A School-Wide English Strategy
Elevate Your English Teaching
How do you ensure ALL students leave your international art school with a better English level than the day they arrived?
With today’s technology, art students don’t need to sit in an ‘English class,’ they can improve their English with real-life experiences.
English learning can be practical if combined with:
Targeted teaching of English for Creative Careers
A school-wide English Strategy.
A School-Wide English Strategy:
English at art school should never be presented like a high school class.
The need for English should not feel like a chore to ANYONE (directors, staff or students).
Working on English should not leave students creative identity at the door.
Art school English classes need to be taught by teachers who are clear and informative on the life skills graduating artists need.
Work out how to assess progress/ability
It’s not what you think. Why Tests Don’t Work
If your English classes look like high school classes,
you ARE failing your students.
English classes like high school classes:
Disempower and infantize students.
Make your students hugely resistant to any form of English learning.
Don’t serve neurodiverse students.
Fail to make English relevant to a professional creative practice.
The common excuse is that it’s hard to make English learning a priority in an art school environment.
At art school, English is regarded as the pyjamas under the Christmas tree. (Thoroughly useful – but hard to get excited about when there’s so much other cool stuff around).
Ruth Pringle, 2023
English at Art School Should be Dynamic – and Open Doors onto the World
It can and should be taught like this!
At Blue Noun, our specialism is elevating English to be as interesting, creative, and expressive as any other art school subject.
We can give one-off advice to improve your students’ English tuition within the perameteres you need to meet.
Over the last 10 years, the student’s English needs have evolved.
– Their average entrance language level has improved.
– Tools, technology and good ELT practice have all changed.
Has your English department?
“As long as students are graduating into a world where otherwise excellent artists and designers may NEVER break into their careers – because they lack English; art schools, you owe your students to evaluate how well your English department is performing: and take action now to make improvements.“
Ruth Pringle, 2023
Choose Our ELT Consultancy for International Art Schools
Our Expertise is Your Answer
Blue Noun are specialist in presenting the English language creatives need to know – in ways that motivate them to learn it.
We are a small team led by artist and course creator Ruth Pringle, Ba Hons / M.F.A., and a community of creatives.
Ruth has held different teaching roles in various art and design schools in different countries: more details.