Challenging HEA Fellowship: Why should technicians in creative arts HE be drawn into teaching?

Abstract

The UK Higher Education sector is subject to continual scrutiny and measurement, not least via the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). For Government, teaching qualifications are synonymous with teaching excellence. Within the Creative Arts, however, this has always been problematic. The percentage of academics with teaching qualifications remains among the lowest in the sector, and technicians frequently deliver practice-based teaching. As technical teaching expands in both volume and sophistication, arts technicians are increasingly seeking recognition through the Higher Education Academy's Fellowship programme. This article reports on a small-scale study undertaken at a leading UK Creative Arts University that aimed to illuminate the experiences of four technicians gaining Fellowship. Insights suggest that these individuals were motivated to work across academic and technical camps. In doing so, they expanded their practice and networks, although they also experienced hierarchical paradoxes with management and colleagues.