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Practice-led research in Higher Arts Education
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Practice-led research in Higher Arts Education
Practice-led research in Higher Arts 2 The increasingly academic character of arts education and the possibility of financing
research within arts education pose the question of the nature of this research. Does
Education this mean that one form of research and knowledge production, characteristic for uni-
versities, is being pursued, or is arts education searching for its own nature in
Competencies Academisation research and production of knowledge? Reflection on practice-led research within arts
education indicates that arts education is looking for forms of research that fits in bet-
Integration theory/practice ter with its own nature.
Education: reflective abilities reflexive processes As Research Officer of the Utrecht College of Art, and Research Supervisor of the Faculty
of the Visual Arts and Design, it was necessary to formulate a number of policy stand-
Research: points with regard to research fitting closely to these developments, and which can func-
Research into the arts tion as points of departure for the education and research policy.
‘practitioner-researcher’
Research within the arts is the bridge between theory and practice and is the point of
Research in the arts departure from which arts education must adopt its own position regarding education.
Practice-linked research Practice-led research Research within the educational process
I would like to link this with a number of changes that were already underway in educa-
Reflective research process Problem solving process tion. The distinction between theory and practice that has determined the curriculum up
Conceptual research process Parallel process until now has become increasingly unsatisfactory. Theory offered separately from practice
often appeared much more difficult for students to integrate than theory linked to profes-
visual essay sional practice. Forms of education such as problem-driven education and action lear-
ning derive their success from the fact that practical problems are tackled by acquiring
the knowledge to solve them.
1 HBO-raad, Naar een In many countries developments in education are in progress that raise the matter of the For intelligent professional practice it is therefore better when theory is linked with prac-
kwalificatiestelsel relation between theory and practice and compel us to define our position regarding tice. Already for years active experimentation has been carried out in forms of lessons in
Kunstonderwijs, verbin- research. The first development concerns the introduction of competence-oriented edu- which theory and practice are linked to each other and which mutually stimulate each
dende notitie sectoraal cation; the second development has to do with the ‘academisation’ of higher arts educa- other. The sociology teacher helps the documentary photographer in his field research.
adviescollege kunst- tion. Both are nurtured and strengthened by the Bologna process dividing the course The semiotics teacher helps the student in his reflection on designs in terms of the pro-
onderwijs. SAC-KUO, programme into a Bachelor’s and a Master’s phase. In the Netherlands this is also reflec- duction of meaning. The art history teacher helps the illustrator to place his work in an
January 2003 ted in the appointment of lecturers in arts education. art-historical perspective. Furthermore, reflection is the examination of a particular pro-
cess, reflexion (the process of reflexivity) is the mutual reflection of theory in practice and
1 Teaching and assessment must become competence-oriented. Outcome-oriented lear- of practice in theory.
ning is focused on the integration of knowledge in competent action. A person is con-
sidered to be competent when on the basis of knowledge, skills and attitude he “is If arts education wishes to take research seriously then it must set itself the task of pla-
capable of making choices, which in accordance with his position and responsibility cing the development of the students’ reflective competencies at the heart of the
h enable him to deal adequately with problems in various professional contexts. That he Bachelor’s phase.
earc
Res is capable of doing this can be determined by looking at the choices made, the justifica- Res
tion of these choices and the reflection on them.”1 From this point of view knowledge Therefore, rather than product-driven arts education has become process-driven. Less
is important in so far that it is activated in the artistic process and is visible in the and less, assessment involves only the artistic quality of the work displayed. More and
artistic product. Knowledge is therefore important when it is applicable, or when it more, it involves the intelligent artistic process that led to that work. A consequence of
has an influence on competent artistic action. the shift from product to process is that the making of art and design products can be
Practice-led research in Higher Arts Education
62 63
Practice-led research in Higher Arts Education
seen more easily in terms of research, which means that the distinction between art and Practice-linked research can be distinguished in two ways. Depending on the position
science is reduced. A traditional distinction between theory (science) and art is that in a theoretical research takes up we speak of conceptual research or of reflective research.
work of art the final product does not display the process that preceded it, while a scien- 1 Conceptual research: research into preparation concerning the content for the approach
tific text does display the process that led to its conclusion. When art and design takes to the practical task. This research is content-driven. It is also known as conceptual
the (research) process seriously the distinction between theory and practice diminishes. research because it concerns the concept of the practical task. This usually concerns
Moreover, arts education seeks its own forms in order to present this process in a struc- theoretical research that preparing the formulation of the concept and is the point of
tured way. The visual essay is an example of this. departure for developing the thematic. This concept concerns the approach taken up
for the theme, or its pronunciation.
It is therefore important that the artistic process is transparent, that ‘theoretical’ depth is 2 Reflective research: research into the form of the medium is the preparation for deve-
integrated, and that arts education searches for its own personal forms in order to show loping the concept of the practical task. This research is medium-driven. When
the art and design process as rhetorical. research is medium-driven it is carried out into comparable expressions of art. This
can be research into artists who have already developed the same thematic in the
The personal nature of research: research into the arts same, or a comparable, medium or genre. In this research the specifications of the
Arts education seeks the recognition of its personal research task. It wishes to lay claim medium/genre are researched for the purpose of developing a personal thematic.
to research norms and also wants a differentiation in function for educational personnel Through this research the researcher formulates his points of departure for his per-
taking on research tasks. sonal expression of art.
Research in an art academy is research in which the context of art practice is taken seri-
ously. The people who carry out research on the basis of experience and the practical Properties of these forms of research:
knowledge they have of a particular (artistic) practice thus form an important group. • Explicit research is theoretical.
As a logical consequence of reflection on its own product within arts education reflection • Research precedes the artistic process: first think, then do.
on its own practice is also of importance. Donald Schön called this reflective practice. • The artistic process is not regarded as a research process.
When these ‘practitioners’ begin to research their practice he calls them reflective • The artist/designer takes on two roles: a theoretical.
researchers. (reflective, conceptual) researcher and a practical artist/designer.
2 Schön, D.A. The Schön2 calls the research frame analysis: researchers acquire insight into the points of
Reflective Practicioner. departure from which they design. When this research describes practices that are Practice-led research: the artist/designer as researcher
New York: BasicBooks, exemplary he terms it repertoire building research.
problem
1983 The researcher might also describe research methods used by designers to make concept
changes and flexibility possible.
3 Jarvis, P. The practi- Peter Jarvis3 (1983) termed these people reflective researchers - practitioners-researchers
systematic intuititive
cioner researcher, and he added other subjects, such as the changing nature of their design practice, custom
developing theory from and intuition.
practice. San Francisco,
research solution
California: Jossey-Bass, In its curriculum arts education should take reflectivity and practical knowledge as
practical solution
1999 points of departure as preparation for research into the arts.
The art and design process can also be regarded as a research process - this is not un-
The personal nature of research: research in the arts usual, certainly within the design discipline. Just as theoretical research is driven by
h While research into the arts concerns the reflective meta-view of the researcher himself, a question, design research is driven by a problem. The design is the solution to that
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Res within the artistic process research in the arts takes place as part of this process. A dis- problem. Within practice-led research it is the design process moving from problem to Res
tinction is drawn between research in which theory and practice are separated, and solution that is the point of departure for the rhetorical research direction of the thesis.
research in which this separation is said not to exist. The artistic process is regarded as However, the art process can also be regarded as a research process, as a transparent
the research process in which various forms of research take place. The first is known as search that eventually leads to a work of art. Even expressions of an artist’s work can be
practice-linked research, the second practice-based or practice-led research. regarded as the moments of a research process.
Practice-led research in Higher Arts Education
64 65
Practice-led research in Higher Arts Education
The research direction of an artist/designer - other than the art and design process - is Arts education must give high priority to projects in which the artist/designer carries out
a transparent process in which conscious steps are taken, in which knowledge is used, or research as artist/designer because that is the only way in which arts education will be
knowledge is searched for and articulated in the process. Just as the design is the solution able to articulate the personal nature of its research.
to the problem, so here the thesis is the justification of the solution.
The artist/designer, therefore, must also demonstrate that he possesses sufficient know- Conclusion
ledge to justify the choices he has made. Or he must demonstrate he possesses sufficient There is no visible research tradition within arts education in the Netherlands. Because
powers of persuasion to make plausible the steps he has taken. of the demands the university makes on research, research which artists and designers
The art and design process as a problem solving process can therefore be termed a re- carry out is never recognised. Moreover artists and designers have never recognised the
search process. The question remains as to whether there are not always two processes research process preceding the work of art as something that still has value when the
that influence each other - the intuitive design process and the systematic process. There work of art is usually a single specific work.
is then a question of a parallel process. In order to make its own position clear, therefore, it is of great importance that arts edu-
The question can be posed as to whether in scientific research there is not also a question cation theory is integrated in the art and design process, that it makes this process visible
of an intuitive and a systematic process in which the first nourishes the second and the and designs research, and that it finds personal visual forms to explain this direction as
second keeps the first in check. a rhetorical direction.
Visual essay
Within practice-led research the artist/researcher carries out research in a similar way in
which he carries out research for a practical task. This means that he appeals to different
sources than the theoretician, and that he bases his argumentation on other information.
This also means that the way in which the researcher arranges and communicates his
research material is more in tune with the way he does this as an artist/designer. He does
not write a thesis but imagines or designs a visual essay on the basis of the discovered
research material. This is not to say that no words will appear in it, the point is that the
argumentation is carried by the image.
The visual essay based on practice-led research therefore makes an explicit call on speci-
fic competencies, which are of importance to the designer. These competencies are im-
plicitly involved in the visual essay.
• Apart from the visual language a competent artist/designer can also use the alphabeti-
cal ‘written’ language. A visual essay must not only consist of images, but also show
the design student has both languages at his disposal and understands when he must
apply them. The visual language is not only preordained for the practical task, but also
for the visual essay.
• A competent artist/designer must be able to contain himself in relation to others.
He must be able to see there are different directions in which he can go and why he
chooses a particular direction. He must therefore have an overall view and be able to
support his position and his choice.
h • The competent artist/designer is able to chart a direction in information. The research
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Res material discovered must be conveyed in an attractive, convincing and effective manner. Res
• A competent designer is trained in a number of research methods, including literary
research, analysis and interviews. He also knows when to employ which method. The
visual essay can be a witness to this. Anke Coumans teaches semiotic and is research co-ordinator for fine art and design at
the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Utrecht.
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