Space to think critically: Pedagogies of Joy and Critical & Contextual Studies

Rintoul, Jenny

Abstract

Critical and Contextual Studies (CCS) alludes to a curricula space commonly associated with writing, ‘theory’ and critical thinking in the Art School. Models of CCS differ from institution to institution; while some appear isolated from the studio, others appear more integrated with making practices. Despite the varying models, there remains a mythologising of CCS knowing as cerebral, disembodied and other to the tacit and material knowing of studio practice. The social and historical construction of CCS is in tension with that of the making and ‘thingking’ (Dunnigan, 2013) of the studio.

This tension provokes a generative critical space between CCS and studio practice, beyond the mythologised binaries of writing/making, theory/practice and thinking/doing that are part of their historical legacies. Drawing on education discourse about subject cultures (including Goodson and Mangan, 1995), Art School discourse about CCS (including Lockheart, 2018), and discourse on pedagogies (including Schick and Timperley, 2022) I propose that space generated through differences between CCS and the studio is ripe for expansive critical thinking. I talk from this space in making proposals for decolonising CCS pedagogies, practising writing as a material process with transdisciplinary capacity, and developing pedagogies of joy for a generative (rather than productive) Art School. This discussion is in the context of a politics of care and hope in and for the future of the Art School.

Bibliography
Dunnigan, J. (2013) ‘Thingking’, in Somerson, R. and Hermano, M (eds.), The Art of Critical Making, Hoboken. NJ: John Wiley and Sons, pp.94-115
Goodson, I.F. and Mangan J.M. (1995) ‘Subject cultures and the introduction of classroom computers’, British Educational Research Journal, 21:5, pp. 613-29
Lockheart, J. (2018), ‘The importance of writing as a material practice for art and design students: A contemporary rereading of the Coldstream Reports’, Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education, 17:2, pp.151-75.
Schick, K. and Timperley, C. (2022) Subversive Pedagogies: Radical Possibility in the Academy. Oxon and NY: Routledge.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Teaching Beyond the Curriculum (Session: Critical Speculations of Art School Education)
• Start Date: Nov 15, 2023
• End Date: Nov 17, 2023
• Deposit Date: Nov 27, 2023
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11467301