The central aim of this paper is to explore the mechanisms that teachers of professional practice use with
their students to ease them into employment. In particular, it will concentrate on how teachers help students
to prepare their CVs and portfolios in the subject of design. The methodological approach will be
qualitative rather than quantitative. In addition to an analysis of appropriate literature on the CV and
the current practice of portfolio preparation, this paper will employ evidence gathered from interviews
with a number of individuals who teach professional practice to design students, but who also have a role
in independently running their own design companies. Using a semi-structured format, interviews will be
conducted with the design companies El Ultimo Grito and Design Direction, both of whose directors are
also involved in the teaching of professional practice to students. The evidence from these interviews will
be collected and used to suggest and consider developments in the teaching materials currently used to
guide students on the production and design of their CVs and portfolios. The aim is to guarantee that students
are then better able to project their skills to employers, and hence to ensure that the teaching of
professional practice in design may help ease a greater number of design students into employment.
History
School
Design
Research Unit
IDATER Archive
Pages
170627 bytes
Citation
HALL, S., 2001. From trainee graduates to graduate trainees: towards an illumination of the teaching of professional practice on design degrees. IDATER Conference 2001, Loughborough: Loughborough University