1-2013 - Landslaget drama i skolen

tove Ilsaas
førsteamanuensIs I kunstfagsdIdaktIkk ved
InstItutt for lærerutdannIng og skoleutvIklIng
(Ils), unIversItetet I oslo.
– wE nEEd
a nEw KInd
Of SchOOl
tekst: tove Ilsaas / foto: sjur stølen
paul roberts is chairman for cce (creativity,
culture & education), united kingdom.
In his keynote speach at the "The arts turn
education alive", fks’ (fellesrådet for kunstfagene
i skolens) conference in oslo last
november, he asserted the importance of
arts in education for the future.
How did you develop such a burning commitment
for the arts in education?
– originally I am a teacher, a math teacher,
actually! I started out as a teacher in 1970,
and by and by I became a head of school
and an Inspector. Throughout those many
years I saw again and again how the arts
could have an influence on children’s lives!
as I’m talking to you, I can picture my own
children and how much they enjoyed engaging
in arts projects – and how their lives
were enriched through taking part in the
making of a sculpture, a painting or a piece
of theatre or drama.
gradually I came to feel passionate about
my children’s development through the
[ Intervju ]
– In the future we will need even more creative, innovative,
motivated and cooperative human beings, and we need schools
that take arts more seriously, says paul roberts, keynote speaker
at fKS' 20-year anniversary conference.
arts, and about other children being able to
experience what they did. especially when
I worked in some of the deprived areas in
nottinghamshire, I came to feel that the
school children there all should have had
what my own children had benefitted from.
There were serious tensions in those communities,
as there are in big cities like london.
But the head teacher’s recognition of
how the arts could engage the whole child,
emotionally and intellectually, completely
turned around the atmosphere of the
school. It was wonderful to witness. seeing
their children participating with body and
soul in practical art work – whether it was
painting, sculpture, music/singing/dancing,
drama – and actually attaining wonderful
results, had a profound effect on
both parents and teachers! people wanted
to be involved; and it was all due to a positive
school-home relationship.
In the DICE project the UK was represented
by Big Brum in Birmingham, and that seems
fellesrådet kunstfagene i skolens
(fks') anniversary conference "the
arts turn education alive" was
held at litteraturhuset in oslo
on the 29th of november 2012. tove
ilsaas has interviewed the two key
note speakers on the conditions
for drama in school.
to be one of the few TiE companies left in
England now?
– you’re right; there weren’t many tiegroups
left by the 90s – and you know why, I
suppose? under Thatcher and the 1988 education
act, money were channeled to the individual
schools. so it was up to each school
whether they’d buy in tie companies, and
many schools chose to spend their money
elsewhere. and that is another reason why
the arts should be time tabled and not left to
after school hours! It’s only when drama or
dance or sculpturing is on offer during the
school day that we ensure that every child
can enjoy it, regardless of background.
Are you fighting the same battle in England
as we are in Norway?
– yes, we certainly are. a new curriculum
which has been proposed in the u.k., will
limit the role of the arts.
In Norway we’re experiencing a ‘viscious circle’,
as drama seems to be obliterated from all teacher
training. Is this also the case in England?
students from bogstad school
in oslo performed extracts from
their narnia-performance
– That’s exactly right! and one of the reasons
why, in my presentation this morning,
I gave the quotation from the research essay,
"oceans of innovation”, is that their report
may be – hopefully – a turning point. Their
contention is that in order to build the creative
generation for the future, a new kind of
school is needed, where the role of the teacher
is to challenge rather than to guide and
where the nature of activities is authentic
rather than contrived; where the organization
of time is flexible rather than bellbound,
and the solving tasks is done is in groups
rather than individually.
cultural education matters in this connection
because it fosters self-confidence and
personal identity, self discipline and team
[ Intervju ]
work – often in a workshop setting – and
it stimulates communication and combats
disaffection and underachievement.
The report from the British Industries
states very clearly what we need: “There
are powerful reasons to believe that what
worked spectacularly between 1960 and
2010 will not work between 2010 and
2060.” we’re not preparing the young people
for the world!
The creative industries in england have
been the fastest growing sector for 6-8
years now. one word is the hot potato in
england right now: economic growth. It
is actually madness that they phase down
investments in a growing industry like the
paul roberts gave the main lecture
"the arts turn education alive"
culture industry, and one which is environmentally
much less dangerous than
others, at that - ! It all starts in the public
schools – that’s where we can ensure the
development of creativity and entrepreneurship
for everyone.
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rom for dans held the workshop
krom - kropp i rom