researCh training in the Creative arts and designmodels that have been adopted, varying from approaches in which the doctoral project
is seen as the vehicle for virtually all of the skills development expected of students, to
those which place considerable emphasis on the delivery of skills through additional
workshops and courses. if one thinks of research training as existing along a continuum,
at one end one would find the ‘traditional’ model of research training as a craft
apprenticeship, heavily dependent on the interaction between the individual student
and his or her research supervisor, an experienced researcher and subject expert; at the
other end one would find menu- based approaches, research skills packaged in short
courses and workshops and often delivered through institution-wide graduate schools
by professional trainers. neither of these approaches is entirely satisfactory, and indeed
they rarely exist in their pure form. drawing from each i want to propose a model
of research training that seeks to embed research skills at subject level, where the
student is neither dependent on a single supervisor, nor experiences skills development
as an activity entirely divorced from his or her doctoral project, but within which the
development of research skills takes place as part of an active research culture.
First, however, it is necessary to say a few words about masters level provision.
Whereas in many subjects the master’s degree is predominantly viewed as a preparation
for research degree study, this is not the case in the creative arts and design. master’s
courses in the visual arts and design have traditionally been a terminal degree, seen as
the point at which a student has reached a level of competence suitable for independent
professional practice. For many students that is still the case. however, there is now a
significant minority of students looking to move from masters to doctoral study. it is
worth reflecting for a moment on this specific type of research student. in a context
where the boundary between those who produce knowledge and those who use it
has become increasingly blurred, it is no surprise that the line between professional
practice and research no longer holds; this is an issue that resonates much more widely
than the creative arts and design. For these students, masters study does not result in
a neatly resolved practice, which they expect then to apply in a professional arena,
but generates questions that are simultaneously theoretical and practical, and which
warrant deeper and more intensive study. a number of such students look to the phd
to provide a framework within which to pursue these questions. For many of these
students, however, the start of doctoral studies is experienced as a significant change
in ways of working and styles of thinking. For example, one of the biggest problems
such students face when working within the phd is the lack of ability, and sometimes
willingness, to commit to a clear articulation of the research journey, and the struggle
to find an appropriate form for doing so. as i have noted above, this can be the result
of an apparent clash of values between visual arts practice and research, as much as
any lack of research skills.
over the longer term, the answer must be to embed an understanding of research
skills and values within professional practice masters programmes. it is beyond the
remit of this chapter to make the case, but the skills involved in handling information
and knowledge, including synthesizing knowledge from diverse sources in support of
problem- solving in specific situations and generating local knowledge in the context of
practice, are arguably central to professional practice in the creative arts and design.^8
This convergence means that what is good for professional practice also supports those
students who wish to pursue research at doctoral level. of course many programmes