Artists, writing: Towards inclusive assessment of critical studies in an arts degree programme

Teachers of historical and critical studies within an arts practice context have consistently been faced with the perception from students that academic reading and writing does not correspond to their interests as artists. Historically ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ have been framed as binaries that compete with one another in the context of learning and teaching arts students. These students are accustomed to researching practitioners and art works that help develop their own practice in the studio environment. What are needed in art historical and critical studies modules, then, are approaches to learning that allow art students to learn in similar ways to how they learn in the studio – like artists . Just as more traditional ‘older’ academic approaches to assessment do not necessarily facilitate achievement amongst arts students, neither do traditional approaches to teaching. Established approaches to teaching art history are typically passive (the lecturer speaks, the student receives information), and are not conducive to deep learning. Indeed, such approaches often lean to student disengagement. In the fine art undergraduate degrees at Bath Spa University, three new modules have been introduced for the academic year 2023/24. These modules combine innovative approaches to teaching and learning, with accessible assessment items that ‘dethrone the essay’ in favour of authentic assessment items that prepare artists for the kinds of art historical and critical writing that will more likely form part of an artist’s portfolio of approaches to research.