The first Changing Curriculum Forum held at Rose Bruford College was an opportunity for staff from Rose Bruford College’s partner institutions to meet each other to discuss current practice, and progress in developing pathways into performance industries. The institutions that attended include: Blackpool & Fylde College, City College Norwich, Central Sussex College, Barking College, B6 (Brooke House VIth form) College and Brunts School Mansfield. With Lifelong Learning Networks coming to an end, and the introduction of both Creative Diplomas and Creative Apprenticeships, this is a time of rapid change. FE is seen by government to be in the forefront of skills development and we are aware of the pressures on our colleagues. RBC values the knowledge of its FE partners and through the forum aimed to explore the support it can give to the sector, whether in terms of professional development for colleagues or in developing HE in FE for example. The forum was funded by the NALN up to the sum of £1000.
During the initial discussion regarding “setting the agenda: purpose of the forum” on day 1, the FE institutions were able to air their present struggles. Blackpool and Fylde College are currently finding that employers within the creative industries willing to connect with educational institutions are sparse; while they had been linked with 6 employers this has since fallen to 2, their link with Blackpool Pleasure has been forced to come to an end due to high costs. Likewise for Brunt’s school, employers are unfortunately non-existent and although they have attempted to make links with organisations such as Tesco – thinking a little outside the box – no other opportunities have come to light. On a positive note 8yrs previously no Drama Department existed at Brunts’, but now with a successful performing arts faculty they provide GCSE, A level, and a BTEC in Production arts alongside industry experienced tutors for students from various schools. However, their aim is to insure the skills and projects being taught match those within HE. For Barking College their HND technical course has never recruited well and as a result has now amalgamated with the Performing Arts HNC. Furthermore, despite now having a National Diploma no-one actually seems to teach technical theatre at this level, which is merely reinforced by schools lack of provision for students in to technical theatre. Therefore they hope to match progression skills to institutions in order to prevent repetition from FE to HE. Central Sussex College mentioned a lack of understanding of the Creative Industries from the Careers department and as a result students are always referred back to their tutors. City Norwich College runs 24 courses over 4 levels within their Performing Arts Department and hopes to prevent students taking a gap year by gaining a better understanding of what students need to go on to HE. Overall six main points were established that affected all of the FE institutions present:
a) The progression routes from FE to HE must be developed and improved to insure tuition is not repeated and a smoother transition occurs.
b) Schools are not providing students for technical theatre and seem to be unaware of its existence and the possibility of training within the sector.
c) The recognition of transferable skills is poor and should be highlighted – particularly to parents and the possibilities with the Creative Industries.
d) Locality is an issue on two notes: in recognising that the performance industry is not dictated by the West End; and the location of institutions in relation to theatre companies, projects etc.
e) There seems to be a growing trend of students taking a gap year before continuing to HE.
f) Careers Departments have no knowledge of the creative industries and in fact encourage students to do otherwise.
Point e) became a significant question within the discussion as to why gap years are occurring. Solutions were suggested: a need for targets or audition preparation, even a honing of skills aimed specifically towards certain institutions. Moreover students seem to need to thoroughly research the institution, rather than merely applying to the cream of Drama Schools. Furthermore Rose Bruford College is already present at various UCAS fairs, but the Forum highlighted a further two including “Compose Your Future” and “Mover.”
In order to tackle the gap years taken by students and improve creative industry knowledge it was suggested that alternative course information as well as career information should be shared on Performance Passport, a virtual learning environment intended to be accessible by those students within the progression agreements. It also came to light that parents in particular are not aware how progressive the creative industry is and can be negative with regards to their children gaining employment within the industry – unaware of the transferable skills provided by creative training and therefore progression into perhaps other industries. The latter is a problem that could possibly be solved with the input of Careers Advisers specialising in the creative industries.
During the following session “Meet the family” the FE institutions were able to voice their opinions with regards to what they believe Rose Bruford offers. Opinions included: a vocational approach; not too “la-di-da”; innovative; students have a defined sense of direction; intense and rigorous training; very professional training; a very different audition process; provide longevity in the performing industry; specialise at a technical level providing transferable skills; no musical theatre or dance provision; continues to feed an industry that needs to be fed. To provide feedback Nick Hunt the Head of School: Design, Management and Technical Arts and Emilio Romero the Head of School of Performance were present. Nick Hunt explained that in fact the college does not look for a checklist of particular skills. While a prospective student needs the relevant aptitude demonstrated in their skills and experience, at interview one wants to see that the student is already on a wider cultural journey – seeing and responding – with the ability to articulate their experiences. The College hopes for a balance and mix of young people on courses that are designed to level up their skills.
Emilio Romero advised the delegates of a new strategic plan in development for the college and within the performance school. Its aims: to be highly vocational; provide longevity, flexibility and diversity; and promote innovation. The commitment to the community and other regions will continue alongside main stream, West End productions as well as TIE, Community Theatre and Fringe. This will be reinforced by a commitment to practitioners and reflection upon their work. Further still there is and will continue to be a commitment to new work remaining essentially within theatre and not performance art. The plan provides a platform for staff and students to continuously collaborate. With regards to the enrolment of perspective students, Emilio’s view suggested that while they value the legacy of Stanislavski, this is not exclusive and in fact they value a plethora of relevant skills. Jeremy Harrison, Programme Director for the Actor Musicianship course reinforced Emilio’s perspective; the college cares about selecting the right type of student for the right type of degree and often use their personal statements to guide them on to the right course – while they may have applied for the acting course it may be suggested that they consider European Theatre Arts. During this session Jeremy also discussed a project he has been working on at Lewisham College that moves beyond the Progression Agreements. First he explained that the Actor Musicianship is very different in its approach when compared to Musical Theatre, often graduates follow paths in Music Direction or Composing. However, he recognises that many students do not have exams in musical instruments, but offer extensive capabilities in other forms of musicality. Through the project Jeremy decided to explore how Urban Music – DJ-ing and beat boxing could fit on to the Actor Musician course and therefore how ones background can become a platform for acting.
The following session regarding “Developments in performing arts industry” was headed by Professor Phil Wigley – Director of Professional Development. Part of Phil’s role is focusing on knowledge transfer between the institution and industry. For example, he has recently been working on a project called “Urban Scrawl”, a tri-party association between Rose Bruford College, Theatre 503 and Theatrevoice.com where both professional and student actors worked together. “The mission: to create pod cast mini-dramas inspired by every single stop on the Piccadilly Line.”[1] The plays can currently be experienced in an installation at Rose Bruford or via Theatrevoice.com. Due to the nature of the project those involved had hoped it could be sponsored by TFL. However, the writers and directors devising the plays have centred their efforts on transport related disasters – not a topic that TFL would want to promote!
Phil continued to discuss the industry and the future for students at Rose Bruford. In the development of students to graduates, who essentially become one wo/man traders; Rose Bruford provides them with an induction to tax self-assessments, budgeting and record keeping, portfolios and website self-building before they leave college – fully prepared to develop their knowledge further as a freelancer. As a result 10% of graduates become entrepreneurs; although Phil did suggest that many would find a second language preferably in Spanish or Mandarin most advantageous. Furthermore, he highlighted the importance of the creative industries within the UK and the speed at which it is growing. According to the UK Trade and Investment Services: “The creative industries account for 8.2 per cent of UK GDP and are growing at twice the rate of the economy as a whole – averaging 5 per cent a year between 1997 and 2004…London contributed £21 billion to the total creative industries output of £85 billion (2000). According to the Mayor’s Office, creative industries account for 525,000 jobs (one in five) in the capital, with a growth rate of 9 per cent a year, compared with 5 per cent for financial services.”[2]
Phil also provides further knowledge to the college through research into Health and Safety; Copyright; Employment Law; the workings of various theatre companies; and EU initiatives such as the Leonardo da Vinci programme. The programme “…links policy to practice in the field of vocational education and training (VET). Projects range from those giving individuals the chance to improve their competences, knowledge and skills through a period abroad, to Europe-wide co-operation between training organisations.”[3] In addition, Phil is also very aware of the shortages and application of skills within the industry. For instance, there is a vast lack of Lighting Programmers, but in contrast Costume Production is somewhat over-subscribed and in fact successful production houses such as the ROH are now outsourcing costume production to China.
The second day began with a tour of the college and continued onto the “Frameworks discussion: planning the progression legacy” lead by Gwyneth Hamand from NALN. Gwyneth explained the set up and work of the National Arts Learning Network alongside an explanation of the progression agreements, the model and widening participation within that. However, most significant was the future of progression agreements considering the impending end of NALN. The aim is to sustain them through a merger with UKADIA, continued commitment and FE:HE dialogue; and engaging in the 14-19 diplomas. The discussion drew attention to the unrealistic expectations of students today, mainly due to television programmes such as “X Factor” and “Britain’s Got Talent” and therefore a need to expose them not just within the arts, but through culture and politics. Perhaps such exposure could occur through both 14-19 diplomas and the Arts Award Scheme.
Jeremy Harrison returned and continued to further discuss the project he has been involved with at Lewisham College. The Actor Musicianship receives few applications from ethnic minorities and the working class, hence the move towards encouraging interdisciplinary projects between drama and music. In Jeremy’s research for Creative Way on urban music within drama, he found that a lot of communities who find it difficult to bridge the gap between FE and HE also find themselves left in such a gap as they do not fall under the category of ethnic minorities. Therefore through a series of workshops the project uses music as a starting point for understanding narrative, which is non-referential and not necessarily intellectual where it is the use of urban music skills and not traditional music skills that are the focus. Jeremy’s report for Creative Way will be…
Professor Kathy Dacre – Director of Learning and Teaching, provided a pensive insight regarding “Inclusive practice in teaching” and spoke of the work Rose Bruford has conducted with Graeae. “In to the Scene” is funded by the Arts Council and demonstrates inclusive access to performing arts training for people with disabilities within an HEI. It aims to reflect issues such as the audition process, assessment criteria, and training of staff. Kathy also emphasised that Rose Bruford continues to improve accessibility to all alongside the guidelines of the Quality Assurance Agents and by overcoming restrictions embedded by tradition.
Alongside a Performance Passport demonstration by the Director of Community Outreach, Julian Bryant – to which all the delegates are now signed up to, allowing continued communication through the online forum; the day came to a reflective close. In every respect, it seems we as institutions must undoubtedly change and develop the ethos and perception of the transition between FE and HE. However, this can only occur through the transfer of our knowledge and continued open communication. The forum essentially provided a platform for communication sharing between FE and HE colleges and therefore easier access to much needed resources. What’s more the links between FE institutions have developed and can continue to do so through the “Performance Passport” VLE. For some it has inspired and given confidence in making further contacts with other HEIs, but for all participants it has heightened awareness at every level including: transferable skills; unrealistic expectations; locality in terms of both industry and resources; a need for flexibility and alongside this the encouragement of interdisciplinary projects even at FE level; a need for better informed career’s advisers. Delegates also called for a break down of each course from each institution for comparison and informed knowledge in order to direct students accordingly. Furthermore a Symposium composed of FE technical theatre arts, performance and discussion was proposed, which would potentially hold workshops that realise units other FEIs do not provide. However a brief and time of year are all to be discussed further.
On a very final note the first Changing Curriculum Forum has been a great success and with this in mind we hope to repeat the Forum as Progression Agreements grow and links develop. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who attended and look forward to maintaining and developing our links with you and each other in the near future.
Produced by Samantha Kay (Outreach & Diversity Support Officer) on behalf of Outreach at RBC May 2009
[1] From the CD Cover of “Urban Scrawl” www.theatrevoice.com/urban_scrawl/
