MA/PgDip Art and Design: Creative Education

Many teachers undertaking the course are doing so with the support of their employers who see the value of this Continuing Professional Development for the whole school and the individual’s career progression.  

Freelance practitioners encounter the course as a means of professionalising their educational and teaching portfolio and peer networking opportunities.

Creative Education students traditionally study while in employment, so following graduation they don’t necessarily move to new workplaces. However, while on the course and after graduating, students tend to move into more senior positions and be involved in greater whole school development with a focus on implementation of creative practices across the curriculum.  

Some teachers on leaving the course step out of formal education and become freelance practitioners working in galleries, prisons, youth centres, hospitals and schools.  They are supported in establishing business practices and marketing their activities.  

Artists leave the course as professional freelancers working in a variety of formal and non-formal workshop or residency settings.  The mix of freelancers and employed teaching staff enrolled on the course brings a wide range of peer employment opportunities. Current students are working in primary and secondary schools, prison education, hospitals, galleries, further and higher education, youth clubs and residential and care homes. 

Alumni Profile

“I undertook the course towards the end of my teaching career, entering as a Primary School Deputy Head. It renewed my interest in the teaching of art and design and helped me focus on what I wanted to do after my official retirement. Since graduating I work in four separate schools, either developing the school's art curriculum, or advising them on making links between art and literacy. I was recently asked to lead a joint project with two Rochdale schools, where the Year 4 teachers worked collaboratively to plan and deliver a creative literacy/art module which was then presented to all the staff of both schools. Another of the schools is applying for the new Artsmark Gold Award and has invited me to be their 'artist in residence'. The majority of these opportunities were offered to me as a direct result of the work I undertook during the Creative Education course. I believe that the course gave me the confidence and practical ability to extend and change the direction of my career, and would recommend it to anyone who was interested in their own professional development.”

Creative Education Alumni – Artist in Residence, Rochdale

Industry Links

Creative Education has links with a large number of schools across Greater Manchester through both students and Alumni. Course tutors are validators for the Arts Council’s Artsmark Scheme and so visit and advise schools across the North West in this capacity.  Course tutors will also visit students at their own schools to develop a greater understanding of the context individual students are working within.  

Teachers and freelance artists also benefit from links with external organisations such as Manchester Art Gallery and The Whitworth Gallery in Manchester through either volunteering opportunities or responses to live briefs.   

The course also has links with Arts and Mental Health organisations including Manchester and Salford START, and links to live briefs in community settings generated by the School of Art and Design Outreach team.  

The Final Major Project module recognises the issues surrounding the implementation of new delivery methods in formal and non formal educational environments, the importance of community inclusion within educational environments and the need for exposure to a range of artistic practices and experiences in order to develop creative approaches. You will have the option to work within your own workplace or with external agencies, festivals and events dependant on relevance to your chosen research focus.

Further Study

Research in the School of Art & Design is coordinated by Professor Paul Sermon, Associate Head for Research. There are over 30 fully research-active academic staff and a number of embryonic and early career researchers engaged in a range of innovative creative practice in art and design and in advancing the boundaries of theoretical investigation. Find out more