Establishing a typology for an artist-academic: mapping the key components for implementation in competency management

Abstract

Employee performance is a key element of an organisation. This study explores how to develop academic employee competencies to improve performance through personality assessment. By integrating personality, behaviour, knowledge, and experience for employee performance assessment, contributes to insight into an individual’s competency profile. Within universities, the dichotomy of an academic being both teacher and researcher is acknowledged. Quality teaching is placed alongside the tenets of research as purposeful outcomes for academic staff. This study focusses on artists as academics through Schön’s premise of reflection-in-action, and reflection-on-action to recognise intrinsic and tacit knowledge and learning. A typology for artist-academic is determined as a pilot case study within Tshwane University of Technology’s Faculty of Arts & Design. The typology is generated through conceptual blending theory and validated through thematic analysis. The study compares Enneagram personality test traits that determine an artist-as-creative-act with South African norms and standards that determine a competent educator. Within the broader university framework, the study results will help trace quality teaching and employee development prospects for an artist-academic.