Zeegen, L. (2008) ‘Design graduate’s survival guide’, Computer Arts 151, 2008, p.37

Zeegen (2008)

Zeegen, L. (2008 ) ‘Design graduate’s survival guide’, Computer Arts 151, 2008, p.37

A section of the article on post-graduate employment for creative arts practitioners focuses on portfolios. The author comments on a the need for students to represent a range of skill dimensions through the portfolio, reflecting its complexity and scope for purpose. Zeegen states, “Anyone viewing your body of work should be able to comprehend your take on design, visualise your aspirations as a designer and get a real flavour of what motivates and interests you.” These three facets alone illustrate the challenge of visually articulating abstract skill types in a tangible form.

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)

Edwards, G. (2005) Connecting PDP to Employer Needs and the World of Work, The Higher Education Academy

Edwards, G. (2005) Connecting PDP to Employer Needs and the World of Work, The Higher Education Academy

The author summarises research undertaken in 2000 and refers to the research question, “In what ways can personal development planning be implemented in HEIs to be of maximum benefit in recruitment processes and later career mangement?”

Indications reported are that employers are interested in seeing the documented process that has been facilitated by PDP, not the outputs, suggesting that this mode (PDP) is not an intrinsic desirable. Nonetheless, the report begins to define competencies based on responses from graduate employers. These are generic, and at the top of the list come flexibility, adaptability and capacity to cope with change; self-motivation and drive; analytical ability and decision making; and communication and interpersonal skills.

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

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.

James, A. (2004) ‘Autobiography and Narrative in Personal Development Planning in the Creative Arts’ Art, Design and Communication in Higher Education, 3 (2), pp103-118

James, A. (2004) ‘Autobiography and Narrative in Personal Development Planning in the Creative Arts’ Art, Design and Communication in Higher Education, 3 (2), pp103-118

The article examines PDP in a creative arts context, exploring the tension between uses, the “external, sociocultural role (the demonstration of skills and assets to others) and capacity to enhance internal, individual understanding.” (p.103) – reflective and presentational facets.

The discussion concludes that PDP is neither discrete to academic or professional goals. But it does suggest that it is a record of a learning journey that has multiple applications for the synthesiser, acknowledging the learner centred nature of the PDP activity by stating; “This sense of self is both represented by and defined in various modes of expression”.

Downes, S. (2007) Web 2.0 and Your Own Learning Development [Online video presentation] Available at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5431152345344515009 (accessed November 21 2007)

Downes, S. (2007) Web 2.0 and Your Own Learning Development [Online video presentation] Available at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5431152345344515009 (accessed November 21 2007)

This online presentation characterises the principles upon which the author considers web 2.0 technologies to be based. These three underlying principles have connections with the social learning theories of other entries in this annotated bibliography (Lave & Wenger, 1991), (Mendoza et al., 2007). The three principles are:- Interaction: participation in communities of practice; Usability: the software must be easy to use and accessible; and Relevance: or salience. Most significantly, Downes describes the need for the user to own and personalise the spaces that they use, encouraging the bespoke selection of resources from the vast collective knowledge available through the World Wide Web. It is the skills associated with this selective process that are of particular interest when considering the links with user-driven e-portfolio software, whether it be for representational or reflective use.

Burgoyne, P. (2004) ‘Experience Necessary’ Creative Review, March 2004, p10

Burgoyne, P. (2004) ‘Experience Necessary’ Creative Review, March 2004, p10

This short editorial from the popular art and design publication, Creative Review, describes the magazine’s focus for the month, work placement. It highlights the importance of placement in enabling graduates to get work in art and design, but also acknowledges the other elements of employability. “Placements, along with the right personality and a portfolio that demonstrates the ability to think conceptually as well as handle type and images competently, are the essential ingredients for any graduate CV.”

Perry, M. & Medler, A. (2004) Marketing your Creativity: New Approaches for a Changing Industry, Lausanne: AVA Publishing

Perry, M. & Medler, A. (2004) Marketing your Creativity: New Approaches for a Changing Industry, Lausanne: AVA Publishing

The authors have written the book for graduates who are readying themselves for employment in the design sector. They talk about the changing face of employment in the sector describing, “client spending on marketing activity is undoubtedly down and permanent jobs in the industry have suffered, freelance is more buoyant.” (p38) The authors offer an alternative ethos for enhancement employment opportunities, suggesting interdisciplinary awareness and diversity of skill-base being key elements.

The book describes ways that graduates can market themselves for employment. Digital portfolios – CD or web based – are first on the agenda and assert a need for easy to access and readily compatible content the key. A number of other approaches are listed; digital direct mail, email, multimedia, but the portfolio is seen as a fundamental tool. “Turning your traditional portfolio into a digital portfolio opens up all kinds of doors or you.” (p54) And the authors re-state the need for individuality and asserting the “brand of you.”