Page 147 - Constructing Craft

were changing. The term ‘design’ and its associations with contemporary objects

increasingly became part of the discourse of craft art.

Teaching methods also appeared to be out of touch with the more qualification-
orientated approach to education. The craft model of learning based on technical

education ‒ learning through practice ‒ had been the preferred method of
instruction in most craft courses being taught by polytechnics up until the mid-

1970s. Some educators in New Zealand – as in Britain – believed that the method

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was a closed system that stifled innovation. They suggested a model that would
draw craft closer to the methods used in art schools and would be more appropriate

in the new environment. The Labour government decided to construct a new

qualifications framework that would align polytechnic and university qualifications.
From the early 1990s ‘all tertiary qualifications were progressively replaced by
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national certificates, national diplomas and degrees.’ Craft education was
included.

Craft in Academia

Craft education as an officially accredited subject dominated the thinking of both
educators and craftspeople and the CCNZ sought to establish itself as the

legitimating authority. In 1988 the CCNZ devoted an issue of its magazine to it. Ray

Thorburn, the Education Officer and national spokesperson for art, craft and design
education at the tertiary level for the Department of Education, acknowledged

Beeby’s contribution to art and craft education, but condemned the legacy that
lingered.

The real journey began in the 1950s under the inspired
leadership of Dr Clarence Beeby, Director General [sic] of
Education. However, ever since then a naïve belief has
lingered, ie that art and craft education was all joyful discovery.
Fun to do but not a serious classroom pursuit. Creative talent it
would seem was a mystical power source deep inside us all,
patiently waiting to bloom into innocent imagery, untutored and
untarnished by adult intervention. … The “art is fun but not
work” [s]yndrome [sic] is still widespread. … The fact that
craftspeople are making an important contribution to New

Constructing Craft