MA Professional Practice (Arts)

Overview & facilities

The MA Professional Practice (Arts) is a highly flexible postgraduate qualification designed for established professionals working in the cultural and creative industries. It has been developed especially to allow you to continue working and integrate your professional expertise with academic learning.  In addition, you can make a claim for academic credits for your previous professional achievements through a formal Review of Learning, the first part of the course.  This can then form the basis of your major project within your professional field.

Students on the course are actively encouraged to engage in networking within their field, as well as in complementary professions; using social media tools, face to face events and conferences. 

Content & modules

The course's long-term value derives from its unique, award-winning structure. By recognising your professional experiences, you are invited to reflect on past achievement, current work and future direction. The course enables you to make full use of your skills, and find ways to align current work with future aspirations.

This is a flexible, distance learning course, with the option of campus-based tutorials. You can study at your own pace anywhere in the world. Every student is assigned a personal academic advisor who supports each candidate through the course phases. Contact is normally maintained by email, skype and phone as well as optional campus-based tutorials. Every module has a detailed distance learning guidebook. There are no traditional taught elements requiring attendance at the University. As a student on the course you will have full access to the e-resources of the university’s library and learning resources at both the Trent Park and Hendon libraries.

Phase one assessment consists of a Review of Learning portfolio and reflective essay (80 credits). In phase two there is a Continuing Professional Development Module (10 credits) and an Advanced Practitioner Inquiry Module (30 credit points). To complete the course there is major inquiry project worth 60 credit points.

Modules

Semester 1
Review of Learning – 10 credits plus maximum claim for 70 credits based on existing knowledge – Module Code: WBS 4510

Semester 2
Continuing Professional Development - 10 Credits – Module Code: WBS 4810
Work Based Research Methods (30 Credits) - Module Code: WBS 4630

 Semester 3
Negotiated Work Based Learning Project – 60 credits - Module Code: WBS 4760

Entry & applying

You will have at least five years full-time professional experience. Your application will be considered on receipt of a completed application form accompanied by a full CV. Where English is not your first language, you will need to provide IELTS results of at least 6.5, or TOEFL 575 paper or 232 computer, or an equivalent before starting the programme.

Application is made directly to Middlesex University. Please contact the Work Based Learning office in the School of Arts and Education for an application pack and application form:

Avni Shah
Work Based Learning Administrator
School of Arts and Education
Middlesex University
Trent Park (Room 219)
N14 4ZY
020 8411 4129
a.shah@mdx.ac.uk

Fees & funding

MA Professional Practice (Arts) Fee Chart

The total cost of this programme is:

Home / EU Student: £6,150
International: £7,800

This is made up as follows:

Payment Schedule

Sept 2012 Start: 50% due on 12.10.2012, balance due 22.01.2013
Jan 2013 Start: 50% due 26.01.2013, balance due 28.04.2013

Careers & placements

Past students (alumni)

Nuwa Wamala Nnyanzi
Visual Arts Practitioner / Consultant, Uganda
Award: MA Design (Professional Practice)

“I entered the MA Design (Professional Practice) after twenty four years as an informally trained Visual Arts Practitioner. I had worked for many years and was pleased that the course gave me access to post-graduate level study based on my prior experience. I chose a work-based study course because its design allowed me to continue with my work while gaining more skills through studying. The programme enhanced my ability to articulate the relationship between practice and theory. I also had an opportunity to develop my research skills and I now understand how to investigate the context within which I work. Since completing the programme, I have created a course for design students entitled: “Batik as a resource for design solutions” and my art-work now graces the covers of two internationally distributed books.”

Kathryn McIntyre
Senior Graphic Designer, Northern Ireland
MA Design (Professional Practice)

“As a Senior Graphic Designer with local government, I became involved with the production of information material for minority groups. I knew this was an area that needed further exploration – legally, ethically and morally. The work-based study course allowed me to complete a huge amount of research that could also directly benefit my employer and their clients. Their contacts and support network were central to my success.

It seemed rather overwhelming to start, but the tutor support was great and after a while I realised that with a logical approach and a few deep breaths I could deal with anything. Prioritisation and determination are required in spades! The skills that I developed throughout the course proved invaluable in both my professional and personal life and I am so much more confident as a result.”

Tim Bones
Lecturer of Graphic Design & Freelance Graphic Designer, UK
MA Professional Practice (Instructional Design)

“On entering the MA Professional Practice programme I was delivering FE design courses and working as a freelance graphic designer. My primary reason for choosing the programme was to further my professional development as both a design practitioner and educator. The programme enabled me to develop my understanding of research methodologies, a skill that I am now able to utilise in facilitating the learning and research of my own students. Also, I now have a far deeper understanding and practical application of instructional theory and its relevant technologies. My study helped me to initiate positive change to my team’s working practice, which, in turn, benefits my students. I have now progressed to teaching within higher education and I am currently writing our faculty’s new graphic design degree course.”

Glenn Wyatt
Professor, Graphic Design, Morocco
Award: MA Design (Professional Practice)

"When I started the MA Design (Professional Practice), I was a Graphic Design teacher in Singapore. I chose the course because it was accessible and suited my needs. It allowed me to study from a distance and continue to work. The course provided an opportunity for me to take significant steps in developing my career as my qualification opened many more options for academic teaching jobs. Since completing the course I have become a University professor."

Alison Pui-Yan LEE
Senior Fashion Designer, Hong Kong
Award: MA Professional Practice (Fashion Design Management)

“I am a fashion designer in Hong Kong and have been working in the mass market for nine years. When I first started the programme, Work-based learning (WBL) was a new approach to studying for me. However I really benefited from the features of the course. It is a flexible, distance learning programme, with the option of campus-based tutorials. I was free to study at my own pace, anywhere in the world.  WBL is a well structured and useful model. In the context of the workplace, I have learnt how to effectively turn my experience into learning and knowledge, which helps me to work through problems encountered at work. These two things have enabled me to learn continuously even after the programme has ended.”