Computer Arts - Issue 78 / 2002
Learning the Hard Way
According to educator and illustrator Lawrence Zeegen, learning is for life and not just for student life...
So, here we are already, the first term nearly over (or the
first semester half way through), for those of us in the wonderful
world of design education. So what future for Freshers studying
at any one of the graphic design, illustration and multi-media
courses across the land? What can these 'brand-new', 'fresh out
of the box' students expect from their courses, what should they
expect from themselves and what can the design world expect from
them when they graduate?
Rewind, if you will, to the point before the start of the new
academic year. The big question facing students entering design
education has to be 'why bother? With tuition fees now the norm
and grants replaced by loans replaced by debt, it's a valid question.
As the number of jobs for graduates in design decrease rather
than increase the odds stack up against design education. Yet,
despite those odds they keep on coming. Why?
The very best courses and institutions have the answer. It is
not just about the teaching; it is about creating the right kind
of environment for learning. Art School is about taking risks,
about experimentation and having the freedom to express yourself.
Students need this time and space to be creative, make mistakes
and to get to grips with their own responsibility for self-learning.
The realisation that learning does not stop the moment that graduation
gowns are returned is vital, that the notion of 'life-long learning',
although sounding like an edu-speak cliché, is a real truth.
The average length of a degree course in design is three years.
A lot can happen in three short years. Think back three years
ago, to the dot bomb crash that was still waiting to happen to
three before that and a dot com boom that hadn't yet surfaced.
Three from now, who knows what will be happening in our digital
world? That is why teaching today's rules for a June 2005 entrance
into the design world makes little sense. Instilling students
with a flexible approach that allows for a future where change
is a certainty and puts value on 'life-long' learning skills is
crucial.
Don't get me wrong, we in design education have a huge responsibility
to teach the 'here and now', but equally we must also work as
initiators and facilitators for the future too. Our current crop
of Freshers will develop into Graduates that develop into Designers
and the process of learning we initiate must evolve throughout
their journey. For when you stop learning, when you stop looking,
when you stop thinking it's really time to call it a day. The
world is evolving, evolve with it.
Lawrence Zeegen is a regular contributor to Computer Arts. He
is Academic Programme Leader for Communication and Media Arts
at the University of Brighton and an established illustrator and
designer. View his work at www.zeegen.com
© Lawrence Zeegen
