My first day of fine art assessments/feedback. The ‘interrogation’ room was prepared:

The students gave reasoned and passionate responses to the question asked by their tutors. One of our current MA Fine Art students sat in as part of their teaching observation for Vocational Practice. We assessed from 9.30 am onwards, with a short tour of the upper studios in between. Some reflections on attitudes to assessment in general (rather than those that were necessarily evident today):

• Poor students are rarely unconfident, because they’ve never heartily engaged a challenge that they’ve failed to overcome.
• Good students are rarely surprised by adverse criticism, because they’ve discerned their weaknesses themselves prior to the assessment.
• Poor students react adversely criticism; good students deal with it constructively, and improve thereby.
• Poor students will find someone or something else to blame for their poverty; good students berate themselves.

Assessments for the day were completed by 2.00 am. After a brief, late lunch, it was back on the shop floor to help oversee the penultimate day of finalisation. From this point onwards, the remaining pieces of the jigsaw will fall into place very quickly. Even the most proficient fine art students are foxed by the relatively simple task of preparing label captions.

The students are visibly weary now; they’ve no longer the energy to be anxious and stressed. One more day is all some of them have left in them for this task. They’ve worked very hard and diligently.

An evening of writing reports articulating this morning’s discussions with the students.