Reflecting on Success

Published on 03.03.16

Our first MA cohort graduated in December and currently we are receiving applications for the MA Contemporary Crafts commencing in September 2016. It seems strange walking past the MA rooms that are currently empty, and I am definitely missing the intensity and excitement that filled the air in November and December as our graduating cohort

Our first MA cohort graduated in December and currently we are receiving applications for the MA Contemporary Crafts commencing in September 2016.

It seems strange walking past the MA rooms that are currently empty, and I am definitely missing the intensity and excitement that filled the air in November and December as our graduating cohort finally installed their MA show.

Now is a time for reflection, and this week I have been writing the Annual Monitoring Report. Part of the Report is to comment on feedback that you have received from the External Examiner and the programme’s Partnership Team Leader in their written reports. Their feedback was extraordinary and they were very supportive of the programme and what we had achieved with our first cohort. I thought I would share some of the comments, from their reports before signing off on this blog, until our new students arrive in September 2016.

Our Partnership Team Leader, Dr Paul Jeff comments in his report:

“I can honestly say that I have never seen a cohort of students so happy with their course and how it has worked out for them. There has not been a single complaint in all my conversations with them and they cannot praise the course and the staff enough. The student experience appears to have been excellent and all the students fully appreciate the excellent education they have received and the opportunities that the programme has opened up for them. It was actually very affirming to hear such positive student feedback.

The management and delivery of the programme has been absolutely excellent right the way through this first cohort experience. Organisation and communication appear to be first class and I have heard no comments to the contrary. The student experience is of the highest order according to all parties and I can report that the work of each of the students was distinctive and of a high academic standard as well as producing excellence in practice. The top student was absolutely outstanding and all students interviewed showed diligence and application in producing very strong and individual work.”

The External Examiner, Dr Natasha Mayo, comments in her report:

“The implementation of ‘Making the Creative Process Visible’ has been extremely effective in the structuring of this course and needs to be applauded. It demonstrates the implementation of high end scholarly research in the field of creative thought and pedagogies and is in itself a distinct contribution and should be published as such.

The use of technology within craft is a burgeoning field with research active institutions advancing the possibilities at a pace. What stands the Contemporary Craft course at Hereford aside from these institutions is its foundation in traditional as well as technological engagement. The course offers a strength of traditional skills and context sometimes forgotten in the pursuit of the new. Maintaining a strong hold on the history of Craft, particularly its social community as well as independent engagement has enabled the course to reframe or resituate contemporary discourse within a more embedded context.”

New blog posts will start with our new students. Start following again in September.

Del