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Waiting for the Great Leap Forward - The Open College of the Arts

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Waiting for the Great Leap Forward

I found myself humming the theme tune to ‘The Great Escape’ yesterday whilst hanging out the laundry.
My humming has a divinatory aspect. This can be prophetic or embarrassing depending on context. For example I may notice in a shop that I am droning “where you from, you sexy thing” only to recover my presentness and discover that I am standing in front of a shop assistant that looks a bit like Richard Armitage*.
In this instance though, the escape refers to a sense of things coming to a head and new departures. Several of my level three students are submitting for their assessment in July just now and I too am making final preparations for my mfa show.
Glamour-12As an assessor, I gain a familiarity with student’s work over the years even if I have not taught them directly and it is always moving and potent when students present their final graduating portfolios.
From the student’s perspective, assessment can be a tricky thing to handle successfully. There is a balance to be reached between acknowledging the assessment criteria and making the most convincing personal statement through your portfolio.
One of my level 2 students ends each assignment with an A4 side of notes in her log book against the 4 assessment headings, with reference to the grade descriptors. I think it is important that she does this at the end, and she is not ‘marking herself’ in any sense – she is using the language and framework of the course to help her reflect on her progress.
‘Assessment blight’ is a real and present danger for all students. That can manifest itself either by a student reverting to an earlier comfort zone instead of resolving current issues or conversely by going mad and doing something completely out of character that hasn’t been properly rooted or worked through.There is definitely a sense of needing to hold ones nerve, something which is made easier by having worked consistently throughout the course.
For many students though assessment is, and should be, a fantastic learning opportunity. It is a point of punctuation, a nudge to pull your thinking together and gain some perspective and clarity. It is a chance to look back at all the difficult, brave, wonderful and confusing things you have done and reflect on how they have influenced you as a practitioner. It’s a chance to showcase yourself as an artist and celebrate your achievements.
July is often a bumper session for assessment and I wish everyone taking part the very best of luck.
 
 
 
*This is a fictitious example and, so far, as I enter middle age I have not begun to lecher after young men in shops or elsewhere. Yet.
 


Posted by author: Emma Drye

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