Intervention Proposal
How inclusive is writing?
Writing isn’t for everybody. However most undergraduate and postgraduate Creative Arts degrees include a Contextual Studies (theoretical) module where students are required to write a series of essays culminating into a final larger formal essay (thesis / dissertation). Not being able to produce this final piece of academic writing would result in the failure of the course. A major part of the Creative Arts degree is ‘studio practice’, the theoretical part (often smaller) and in most cases taught separately is Contextual Studies which aims to theorise the creative process of making through research. The aim is to enable the student to articulate their ideas and processes grounded by contextual theories both verbally and in written form. To some students the ‘theoretical’ part of the design process can seem as a ‘bolt-on’ addition whereby the student will focus their efforts on the practical side rather than the theoretical side. For many students, writing is difficult. Students attending universities will have come from a range of educational backgrounds; mature students who may not have written essays since leaving school, students who didn’t do A levels, international students whose first language is not English, students with dyslexia, neurodiverse students, all of whom may find the unfamiliarity of academic language writing difficult.
Is there room for alternative communication modes that can utilise their visual or verbal strengths if they’re not confident in expressing themselves through writing? Or could we lose the academic formality of the essay format and introduce video, podcast, visual essays? In 2003 Richard Winter pioneered the model of the ‘patchwork’ text as an alternative to the academic essay within the fields of Health and the Social Sciences. This method was then adapted for use within the creative arts (B.A. (Hons) Fine Art) Contextual Studies module where instead of producing a formal academic essay, students would produce a series of short essays (600 words aprx) using different writing approaches, autoethnography, reflective, which could then be ‘patched’ together and edited to create a longer essay and a poster communicating their research methods and theories. (Winter, 2003). The module would be a combination of written and practical work using different modes of communications videos, podcasts, visual essays. In discussing what critical pedagogy would look like Dr Gurnam Singh advocates for going beyond the traditional reliance on text/words but using creative expression to allow students to access themselves in diverse and creative ways which would lead to a deeper, personal understanding and engagement of their learning journey. (Hill, V. & Singh, G. 2018). The ‘Alternative’ to the Academic essay is an inclusive approach that values different forms of expression and learning, which can help students better understand themselves and the world around them.
[452 words]
References
Biggs, J (1999) Teaching for Quality Learning at University, Open University Press, Buckingham.
Cattaneo, J. (2022) The ‘Creative Arts Patchwork Project’: An alternative to the academic essay’, Journal of Writing in Creative Practice, 6: 169 – 186. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1386/jwcp.6.2.169_1 [Accessed: 24 May 2024]
Devlin, K. (2016) ‘Is the academic essay becoming a fossil through lack of authorial voice? The case for more stylish and exploratory writing’, Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal, 1 (1). pp. 34-40., 6: 169 – 186. Available at: http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/10614/ [Accessed: 24 May 2024]
Hill, V. & Singh, G. (2018) Critical Pedagogy #4 ‘What does it look like in practice?’ Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6ghTlyBDNk [Accessed: 24 May 2024]
Syharat CM, Hain A, Zaghi AE and Deans T (2023) Writing experiences of neurodiverse students in graduate STEM programs’, Front. Educ. 8:1295268. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1295268 [Accessed: 24 May 2024]
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UAL (2007) Visual Directions: Introduction https://teachingexchange.arts.ac.uk/visual-directions/index.html [Accessed: 24 May 2024]
Winter, R. (2003) ‘Contextualizing the Patchwork Text: addressing problems of coursework assessment in higher education’, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 40(2), pp. 112–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/1470329031000088978 [Accessed: 24 May 2024]
Writing Pad (ND) The Journal of Writing in Creative Practice http://writing-pad.org/JournalWritingCreativePractice [Accessed: 24 May 2024]