Dear Colleagues
At the bottom of this email is a very short multiple-choice questionnaire
relating to the teaching of photography theory and practice at undergraduate
level in the U.K..
I would be HUGELY grateful if you could take a couple of minutes to respond
to this as this would be a very useful addition to the research part of the
PGCertTLHE course I'm currently on.
Many thanks in advance for any help you can give. Nb. all responses will be
treated anonymously.
Kindest regards,
Michael O'Brien
Lecturer in Photography
Roehampton University
e: [log in to unmask]
___________________________
Please reply off-list to [log in to unmask] giving your answers in the
format - e.g. - "1A 2C 3B 4E 5D" etc. according to these choices:
"A" if you strongly agree; "B" if you agree; "C" if you neither agree nor
disagree; "D" if you disagree; "E" if you strongly disagree.
Questions:
1. There is a clear consensus as to what ‘Photography Theory’ is – i.e. a
critical examination of photography as a social practice using such tools as
post-structuralism, psychoanalysis and semiotics.
2. Most students enrolling on undergraduate courses have gained some
awareness, through prospectuses, open days etc., of this theory before
enrolment.
3. It is essential that photography programmes should address the
artificial divide between theory and practice by teaching the two elements
in conjunction, thereby emphasising their inseparability.
4. A key aim of the integration of theory and practice is students’ future
employability.
5. Students of photography need to thoroughly engage with its theoretical
aspects if they are to communicate their ideas visually.
6. Students of photography need to quickly acquire technical knowledge in
order to be able to imagine specific visual solutions to their expressive tasks.
7. In my teaching practice I make explicit the ‘implicit structure’ of the
relationship between theory and practice.
8. I see my primary role as being a teacher-researcher rather than as a
teacher-photographer.
9. The balance at assessment between theory and practice where I teach is:
“A” 30% or less for practice; “B” 60% or less for practice; “C” more than
60% for practice.
10. Anything you would like to add … .
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