With 21 years of experience in TVET sector and backed up with experience, training and exposure of the VET sector from UK, Australia, Pakistan and Philippines, Gouhar Pirzada feels privileged and humbled to contribute by working with prestigious organizations including Pearson (Edexcel), GIZ, GFA, TVET Asia. He was nominated as High Achiever Alumni (Social Impact) by the British Council in 2019, won the QUT Australia Impact Stories Award in 2018, and won the 2020 country-level success story-telling competition at the Australia Awards Regional Alumni Conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka. As TVET trainer, he has trained more than 4000 professionals, teachers and administrators in the last 3 years alone.
As part of the national qualification development panel, DACUM facilitator and Consultant in Pakistan, he has contributed to the development of more than 8 qualifications and developing TLGs (Trainer Learners’ Guides). He is CEO of the first international TVET provider of country, STEP, a pioneer bringing global qualifications and the first Institute to initiate Competency Based Training (CBT) in Pakistan. Research (Qualitative and Quantitative) has always been my major forte. He has written papers for TVET Asia on Work Process-Based TVET qualifications, and Technical Didactics for CBT approach, and recently got published in International Journal of Latest Research in Humanities & Social Sciences (IJLRHSC) on Outcome Based Education. He is currently pursuing a MPhil in Education Leadership & Management, with prospects for a Doctorate in TVET application.
Diversity and Creative Freedom leading to Unexpected Art
The world is facing enormous challenges. Science and technology are playing their utmost role in addressing these challenges. But sometimes excessive use of science and technology leads to disastrous results. It is where art plays its role. Art and design make people feel about the importance and sensitivity of the issue. An unexpected and fetching piece of art can engage people’s senses and make them realize the importance of the issues.
The purpose of this paper is to understand the perceptions of art and design teachers and students of STEP Institute of Art, Design & Management about unexpected and fetching art and how can it engage people about sensitive issues. Purposive sampling is done with focus group interviews, portfolio analysis, and observations conducted to collect data. The results of the study manifest thought-provoking results and helped the researcher to understand the perception of students and teachers about unexpected art pieces& design elements and the factors that contribute in the unexpected results. The respondents shared their experiences of diversity, inclusion and creative freedom that helped them to create unexpected and fetching results.
Keywords: Art, Design, Perspectives, Diversity, Inclusion, Creative freedom