Survey of art (and related) departments in Ireland – lecturers / tutors This survey accompanies the one which explores student experience of art departments in Ireland (held here). The obverse of the student experience is that of their teachers - the lecturer and tutors in third-level art departments (and related departments). The survey is intended for those who do or did teach art or art-related practical subjects at third level on the island of Ireland.* Given that many tutors work in many different departments, either simultaneously or over time, it is difficult to focus on particular departments; also, it may not be wise to, though the option is left open here for respondents to indicate a particular department if they wish to. The focus of this survey, however, is to capture what lecturers and tutors find rewarding or stressing in their working environment; some of the stresses and rewards will be conditions-related, some student-related, and both aspects are addressed here. Visual-arts courses are what we are interested in, in a broad sense - Multimedia, Virtual Reality, Fine Art Photography and similar courses also qualify. Remember also that it would be very useful to have your responses to the other survey, if you are or were an art student in Ireland. Thank you. *If you teach or taught in an art or art-related department outside of Ireland, please feel free to complete this survey / comment on this survey if you wish; see special tickbox in Question 1.

 

1. Are you still teaching? | no longer teaching?
   What year(s) do or did you teach?:
   introductory / core year | year 1 of degree | year 2 | year 3+ | postgrad
   Do or did you teach?: part-time | full-time
   If you are responding here only in relation to one department, you may if you wish indicate that department here:
   What courses do or did you teach?
   What is your age (now)?:
   Your gender?: male | female
   What is your e-mail address? (optional, but it may help us to have it if we have queries):
   Please tick this box if you are responding in relation to an art- or art-related department outside of the island of Ireland:
   Are you an artist yourself?: yes | no
   Any comments on above?
   
   
2. Rewards: what's good about teaching art? Below is a list of possible positive factors. The left-hand column is about the frequency with which they occur, the right-hand column about how rewarding they feel when they do occur. For each factor, please indicate both estimated frequency and reward intensity. At the bottom of the table you have the opportunity to add in terms of your own that you believe should have been in the table.
   

   Factor	Frequency (low ... high)	Positive impact (low ... high)
   Student success
   Student gratitude
   Student interest / engagement
   Student respect
   Gratitude from colleagues
   Recognition (of your ability, achievement, etc) by colleagues
   Support from colleagues
   Respect from colleagues
   Length of holidays	not applicable
   Working hours	not applicable
   Intellectual challenge
   Feeling of achievement
   Feeling of doing something worthwhile
   Pay	not applicable
   Working conditions	not applicable
   Being involved in art
   Working in a creative atmosphere
   Working in a good environment
   Having time for own reasearch
   Respect from management
   Opportunity for staff development in own field
   Flexiblity to changing practices
   Support from technical staff
   Recognition of value of research by management
   Respect from management
   Time to research topics
   Close understanding between management and staff

   
   Any comments on above?
   
   
3. How to you feel about work and working conditions? What is their impact on you? Please rate the following (note: this is about your own experience, not about how things ideally should be):
   

   Factor	Rating	Tick if not applicable
   Working hours / timetabling	high stress low stress
   Pay	too little very adequate
   Working conditions – physical environment	very inadequate very adequate
   Working conditions – social environment	high stress low stress
   Management	causes much v. pos. experience stress
   Colleagues	cause much v. pos. experience stress
   Bureaucracy	causes much v. pos. experience stress
   Support staff	cause much v. pos. experience stress
   Course paperwork	causes much v. pos. experience stress
   Resources	very inadequate very adequate
   Union support	very inadequate very adequate
   Union-related constraints	cause much stress very useful
   Preparation of material	impossible to easy to find time find time
   Preparation of material	very stressful very enjoyable
   Course changes	very stressful very enjoyable
   Staff turnover	causes much very positive stress
   Requirement / pressure to gain further qualifications	very stressful very positive
   Requirement for measurable outcomes - eg, publications, own exhibitions	very stressful very positive
   Job security	very worrying very reassuring
   Appreciation by management	much too low very adequate
   Ability to find time for own art-making	totally inadquate very adequate
   Impact on quality of own art-making	very negative very positive
   Impact on creative thinking	very negative very positive
   Socialising - at work	very negative very positive
   Socialising - with colleagues outside of work	very negative very positive
   Writing about art	very stressful very enjoyable
   Curating art	very stressful very enjoyable
   Need to administer own art-making	very stressful very enjoyable
   Unpaid work expected of you	very stressful very enjoyable
   If you're part -time: support from full-timers	very inadequate very adequate

   
   Any comments?
   
   
4. Students: what's good or bad about them? Below is a list of possible positive and negative traits presented as adjectives. The left-hand column is about the frequency with which they occur, the right-hand column about how important, in terms of impact on you, they feel when they do occur. For each factor, please indicate both estimated frequency and importance / impact. At the bottom of the table you have the opportunity to add in terms of your own that you believe should have been in the table.

   Student behaviour	Frequency (low ... high)	Impact-value (low ... high)
   Honest
   Absent
   Unappreciative
   Sarcastic
   Appreciative
   Insolent
   Aggressive
   Respectful
   Timid
   Overly deferential
   Intimidated
   Dishonest
   Mistrustful
   Flirty
   Trusting
   Hard-working
   Evasive
   Lazy
   Arrogant
   Positive influence on other students
   Manipulative
   Naïve
   Able
   Immature
   Gifted
   Unfriendly
   Unimaginative
   Stoned
   Creative
   Drunk
   Negative influence on other students
   Hung-over
   Intelligent
   Inappropriately dressed
   Coy
   Disrespectful
   Giving
   Punctual
   Uninterested
   Friendly
   Challenging (in positive sense)
   Self-confident
   Unmotivated
   Unable
   Humorous
   Socially maladjusted
   Cheerful
   Good-looking
   Stubborn
   Interested
   Smelly
   Inappropriate in use of language
   Socially adjusted
   Inappropriate in spoken content
   Inappropriate touch