National Advocates for Arts Education News

July 2010

The Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts

Information for members

The Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts (The Draft Shape Paper) is designed to provide advice to writing teams on the nature of learning and the nature of curriculum in each of the art forms of Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music and Visual Arts. It follows the Initial Advice paper: The Arts presented to arts educators, jurisdictions and industry representatives at the Arts Forum held in Sydney on 3 May 2010. Following this forum, feedback was given to writers that has formed the basis of the Draft Shape Paper.

The Draft Shape Paper is not intended to be a curriculum document. It does not contain content or achievement standards that will typify a final curriculum document, nor does it constitute a ‘course’, and therefore cannot be described as such.

When reading this document it is important to consider whether the information provided describes the nature and continuum of learning in each of the art forms. This is the first thing that needs to be established before writing teams develop this into a sequential and developmental curriculum with associated achievement standards. The document also describes how the Arts can contribute to the learning of cross-curriculum content and the general capabilities.

The Draft Shape Paper will be released by ACARA on its website, followed by a period of public consultation, leading to the final publication of The Arts Shape Paper. ACARA will then advertise for curriculum writers who will use The Arts Shape Paper to develop curricula in five art forms. This process will provide further opportunities for consultation by ACARA, state and territory jurisdictions and professional associations.

The Draft Shape Paper will be released by ACARA on its website, followed by a period of public consultation, leading to the final publication of The Arts Shape Paper. ACARA will then advertise for curriculum writers who will use The Arts Shape Paper to develop curricula in five art forms. This process will provide further opportunities for consultation by ACARA, state and territory jurisdictions and professional associations.

Robert Randall, General Manager (Curriculum), Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) wrote to NAAE on 25 June with background and an update on progress with the Arts Shape Paper:

• The first step in the development of the arts curriculum was the establishment of a reference group to establish the broad parameters for the Australian Arts curriculum. This group, which involved leaders from each of the key groups, provided advice about the broad direction of the arts curriculum. At that time the proposition was made that the five art forms: Dance, Drama, Media, Music and Visual Arts should each be included in an entitlement for all students in the Arts curriculum.
• The Initial Advice paper was presented to the National Arts Forum on Monday 3 May. Feedback from the day is being incorporated into the draft Shape of Australian Curriculum: Arts paper which will, in the near future, be distributed for national consultation. The Initial Advice paper of 3 May, developed for the national forum, was out of date at the end of the forum.
• The procedure and timeline for development of each of the learning areas in the curriculum, including Arts, has been carefully planned and is published on ACARA website.
• We are still working on the proposition, presented at the forum, of an arts education entitlement for all students as well as opportunities for students to extend and enrich their learning. Across K-8, this would involve each student learning in each of the arts forms, with opportunities for them to extend that learning in one or more arts form(s), subject to capacity of schools to deliver this. This would be followed by opportunities for further study in one or more art forms in Years 9 and 10, and 11 and 12. That is, the proposed Arts curriculum is intended to provide a foundation in the Arts for all Australian students, ensuring they have access to a quality and broad range of Arts education, while also providing the basis for retaining the high quality arts programs that currently exist in many schools.
• There has been a range of comments made about provision of time and how it might be divided on a weekly basis. The times that ACARA has discussed provide a starting point for writers (not an direction to schools), with the intentions that we deliver an entitlement for all students, not to reduce provision in schools that exceed this now.

November/December 2009

The NAAE has been working with the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to find a way forward in the implementation phase of the arts in the National Curriculum, given that there are five artforms vying for space in school timetables.

NAAE has developed a position and advocacy strategy and has participated in the reference group meetings, with dance well represented by Jeff Meiners, Nanette Hassall, Ruth Bott and Julie Dyson. Lead writers in each art form are now being appointed by ACARA, with an advisory panel members to be announced in January.

October 2009

Reference Group for the National Curriculum

All members of the National Advocates for Arts Education (NAAE) were invited to participate in the second reference group meeting convened by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). We had an opportunity to review our discussions from the previous meeting, and then moved on to share ideas about implementation and the special characteristics of each art form.

ACARA is now moving on to wider consultation, and will appoint a writer later this year, but it is immensely pleasing to note that the notion of five art forms—and an education in each—is still on the table. Several NAAE people also attended a meeting of the Joint Implementation Working Group of the Cultural Ministers’ Council late in October, and had an opportunity to brief that group on the NAAE’s position.

September 2009

The NAAE paper The National Advocates for Arts Education and the National Curriculum in the Arts Update [240 KB PDF file] (Draft – under consultation) is shared here for comments and discussion.

The paper provides a background to the NAAE organisations' work over the past year to this point and the section 'Recommendations for arts learning in the national curriculum' is the result of much debate and consultation, including several meetings with the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA).

NAAE was advised to follow the terminology of the Melbourne Declaration as an 'enabling' document and NAAE's views on the division of 'The arts' into 'performing and visual' remain under consideration.

April 2009

A huge achievement for the arts in Australia

As you know, Ausdance has been leading the National Advocates for Arts Education (NAAE) in lobbying for the Arts to be included in the National Curriculum. We've had intensive periods of advocacy again this year with the Arts Minister, Peter Garrett, with the National Curriculum Board itself and with the members of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA).

Following Friday's meeting of MCEETYA, we're now delighted to be able to announce that the arts will be included in Phase 2 of the National Curriculum, along with Languages and Geography (Phase 1 already included Maths, Science, English and History).

This is a huge achievement for the arts in Australia, and the NAAE has done a wonderful job in combining forces to lobby for five art forms instead of focusing simply on a single art form approach. The NAAE will be meeting again with the National Curriculum Board's general manager, Rob Randall, in June, to work through the issues that are now to be resolved, but we are confident that our combined voices will achieve the allocation of the essential resources needed from the Commonwealth to make this work.

Please send our Arts a Priority for C21st Education media release [52 KB PDF file] to your local networks, and thanks to all for your support and advocacy—this could not have been achieved by one group alone.

March 2009

The NAAE has been lobbying to have the arts included in Phase Two of the National Curriculum, which at present does not include any art form. Our next meeting is with the National Curriculum Board in Canberra on 6 April.

The NAAE has been successful in gathering support from a range of national bodies, including the Australian Academy of the Humanities, the Council for Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, and the Griffith Review. We are also working to engage with the Australian Council of State School Organisations, the Primary Principals Association and others to convince the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) of the importance of creativity and innovation in a 21st Century curriculum, and the need for increased resources for teacher education in the arts.

February 2009

This month NAAE has added the Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) to its membership list and continues to receive good media coverage about the importance of the arts in the National Curriculum. The February edition of Lowdown magazine features an excellent article by Estelle Muspratt (pages 6 – 7), and individual arts teachers have been writing to relevant Ministers as a result of this campaign (and are actually getting replies!).

NAAE has received some encouraging correspondence from the federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, and a supportive response from the Chairman of the Cultural Ministers’ Council (CMC), Premier Mike Rann of South Australia. We are yet to hear from federal Education Minister Julia Gillard, but Arts Minister Peter Garrett is set to address the CMC in March about the issue.

Some of the debate at the moment concerns the crucial difference between the intrinsic and the instrumental values of the arts in a broad curriculum, i.e. the ways in which the arts contribute to learning in other curriculum areas, and the reasons why learning in and about the arts is valuable for its own sake. As one NAAE member said: …we need to acknowledge the cross curriculum aspects as important, but emphasise they do not really give deep understanding and learning, nor do they often actually provide the ‘creative’ experiences we (and presumably the government!) value so highly.

NAAE members are now working on a strategic plan for the next months of advocacy, and we’ll keep members updated about progress and ways in which individual teachers, parents and learners can contribute to this campaign.

See also this USA report An Envision Commentary on Art and Science in Education.

January 2009

Campaign to have the arts included in the National Curriculum

In the last week of the parliamentary sitting (November 26 and 27) we set up appointments at Parliament House in Canberra for NAAE to pitch to advisers of Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Julia Gillard, and the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Kim Carr. NAAE members also spoke to Arts Minister Peter Garrett, who was keen to support the cause.

We wrote letters to each of these Ministers, and Ausdance National represented NAAE at a meeting with Robyn Cooper, Executive Director in the Office of Early Childhood Education & Child Care in the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and her branch manager, Joan ten Brummelaar. Robyn and Joan assured us that the draft Early Years Learning Framework would incorporate explicit references to arts education in early childhood, which was a great outcome.

I was also invited to represent the NAAE at the Australian Education Ministers’ first biennial forum in Melbourne on 5 December. The purpose of the meeting was to sign the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, an agreement between the States and Territories to deliver on the eight key learning areas, including the Arts. However, their exclusion from the National Curriculum is still of concern, as this seems to make them peripheral to the main game.

While the NAAE was reassured at all these meetings that the arts were definitely not off the agenda, it was clear that they were not a priority in the National Curriculum. This has led us to wage a successful media campaign over the last few weeks, with the following coverage:

In November, I was interviewed for the ABC's AM program, which finally went to air on Monday 5th January. There has been a lot of good feedback about it, and this was followed by a short interview with The Age in Melbourne.

The Age then invited arts education academic John O'Toole to write an opinion piece. Five letters to the editor in support of the arts followed, ensuring some good debate around the topic.

We were also contacted by Martin Westwell, Director of the Flinders Centre for Science Education in the 21st Century, who is in Australia for three years, and is writing a paper for the National Curriculum Board. He provided us with a link to the following website, which you will find fascinating, and is interested in linking neuroscience and arts learning. He sent this note:

Check out this clip on teachers TV especially from the 15 minute mark. Jonathan worked with me, setting up this project when I was in Oxford. Keep going to at least minute 18 when Paul Howard Jones quite rightly talks about it not just being about 'sparkly' one-off examples and the interaction between educators and scientists being crucial.

I hope you all have time to explore some of this material.

October 2008

National Curriculum, minus the Arts

Everyone is probably aware of the push for new National Curriculum standards across the country. Phase one is focusing on English, mathematics, science and history and will be implemented in schools from 2011. A second suite of curricula will include languages and geography. Ausdance National convened a group of arts education colleagues in Sydney on 13 October, and its members, under the banner of the NAAE (National Advocates for Arts Education), agreed on a joint advocacy campaign to ensure that the Arts are included in the National Curriculum.

We have written to Ministers Julia Gillard, Kim Carr and Peter Garrett, and to Maxine McKew and Shadow Education Minister Christopher Pyne. We are seeking meetings with each of these politicians in Canberra in late November, suggesting that the Arts are essential to the Government’s plans for an ‘education revolution’, with their emphasis on innovation, creativity, social inclusion and cultural understanding. The NAAE currently consists of representatives from Ausdance, the Australian Music Council, the Australian Society for Music Education, the National Association for the Visual Arts, Art Education Australia and Drama Australia.