The Wow Factor Global research compendium on the ... - E-cademic

Executive summary
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Wow</strong> <strong>Factor</strong>: <strong>Global</strong> <strong>research</strong> perspectives on the impact of the arts in education
reports the findings of a UNESCO project, carried out in collaboration with the
Australia Council for the Arts (<strong>The</strong> Council) and the International Federation of
Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA).
This executive summary briefly reviews our methods and findings. <strong>The</strong> first
chapter of the book presents the background and the context for the report, including
an overview of central issues.
<strong>The</strong> following chapters present an analysis of wide-ranging data collected regarding
the extent and impact of arts-rich programmes on children and young people.
Based on findings of a comprehensive survey conducted in 2004 and distributed to
ministries of education and culture in the UNESCO membership countries (as well
as by organisations of which these hold joint-membership, e.g. the European
Council).
Acknowledging that a quantitative analysis can give but a partial understanding of
the field, selected (representative) case studies of arts-rich programmes in over 35
countries have been used to exemplify issues.
<strong>The</strong> concluding chapter draws all the observations together for an overall sense of
how the different arts-rich programmes can be characterized and compared, and
includes recommendations about how – and to what extent – these may be improved
upon in the future. <strong>The</strong> appendices at the end of this book present some of
the data that was collected from each country, along with other relevant information
such as details of the case studies that can be accessed online.
This book was written in consultation with an international team of experts on arts,
education and social sciences. <strong>The</strong> international team was led by Professor Anne
Bamford, Director of <strong>The</strong> Engine Room, Wimbledon School of Art, London. <strong>The</strong>
international team investigated and evaluated worldwide standards of arts-rich education
in order to understand the current trends and examples of best-practice
models in the field.
Objectives
<strong>The</strong> commissioned <strong>research</strong> underpinning the findings in this book aimed to establish
an international <strong>compendium</strong> on <strong>research</strong> demonstrating the impact of arts-rich
programmes on the education of children and young people around the world.
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