In his recent project "Ai Vs AI," Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei posed 81 questions to Artificial Intelligence on various topics, including "Can education be harmful?". Both Ai Weiwei and AI share a common perspective: "Mainstream education, frequently guided by specific purposes and pragmatic goals, has metamorphosed into a detriment to humanity. It subverts the innate yearning for freedom and hampers the development of human essence," states Ai Weiwei. Artificial Intelligence highlights that education is generally beneficial, but "it can be harmful if it perpetuates biases, promotes misinformation or is used to indoctrinate rather than foster critical thinking and open-mindedness."
The question prompts us to ponder on the current state of education, particularly in creative subjects like art and fashion design. Despite global offerings, there's discontent and crisis in some institutions: enrollment appears to be dwindling, maybe because increasing course expenses discourage prospective students, creating disparities between those with limited financial means and their wealthier colleagues.
The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (PAFA), the oldest art school in the United States (it was founded in 1805), recently announced the closure of its degree programs due to financial challenges and declining enrollment. Eric Pryor, the president of PAFA, announced in an open letter dated 11th January 2024, that it will be closing its undergraduate and graduate degrees after the 2024-2025 school year.
The board of the university came to the decision after considering rising operational costs (the school is currently running on a $3 million budget deficit) and falling student enrollment (a situation worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic). The change affects only the degree-granting programs; the certificate programs, commitment to K-12 arts programs and continuing education will remain in place. Besides, the decision will also not affect the PAFA art museum.
As a result of this decision, the final graduating class will be in 2025, leaving 37 students currently enrolled at the school forced to transfer to other universities (agreements are in place with University of the Arts, Temple University's Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Moore College of Art & Design, Arcadia University and Pennsylvania College of Art and Design). Besides, some members of the staff will also lose their roles after June 2024.
Two points of this decision remain unclear: the certificate programs will not be cancelled, but these programs do not qualify for federal loans, so students who don't have adequate financial resources will be automatically cut out from this option and this seems to be unfair. Besides, it is legitimate to wonder if the students who enrolled and who will now have to transfer to other institutions may be able to carry out a class action against PAFA since, when they were offered a course, they were promised four years of education, yet a few months later their course was canceled (surely the institution knew that they had financial problems already…).
The changing landscape in education, reflects a broader crisis exacerbated by a lack of adaptability to emerging trends, something that has been going on for quite a few years now.
When universities or schools fail in their roles, the blame is often placed on students for being superficial, lazy or unprepared, but throughout the years a lot of mistakes were committed by educational institutions with universities offering creative courses that killed rather than fostered creativity. The crises that followed (exacerbated by COVID-19, yes, we must admit that) were at times solved by partnerships as it happened in the US last year when Arizona State University merged with Los Angeles' Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, creating ASU FIDM.
Yet maybe the solution stands in changing the teaching methods and creating hybrid subjects. The focus should maybe be on recognizing and nurturing students' talents and in instilling discipline and developing research skills through passion rather than terrorising people with exams and deadlines. A student-centered approach may be key to better teaching, but also more adaptable lecturers capable of challenging the status quo and of offering blended disciplines, merging for example art or fashion design with science or technology.
The future lies indeed not in a singular knowledge domain but in a blended and hybrid curriculum that sparks inspiration in diverse ways, offering better knowledge and preparation (if fashion design courses would offer introductions to fashion law we would probably have fewer lawsuits as future designers would grasp some knowledge of copyright issues that they may find useful in future, but there are other disciplines that may create better fashion designers, politics and economics included). Who knows, this hybrid approach may prepare individuals for a dynamic world and may be perceived by young people interested in pursuing further studies as more exciting and relevant.
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