The Arts in Schools - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

More documents

Recommendations

Info

adviser. Expensive drama studios and equipment areunused whilst local amateur groups who would beglad to use them are prohibited from doing so by thehigh cost of hire.' (The Times, 10th February 1981)Nationally the situation is bleak and becoming bleakeras one authority after another is forced into making cutsin its budget for music, drama and the other arts. Musiceducation is getting savage treatment: the first victimsare often the peripatetic teachers. In Leicestershire, forexample, the Education Committee was asked to reduceby 25% its expenditure on music, drama and dance in1981/82. Such actions are not just a retrenchment inthe service but a threat to its very existence.Spending in the arts has never been profligate. Whatsuccesses have been achieved — and in the past 20 yearsespecially there have been a great many of them — haveresulted from hard work, good-will and self-help. Thedanger now is that spending cuts, which may make smallsavings when compared with the total education budgetof any authority, will devastate the provision for arts ineducation.e Examinations and accountabilityThe debate on the school curriculum was prompted inpart by calls for greater accountability in education. Theproblems here for the arts do not lie in the need foraccountability but in the forms it is so often assumed itmust take. Performance in public examinations is stilltaken as the main index of the success of a school.Any pressures to raise standards of education tendtherefore to be transmitted through the examinationsystem. 5 Some Boards have sought to develop moreflexible forms of examination and we welcome this.Nevertheless, the overall style and content of traditionalacademic examinations is still a dominating influence onthe curriculum of secondary schools especially. HMIdescribed some of the effects of this in their survey ofAspects of Secondary Education (DBS, 1979). Lookingat the progression of work into the fourth and fifthyears, they state:'It was apparent that the style and ultimately thequality of work... were dominated by the requirements,actual or perceived, of public examinations.Schools are naturally anxious to secure examinationqualifications for their pupils. They are also consciousof the degree to which the effectiveness of schools is
likely to be measured publicly by examinationresults. In consequence they tend to enter as manypupils as possible for as many examinations as possible;they also tend to adopt teaching approacheswhich are thought necessary to secure examinationsuccess.' (DBS, 1979, p262)In practice, those activities which are not examinablesuffer in terms of space, staffing, time, facilities — andstatus. As a result, more and more teachers are turning tothe examination system to legitimise what they aredoing in the arts. We doubt the long-term wisdom ofthis for three reasons.First, many examination results are given in the formof grades or percentages. Only limited aspects of the artslend themselves to this sort of marking. The arts are noless important for that. Second, the examination systemis an uneasy mixture of a system of appraisal and one ofselection. Given the changing relationships betweeninitial education, further and higher education and theworld of work, it may be that these functions need tobe more clearly differentiated in schools. Third, we donot see that opportunities to pursue the arts in schoolsshould be limited to those with a special interest in gainingqualifications in them through examinations. Andfor those who do, we would continue to question theacademic bias of many existing courses and schemes ofexamination.Although we firmly agree that the arts should beaccountable along with other aspects of education, wewant to propose some alternative strategies.d Supply and training of teachersArts teaching, like all teaching, depends for its qualityand effectiveness on the supply and training of teachers.The reductions in teacher training have led to theclosure of many arts courses. The movement to an allgraduateprofession has increased the academic pressuresand reduced the practical component in thosecourses which survive. The result is a shortage of confidentand qualified arts teachers coming into theprofession. The present low status of the arts, for thereasons we have given, may discourage others fromseeking such training.We see a need to ensure a sufficient number and rangeof teachers with specialist skills, in the arts no less thanin other areas of the curriculum. In view of the manychanges in schools and in the training of teachers there8
Page 1 and 2: THEARTSSCHOOLSPrinciples, practice
Page 3 and 4: © 1982 Calouste Gulbenkian Foundat
Page 5 and 6: Chapter 4 Provision: the arts in pr
Page 7 and 8: The Advisory CommitteeChairmanMembe
Page 9 and 10: Foreword by the Chairman of the Inq
Page 11 and 12: Introduction—1989This is not a re
Page 13 and 14: and many others have done so since.
Page 15 and 16: politicians on all sides were compe
Page 17 and 18: the GCSE examination has addressed
Page 19 and 20: REFERENCESArts in Schools Project (
Page 21 and 22: stances and of the perennial and va
Page 23: significant than at present.4 The n
Page 27 and 28: seem to improve when taught as part
Page 29 and 30: world around them.e In understandin
Page 31 and 32: ence essential to education? Why th
Page 33 and 34: 10 The artsare notoptions11 Notwith
Page 35 and 36: 1 Education, schooling and the arts
Page 37 and 38: 15 The arts This is the ground on w
Page 39 and 40: for certain forms of artistic activ
Page 41 and 42: arts — is 'merely subjective" and
Page 43 and 44: to and an understanding of certain
Page 45 and 46: school curriculum fall into this se
Page 47 and 48: one who is intelligent but who exhi
Page 49 and 50: 38 Quality Quantity by itself is in
Page 51 and 52: 43 Freedom Two further points must
Page 53 and 54: 3 Arts education and the cultural h
Page 55 and 56: universally valued archive of stabl
Page 57 and 58: a helps pupils to understand cultur
Page 59 and 60: Child: "They said it was a march, b
Page 61 and 62: their cultural identity'. Haley's b
Page 63 and 64: life and on perceptions and values
Page 65 and 66: 4 Provision: the arts in primary sc
Page 67 and 68: a What should be aimed at?b What pr
Page 69 and 70: composition — Western and non-Wes
Page 71 and 72: learning.' (Schools Council, 1981a,
Page 73 and 74: performing arts — music, dance an
Page 75 and 76:
techniques and resources for workin
Page 77 and 78:
are thinking particularly of the ar
Page 79 and 80:
they will suffer disproportionately
Page 81 and 82:
Second, integration can mean many t
Page 83 and 84:
arts have a substantial contributio
Page 85 and 86:
distributed equally and equitably a
Page 87 and 88:
art, craft, home economics, music a
Page 89 and 90:
FIGURE 2SHEPSHEDCOMMUNITYCOLLEGEope
Page 91 and 92:
in upper schools. Associated with t
Page 93 and 94:
120 A Implicit in such proposals is
Page 95 and 96:
78literature and put money and reso
Page 97 and 98:
80outlined the sorts of provision t
Page 99 and 100:
used — are appropriate to the wor
Page 101 and 102:
135 Respon- If education involves t
Page 103 and 104:
we look at, or participate in, visu
Page 105 and 106:
MotivationalChildren on examination
Page 107 and 108:
elevant help in compiling the profi
Page 109 and 110:
ible to some form of appropriate as
Page 111 and 112:
94more in-service training provisio
Page 113 and 114:
1%—2% of the school population
Page 115 and 116:
tuition under well qualified teache
Page 117 and 118:
it is likely that more children wil
Page 119 and 120:
102by professional musicians, many
Page 121 and 122:
frequencies and belongs to the Part
Page 123 and 124:
classroom teacher. Nevertheless, th
Page 125 and 126:
'Within individual schools in certa
Page 127 and 128:
implications of different types of
Page 129 and 130:
We will first outline five main are
Page 131 and 132:
186 Arts In the schemes we have jus
Page 133 and 134:
schemes. The Arvon Foundation, for
Page 135 and 136:
is likely to give his teaching rele
Page 137 and 138:
periods of time. There are possibil
Page 139 and 140:
207 The role The rple of the teache
Page 141 and 142:
to be essential to the future devel
Page 143 and 144:
scheme. The Charlotte Mason College
Page 145 and 146:
d education is something that only
Page 147 and 148:
iture. It does require a different
Page 149 and 150:
225 Initial Initial and post-initia
Page 151 and 152:
Germany 18% of the workforce has be
Page 153 and 154:
outes for the visual arts. In parti
Page 155 and 156:
at the centre on a regular basis. T
Page 157 and 158:
potential. The exceptional situatio
Page 159 and 160:
We have developed our arguments in
Page 161 and 162:
wherever possible, co-ordinate the
Page 163 and 164:
AppendixOur arguments in this repor
Page 165 and 166:
Evening classes range from life-dra
Page 167 and 168:
to work with them. CSE groups with
Page 169 and 170:
from other schools to watch two lec
Page 171 and 172:
the cost). Groups of children have
Page 173 and 174:
iii as a special authorised charge
Page 175 and 176:
BibliographyAdvisory Council for Ad
Page 177 and 178:
Kerr, J F 1968 Changing the Curricu
Page 179 and 180:
NotesThe Issues1 For a description
Page 181 and 182:
the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenste
Page 183 and 184:
for candidates between the 100th an
Page 185 and 186:
their education full-time in school
show all

The Arts in Schools - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?