Study Program of English Literature Faculty of Cultural Studies Brawijaya Univesity organized a 3 in 1 program for the Creative Writing course. John Charles Ryan, M.A., Ph.D. was invited to deliver a course on Thursday (9/12/2020). Ryan is an associate professor at Southern Cross University, Australia. He had also written several books such as “Seeing Trees” and “Plants in Contemporary Poetry”.
Ryan brought “Curricula & Creative Industries: Targeted Skills and Course Design in Creative Writing” in his presentation. He began by explaining the Australian education system. Learning outcomes for a course or degree must include important generic skills for employment and further study, as well as independent and critical thinking abilities for life-long learning, according to the Australian government’s higher education framework.
Every university in Australia follows this procedure for each major. A Critical Writing curriculum in universities was also created in such a way that it helps students in gaining crucial career skills such as critical thinking, communication, and teamwork.
During the pandemic, Ryan gave an online lecture on the Creative Writing course for students at an Indonesian university. Online methods, he claims, facilitate a change in traditional classroom-based poetry teaching approaches. Collaboration, creativity, and internationalization are all options.
Ryan utilized poetrygames.org and other useful websites for creative writing courses in his online lectures. He also talked about his teaching method and how he planned each class meeting.
He concluded that both students and lecturers benefited because both had to adapt to the new environment based on his experiences teaching students the Creative Writing course online. Furthermore, students were forced to come up with creative solutions to the course’s needs. He also mentioned that during the online course, lecturers should consider the issues of access to technology and students’ emotional wellbeing.
Furthermore, he discussed a work-integrated learning program that is available to Australian students. The curriculum allows students to apply their academic knowledge in a business setting, so improving their career preparation. Concerning the internationalization issue of Creative Writing curricula, Ryan believes that it can be achieved through the classroom by enabling students to engage with an international range of texts, writers, and industries or even through online writing communities.
After Ryan’s lecture, the discussion examined how English literature courses in Indonesian higher education, particularly Creative Writing courses, prepare students for careers in the creative sectors. The session provided professors with an opportunity to learn more about the course design and targeted skills of Creative Writing in Australia, and how to carry out Creative Writing online classes.
(FCS)
