What would it be like if, instead of evaluating achievement at art schools, we decided to assess fulfilment? It’d be absurd of course - fulfilment is a perception of an internal condition and, as such, it can only be evaluated internally. But the question seems to point to the heart of the problem with grading (in art schools at least) since it exposes exactly the mismatch between two conceptions of the role that art plays: one of which is predicated upon notions of performance (or rather performativity) and the other upon ‘being’.
Just imagine though, if it were possible to gather a clear picture of how fulfilled students were with their studies on completing their education, what enormously valuable data that would be. And if it turns out that students have less interest in their chosen field than when they started, perhaps we should ask ourselves if we’ve failed to do what education should strive to do above all else: to foster their desire to go on learning.
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