The Arts in Schools - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

in primary schools can develop a self-consciousness towardsexpressive work which can take a considerable time to overcomein secondary schools.96 The world Co-ordinating the secondary school curriculum is greatlyof the complicated by the specialisation of staff and departments.specialist Professional identities tend to be closely tied to subjectareas. The problem for the arts, as indeed for the rest of thecurriculum, is that teachers tend to see curriculum issueslargely, and sometimes exclusively, in terms of their ownspecialism — as the unique problems of music, drama and soon. When resources are limited or the talk is of cut-backs, theresult is often a balloon debate over which of the arts is mostimportant. What music gets, drama or dance is apt to lose andvice versa. This is one of the ways in which the case for, andthe value of, the arts becomes dissipated in practice.97 Time- Timetabling for the arts is often inappropriate, leading totabling: either fragmentation or too much integration. The artsfragment- curriculum can become fragmented in two ways. Music,ation drama, dance and visual arts are often timetabled, likeother 'subjects', in short periods of 30—40 minutes. Thiscan seriously reduce the quality of work. In drama, forexample, there is a good deal of practical group work. Unlikemany lessons, drama involves movement and physical activity.There is often no time in single periods for groups to developideas satisfactorily nor for individuals to make the transitionfrom other styles of learning.Expressive work in all of the arts takes concentration,application — and time. Short periods often prejudice goodwork. Moreover, the week-long gaps which are commonbetween lessons can mean that a large proportion of eachlesson is spent picking up the threads of the work in hand —and too little on moving it forward.The second form of fragmentation is between the arts.In Chapter 4 we discussed the opportunities which thearts present for inter-disciplinary work. This applies equallyat secondary level. These opportunities are too often lost inthe divisions of the timetable.98 Integrat- Some schools have sought to overcome these difficulties byion establishing faculties or departments of creative or expressivearts. We welcome this, in principle. There are two dangersin practice. First, it can lead simply to a larger enclave.The real value of integration is not only between the differentarts but also between the arts and the rest of the curriculum.The arts as a whole can easily become segregatedbehind faculty walls.63