The Arts in Primary School - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

THE ARTSIN THEPRIMARYSCHOOL:REFORMING TEACHEREDUCATION

© 1989 Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationISBN O 903319 45 4Designed by The Upper RoomPrinted by Melbourne PressFurther copies of this report and completepublications list are available fromCalouste Gulbenkian Foundation98 Portland PlaceLondon WIN 4ETTelephone 071-636 5313/7

CONTENTS2 FOREWORD3 THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE5 INTRODUCTION6 THE CASE FOR REFORM7 THE TEACHERS WE NEED8 INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING10 INSET12 PRINCIPAL RECOMMENDATIONS13 BIBLIOGRAPHY

FOREWORDAlthough children in primary schools engage increative activities naturally and spontaneously, fewprimary teachers have either the skills or the confidenceto enable this to happen to the degree thatit should. This is often because they themselveswill have abandoned the arts during their earlyyears in secondary school. It follows that the initialtraining in the arts of primary school teachers,where skills can be imparted and confidencerestored, is crucial. Unfortunately this training isoften woefully inadequate, as an earlier report bythe National Foundation for Educational Researchindicated.It was these considerations that led the GulbenkianFoundation, in conjunction with the NFER, toconvene a seminar of HMIs, LEA advisers, teachersand teacher educators to share views on what wasneeded to improve the situation. The terms ofreference reached beyond initial teacher training toinclude in-service provision. The recommendationsthat came from the seminar were reworked ina series of draft documents, of which this report isthe final version. The report summarises the casefor the reform of the initial training of primaryschool teachers in the arts and sets out a numberof recommendations concerned with improvingboth initial training and in-service provision.The Gulbenkian Foundation would like to thankDr Seamus Hegarty, Deputy Director of the NFER,for chairing the Advisory Committee that presidedover the development of this report; the membersof the Committee for their advice and support;Rick Rogers for his work on the early drafts; andMalcolm Ross for writing the final document.Simon RicheyAssistant Director, EducationUK BranchCalouste Gulbenkian Foundation

THE ADVISORYCOMMITTEECHAIRMANDR SEAMUS HEGARTYDeputy Director, National Foundationfor Educational ResearchMEMBERSMERVYN BENFORDGeneral Advisory Headteacher, formerlyHonorary Secretary, National Associationof Primary EducationSHIRLEY CLEAVESenior Research Officer, NationalFoundation for Educational Research,co-author The Arts: A Preparation toTeach (NFER)DR ALYN DA VIESChief Inspector (FHCE), Inner LondonEducation AuthoritySIMON RICKEYAssistant Director (Education), CalousteGulbenkian Foundation, UK BranchMALCOLM RossSenior Lecturer in Education, Universityof ExeterCAROLINE SHARPResearch Officer, National Foundationfor Educational Research, co-author TheArts: A Preparation to Teach (NFER)OBSERVERSDR KEN ROBINSONDirector, School Curriculum DevelopmentCommittee/National CurriculumCouncil Arts in Schools ProjectDAVID MARJORAMStaff Inspector for Art and Design, HMIInspectorateFinal Report written by Malcolm Ross

"The curriculum for a maintained school satisfiesthe requirement of this section if it is a balancedand broadly based curriculum which -a) promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mentaland physical development of pupils at the schooland of society; andb) prepares such pupils for the opportunities, responsibilitiesand experiences of adult life."Education Reform Act, 1988"A national curriculum which simply turned outchildren who had first rate numeracy and scientificskills would not be one which any of us wouldwant. And pupils, teachers and parents wouldrightly rebel against it if it ever came into being. Inmy view it is education in the arts which makes asignificant contribution to the way children developtheir feelings and understand their emotions.It is this part of the curriculum which canplay the most significant part in ensuring thatchildren, when they leave schools and go out intoadult life and employment, have developed emotionallyin a way which complements the intellectualknowledge and skills which we all hope theywill acquire. The arts then will also have provideda precious foundation which can be developedthroughout their lives as adults and can be acontinuing source of inspiration, pleasure and excitement."Angela Rumbold, 28 October 1988. Speech to theNational Association for Education in the Arts

NTRODUCTION1.1 The Education Reform Act confirms the importanceof the arts (ie art, music, dance and drama)in general education. Encouraging developmentsin recent years have included the work of the NCCArts in Schools Project, the increasing involvementof the Arts Council and Regional Arts Associationsin schools and community arts, the enhanced professionalqualifications of arts teachers, and theemergence of innovatory schemes of assessementand examination. However, despite these realachievements, the quality of arts education inprimary classrooms remains patchy. In this paperwe make the case for reform and indicate ways inwhich improvements might be brought about.1.2 The arts make a vital contribution to the educationof the whole child, both as subjects to belearnt and enjoyed in their own right and becausethey encourage and enrich learning in other subjects.In primary schools the arts subjects havetraditionally been a powerful vehicle for education,with their strong emphasis on learning by doing, onstimulating the child's imagination and on generatingmanipulative, mental and inter-personal skillsand values. Such an approach is widely regarded asespecially appropriate for the early years of schooling.1.3 The recent report The Economic Importanceof the Arts in Britain, published by PSI, has revealednot only the growing employment opportunitiesavailable to young people with qualifications,in the arts but also the considerable contributionbeing made by the arts to the nation's GNP. Turnoverin the arts, for instance, is now greater than inthe motor industry.1.4 The new Education Reform Act presents anumber of challenges and opportunities to the artsin education. The remit of the NCC encompassesthe whole curriculum, ie is not confined to the coreand foundation subjects of the National Curriculumas specified in the Act. A balanced and broadlybased curriculum promoting the educationalobjectives identified in the Act must include the arts- and Ministers have given ample evidence of theirfirm, personal commitment to the future of the artsin both primary and secondary schools. Music andart are to provide the basis of a general arts educationfor all - these subjects are both designated'foundation' subjects in the National Curriculum -and drama and dance, we have been assured, arenot to be neglected.1.5 The phased introduction of the TGAT recommendationsfor testing and assessment, theserial publication of the Subject Working Partyreports establishing profile components andattainment targets, and the commissioning ofstandard attainment tests, all indicate an educationsystem which, by the mid 1990s, will differ in anumber of respects from the present. Teacherswill need new skills and understanding if they areto cope with the changes now afoot.1.6 Unfortunately, these planned developmentsare taking place at a time when, due to a numberof factors, there is likely to be a shortfall both inthe numbers of primary generalist teachers and ofgraduate specialists required to deliver the NationalCurriculum. Since traditional routes for thetraining and supply of teachers are likely to proveinadequate, some radical alternatives are beingsought.1.7 If the quality of primary arts education is tobe improved then arts educators themselvesshould now come forward with their own proposalsas to how the arts are to respond to thesevarious developments and, in particular, play thevital curricular role allotted to them. Thoughtshould be given to the content of the arts curriculumand to the identification of a set of aims andobjectives that respect both the separate identitiesof the different arts subjects and their commoninterests. Renewed attempts should be made tosolve the complex and difficult problems associatedwith assessment and testing in this area.1.8 With changes in initial teacher training - includingthe review of the GATE criteria - the artsrequire sustained support and a cogently arguedand coherent programme of development toensure that they remain a significant element inthe training of primary teachers.

THE CASE FOR REFORM2.1 The National Foundation for Educational Research,Her Majesty's Inspectorate and the CalousteGulbenkian Foundation have all recentlypointed to the need to improve aspects of primaryteacher education in relation to the arts.2.2 The NFER's survey The Arts: A Preparationto Teach, carried out in the summer of 1985,looked at the initial training of primary teachers infour of the expressive arts - art, dance, drama andmusic. The report considered the patterns ofcompulsory and optional course provision in thearts on undergraduate and PGCE programmes;students' professional preparation for teaching thearts; tutors' perceptions of the role of a newlyqualified teacher; the evaluation and assessmentof students' and pupils' work and the nature ofrecent and proposed course changes. The findingspainted a bleak picture of the problemsassociated with providing adequately for the artsin the preparation of primary teachers.2.3 The HMI survey Quality in Schools: theInitial Training of Teachers, carried out between1983 and 1985, looked at the whole range of initialtraining and found "inadequate provision for theexpressive arts in virtually all the institutions". Itconcluded that "further consideration needs to begiven to the time allocated for expressive arts ifstudents are to be satisfactorily prepared to teachthis important area of the primary school's curriculum".2.4 Although the HMI report The New Teacherin School, published in November 1988, revealedgeneral satisfaction among new teachers with theirtraining - two thirds were content -"substantialproportions" criticised an over-emphasis onsubject studies, and a lack of emphasis on professionalmatters such as teaching method andclassroom observation. Some teachers, in thewords of the report,"...lacked confidence and understanding in subjectsin which they had followed only professionalor curriculum courses, physical education and artbeing the commonest".2.5 The Gulbenkian Report The Arts in Schools,published in 1982, makes similar points, emphasisingin particular the class teacher's general "lackof confidence" where the arts are concerned.2.6 These reports identified several areas of particularconcern:a) Course organisationi. There was considerable variation in the characterand balance of courses between differentinstitutions.ii. The number of hours allotted to the arts variedwidely from course to course.iii. The arts suffered disproportionately from inadequateresources of time, staffing, space andmaterials.b) Subject Studies and Subject Methodi. Too few courses helped students apply theirspecialist subject to children's learning.ii. Students generally lacked confidence aboutlong-term planning and the progressive developmentof children's arts knowledge, concepts andskills.iii. There was insufficent emphasis upon trainingfor curriculum leadership.e) Educational and Professional Studiesi. Those with limited previous arts experienceoften lacked confidence and did not gain theinsights needed to teach the arts creatively.ii. Undergraduate and PGCE courses rarely consideredthe variety of pupils' needs.iii. The relationship between the expressive artsand the rest of the primary curriculum was littleexplored or systematically related to other parts ofan undergraduate programme.iv. Insufficient attention was paid to the needs ofethnic minority pupils.v .The special needs of pupils with learning difficultiesor particular strengths were not beingadequately addressed.vi. Too few undergraduate and PGCE arts coursesprovided guidance in assessing or recording children'sprogress in the arts.vii .Developing critical awareness in student andchild was not adequately considered in many ofthe PGCE courses surveyed.

THE TEACHERS WE NEED3.1 Three kinds of teacher of the arts are neededin primary schools: the generalist class teacherconfident enough to include the arts as part of abroad and balanced curriculum for all pupils; thespecialist teacher able to offer practical expertise inone of the major art forms; and the curriculumleader capable of co-ordinating arts provision andstaff development in the school as a whole.3.2 The Class Teacher shoulda) have a clear grasp of the educational role of thearts, an understanding of how children learnthrough the arts, and a knowledge of the differentstages of a child's aesthetic development;b) be personally interested in and familiar with atleast one or two art forms;e) be confident in encouraging creative workacross the whole range of the arts;d) be able to recognise and evaluate the artisticquality in children's work.3.3 The Specialist Teacher should, in addition tothe skills and understandings of the generalistclass teacher,a) be able to offer practical expertise in one of themajor arts disciplines (eg art, music);b) be able to apply that expertise in support ofnon-specialist colleagues.Every school or cluster of small schools should,ideally, have a practising artist and a practisingmusician on the staff.3.4 The Curriculum Leader should, in additionto the skills and understandings of the generalistclass teacher,a) be fired by a personal enthusiasm for andunderstanding of the arts;b) be able to assist in the development of a comprehensivearts policy for a school;e) play an active role in staff development and theproper management of the arts curriculum;d) be a persuasive and articulate advocate for thearts with parents and governors.

INITIAL TEACHERTRAINING"With the recognition that the arts should form partof the curriculum we see the need for the followingreforms:4.1 Selection of Studentsa) Prospectuses should make clear and specificreference to the arts component in a course.b) Application forms should invite students to listtheir qualifications, particular interests and previousinvolvement in the arts.e) Procedures for selecting students for undergraduateand PGCE courses should, irrespectiveof main subject, reflect the role of the arts inprimary education. Where appropriate, interviewsshould include practical arts workshops involvinga variety of creative activities.d) Interviewers should build up a detailed profileof a student, through written and verbal means,and assess a student's enthusiasm for and commitmentto the arts. Where possible, arts tutorsshould be involved in selection interviews toensure that students are asked relevant questionsabout the arts.e) Students should be expected to demonstratecommunication and inter-personal skills at interviewsby participating additionally in simpleworkshops and simulation exercises.f) Interviewers should assess students' responsesto children's arts work by showing slides, videosand actual examples.4.2 Staffa) Staff should be qualified to educate and trainthe students in their main arts subjects at a levelappropriate to higher education.b) Staff concerned with pedagogy should have hadrecent experience as teachers of the arts, ideallyteaching pupils within the age range for whichthey are preparing students, and should maintainregular and frequent experience of classroomteaching.e) All staff should be encouraged to develop theirpersonal interests in the arts and should appreciatethe scope for arts education across the wholecurriculum.4.3 Course Organisationa) Close links should be established and maintainedbetween courses, local schools and localprofessional arts organisations.b) Experienced arts teachers and arts workersshould be involved in planning, supporting andappraising students' practical work in schools andin their training within the institution.e) Students should be able to work alongside aclass teacher teaching the arts prior to teachingpractice itself.d) Adequate and appropriate resources (staff, time,materials and equipment) are essential to successfulwork in the arts. For example, music makingdepends upon the possibility of "silence" and thecontrol of "noise". Drama and dance need space,privacy and a suitable floor. Art needs the controlof light source, the availability of basic markmaking and modelling materials, tools and instruments,and of suitable working surfaces. Newtechnology is rapidly revolutionising many artsexperiences and opportunities for children, andstudents should be trained to exploit them.4.4 Course Contenta) Students should be prepared for the diversity ofability, behaviour, social background and ethnicand cultural origins encountered in ordinaryschools, and to respond to that diversity.b) Students should be prepared to recognise,understand and cope with different expressiveneeds and levels of performance, including learningdifficulties and special abilities.e) All students should be able to teach at least twoof the arts during teaching practice - on a worthwhilescale.d) Students must be encouraged to see the "expressive"and the "aesthetic" as cross-curricularthemes.e) Students should experience and understand thecontribution of the new technologies to children'slearning in the arts.

4.5 Subject Studies and Subject Methoda) Courses in individual arts subjects should bedesigned to equip some students to act as curriculumleaders.b) It should be possible for students to have suchpractical experience of the other arts as wouldallow them to make connections across the artsand develop a coherent, inter-disciplinary understandingof die field.e) Combined Arts Courses should offer specialisttraining in each of the major arts domains andshould prepare students to act as curriculumleaders in the arts.4.6 Educational and Professional Studiesa) All students should receive a basic arts coursethat includes art, music, dance and drama. Timeallowed for these subjects together should begenerally equivalent to that for other major curriculumareas such as maths, language, science/technology.b) Optional courses in individual arts subjectsshould be provided where possible (approximately60 hours) which, taken in conjunction withother relevant arts experience, would equip thestudent with a particular arts strength and - aftersay two years in a school - with the personalresources needed for curriculum leadership in thearts.4.7 Student Assessment and Certificationa) Modes of assessment should reflect the specialcharacter of work in the arts and be consistentwith procedures advocated for use in schools.Students should be assessed on the basis ofwhether or not they reach the criteria specified inthe various tasks they are assigned.b) Criteria should be drawn from the course aimsand objectives - that students should be aware ofand have confidence in the arts, be effective in organisinglearning, and be sensitive to children'saesthetic development.e) The emphasis on assessing students should shiftfrom their written work to their responses to children'swork, as set down for example in student'spersonal logs.d) Students should be familiar with relevant publicationson the arts in education.e) Course work might be examined by continuousassessment recorded in a student profile, with afinal assessment which could comprise writtenexam, personal interview, group seminar andpublic presentation. The profile would serve twobasic purposes - to help determine whether or nota student be awarded a certificate, and to act as adetailed source of reference, including evidence ofthe student's involvement in the arts, both for thestudent's first post and for subsequent posts.

INSET5.1 The Arts: A National PriorityIn 1987 the Government established the LEA TrainingGrants Scheme (LEATGS) following its decisionin the 1985 White Paper Better Schools that "amuch more systematic approach is needed to theplanning of in-service training at school and LEAlevel". In addition, the 1988 Education Act hasgiven new responsibilities to school heads andgoverning bodies: schools are to manage theirown finances, must publish full details of theircurriculum and take overall charge of staff recruitment,development and in-service training. Ourrecommendations in this report for initial training,if adopted, are likely to take time to bear fruit:more immediate would be the impact of ourrecommended changes in in-service training. Theproblems facing the arts in primary schools aredeep-rooted: they could be addressed immediatelyby making the arts a national INSET priority.5.2 Planning INSETa) INSET should be planned through a combinationof award-bearing and other professionalcourses. Such courses should, where appropriate,be supported by learning packs, devised atnational and local levels. Accreditation of modularpart-time professional INSET should be linkedto nationally validated awards and possibly, intime, to National Council for Vocational Qualifications(NCVQ) levels of competence. Considerationshould be given to participation in any network ofregional centres which might be established as aresult of the NCC Arts in Schools Project.b) INSET planning can enable teachers to takeownership of the National Curriculum and translateit in ways appropriate to the children theyteach. Planners should take account of the sizeand range of the staff team, locally availableresources, children's cultural and linguistic needs,and a school's location in the community.e) Priority should be given to establishing schoolfocussedin-service training programmes relatedto school development plans and with teachers,including peripatetic teachers, working as a team.5.3 The Focus of INSET in the Artsa) The Whole Curriculum: Schools will need toensure a broad and balanced educational experiencefor their pupils and, in the time remainingoutside the National Curriculum, should accommodatethese other subjects traditionally taught inschools. Drama and dance should both receiveconsideration in terms of the school's wholecurriculum and INSET courses of all kinds shouldbe available to teachers in these areas.b) The National Curriculum: It is to be expectedthat the National Curriculum will exert a majorinfluence upon future INSET provision. Wherethe arts are concerned there will be particularadditional demands for training in the two foundationsubjects, music and art. Drama teachersshould be provided for alongside English colleagues,and dance teachers within the arrangementsmade for PE. Apart from offering specialisttraining such courses should address the issue ofcross-curricular themes - in particular the crosscurricularaspects of the arts: creativity, self-expression,aesthetic judgement and enjoyment.e) The Arts Curriculum: INSET programmesshould be developed which will ensure balancebetween the various arts disciplines and, withineach art form, balance between creative activity,enjoyment and critical reflection. Through theirINSET courses teachers should be encouraged torealise the six objectives identified for arts educationin the Gulbenkian Report The Arts in Schools:- developing the full variety of human intelligence- developing creativity- educating in feeling and sensibility- exploring values- understanding cultural change and differences- developing physical and perceptual skills.Courses should consider the questions of "progression"and "continuity" and be sensitive tochildren's varying rates of development. (It isworth noting that at least 60% of primary schoolscurrently have classes comprising two or moreyear groups.) Courses should also include experiencefrom outside the school, such as links withcommunity arts groups, arts centres, theatres,museums and galleries, artists and parents.10

5.4 Curriculum Leaders and SpecialistTeachersa) Curriculum leaders, including headteachers, arecrucial to the successful development of the artswithin die National Curriculum. Such leadersneed in-service training in arts skills and INSETdevelopment skills. Focussing curriculum leadershiptraining on teachers' centres can encourageteachers to see their role as wider than their ownschool.b) Curriculum leaders need substantial training tomanage the complex range of resources availableto them and to run staff development and trainingfor their colleagues. LEAs could establish aninventory of resources and make teachers awareof this during their training.e) Each school would benefit from the presence ofa specialist in music and art. Appropriate specialistcourses should be provided as part of aschool's total INSET programme.5.5 Professional QualificationWhere possible INSET programmes should allowteachers to participate in full-time and part-timecourses leading to higher degrees and to build upaccreditation for professional awards throughCNAA and Institutions of Higher Education. Suchcourses can provide valuable incentives andsupport for professional updating and renewaland should not be lost sight of as other, relativelyless intensive training schemes become available.5.6 Evaluating INSETa) With teachers publicly accountable for theeffective delivery of the National Curriculum theywill need to spend more time on the cyclicalprocess of monitoring, evaluating, planning anddelivering the arts work of the school. Teachers'directed time and training days can be used toappraise and evaluate the school curriculum andthe INSET programmes needed to sustain anddevelop the school's work.b) Curriculum leaders are key people in appraisingdie effectiveness of the arts curriculum and evaluatingINSET programmes. They need to distinguishbetween long-term evaluation and moreimmediate requirements in implemendng dieNational Curriculum. Feedback from teachers aftersix weeks or one term of applicadon in die classroomcan help short-term evaluation of INSET,which can influence planning and delivery ofsubsequent programmes concerned widi the introductionof die National Curriculum.e) The evaluation of die arts INSET programmesfor dieir long-term effects on die quality of children'slearning should be related to school developmentplans and involve people in the arts fromoutside the school. Such long-term evaluation canbe supported and augmented by die national orregional curriculum resource centres linked totraining institutions in die regions, and co-ordinatedby LEA advisers and inspectors.d) Heads bear a central responsibility for implementingschool development plans and for reportingpublicly on die success of those plans. Theirarts in-service training programme needs to includetraining as arts curriculum leaders andtraining in evaluating balance in the arts curriculum,in the broader sense, across die school.11

PRINCIPALRECOMMENDATIONSInitial Training1 Selection procedures should reflect the importanceattached to learning in and through the arts.4.12 Staffmust have recent relevant experience ofteaching the arts in schools. 4.23 Adequate and appropriate resources are essentialto successful work in the arts. 4.34 Students must apprehend the scope for theexpressive and the aesthetic as cross-curricularthemes. 4.45 Courses should equip students to work ascurriculum leaders and (eg in music) as subjectspecialists. 4.56 All students require a basic course in the artsmeriting equal status with maths, language, science/technology.4.67 Students should learn about the special characterof assessment in the arts and this should be reflectedin their own experience on the course. 4.78 In granting students Qualified Teacher Statusthe quality of their practical arts work in the classroomshould be taken into account. 4.7INSET and Staff Development9 Consideration should be given to making thearts a national INSET priority. 5.110 INSET programmes should combine award -bearing courses and other professional coursesorganised locally and through regional developmentcentres. 5.211 The arts teacher's role in National Curriculumassessment should receive INSET attention. 5.312 Parents and governors should be invited toparticipate in school-based INSET. 5.313 INSET courses should address the issue ofpupils' aesthetic development. 5.314 Continuity between primary and secondarysectors should be a major concern of future INSETprogrammes. 5.315 Heads must be given help in appreciating thespecial importance of the educational role of thearts. 5.416 Priority should be given to INSET for arts specialistsand curriculum leaders. 5.412

BIBLIOGRAPHYThe Arts in Schools,Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 1982Better Schools, HMSO, 1985The Arts: A Preparation to Teach,National Foundation of Educational Research, 1986Quality in Schools:The Initial Training of Teachers, HMSO, 1987The Economic Importance of the Arts in Britain,Policy Studies Institute, 1988The New Teacher in School, HMSO, 1988

" Tlrpub!meninstitutions, thusfoundai:the age of tl'ii iti.^ht'ii inDavid HargreavesPrice £2.CISBN 0-903319-45-4I02009 "780903"319454"