Life Changing or Career Building?

In an industry that is constantly changing, how can game art students be best prepared for their future roles? We cannot afford to overspecialise, leaving weaknesses in our skillsets. The government has some argument with the idea of focusing on the teaching of specific useful skills to raise employability- students will inevitably have some decent core skills already due to entry requirements at universities etc. However, those skills will degrade over time without focus, and then what about when the advanced skills become obsolete? Some companies acknowledge the importance of a varied skillset and hire based on that judgement, but then surely they’ll find those employees to be lacking in expertise?

The obvious answer is to teach a bit of both. You can bet that the government is no expert on the industry and doesn’t have quite the full grasp on the range of skills that could potentially become essential in years to come. Plus, while developers may advertise that their priority is those of a liberal arts background (supposedly their idea of a well-rounded individual) you can be certain that they want advanced, specific skills on top of this. Any way you look at it, it’s good to have a fair grasp on some industry practices anyway just to save them from being such a shock to the system. But how do we find the balance?

It all comes back to something similar to the idea of a T-shaped skillset. Teaching basic skills alongside the specialised ones in a way that supports them is a good method. The deeper issue is when it comes to the specifics, how do we ensure than teaching remains relevant? The unique thing about game art and courses in similar fields is that the curriculum will always need constant updating to keep up with what students need to know. “We’re developing systems and processes, and we get to iterate on them semester after semester” –Richard Lemarchand, professor at University of Southern California. It’s wholly possible that industry practices will change as students are being taught them, and keeping the curriculum as up to date as possible may require the occasional bit of new blood, permanent or otherwise. Here at DMU we often have guest lecturers and it works wonders for keeping industry knowledge up-to-date.

The most important and effective way to future-proof students for changes is already a key element of higher education- to teach students the all-important skill that is learning. Keeping students interested in the workings of the industry so they’ll keep up with news in their own time is a good start. Keeping good communication is helpful for this too, not just between the students and lecturers but between the students themselves too. A surprising amount of the knowledge gained on a course will come from other students.

All in all, the best way for game art to be taught is a combination of experience, both core and specialised skills and the encouragement of independent learning for when situations change. Students should know to be adaptable, but being best prepared for whatever happens in the industry is always a good start.

References- http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/213334/From_AAA_to_academia_What_industry_veterans_have_learned.php