Arts and Cultural Education in Iceland : Professor Anne Bamford
Arts and Cultural Education in Iceland : Professor Anne Bamford
Arts and Cultural Education in Iceland : Professor Anne Bamford
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example, <strong>in</strong> Senegal hair-braid<strong>in</strong>g is an important art form <strong>and</strong> is present <strong>in</strong> the curriculum. It<br />
could be argued though, that by be<strong>in</strong>g quite specific <strong>in</strong> the art forms covered, that the<br />
curriculum has a sharper focus. For example, <strong>in</strong> Colombia a strong focus on music has greatly<br />
lifted educational st<strong>and</strong>ards <strong>in</strong> music.<br />
In the compulsory school, there are basically 4 discipl<strong>in</strong>es that make up arts education.<br />
These are:<br />
Visual arts<br />
Textile<br />
Wood (<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g metal) craft<br />
Music<br />
Additionally, drama <strong>and</strong> dance may occur, but these tend to be on a less regular basis <strong>and</strong><br />
occur either as part of a festival, performance or occasion or as a component of another subject,<br />
such as language learn<strong>in</strong>g or physical education. Some specialist colleges exist for danc<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> to<br />
a lesser extent for drama, but these are s<strong>in</strong>gular <strong>and</strong> not representative of the general situation.<br />
Colleges may also have art history, cultural studies, design, media <strong>and</strong> other arts options.<br />
Secondary schools appear to have more flexibility to develop arts electives, but they have less<br />
core offer<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> the arts. Extra curricula activities <strong>in</strong> the arts are common at all levels of<br />
education <strong>and</strong> can <strong>in</strong>clude talent competitions, quizzes, discos, dances, festivals, school<br />
performances, film mak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> a range of youth-developed <strong>in</strong>itiatives across all art forms.<br />
College students seem particularly keen to develop <strong>and</strong> promote extra arts offer<strong>in</strong>gs.<br />
Figure 1.3.1 shows those subjects that school pr<strong>in</strong>ciples <strong>in</strong> compulsory schools consider to<br />
be generally <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>in</strong> arts education <strong>in</strong> the school system. It can be seen that visual arts,<br />
textiles <strong>and</strong> woodwork are almost always present.<br />
Figure 1.3.1 Subjects considered by compulsory school pr<strong>in</strong>ciples to be generally <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>in</strong> arts education.<br />
There is also a range of community groups specifically target<strong>in</strong>g youth. For example, youth<br />
clubs, local brass b<strong>and</strong>s, ‘garage’ b<strong>and</strong>s, the Red Cross, churches, camps, summer festivals <strong>and</strong> a<br />
number of other local offers add considerably to the cultural possibilities for young people.<br />
Anecdotally it was reported that although many these have a social, environmental or sport foci,<br />
they frequently <strong>in</strong>clude arts <strong>and</strong> cultural dimensions with<strong>in</strong> the programme. It was also noted<br />
that there were ‘youth-led’ groups <strong>in</strong> many towns <strong>and</strong> cities <strong>and</strong> that these provided further<br />
creative opportunities for young people. ‘Ground up’ <strong>in</strong>itiatives seem to be particularly popular –<br />
<strong>and</strong> often more susta<strong>in</strong>able – than more contrived <strong>in</strong>itiatives. It would be recommended that<br />
these be more fully ‘mapped’ to determ<strong>in</strong>e their extent <strong>and</strong> distribution. Also many lessons on<br />
success factors could be ga<strong>in</strong>ed from these <strong>in</strong>itiatives <strong>and</strong> could be <strong>in</strong>corporated <strong>in</strong>to future costeffective<br />
cultural plann<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
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