Peter Gilderdale is a freelance writer and calligrapher and recently retired lecturer in Design History at Auckland University of Technology. We talk about the difference between education that gets people creative and excited vs turning out people who just want to tick boxes.

Key Topics

• Why ‘learning outcomes’ and the disciplinary apparatus of a university shuts down free thinking, excitement, innovation and student-focussed education
• How an abiding interest in marrying image and text has led Peter on a life journey through calligraphy, communication design, art history and Egyptology
• How assessment gets in the way of learning and how simply removing it altogether can lead to a supportive learning culture that exudes excellence
• Peter’s observations on changing attitudes towards the arts, from a resurgence of young people’s interest in calligraphy via graffiti, to the rise of an educated middle class who no longer consider the arts necessary or valuable

Detours and Tangents

• How a timetabling clash led Peter to discover one of the world's oldest signed works of art while working on an archeological dig in Egypt
• How doing a PhD about Edwardian postcards helped Peter to connect with his family's history as immigrants
• Why it is that so many good calligraphers also turn out to be so good at playing golf

Episode Summary
Visit the Grokkist podcast hub for a full digest of this episode including highlights and links to stuff we discussed: https://grokk.ist/stillcuriouspodcast/s1e6-peter-gilderdale/

Recorded 7 October 2021

Website: grokk.ist/stillcuriouspodcast | Email: [email protected] | Socials: @grokkist
Music: Kleptotonic Swing by Tri-Tachyon