This paper explores the perceptions of a small sample of academic staff from a university in Spain and another in the UK, to changes in fine art higher education (HE) in both countries over the last 25 years. The authors sought to understand if, and how, the changing HE context had influenced the provision of fine art in each university, and considered it useful to address whether there was any comparability across the two institutions in terms of the responses to the broad changes in resourcing and quality assurance. They used a series of semi-structured interviews with eight respondents, four in each country, aimed at eliciting staff views. These perceptions were considered alongside available data on student numbers, enrolments, graduation and gender, in order to explore the reactions of teaching staff to shifts in context over the period. The study concludes that the stance of criticality adopted by many fine art academics, who value their academic freedom and autonomy and prioritize the practice of their discipline, is being challenged by many of the recent changes in HE. As a result, staff who are being asked to undertake a wider range of activities, are having to adapt their view of the nature of fine art HE.

Controversy and conformity -25 years of transforming the academyThis special edition of ADCHE originated from the Group for Learning in Art and Design (GLAD) conference in 2015 held at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. The conference, Controversy and Conformity, was both a celebration of the 25th anniversary of GLAD and an opportunity to reflect and learn from our experiences of art and design education, in order to develop strategies and practices for the future.The Group for Learning in Art and Design was formed in 1989 in response to changes in UK higher education, which were to impact on how art and design was taught in higher and further education, and specialist art schools. Early changes, such as modularization, the massification of higher education, widening participation and the development of postgraduate courses, brought both challenges and opportunities, which were the focus of much debate. The responses from the UK art and design sector were often viewed as controversial, 'different' and indicative of a discipline reluctant to conform.More recently the introduction of student fees and then higher fees, competition for students, internationalization, employability, the emphasis on research, the National Student Survey, the use of Key Information Sets and

In order to inform planning for and discussions at the 2015 Group for Learning in Art and Design (GLAD) Conference, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of the group, I compiled a brief chronological account of key events in that period. This is an edited version of the original, which is offered as an aide-memoire about the recent history of the UK Art and Design higher education (HE). I recognize that educational policy is not uniform across Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, for example, in relation to student tuition fees, which are not charged in Scotland. However, for the purposes of clarity this article uses the term ‘UK’ to point to general policy positions that relate to some or all of the United Kingdom.

No abstract

This document is the author's post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.