Mind the gap: expectations, ambiguity and pedagogy within art and design higher education

This chapter explores the nature and impact of student and tutor expectations and identifies a number of gaps between these expectations that offer particular pedagogic challenges. Commonly these gaps are attributed to student failure to adapt or understand the challenges presented to them within the art and design higher education environment. However, we would argue that in not accepting the responsibility to provide a “safe” transitional framework, we may be failing some of our students.

This chapter describes a series of transitions that art and design students must negotiate as they move between the compulsory and post-compulsory education sector and between higher education and employment within the creative industries sector. These transitions are key points where gaps in expectations become evident and where we as educators need to undertake further work to support our students as they enter and exit further and higher education. The authors discuss those expectations, illustrated with a student vignette, and propose some ways forward for the ‘wicked problems’ of the often ambiguous and open-ended nature of learning tasks in art and design.