The Arts in Schools - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

83 A vicious Teachers are themselves a product of the educational procirclecesses whose imbalance we have been criticising. If theyfeel ill at ease in the arts and unable to organise these essentialexperiences for children, it may be because they weredenied them as children. This strengthens our argumentabout the long-term dangers of lop-sided educational priorities.For the cycle is self-perpetuating. Teachers are amongthe successes of the education system. It is not surprisingthat they tend to maintain the practices which nurtured theirsuccess and to limit their involvement in the areas whichthey themselves were educated to neglect.84 Initial Initial training for primary school teachers is often deficienttraining in two ways: either it includes no compulsory arts elementat all, or students only practise the arts at their own level,with little guidance in applying them to work with specificage groups. Educational theory tends to compose a separatepart of the course. The new patterns of degree courses havenow brought an even greater emphasis on theory. This isleading to a further neglect of practical and applied courses,despite the obvious need for balance. This makes the currentoutlook bleak for improving the arts in primary schoolsthrough existing initial training courses. While teachersthemselves have little experience, low expectations and evenless confidence in the arts, these will continue to be passedon to children.85 Whatare thepossiblesolutions?We see a need for three kinds of action here:a the inclusion of a compulsory arts element in all initialtraining courses for primary school teachersb the appointment of teachers with specialist arts trainingin primary schoolse the development of school-based in-service training inthe arts86 An arts If the long-term prospects of the arts in primary schools areelement in to improve, three provisions need to be made in the coursestraining of all students on initial training courses as general classroomteachers. Making due allowance for the differences in availabletime, we see these as equally necessary elements in theprofessional studies sections of both BEd and PGCE courses.— General theoretical studies which encourage an appreciationof the importance of the arts in the balanceddevelopment of the child.— Opportunities for students to work at their own level ina variety of art forms combined with guidance on57