Arts schools call for degree recognition

Institutions teaching the creative arts are calling on Europe’s education ministers to recognise the contribution they make to the economy and to address problems that they are experiencing with changes to higher education policy across the EU. The institutions complain that some countries are not recognising masters and doctoral courses in the creative arts, and that their research is not given parity with that in the natural and social sciences.

Higher education in Europe is increasingly defined by the Bologna reforms, which aim at harmonising degree structures to encourage cross-border study. Higher education institutions have had to ensure their degrees fit a pattern of bachelors, masters and doctorates. If for any reason an institution cannot fit in with this framework its activities may no longer be seen as higher education.

"Working outside the Bologna framework is not possible anymore," says Truus Ophuysen, deputy director of the European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA). "Some of the fine art schools in Germany have an opt-out from Bologna, given by the Länder governments, but that’s the only exception I know of."

Arts institutions have experienced problems in countries where masters and PhDs are not yet established in their sectors and do not easily read across to the norms established by Bologna. ELIA and the European Association of Conservatoires (EAC) have been working on the problem, with networks of schools drawing up "tuning documents" to relate their current practice to the Bologna cycles and standards, but these take time to adopt and have not always been recognised by the national authorities.

The research elements of arts degrees can be particularly problematic, since they do not have the same basis in generating knowledge as in the natural and social sciences or humanities. "There has always been a debate about what you should do, whether you should apply the general scientific standards in terms of the PhD thesis or aim for a different degree with equal status," says Ophuysen.

"Just as a scientist goes into a laboratory to test things, musicians do this by playing music," says Martin Prchal, chief executive of the EAC. He argues that this calls for a different approach in the third cycle, the doctorates. "We would like to see a combination of scientific work and practice work, so that musicians can do scientific research but that this can then be embedded into their practical work. So the evidence would not only be a thesis but also, for example, a concert or a recital or a lecture recital where they explain their work."

Other arts schools have found themselves outside the Bologna reforms because they are not accredited to award masters and PhDs. This requires an effort to be made, either by the schools themselves or governments. In Belgium, for instance, the arts schools have formed alliances to award higher degrees in collaboration with accredited universities. But some countries are lagging behind and ELIA would like ministers to address these problems. "There is higher arts education that is not recognised as higher education," says Ophuysen.

The most extreme examples are where education in the performing arts is carried out privately and so is simply left out of the public sector reforms, as has occurred with flamenco in Spain. "One of the people representing the schools in Spain told us that they are being ruled out because others have come along offering a masters in flamenco," says Ophuysen. "Their form of education is over-ruled by the system."

The schools also have a broader message for Europe’s higher education ministers, who will meet in London on 17-18 May to take stock of progress with the Bologna reforms.

"We feel that the higher arts have an important role to play in creating an economy of culture in Europe," says Ophuysen. "We train more and more artistic and creative professionals who can work in a great number of different jobs, or create their own companies. They are not just individual artists. We have the feeling that the ministers do not always see this contribution."

Institutions teaching the creative arts are calling on Europe’s education ministers to recognise the contribution they make to the economy and to address problems that they are experiencing with changes to higher education policy across the EU. The institutions complain that some countries are not recognising masters and doctoral courses in the creative arts, and that their research is not given parity with that in the natural and social sciences.