Fourteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

According to the World Health Organisation (2018) mental illness affects more than half the population world-wide. This is a disturbing statistic by any standards. Add to that the stress of deadlines, assignments and emotional problems related to the age and stage of the student population, and it is not surprising that the role of the University lecturer is changing. Mental-health professionals point out that art students face distinct and particularly intense kinds of stress that students in many other areas of study do not. Enduring characteristics of learning (personal growth, the shift to self-authorship) and long-standing pedagogic practices (public critique, assessment) contribute to the anxieties associated with such a potentially transformative learning experience. This situation is under-researched and mostly absent from contemporary pedagogic discourse in creative arts subjects. Our paper will focus on how to use creative arts strategies to attend to this aspect of teaching, particularly with students exhibiting signs of stress. We will unpack what we mean by “creative arts strategies” and give examples that we have gathered from our colleagues in our respective departments. The aim of our work is to contribute to present understandings of student development in the creative arts with a focus on mental health and wellbeing.