*This is a copy of the text I wrote for Bracket Vol. 3 (out December 2011) a Singapore based design journal. GO AND BUY IT
'We
don't need no education' so sang Pink Floyd in 1979, one of the most
well educated bands in pop history. Idiots. Education needs defending
and protecting, it's a fragile state rather like love or democracy.
If we are fortunate, we are educated to self-teach from a young age,
a love affair with learning that continues throughout our lives. It's
an investment in emotion.
The
prevailing 'cool' of my youth was the Pink Floyd mentality of 'fight
the system, don't believe the hype and fight for your freedom of
expression'. All important ideas that still hold true, however what
this simplistic mantra leaves out is the simple fact that education
also is an accessory to aid critical thinking and creative
collaboration, it provides access to, and analysis of, information
and feeds curiosity and imagination. In short, knowledge is power.
Twelve
years on from my graduation from art college in the U.K. And it's the
economic, not the emotional, investment in education is being called
to the fore by current students in art and design. I studied fine
art, one of the most abstract degree courses possible. What was the
point of it? Can you teach creativity? Can you teach love? No. But
you can teach the ability to spot creativity or love when you stumble
across it. You can inspire confidence
in self belief. Sometimes the argument in education seems to go
against free will and creative spirit, but increasingly it's the fact
that education has become a business and a production line that
destroys the innate power of education and it's ability for change.
The students that demonstrate on the streets of London on behalf of
education act like dissatisfied customers, for that is what they have
become. Further education has become an ugly business ruled by
statistics and the prevailing culture of professionalism.
It's
therefore heartening to read the answers put forth by the creatives
in this edition of Bracket who remind us that education isn't just a
number crunching production line of worker bees but its also the
route to self expression and happiness. The consensus is that
education never stops, it's a lifelong adventure. Some of us had good
experiences of education growing up, others bad, but again the
prevailing shared piece of wisdom is to keep going, get stuck in and
jump into the unknown. Have self belief. The other highly visual clue
to the path of education revealed here is that self expression is a
driving force in the quest for knowledge.
Education
shouldn't just be about sliding into a job at the end of it. We will
always need pioneers to overwhelm the status quo. We need more
pioneers to assist thinking on creative education. The role of
teacher or tutor is an extremely demanding position to take, it's
almost a cliché to suggest that, it's a truism. Each of us knows
from experience that we would not be doing what we do today if it
were not for those that taught us. How many of us are putting our
experience to use by teaching the next generation in whatever
capacity we can? Different cultures adopt different approaches, the
Dutch creative system allows many designers work a studio practice
and put in a number of hours to teach students, it is almost a duty
of honour. Sadly this progressive system is being eroded in many
countries at present due to economic constraints, educators cannot
access their students and engage in a productive manner.
It
is assumed that creativity will blossom anywhere but it needs
constant nurturing. We need to carry on tending the environment to
allow it to grow. Education is one of the richest natural resources
we have. We do need Education, that's something we've learnt.
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