Technical Teaching in Higher Education

Reviews / Votes

"The role of 'technicians' and their expertise within the higher education of artists is a famously under-appreciated and under-researched area. This book, based on many years' personal experience - as well as on a deep dive into the latest thinking about arts education - not only fills that gap, it also, in the process, dissolves the longstanding and unhelpful binary between 'technicians' and 'academics'. It says a lot of things that are usually left unsaid. Tim Savage's study is original, timely and increasingly important. Amazing - and rather shaming - that no-one has done this before..."

Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, former Rector of the Royal College of Art and Chair of Arts Council England. Currently Professor Emeritus of Cultural History, RCA; Professor Emeritus of Arts , University of Lancaster; and Fellow of Churchill College Cambridge.

"In this important and timely book, Tim Savage systematically explores the long-ignored interface between teaching, technical instruction and demonstration. For too long, creative disciplines and institutions have underestimated the contribution of the technical workforce, who have provided the backbone of student learning in the creative arts sector. Drawing on significant experience and expertise, Dr Savage provides a unique and insightful account of how technical staff teach and support learning; this excellent study provides a comprehensive lens for understanding the dimensions and impact of technician-led teaching."

Professor Paul Gough, former Vice-chancellor Arts University Bournemouth, and RMIT University, Melbourne., Australia.

This book reflects groundbreaking work in relation to technician roles in higher education and their expansion into pedagogic activity. Despite the fact that there is an expanding literature on the blurring of boundaries in relation to teaching, learning and research, and the emergence of third space roles, technical staff have, up till now, been by and large missing from this. It is also a practical text that will be useful to those who see themselves in the various categories identified - Demonstrators, Instructors, Consultants, Collaborators and Transformers - placing them at the heart of learning spaces. This monograph is therefore both timely and welcome.

Dr Celia Whitchurch. Honorary Associate Professor. UCL Institute of Education, UK.