Far reaching EIT change a first for NZ

The Eastern Institute of Technology is catching the first wave in a global sea change for creative practitioner education in launching New Zealand's first project-based-learning arts and design degree.

"The restructuring of our Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design will enable students to learn how the creative industry works in practice," says head of Arts and Design Dr Suzette Major who is spearheading the far-reaching change in direction.

An arts marketing expert, Major believes it's vital that fledgling designers and artists master the wide range of skills needed to survive and thrive in the creative industries.

To that end, students starting the degree at EIT next year will undertake a series of real-life projects designed to develop their practical skills, techniques and theoretical knowledge while equipping them with the know-how required for working in, and developing and managing, their own practices.

"In a lecturer-facilitated environment, they will be working collaboratively and at times independently on projects that become progressively more challenging," she said.

"In this hands-on way, they will polish their problem-solving, research and decision-making skills while learning how to market themselves, write proposals, deal with commissions, budget, interact with clients, work with other creative specialists and pace their processes to meet deadlines."

The project-based approach to learning continues to gain traction with educators worldwide and is being introduced in a range of disciplines. It has been adopted by Harvard for its MBA programme, for example, and it is championed by Britain's Sir Ken Robinson, internationally renowned as an educational and creativity expert.

EIT's initiative puts it at the forefront of New Zealand arts and design educators - a move already attracting favourable comment from industry players.

The director of contemporary arts projects for Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, Jane Sutherland, characterises the repackaged degree as "relevant, highly contemporary and forward thinking".

Comparing EIT's "innovative programming" with such progressive art/design institutions as Parsons/The New School in New York, Rhode Island School of Design, MIT in Boston and CalArts, the New York-based Sutherland says EIT graduates will possess the key creative skills and knowledge needed to succeed and excel in seeking residencies, taking part in exchange programmes and exploring their practice in depth.

Creative Hawke's Bay chairman Roger King sees the project-based programme as exciting - "not just for Hawke's Bay, but for New Zealand".

The owner of Napier's paper-works gallery, Annabel Sinclair-Thompson, says it's an "exciting and innovative" lead - "I sense that this degree has the opportunity to put EIT on the arts and design map by taking such a forward thinking and relevant approach to arts education".

EIT is aiming to produce graduates who are ready to go when they join the work force. For that reason, Major says, the degree also encompasses career and business management learning and allows for an intern work experience for final-year students.

"In the real world, practitioners have to be able to pitch their ideas, manage their creative processes and work collaboratively on projects - and they are often juggling a number of projects at any one time. What we will be offering new students is a far more holistic, in-depth way of learning that is aligned to these needs."

Major believes EIT has an edge over other New Zealand arts and design schools in developing the degree that has allowed it to take a lead in project-based learning.

"We are a small enough school and have an experienced team to do this fairly easily within the existing degree structure.

"And we didn't have to write the degree from scratch - what we are teaching now is intuitively project-based, though we've never used that term. We had the expertise without knowing what we had," she says, pointing to a project students did for a futuristic Marine Parade and involvement in a real-life branding exercise for the Lake Tutira arboretum.

"Our degree has never had majors. It's not about specialising but about learning multi-skills and working across areas rather than focusing on one ... On the one hand, the degree seems revolutionary and very different from what we currently do, but it's really the same knowledge and skills packaged differently."

"Hawke's Bay should stand tall and proud of our positioning on the world stage," Dr Major said. "We are aligning with the top arts schools in the world."