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Background
Creative arts education has been part of a unified higher education system since the early 1990s when reforms combined the Colleges of Advanced Education (CAE) into the university system. Learning and teaching in the creative arts has undergone considerable change, in particular, through the expansion of postgraduate courses and the subsequent increase in enrolments.
The PhD in the creative arts is now the accepted terminal degree in Australia, |
By Kate Daw, VCA
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as it is in a number of other countries such as Britain,
Finland, New Zealand and Japan, along with the professional
Doctorate of Creative Arts (DCA). Yet although it is
quickly emerging as a significant measure of quality
and innovation in the field, the PhD in the Creative
Arts is still subject to variations in terms of form
and implementation as exemplified by the wide range
of examination procedures currently deployed in Australian
universities. Such disparity in combination with pressing
pedagogic and resource issues, have significance for
both the integrity and growth of the sector.
This scoping investigation has been proposed by the
Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools
(ACUADS) and further extends the significant contribution
of ACUADS to the development of learning, teaching
and research in the disciplines of visual arts, crafts
and design. Evidence of this contribution can be seen
in the following reports: Research
Training Benchmarking Project by Dr George Petelin
(2002), a review of higher degrees in Australia and
the United Kingdom in the creative arts and student
perceptions of these degrees; Honours
Benchmarking Project by Nigel Lendon (2000), an
examination of the modes of delivery and assessment
practices of art and design honours degree programs;
and Research
in the Creative Arts by Dennis Strand, (1998),
an investigation into research outputs in art, craft,
design, music and drama to develop a set of performance
indicators and weightings in the creative arts. (See
Bibliography
for further details)
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