The Arts in Schools - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

4 Provision: the arts in primary schools64 Reasonsfor thechapter65 Ingeneral48We have discussed what, in principle, the arts have to offereducation. In this and the following chapter we considerwhat sort of provision — staff, resources, time etc — isneeded. We look at some of the problems involved andpropose some strategies for dealing with them. How canschools provide the opportunities to put the principles ofarts education into practice?We begin with three general observations. First, althoughwe are discussing the value of the arts for all children, notall children will be interested in all the arts. The task is toprovide adequate opportunities for different interests toshow themselves and to develop. This calls for flexibleprovision.Second, patterns of provision, necessarily, will be differentaccording to the varying needs, interests and aspirations ofpupils, the demands of different art forms and the circumstancesof different schools. Consequently, we are thinkinghere only of general guidelines.Third, many factors influence provision in schools — theavailability of staff, buildings, materials and so on. In addition,there are the many problems being caused by falling rolls andby cuts in public spending. Some problems result from alack of resources; others are due to existing attitudes inschools which give the arts a poor share of the resourceswhich are available.There are many schools where the arts flourish. In everycsse the head teacher and other staff appreciate and supportthem. In those schools where head teachers think the artsare marginal, they suffer, whatever the economic circumstances.Token provision for the arts can be useless — and thereis a vicious circle here. Where the arts are poorly provided