The role of arts in education has seen an increasingly heightened profile of late, which may in part be attributed to a number of major arts organisations placing greater emphasis on in-house education schemes. The opening of the London Symphony Orchestra’s (LSO) new Discovery programme at St Luke’s last month heralded a new era in outreach and education in the UK; while the London Philharmonic, under the organisation’s new Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Timothy Walker, will also undertake plans to build a new resource centre. In Camden, the Roundhouse operates a range of artistic projects in schools and is about to begin renovations to transform the undercroft at its Chalk Farm base into a media complex for young people.
Outreach, access and partnerships are just a few of the buzzwords on the Government’s agenda when it comes to funding the arts. But while the importance of education strands at major arts organisations are not to be underestimated, on the other hand, some industry figures have expressed concern that to a degree, they could be seen to be picking up the slack from the education system.
And there is another strand to the role arts can play in education currently creeping into education policy debates – actually using the arts to teach creatively, across the curriculum.
Since the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education’s All Our Futures report, advocating for creative and cultural education, was published in 2000, the National Campaign for the Arts (NCA) has been lobbying for subjects like music, drama and dance to be integrated into all classroom lessons.
In the past week, there have been signs of movement towards a more creativity-based curriculum. Last Thursday, the NCA held a seminar, Promoting Creativity, a follow-up to a similar conference held last year, as part of the organisation’s ongoing campaign. The event attracted high-profile speakers, including Schools Standards Minister, David Miliband and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell.
NCA Director Victoria Todd said the presence of such high profile figures at the event indicated the government was taking the NCA’s recommendations seriously.
David Miliband, Todd recalls, was ‘absolutely fantastic’: ‘He spoke passionately about his concerns, and where they [the Department for Education and Skills, or DfES) were going to move forward.’
Speaking at the event, Miliband said the government was ‘wholly committed’ to raising education standards, adding: ‘Creativity is very much at the forefront of my own ambitions for raising standards – not as an “add on” but playing an important role in the overall education experience for all our children.’
‘It is important that schools deliver a broad and balanced curriculum and this includes high standards in the arts, as well as literacy and numeracy,’ he said.
Miliband highlighted the importance of creativity in teaching methods, along with the nurturing of individual learning. He also pointed to music tuition, in particular, as an area the government was exploring to raise the standard of education.
‘We are also looking at ways of helping primary schools teachers to teach music, including funding 100 Advanced Skills Teachers in music, and Ofsted is evaluating 12 projects offering opportunities for all primary school pupils to learn a musical instrument,’ said Miliband.
Although impressed with the School Standards Minister’s address, Todd emphasises the NCA’s role now is to ensure that the government follows up its claims.
‘What we’ve got to do is make sure it’s not rhetoric,’ Todd asserts. ‘He [Miliband] was talking about a lot of initiatives that are going on, but that often isn’t enough to ensure that the schools and teachers are given the support they need.’
At the NCA’s seminar, both Miliband and Jowell highlighted government-funded initiatives, such as the Creative Partnerships scheme, as examples of their commitment to the arts in education agenda. This £40 million pilot initiative to partner schools with professional artists and organisations is currently underway in 16 areas across England, but was recently awarded a further £45 million from Arts Council England to extend into 11 more regions.
However, Todd is dubious about the extent to which Creative Partnerships will trigger future initiatives. ‘I think there needs to be an awful lot more [done] in terms of getting to Local Education Authorities, not just through one-off events that happen in pilot sessions around the country,’ she argues.
‘You’ve got to get to every local authority in the country, and you’ve got to get to the teaching of teachers, and get it right. So the Local Authorities have to got come on board, [and recognise] that arts is absolutely one of the most important curriculum subjects and that the teachers are properly trained to deliver the arts.’
A recent nationwide survey indicates Todd could have a point about the need to increase support for educators. A Guardian article recently reported that teachers were struggling to fit arts subjects into a crowded national curriculum. According to a survey of 695 primary, secondary and sixth-form teachers, 80% said they battled to find time to schedule arts lessons; almost 90% worried that sidelining the arts was hindering students’ ability to think creatively; while two-thirds believed a reduction in arts teaching would diminish the country’s creative industries – currently worth almost £70 billion to the economy.
Miliband, writing in the Guardian yesterday, indicated he would respond to the need to raise education standards across the system, especially those schools performing poorly.
‘We must not only recruit more trainee teachers – a record 35,000 are training this year – but also teach those new recruits the skills they need to respond flexibly and creatively to individual pupils,’ he wrote.
In another recent development, on March 28, Education Secretary Charles Clarke announced plans to publish a consultation document exploring ways to garner specialist knowledge to improve teaching and learning. This involved encouraging specialist subject organisations, like the Association for Science Education, to work closer with classroom teachers. He also indicated there was a greater role for well-known musicians, orchestras and actors, to work more closely with schools, to liven up the curriculum.
What remains to be seen is whether such an initiative will merely replicate existing schemes like Creative Partnerships, or Royal Opera House education programmes in schools, or actually focus on equipping teachers with the skills to use creative teaching strategies.
