The end of the visiting examiner and the new visual arts course (again)

It is, I admit, a little confusing – the process of assessment is changing in the middle of the course, (insofar as the examiner will stop interviewing and the teacher will take over this role) and the course itself is soon to end before being reborn (phoenix like) in yet another incarnation.
So it’s hardly surprising that the two issues get mixed up in some peoples’ minds.

On the OCC teachers are still asking if the examiner is really not coming to talk to their students in 2013 (“I have not seen any response to our concerns and questions. Is this change indeed happening? If so, should I be telling my current Year Ones that they will not have a VE?”)

There also seems to be some confusion mixing up the fact that teachers will be doing the interviewing with the idea that there is a new grading system (“The new grading system:  when will the workshops familiarizing us with this new system, take place?”)

So I posted a response on the OCC. Here is what I said:

“There are two separate issues here.

The first is the end of the visiting examiner. Unless a major change occurs, next year will be the final year of schools receiving a visiting visual arts examiner.

After this (2013 and beyond), the art teacher will probably conduct the interview and this will be recorded and uploaded, and there will be a new process involving uploading digital files relating to the studio and investigation components. The technological details are being worked out now, and will be published in due course in 2012.
Teacher support material is also currently being worked on (from the point of view of video examples of what candidates’ “interview” experiences might be like, to be further supported by some text documents as appropriate).
(And yes, you should be telling your current year 1 DP art students that they will not be seeing a visiting examiner at the end of the course.)

You also refer to the ‘new grading system’ but I’m not sure what you mean by this. There is no new grading system. The current course will run until 2015, when the last examination assessments will occur using the current grading (assessment) system.

The new visual arts course is in development. This will be taught for the first time in 2014 and there will of course be a new grading system for this, along with new components – please refer to the Curriculum Review documentation available here on the OCC.

As for workshops, once the guide for the new course has been published, workshop leaders will of course be explaining it in detail to workshop participants”.

There will, of course, for a variety of reasons, still be teachers out there who do not know that 2012 will be the last year of the visiting examiner and that in 2014 there will be a new visual arts course.

But even if they don’t check the OCC (which they should), their DP Coordinator at least will (should!) inform them that they can no longer have a visiting examiner after 2012, and there will be  new visual arts course in 2014.

Cheers.