New Zealand is known as a clean, green,
nuclear free, snake free, south seas paradise. Branding plays an
important role in product success, and New Zealand continues to
make progress in its efforts to develop an international identity
for itself. No longer are we just the place where there are ‘more
sheep than people’.
Our successes in the America’s Cup with ‘Black Magic’,
the films ‘The Piano’ and ‘Once Were Warriors’,
the Britten Motorcycle, Kiri te Kanawa, Ngaio Marsh and countless
other ‘creative products’ or ‘producers’ evidence
the trend as Arts and Design reflect New Zealand’s emergence
as a value leader in specialised and boutique products which reflect
the nation’s cultural diversity and dynamism. New Zealanders
are known for ‘kiwi ingenuity’, and it is our cultural
diversity and innovative spirit in Art and Design education that
contributes to a special ‘X’ factor for would-be international
students.
A small nation like New Zealand has a lot to offer an International
student: climate, natural beauty, wide open spaces, recreational
activities of all kinds. These are the attractions to short term
tourists. Tertiary students find those same elements important,
but what of the education and institutions themselves?
Smallness enables all the components to be viewed and compared.
CHACDS, the Council of Heads of Art, Craft and Design Schools of
New Zealand is a body of 37 schools or Departments of larger institutions
that has developed a complementary approach to Art and Design Education.
CHACDS has co-ordinated its own industry specific matrix, an institution
by institution profile, analysed the relationships with Industry
and developed, albeit informally, various exchange and transfer
agreements between a number of individual institutions for students.
Being able to identify the complete opportunities for an international
student is a major attraction to New Zealand as a destination for
tertiary study.
International students may find places in undergraduate programmes
hard to come by, and often there is resistance by institutions to
take on international students. This resistance is set against a
background of substantial growth within the country in Tertiary
Education. Ministry of Education Statistics indicate that 35% of
all Tertiary enrolments were in cultural fields in 1994. An OECD
report on New Zealand Tertiary Education in 1996 indicated that
the rate of increase of participation by New Zealanders in tertiary
education was at 10.2% between 1990 and 1993, so that by 1993 45%
of school leavers continued into some form of tertiary education.
New findings on top of this research suggest that these trends are
continuing, contributing to the ongoing growth of and diversity
of Art and Design courses offered.
Change has also occurred within the institutions in response to
the 1989 Education Act. Polytechnics and private colleges are now
offering accredited undergraduate and postgraduate degrees (although
Whitecliffe College of Art and Design in Auckland is the only New
Zealand private college that offers Fine Arts degree programmes:
a BFA undergraduate degree, an MFA degree and an MA degree in Arts
Administration). This change in offerings has meant that generally
growth has kept pace with internal or New Zealand only demand. Yet
demand does exceed supply, particularly when International students
are factored in. Only the extra generation of foreign fees encourages
some New Zealand institutes to extend places to international students
in Art and Design.
Despite the limited places and the excess demand, there is a range
of opportunities for international students. Some schools are specifically
developed for multi-cultural, multi-national operations with Art
and Design schools often having a variety of nationalities in their
student body and faculty. Exchange agreements between schools, both
within New Zealand and internationally, are frequently part of the
ingredient factors promoting this diversity. Mostly it is a size
factor, and the new ‘colonial’ spirit distinguishing what
is on offer in New Zealand. Typically, the Art and Design programmes
are operated at intense levels of study-faculty interchange, allowing
classes to be small (i.e. less than 10 in some cases). Integration
with other disciplines is common, and focus ‘cultural issues’
within both the content and context of curriculums’, because
of obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi.
International students do have to fully fund their studies although
there are some funding schemes. The Aotearoa Scholarships are provided
for talented Polynesian (or Pacific nation) students; these are
organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The Commonwealth
Institute has regularly provided support funds for study in New
Zealand, (typically post-graduate) and various philanthropic organisations
have support schemes in place. Because places for Arts and Design
international students are small in number, considerable research
needs to be undertaken. Foreign students presently are unable to
work whilst studying (although there are indications that this may
change). One thing to keep in mind is that with the exchange rates
and current costs for most programmes in New Zealand, Art and Design
courses are generally very competitive.
Because of this environment, New Zealand Art and Design schools
at international recruitment fairs or seen advertising within international
journals is a rarity. Simply, New Zealand is the best kept secret
in Art and Design tertiary education. You have to dig deep to find
an opening, and be immensely talented to get a place. Those that
come love the place, most want to stay, immigrate or work in the
country finding the combination of small, specialised and highly
qualified schools to their liking. With no programme having much
over 1000 students, and some with as few as 50, it is radically
different from American, Australian or British counterparts; yet
in this smallness, New Zealanders are amazingly mobile.
Institutions are incredibly advanced in technology and human resources.
If there are any doubts to this claim, one should ask how a little
country like New Zealand could design and construct a yacht to take
on the mega millions of the United States and beat them so convincingly;
put a rugby team on the playing field against nations that have
more people in a single city, and continually win. Put a low budget
film into the Cannes Festival and win; put a hand-crafted ‘boutique’
motorcycle against the world-wide giants and still win? The answer
is all of the above, or simply an ‘X’ factor.
If it’s an experience international students want, it is an
experience they get in New Zealand. But they are likely to get a
world class education into the bargain. Come down and see us sometime!
Author: Professor Greg Whitecliffe, President, Whitecliffe
College of Art & Design, New Zealand. (Chair of the Education
Committee of the Design Institute of New Zealand)
This article first appeared in TransWorld Education
