ABSTRACT:
Key words: cohorts, specialist skills, student experience
The BFI (2017) and UK Government (BIS 2009) promote teaching highly specialised industry skills as part of a growing employability discourse. Yet some UK HEIs are turning to North American Liberal Arts degrees as the antidote to an over specialised curriculum. There is tension between providing a more specialist versus generalist education that deserves further exploration. This paper presents findings from a study into a film production course that teaches in-depth specialist skills through a cohort specialism organisational pedagogy. Eliciting students’ subjective views on their course experience provided some unexpected results that challenge our understanding of student needs and expectations.
The BFI (2017) and UK Government (BIS 2009) promote teaching specialist industry skills as part of a growing employability discourse. Yet some HEIs favour North American Liberal Arts degrees as the antidote to an over specialised curriculum. The tension between providing a more specialist versus generalist education deserves further exploration. This paper presents findings from a study into a film production course that teaches specialist skills through a cohort specialism organisational pedagogy. Eliciting students’ subjective views on their course experience provided unexpected results that challenge our understanding of student needs.