New Zealand is known as a clean, green, nuclear free, snake free, south seas paradise. Branding plays an important role in product success, and New Zealand continues to make progress in its efforts to develop an international identity for itself. No longer are we just the place where there are ‘more sheep than people’.
Our successes in the America’s Cup with ‘Black Magic’, the films ‘The Piano’ and ‘Once Were Warriors’, the Britten Motorcycle, Kiri te Kanawa, Ngaio Marsh and countless other ‘creative products’ or ‘producers’ evidence the trend as Arts and Design reflect New Zealand’s emergence as a value leader in specialised and boutique products which reflect the nation’s cultural diversity and dynamism. New Zealanders are known for ‘kiwi ingenuity’, and it is our cultural diversity and innovative spirit in Art and Design education that contributes to a special ‘X’ factor for would-be international students.
A small nation like New Zealand has a lot to offer an International student: climate, natural beauty, wide open spaces, recreational activities of all kinds. These are the attractions to short term tourists. Tertiary students find those same elements important, but what of the education and institutions themselves?
Smallness enables all the components to be viewed and compared. CHACDS, the Council of Heads of Art, Craft and Design Schools of New Zealand is a body of 37 schools or Departments of larger institutions that has developed a complementary approach to Art and Design Education. CHACDS has co-ordinated its own industry specific matrix, an institution by institution profile, analysed the relationships with Industry and developed, albeit informally, various exchange and transfer agreements between a number of individual institutions for students. Being able to identify the complete opportunities for an international student is a major attraction to New Zealand as a destination for tertiary study.
International students may find places in undergraduate programmes hard to come by, and often there is resistance by institutions to take on international students. This resistance is set against a background of substantial growth within the country in Tertiary Education. Ministry of Education Statistics indicate that 35% of all Tertiary enrolments were in cultural fields in 1994. An OECD report on New Zealand Tertiary Education in 1996 indicated that the rate of increase of participation by New Zealanders in tertiary education was at 10.2% between 1990 and 1993, so that by 1993 45% of school leavers continued into some form of tertiary education. New findings on top of this research suggest that these trends are continuing, contributing to the ongoing growth of and diversity of Art and Design courses offered.
Change has also occurred within the institutions in response to the 1989 Education Act. Polytechnics and private colleges are now offering accredited undergraduate and postgraduate degrees (although Whitecliffe College of Art and Design in Auckland is the only New Zealand private college that offers Fine Arts degree programmes: a BFA undergraduate degree, an MFA degree and an MA degree in Arts Administration). This change in offerings has meant that generally growth has kept pace with internal or New Zealand only demand. Yet demand does exceed supply, particularly when International students are factored in. Only the extra generation of foreign fees encourages some New Zealand institutes to extend places to international students in Art and Design.
Despite the limited places and the excess demand, there is a range of opportunities for international students. Some schools are specifically developed for multi-cultural, multi-national operations with Art and Design schools often having a variety of nationalities in their student body and faculty. Exchange agreements between schools, both within New Zealand and internationally, are frequently part of the ingredient factors promoting this diversity. Mostly it is a size factor, and the new ‘colonial’ spirit distinguishing what is on offer in New Zealand. Typically, the Art and Design programmes are operated at intense levels of study-faculty interchange, allowing classes to be small (i.e. less than 10 in some cases). Integration with other disciplines is common, and focus ‘cultural issues’ within both the content and context of curriculums’, because of obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi.
International students do have to fully fund their studies although there are some funding schemes. The Aotearoa Scholarships are provided for talented Polynesian (or Pacific nation) students; these are organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The Commonwealth Institute has regularly provided support funds for study in New Zealand, (typically post-graduate) and various philanthropic organisations have support schemes in place. Because places for Arts and Design international students are small in number, considerable research needs to be undertaken. Foreign students presently are unable to work whilst studying (although there are indications that this may change). One thing to keep in mind is that with the exchange rates and current costs for most programmes in New Zealand, Art and Design courses are generally very competitive.
Because of this environment, New Zealand Art and Design schools at international recruitment fairs or seen advertising within international journals is a rarity. Simply, New Zealand is the best kept secret in Art and Design tertiary education. You have to dig deep to find an opening, and be immensely talented to get a place. Those that come love the place, most want to stay, immigrate or work in the country finding the combination of small, specialised and highly qualified schools to their liking. With no programme having much over 1000 students, and some with as few as 50, it is radically different from American, Australian or British counterparts; yet in this smallness, New Zealanders are amazingly mobile.
Institutions are incredibly advanced in technology and human resources. If there are any doubts to this claim, one should ask how a little country like New Zealand could design and construct a yacht to take on the mega millions of the United States and beat them so convincingly; put a rugby team on the playing field against nations that have more people in a single city, and continually win. Put a low budget film into the Cannes Festival and win; put a hand-crafted ‘boutique’ motorcycle against the world-wide giants and still win? The answer is all of the above, or simply an ‘X’ factor.
If it’s an experience international students want, it is an experience they get in New Zealand. But they are likely to get a world class education into the bargain. Come down and see us sometime!
