government agendas for many decades.
As Professor Mike Press, Chair of Design Policy at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design and Chair of the Crafts Council’s Assemble conference in June remarked at the time: “We find ourselves living in new times, interesting times: post-recession, post New Labour – an economic crisis and a new government. And our choice is a simple one – we can either pursue craft as part of an oppositional alternative economy and culture – or we can connect with those challenges and those opportunities. I do not believe that we have had such a clear cut opportunity for us to advance the case for craft for over a generation. We either seize this moment – or we squander it. Your choice”
One of these choices may yet be the extent to which we come to a joint understanding on the breadth of “craft” – relation to teaching and otherwise. However, looming over any prospect of a healthy dialogue on the subject, are the urgent doubts over a sustainable future for craft in higher education following the publication of the Browne Report and the announcement of future government funding priorities in the Spending Review.
The Browne Report
Following the above period of scene-setting, October saw the publication of Lord Browne’s report, rapidly followed by the government’s response and then the Chancellor’s Spending Review. The latter provided a bracing – and, for many, unwelcome – clarification of the funding situation for many specialist subjects including craft.
Even before the Spending Review, Nigel Carrington, Rector of University of the Arts London had read between the lines of the Browne Report recommendations, commenting:
“For me Lord Browne’s most eye-grabbing suggestion is one that has not so far attracted big headlines but could have serious consequences for the majority of universities: that the Government should have the option to withdraw funding from all subjects that are not a “priority” – i.e. that are not science, healthcare or certain languages. The mantra that science-based subjects are more worthy of government investment has become commonplace – but is not grounded in empirical evidence. It ignores the fact that the creative industries, fuelled by the energy and innovation of graduates from universities … contribute almost as much to our GDP as the financial sector, employ an estimated two million people and are still growing. Both science and the creative arts are important components of the knowledge economy and both will be vital to the recovery.
And, as the findings of the Report were succeeded by the Spending Review, Carrington’s initial impulse appears correct: Given the new levels of government funds, it is likely that funding for courses in all but a few identified subjects will come, in future, not from the public purse but from tuition fees. The market will dictate whether they survive or not.
Craft courses – with their need for space and equipment, relatively small student numbers and low graduate earnings have become more vulnerable than ever.
For research, cuts were not as deep as predicted, with the Research Councils remaining in place. However, it seems likely that, in practice, research will be concentrated in fewer institutions and, again, government funds will focus on programmes that appear to promise economic impact from the outset. Here too, the future seems undoubtedly bleaker for craft than before.
And while the Crafts Council has long argued for more diversity of routes into the professional craft sector, and we can appreciate the economic attractiveness of concentrating resources in fewer institutions (reserving judgement on whether this is the best service to the student or professional craft sector), we are very concerned at the potential consequences of these changes. We will not retrieve knowledge lost in the coming years – it will vanish forever
Course closures and new courses
Earlier in the year, prior to the Browne Report and the Spending Review, the Crafts Council compared undergraduate craft courses listed on the UCAS database for 2009-10 and 2010-11. This analysis showed that over 30 craft courses closed between 2009/10 and 2010/11, but 200 courses were listed for 2010/11 that were not offered in 2009/10.
It was clear that this apparent growth in provision needed to be treated with caution, as in some cases it could be explained by new variations on existing joint honours courses. Nevertheless, we noted some significant points. Aware of the possible implications of forthcoming changes in policy, we delayed publication, but, even given recent events, we feel it is still worth recording them here.
In particular, there seemed to be a substantial growth in courses related to textile design: only three of the reported course closures were for textile courses and 119 of the new courses were textiles (or include a textiles element).
Ceramics has been the focus of particular concern since the University of Westminster closed its course and here the picture was less positive. Almost one in three of the 32 course closures were for ceramics courses (or courses which included a ceramics element), whilst only one in ten of the new courses were ceramics courses (or included a ceramics element).
Some courses had seen a declining number of applicants. Others, however, had seen applicant numbers increase. The University of Wales in Cardiff, for example, had seen applications for its ceramics courses increase by 50%, and the successful applicants had the highest average qualifications of entrants to any course in the university.
Amongst the new courses, a significant number of interdisciplinary BAs offered pathways that combined craft disciplines with a wide variety of other creative subjects. Bath Spa’s Creative Arts BA programmes are perhaps the most diverse options. Here, students can couple Ceramics or Textile Design Studies with Creative Writing or Dance. Middlesex University offer Applied Arts within the context of Design and Interiors, echoing a trend also seen at Cardiff, where a BA in Textiles for Fashion and Interiors is awaiting accreditation.
At other HEls, craft courses had been combined or replaced with more industry-focused courses. For example, Textile Design at Winchester School of Art now forms part of a larger programme of Fashion & Textiles Design, whilst a stand-alone BA in Textile Art is no longer available.
The trend for interdisciplinary courses is apparent across all subject areas and craft is no exception. Such courses can be seen as improving employability and industry connections, creating the opportunity for students to draw together different interests and technologies, work with specialists from other fields and increasing the potential of a creatively fulfilling and sustainable portfolio career. (Source: Making Value)
However, it has been the convention that most makers have entered the sector through specialist craft undergraduate courses and it is these courses that have been under threat. The cost of facilities and equipment, combined with low demand and mixed perceptions of craft in academe make it very difficult to make the case for craft in institution that are judging success by student numbers and net cost.
Despite this there are examples of such courses being sustained and indeed actively encouraged. As one example, University College Falmouth is launching a BA in Ceramics this year in collaboration with the Leach Pottery.
Specialist courses offer immersion in a single material specialism as the basis for critical enquiry. Geography and tradition evidently have a part to play, with regional specialisms in specific disciplines becoming more pronounced as surrounding HEls invest in the interdisciplinary model; Birmingham’s reputation for jewellery is embedded in an established connection to local tradition; and the North East remains a key focus for Glass and Calligraphy.
It is clear to us that a balance of both is the best solution. We are encouraged that there is a healthy growth in interdisciplinary courses that include a craft element and believe that it is imperative that craft is included in this broader landscape, widening the routes into the sector and providing makers with the competencies required in the modern workplace. However, we also believe that it is vital that the craft HE sector retains a critical mass of specialist teaching capacity delivering the levels of knowledge and skill that lead to success as a maker.
It is imperative that students learn enough about techniques and materials, and develop a high enough level of skill, to support their development as materials-led practitioners capable of combining intellectual and practical innovation. Above all, students need a high quality learning experience which can spark the creative engagement with materials and processes needed to drive and sustain a career in making
The Way Forward?
So, what of the future? One of the factors in the survival of craft courses within higher education is undoubtedly the ability to maximise student demand – never more true than in the new market-led arena.
Increasing demand
The Crafts Council has consistently advocated the need for young people to experience high-quality making opportunities at school, to give both students and their families an understanding of craft as a potential area of study and a career. Coupled with this is the need to ensure that teachers have the confidence to teach craft and are aware of the opportunities and resources to support them in this. We are actively addressing this through our national programmes Firing Up and Craft Club and through our online Craft Action Network alongside other organisations’ programmes such as Craftspace’s Craft=Skills for Life. But this is, at best, a medium-term solution to an urgent problem
Demonstrating the potential of craft as a career
Our recently published report, Crafting Futures, which examines the careers of craft graduates from four to six years after graduation identifies the issues with graduate earnings described above. But it also provides evidence of exceptional levels of employment and self-employment levels amongst craft graduates, with three quarters of crafts graduates achieving, or close to achieving, their career goals.
Profiling the economic value of craft
We already know of outstanding examples of the impact of craft knowledge and skills in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) areas and we highlight some of them in the Making Value report and maker profiles. Our aim is to undertake further research to demonstrate this in the coming months.
On this subject, we were delighted to read the views of John Maeda, president of Rhode Island School of Design and former lecturer at MIT, specifically advocating the concept that “STEM” subjects should include art “turning Stem into Steam” and saying in The Observer:
“… Innovation doesn’t just come from equations or new kinds of chemicals, it comes from a human place. Innovation in the sciences is always linked in some way, either directly or indirectly, to a human experience. And human experiences happen through engaging with the arts – listening to music, say, or seeing a piece of art. … I recently saw something in Time magazine, a famous Nobel laureate chemist making molecular models out of clay. It shows how these more fluid, abstract materials traditionally belonging to the artist lend themselves better to ways of thinking about the world, as opposed to some kind of ball-and-stick model that shows a constrained view. Art helps you see things in a less constrained space. Our economy is built upon convergent thinkers, people that execute things, get them done. But artists and designers are divergent thinkers: they expand the horizon of possibilities. Superior innovation comes from bringing divergents (the artists and designers) and convergents (science and engineering) together …”what better mindset to adopt than the artist’s, who is very used to living in an ambiguous space? Real innovation doesn’t just come from technology, it comes from places like art and design.”
We take every opportunity to highlight this research and the wider value of craft to policy makers, government ministers and to higher education stressing the importance of craft skills and knowledge to creativity and learning across all subjects. Following our collaboration on the Craft Blueprint (2009) we have also continued to work with Creative & Cultural Skills to oversee delivery of its recommendations which include reinvigorating craft education is schools and actively making the case for craft courses.
Monitoring craft courses
It is going to be more important than ever to maintain substantiated information on the changes in courses available for craft, and, with the sector’s help, we will attempt to disseminate information on this and to separate fact from conjecture. If you have information regarding the opening or closing of craft courses, please email comms@craftscouncil.org.uk. Please specify whether the information you send is provisional or confirmed. In the next few months, we will be launching a new discussion area on the website but in the interim, we will post information as updates to this note.
