Clive Barstow examines the role of the Arts

The latest edition of Nitro, the Australian Council of Deans and Directors of Creative Arts’ (DDCA) six-weekly publication, explores the impact of the Creative Arts in the tertiary sector and more broadly. DDCA Vice President Clive Barstow, Executive Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at Edith Cowan University, explores the impact that a system heavily reliant on metrics has on the difficult-to-measure Arts and Cultural sector.
Barstow’s observations reflect those of many of FutureNow’s stakeholders within the Arts and Education sectors. In particular, industry note that a rigid focus on occupational outcomes fails to account for the varied career trajectories of arts graduates, or to acknowledge the broad set of skills a student acquires through studying an arts discipline. Barstow argues the current political agenda privileges STEM over STEAM and fails to recognise the broader impact and contribution of the Arts. FutureNow’s industry consultations have identified concerns that the defunding of Arts qualifications and pathways that result from such bias undermine quality delivery and create access issues.

Read the full article here.

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