The art of learning

One thing seems to be endemic in the whole culture of education today: the idea of assessment. There is more and more paperwork, no one wants to write it, no one seems to know what to do with it, and no one will ever read it.

How did we get here? The story so far: in order to survive, art schools had to seek the protection of universities, but that protection came at a price. Like all mergers they can easily become takeovers. One of the costs of the acceptance of university systems is an assessment procedure that is wholly inappropriate for art education. There will come a point when more time is spent on the assessment of students than on teaching them.

The BA classification system, despite all the safeguards, is really a form of self-assessment for the college. Let's be honest, the degree in the outside world is next to useless, whatever grade is given. No museum director, gallery owner, critic or writer has the slightest interest in what grade is achieved. The only issue is if the students want to continue their education. I do not know if the grade system is important here - it should not be, students should be judged on merit. My first proposition is to make the degree a pass or fail.

But there is a more dangerous outcome to this assessment system. Students know better than ever what the minimum requirements are for them to collect a degree, and make work that fits the assessment criteria. The result is that the work becomes standardised. Standardisation means mediocrity; mediocrity is the enemy of art. My second proposition: drop the dissertation. We are training artists not writers. And my third proposition, last but not least: abandon the degree show. I think it stunts growth and experimentation, forces an unnecessary anxiety and puts the emphasis on presentation and style rather than on substance and risk-taking. I feel very strongly that the energy and focus of the degree show distorts the whole art school experience.

I think it is time now really to rethink everything. Students have less actual space; as a consequence I think they have less dream space. It is easy to forget what is the core activity at an art school. I think it is a place to experiment, to play, to be challenged and a place of magic.

Joseph Beuys destroyed all his college work, calling it his training work. And that is what I think we need, a healthy attitude; maybe instead of a degree show at the end, we should have a huge bonfire.

Terry Smith is teaching fellow in drawing at the University of the Arts Wimbledon.

This extract was reproduced in Art Monthly's special issue on art education, October 2008/ Issue 320, p9.

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