The Arts in Schools - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Arts in Schools - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The Arts in Schools - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
achievement. 1 If all candidates were to be given 'A' therewould be complaints about falling standards or 'fixing'. Forthe system to have any credibility there has to be a proportionof failures. A pupil's placing in the list does not depend solelyon personal performance. He or she may improve performanceby 100% over a year, but if everyone else improves similarly,personal grades will be no higher than before. To obtain abetter grade a student must take it from students higher upthe list by out-performing one or more of them. Moreover,children are entered in groups for examinations at the end ofa course of study which they will have started at the sametime: the starting and finishing point is based, for the mostpart, on how old they are. All that we know about childrentells us that they develop and mature, in every respect, atdifferent rates. Two pupils do not always reach the samestate of readiness for examinations at the same time even iftheir latent potential for success is the same. There areobvious shortcomings in taking children at these arbitrarypoints in their personal development, and comparing themwith other children who may be at quite different points, todecide, often once and for all, whether they have passed orfailed. Naturally some children do well and these may bequoted in defence of the system. But how do we take stockof the vast waste of potential among those who have beenprematurely written-off?141 Theelement offailure142 Argumentsforexaminingthe artsIt is not the explicit function of public examinations to failchildren, but an element of failure is inescapable in thedistribution of relative grades. In order to 'maintain standards'it is essential to limit the number of passes and ensure apercentage of failure. The experience of failure is a constantpresence in such examinations and for those children who are'failed' it can have a deep effect on self-esteem and motivation:more especially where the experience is repeated.They may, of course, be driven to work harder. They maybe led to disparage the whole affair and become antipatheticor hostile to learning. The experience of failure can havesignificant consequences by negating the positive purposes forwhich schools exist.Despite these difficulties, there are three main groups ofargument currently advanced for introducing arts examinationsin schools.a VocationalSchools should be preparing children for life in the adultworld and should give them skills and the evidence thatthey have them. Examinations provide vocationalsupport.87
MotivationalChildren on examination courses work harder and withgreater energy than those who are not; the competitiveedge of an examination increases motivation.e PoliticalCompetition for time and resources can become aggressivein the upper years of the secondary school when thecurriculum is virtually composed of examination options.Non-examination work often suffers as a result. Introducingan examination can attract time, resources,prestige and pupils. It can act as a political lever to raisethe status of the work in the school.143 Three We see a number of counter-arguments:counter- a Vocationalarguments We are discussing the role of the arts within a system ofgeneral education for Britain in the 1980s. It seemslikely that employment prospects in conventional jobswill continue to diminish for school leavers — notthrough lack of qualifications but through lack of jobs.Young people cannot enter non-existent jobs, howeverwell-qualified they may be. A narrowing of the curriculumis precisely what is not needed in these new socialcircumstances. Far better a partnership between employersand schools in which schools provide a broad-basededucation which encourages flexibility, imagination andindividual resourcefulness, while employers providechildren with the specialist training and vocational skillsthey need,b MotivationalOnly a small proportion of children in any school willeither want or be able to take examination courses inthe arts. Providing an examination motive for a minorityis no solution to motivating the majority: and our concernis with the majority. Moreover, it is the professionalresponsibility of teachers to see that children stretchthemselves with or without an examination,e PoliticalAdequate provision for the arts will only come aboutwhere they are recognised by the head and the staff asan integral part of the school's policy. Where thisrecognition is lacking, an examination is likely tobe only a short-term solution. Gaining school support isthe real issue and we believe that this is more likely tocome about through demonstration of the value of thework and by consultation. In the long-term other formsof evaluation and assessment may play a more constructiverole in this.88
- Page 53 and 54: 3 Arts education and the cultural h
- Page 55 and 56: universally valued archive of stabl
- Page 57 and 58: a helps pupils to understand cultur
- Page 59 and 60: Child: "They said it was a march, b
- Page 61 and 62: their cultural identity'. Haley's b
- Page 63 and 64: life and on perceptions and values
- Page 65 and 66: 4 Provision: the arts in primary sc
- Page 67 and 68: a What should be aimed at?b What pr
- Page 69 and 70: composition — Western and non-Wes
- Page 71 and 72: learning.' (Schools Council, 1981a,
- Page 73 and 74: performing arts — music, dance an
- Page 75 and 76: techniques and resources for workin
- Page 77 and 78: are thinking particularly of the ar
- Page 79 and 80: they will suffer disproportionately
- Page 81 and 82: Second, integration can mean many t
- Page 83 and 84: arts have a substantial contributio
- Page 85 and 86: distributed equally and equitably a
- Page 87 and 88: art, craft, home economics, music a
- Page 89 and 90: FIGURE 2SHEPSHEDCOMMUNITYCOLLEGEope
- Page 91 and 92: in upper schools. Associated with t
- Page 93 and 94: 120 A Implicit in such proposals is
- Page 95 and 96: 78literature and put money and reso
- Page 97 and 98: 80outlined the sorts of provision t
- Page 99 and 100: used — are appropriate to the wor
- Page 101 and 102: 135 Respon- If education involves t
- Page 103: we look at, or participate in, visu
- Page 107 and 108: elevant help in compiling the profi
- Page 109 and 110: ible to some form of appropriate as
- Page 111 and 112: 94more in-service training provisio
- Page 113 and 114: 1%—2% of the school population
- Page 115 and 116: tuition under well qualified teache
- Page 117 and 118: it is likely that more children wil
- Page 119 and 120: 102by professional musicians, many
- Page 121 and 122: frequencies and belongs to the Part
- Page 123 and 124: classroom teacher. Nevertheless, th
- Page 125 and 126: 'Within individual schools in certa
- Page 127 and 128: implications of different types of
- Page 129 and 130: We will first outline five main are
- Page 131 and 132: 186 Arts In the schemes we have jus
- Page 133 and 134: schemes. The Arvon Foundation, for
- Page 135 and 136: is likely to give his teaching rele
- Page 137 and 138: periods of time. There are possibil
- Page 139 and 140: 207 The role The rple of the teache
- Page 141 and 142: to be essential to the future devel
- Page 143 and 144: scheme. The Charlotte Mason College
- Page 145 and 146: d education is something that only
- Page 147 and 148: iture. It does require a different
- Page 149 and 150: 225 Initial Initial and post-initia
- Page 151 and 152: Germany 18% of the workforce has be
- Page 153 and 154: outes for the visual arts. In parti
MotivationalChildren on exam<strong>in</strong>ation courses work harder and withgreater energy than those who are not; the competitiveedge of an exam<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>in</strong>creases motivation.e PoliticalCompetition for time and resources can become aggressive<strong>in</strong> the upper years of the secondary school when thecurriculum is virtually composed of exam<strong>in</strong>ation options.Non-exam<strong>in</strong>ation work often suffers as a result. Introduc<strong>in</strong>gan exam<strong>in</strong>ation can attract time, resources,prestige and pupils. It can act as a political lever to raisethe status of the work <strong>in</strong> the school.143 Three We see a number of counter-arguments:counter- a Vocationalarguments We are discuss<strong>in</strong>g the role of the arts with<strong>in</strong> a system ofgeneral education for Brita<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> the 1980s. It seemslikely that employment prospects <strong>in</strong> conventional jobswill cont<strong>in</strong>ue to dim<strong>in</strong>ish for school leavers — notthrough lack of qualifications but through lack of jobs.Young people cannot enter non-existent jobs, howeverwell-qualified they may be. A narrow<strong>in</strong>g of the curriculumis precisely what is not needed <strong>in</strong> these new socialcircumstances. Far better a partnership between employersand schools <strong>in</strong> which schools provide a broad-basededucation which encourages flexibility, imag<strong>in</strong>ation and<strong>in</strong>dividual resourcefulness, while employers providechildren with the specialist tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g and vocational skillsthey need,b MotivationalOnly a small proportion of children <strong>in</strong> any school willeither want or be able to take exam<strong>in</strong>ation courses <strong>in</strong>the arts. Provid<strong>in</strong>g an exam<strong>in</strong>ation motive for a m<strong>in</strong>orityis no solution to motivat<strong>in</strong>g the majority: and our concernis with the majority. Moreover, it is the professionalresponsibility of teachers to see that children stretchthemselves with or without an exam<strong>in</strong>ation,e PoliticalAdequate provision for the arts will only come aboutwhere they are recognised by the head and the staff asan <strong>in</strong>tegral part of the school's policy. Where thisrecognition is lack<strong>in</strong>g, an exam<strong>in</strong>ation is likely tobe only a short-term solution. Ga<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g school support isthe real issue and we believe that this is more likely tocome about through demonstration of the value of thework and by consultation. In the long-term other formsof evaluation and assessment may play a more constructiverole <strong>in</strong> this.88
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