Stapleford, J., Beasley, B. & Palmer, S. (2006) ‘Developing PDP to Support Employability: an Institutional Perspective’ In Personal Development Planning and Employability (2006) Learning and Employability Series 2, The Higher Education Academy

Stapleford, J., Beasley, B. & Palmer, S. (2006) ‘Developing PDP to Support Employability: an Institutional Perspective’ In Personal Development Planning and Employability (2006) Learning and Employability Series 2, The Higher Education Academy

An implementation toolkit approach is taken to address institutionally identified challenges of initiating PDP and reflection. The toolkit is made up of activities in: learning journals and diaries; storytelling; portraits; dialogue; sent letters; unsent letters; visualisation; altered points of view. The article reports on practical implementation but provide methods for generating reflective content through modes beyond traditional journalistic text-based approaches having identified the need for representation of multiple intelligences. “Emotional intelligence is seen as an increasingly evident aspect of employability that student need to develop.” (p.37)

Gillham, B. & McGilp, H. (2007) ‘Recording the Creative Process: An Empirical Basis for Practice-Integrated Research in the Arts’ International Journal of Art and Design Education, 26 (2), pp177-184

Gillham, B. & McGilp, H. (2007) ‘Recording the Creative Process: An Empirical Basis for Practice-Integrated Research in the Arts’ International Journal of Art and Design Education, 26 (2), pp177-184

The article explores the use of ‘creative process journals’ (CPJs) to record the practice-integrated research activity in the creative arts as a formal research tool. Although the emphasis is on how this concept can be used for research purposes, there are clear fundamental parallels between this and creative portfolios in terms of practitioners, and presentation of process. As a caveat to that statement however, the authors state that their discussion is discrete to that of journals “primarily concerned with ‘reflection’ and self-analysis.” (p.178) Instead they talk about the “detailed description to provide the raw data for critical interpretation.”

The authors comment on the differences between research through synthesis and through analysis, suggesting that art and design researchers are inclined to the former. The function of the CPJ therefore would be to provide an account for which analytical interpretation can occur. Within this, there are experiences identified that relate to the need for accurate representation of journal content in order for the analysis to take place in context.

Gardner, H. (2006) Five Minds for the Future, Boston MA: Harvard Business School Press

Gardner, H. (2006) Five Minds for the Future, Boston MA: Harvard Business School Press

The author reflects on five discrete ‘minds’ that equate to skills for life. Each of the skills is discussed as a grounded concept and distilled into an anticipated requirement for survival in the future of learning and employment.

“- The disciplined mind has mastered at least one way of thinking – a distinctive modes of cognition that characterizes a specific scholarly discipline, craft, or profession.

- The synthesizing mind takes information from disparate sources, understands and evaluates that information objectively, and puts it together in ways that make sense to the synthesizer and to other persons.

- The creating mind breaks new ground. It puts forth new ideas, poses unfamiliar questions, conjures up Fresh ways of thinking, arrives at unexpected answers.

- The respectful mind notes and welcomes differences between human individuals and between human groups, tries to understand these ‘others’, and seeks to work effectively with them.

- The ethical mind ponders the nature of one’s work and the needs and desires of the society in which one lives. The mind conceptualizes how workers can serve purposes beyond self-interest and how citizens can work unselfishly to improve the lot of all.” (p.3)

Gardner, H. (1993) Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons, Revised Ed. New York: Basic

Gardner, H. (1993) Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons, Revised Ed. New York: Basic

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory challenges the traditional idea of what intelligence is and how it can be measured. The author argues that by using a method such as an IQ test, the multi-faceted cognitive capabilities of individuals is being overlooked, and as such he proposes a series of intelligences that each of us possess, but with variable strengths and weaknesses. The theory proposes that “intellectual profiles” are unique because of the infinite range of experiences that individuals are exposed to.

The intelligences described are:
• Musical Intelligence
• Bodily-Kinaesthetic Intelligence
• Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
• Linguistic Intelligence
• Spatial Intelligence
• Interpersonal Intelligence
• Intrapersonal Intelligence

Dillon, S. & Brown, A. (2006) ‘The Art of E-Portfolios: Insights from the Creative Arts Experience’ In Jafari, A. & Kaufman, C. (Eds.) Handbook of Research on E-Portfolios pp420-433 Hershey, PA: Idea Group Reference

Dillon, S. & Brown, A. (2006) ‘The Art of E-Portfolios: Insights from the Creative Arts Experience’ In Jafari, A. & Kaufman, C. (Eds.) Handbook of Research on E-Portfolios pp420-433 Hershey, PA: Idea Group Reference

The authors aim to examine the creative production context in order to reveal challenges potentially encountered using portfolios in the creative arts through case studies in diverse creative fields. Initially there is an acknowledgement of the “intensive media-rich nature of creative production contexts” being a significant challenge for electronic portfolio use. The article goes on to describe the generic elements of traditional creative arts portfolios to represent the intrinsic creative processes associated:

“When creative product and experience are textualised, the explanation is privileged over a representation of the knowledge itself in its original symbolic form. Artefacts of artistic practice can be organized into a system that documents creative practice in a way that combines both the experience of the work and the explanation of the work to provide a rigorous, accountable, and compelling presentation of the work.” (p.421)

The trend for multimedia richness made possible and driven by technology, is suggested to “level the playing field” for contexts beyond the creative arts (there is a historical and cultural tendency for prioritising text and numerical modes of description). The authors highlight ways in which multimedia can be utilised to extrude metaphors for creative arts, citing music and the performing arts’ temporal nature as being well suited to such outputs.

A key question raised is; “Is the artefact of the production sufficiently representative of the quality of the work?” A focus on understanding subjects and the tools and processes intrinsic to them is provided as a basis for a solution; “Understanding the ways of knowing within a discipline is critical to the effective use of ePortfolios, and understanding within creative arts is tightly bound with the mediums of those practices.” (p.431)

Higher Education Academy (2006b) Student Employabiliy Profile Template – Art and Design Generic Employability Competencies, The Higher Education Academy.

Higher Education Academy (2006b) Student Employabiliy Profile Template – Art and Design Generic Employability Competencies, The Higher Education Academy. [Online] Available at http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Main_menu___Research/Student_employability/p!efbLLca (accessed 24 July 07)

The employability profile for art and design has been extracted from the HEA’s Student Employability Profiles: A guide for Higher Education Practitioners. The profile template maps subject benchmark indicators developed by the Quality Assurance Agency to six skill sets:

• Cognitive Skills; The ability to identify, and solve problems, work with information and handle a mass of diverse data, assess risk and draw conclusions.
• Generic Competencies; High level and transferable key skills such as the ability to work with others in a team, communicate, persuade and interpersonal sensitivity.
• Personal Capabilities; The ability and desire to learn for oneself and improve ones self-awareness, emotional intelligence and performance. To be a self-starter (creativity, decisiveness, initiative) and to finish the job (flexibility, adaptability, tolerance to stress).
• Technical Ability; For example, having the knowledge and experience of working with relevant modern technology.
• Business and/or Organisation Awareness; An appreciation of how businesses operate through having had (preferably relevant) work experience. Appreciation of organisational culture, policies and processes.
• Practical and Professional Elements; Critical evaluation of the outcomes of professional practice, reflect and review own practice, participate in and review quality control processes and risk management.

Mendoza, H.R., Bernasconi, C. & MacDonald N.M. (2007) ‘Creating New Identities in Design Education’ International Journal of Art and Design Education, 26 (3), pp308-313

Mendoza, H.R., Bernasconi, C. & MacDonald N.M. (2007) ‘Creating New Identities in Design Education’ International Journal of Art and Design Education, 26 (3), pp308-313

Mendoza et al explore a community theory of shared knowledge in interdisciplinary design fields. The ideas are not dissimilar to Lave & Wenger’s legitimate peripheral participation in that the authors state that they “do not subscribe to the idea of restrictive fields of knowledge which thereby prevent access to others. We argue that a collective mapping of interrelated knowledge territories creates a stronger framework…”

“The ability to interrelate with others using the ap, to add and to edit it creates a powerful participatory learning tool.” There are also links with well-founded web 2.0 technologies such as wikis and weblogs in the underlying ethos expressed in the article. The authors go on to affirm the belief that restricting knowledge through boundaries is counterintuitive to its mercurial nature.