Increasing the relevance of academic skills for students in the creative arts

Creative arts students at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic have traditionally been relatively resistant to adhering to academic standards, particularly in writing academic essays and reports. Some of the students‟ arguments against academic constraints in the creative arts include comments indicating that these constraints stifle their creativity and have no relevance to their industry. Additionally, there seems to be an “impending sense of doom” (student) when faced with writing tasks, especially essays. In order to combat this perception, and to create a strategy for enhancing individual motivation, a collaborative team teaching initiative was trialled in Tioriori – Certificate of Music Production and Performance – at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic. The collaboration took place between an academic staff member who is a Learning Advisor in Kahurangi Student Services and a new part-time teacher who is also the director of Island Films with 25 years of industry experience in music video production. The teaching took place on a revised module: Whakaaroaro – Communication for the Creative Arts. The two teachers wrote the overall objectives, assessments and course outline. The aim was to provide a relevant, fun module in communication that had clear industry-relevant outcomes for the students, whilst embedding a firm foundation of academic skills and standards in order to increase student retention and success in the academic areas of the creative arts.