Government reports on the arts and media

Culture and creativity: the next ten years 
Department for Culture, Media and Sport, March 2001 

This green paper describes initiatives that aim to join up policies in education, cultural and economic development. It states that its overarching theme is to free the creative potential of individuals, by joining together schools and cultural institutions to give children in deprived areas the opportunity to develop their creativity; by providing new support for artists and institutions; and by providing free access to museums and galleries.

As part of the aim to link education with culture and investing in young children the green paper announces the intention to support a nation-wide books for babies scheme, now Bookstart,  in which every child will receive a free pack of books, a library card and an invitation to a free storytelling event at their local library.

The best arts organisations - national and regional - were offered "premier" status with guaranteed six-year grants that provided long-term security. [Among literary organisations that benefited were the Arvon Foundation, the Poetry Society, the Poetry Book Society and Reading Partnership.]  Under free public access to museums etc, the paper lists access to better public libraries and refers to the recent national public library standards. It also suggests the creation of mini-libraries in post offices to help a rural community that may not have easy access to a local library.  

Contact DCMS on 020 7211 6200 or visit www.culture.gov.uk.  

The arts improve children's personal social, creative and artistic skills. Schools strong in drama, dance and music also had a better attendance record, atmosphere and fewer exclusions according to a study by the National Foundation for Education Research. 

But the three year study - commissioned by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) - found no conclusive evidence that children's involvement in arts subjects boosted academic achievements  

The RSA concludes that opportunities for a broad education in the arts are a lottery for most pupils, with huge differences among schools in the amount and quality of arts experiences they offer pupils. The report also found that individual teachers - more than the ethos of the school - had a crucial effect on arts teaching. 

Arts education in secondary school: effects and effectiveness, National Foundation for Education Research, a summary and commentary is available free from the RSA, 8 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6EZ. Tel: 020 7930 5115. 

(TES, 13 October 2000) 

This joint report lays out a vision of museums inspiring and supporting a learning society, reaching out to the widest possible audience. It covers what the Government has done so far and lays out what has to be done. It includes case studies of successful practice. 

Key points on museum partnerships from section 3 "the way forward": 

Effective partnership are essential if museums are to gain a greater appreciation of their audiences needs and to offer effective, relevant services.  

•  Partnerships between museums 
• Partnerships with educational institutions
• Lifelong learning partnerships 
• Partnership beyond formal education eg adult learners week, family learning weekends etc 
• Partnerships with other cultural institutions eg libraries, sports clubs, history societies 

"Tiverton Museum's storytelling project was created to address a lack of provision for pre-school children in museums. The idea was to use museum objects to encourage literacy in the under-5s and involve parents in using objects to create stories and develop children's vocabulary. A storyteller ran museum sessions with a pre-school playgroup and a family literacy fun day (funded by BT Reading Challenge). 

"The project had great benefits for everyone who was involved. The playgroup leaders gained valuable support in working towards the 'desirable learning outcomes' and  were particularly pleased with the amount of parental involvement, especially the high level of interest from fathers. The sessions attracted a whole new audience for the museum." 

Susan Eddisford, Education Officer, Tiverton Museum, Devon 

Also see: Museums and adults learning: Perspectives from Europe. This presents a range of views and practical examples from European museums working with the arts and adult education (£14.95). Contact NIACE on 0116 204 4216. 

This is a guide for schools on how to build on existing arts practice and how to develop partnerships with arts organisations. It is in four sections: ensuring entitlement, which includes the role of an arts policy; enhancing entitlement through arts partnerships; developing arts partnerships; and resources, which has a list of support organisations. The guide emphasises that arts work can refresh pupil-teacher relationships and provide opportunities for teachers' professional development. It offers case studies throughout which show how arts work relates to other curriculum objectives, but also shows how unexpected outcomes can be equally as beneficial.  

For a copy of From Policy to Partnership: developing the arts in schools, Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and the Arts Council of England, April 2000 ISBN 0 7287 0799 3, contact Arts Council of England on 020 7973 6531.  

A summary of All Our Future: Creativity, Culture and Education has been published by the National Campaign for the Arts - September 2000.  It is being distributed by a range of organisation because they believe the arguments and recommendations need to be more widely debated. 

The DfEE/DCMS response to the report is available on the DCMS webstie www.culture.gov.uk - press release 14.1.00. 

The National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education report, All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education calls for the promotion of the creative development of pupils and the encouragement of an ethos which supports and values cultural diversity. It argues that creativity will be increasingly important to businesses and the economy in the next century and that the school curriculum will need to reflect this.  

The Committee was chaired by Professor Ken Robinson of the University of Warwick, and its members included the conductor Sir Simon Rattle, comedians Dawn French and Lenny Henry, West Yorkshire Playhouse Director Jude Kelly, and Nobel prize-winning scientist Professor Sir Harry Kroto and Lord Stone of Blackheath.  

The report's key recommendations are that:  

· creative and cultural education should be explicitly recognised and provided for in the curriculum, in pupil assessment and in school inspection; 
· consideration should be given in future to removing the distinction between core and foundation subjects and reviewing the structure of Key Stages 3 and 4;  
· teachers should be trained to use methods and materials which help develop young people's creative abilities and cultural understanding;  
· partnerships should be formed between schools, arts organisations and the community to provide the creative education that young people need and deserve;  
· innovative approaches to funding creative activity in schools should be explored.  

Other suggestions in the report include:  

· improving teachers' expertise in creativity through staff development plans;  
· a national arts education award scheme to encourage schools and arts organisations to improve their arts education provision;  
· pilot projects to promote creative thinking in primary and secondary schools and develop advice for schools;  
· support for the setting up of creativity summer schools.  

Case study from the report  

Stories that sing
Over the 1998 summer term Children's Music Workshop ran a pilot for a three-year project to explore ways of using creative class music to enhance Key Stage 2 children's understanding of the use of language. The pilot in three Tower Hamlets primary schools, combined composition, storytelling and performance and encouraged the teachers to link the work with the literacy programme. Two of the schools have 99.9 per cent Bengali intake and the third school has an 80 per cent Bengali intake. The children in each of the school were alert, attentive and highly motivated by the project. All of them participated, often to the surprise of their teachers, throwing themselves into the work with real enthusiasm. The pilot began with a workshop for the class teachers , to give a taste of the work that would be done by the children, this was followed by eight weekly sessions with each class, culminating in a performance by each class to the rest of the school. To stimulate the children's imaginations, the project s focused on wishes, a drawing a 'magic' hat and mat. The children worked in small groups to create poems, verses and stories that they developed into whole-class songs and instrumental pieces. There were considerable differences between the school and the teachers in terms of their experience and attitude to music, although all of them embraced the project with energy and enthusiasm. The pilot was considered by the teachers, headteachers and musicians to have been very successful. All the teachers want to continue to be involved, the children are hugely enthusiastic, and the musicians found it exciting and stimulating. 

Booker prize-winner JM Coetzee may have his appeal, but schools are clamouring for a volume in quite a different style. So popular is the report of the advisory committee on culture creativity and education that 10,000 copies have already been snapped up and astonished civil servants have been obliged to order a reprint.  

The huge report with 59 recommendations was given a subdued send off in July by the education and culture departments that commissioned it.  

But Professor Robinson and his high-powered committee are determined to get their message heard. The members include conductor Sir Simon Rattle, Nobel prize-winner Sir Harry Kroto, Sir Claus Moser of the Basic Skills Agency, Lord Stone, managing director of Marks and Spencer, and Dame Tamsyn Imison, head of Hampstead school.  

All our futures: creativity, culture and education argues that "no education system can be world-class without valuing and integrating creativity, in the curriculum, in management and leadership and without linking this to promoting knowledge and understanding of cultural change and diversity".  

It calls for a radical rethink of the school curriculum by removing the distinction between the core subjects and the rest, an improvement in arts teacher training and partnerships between schools and the wider cultural and business communities.  

All our futures is available from DFEE Publications, PO Box 5050, Sudbury, Suffolk C010 6ZQ  

(TES, 29 October 1999)  

Call for education rethink to encourage creativity: Ken Robinson, chair of the national advisory council on creative and cultural education, which published All Our Futures last May, called for an end to "academic inflation" which devalues qualifications as more and more people achieve them. Speaking to delegates at a Creative Cities conference in Huddersfield he said: "Almost everything is being suspended on the grounds of raising standards ... The arts and humanities have been suspended for two years in the name of literacy. If you want to design a system to stifle creativity you could not do better." 

(New Start, 2 June 2000)

Creative Age: knowledge and skills for the new economy  
By Kimberley Seltzer and Tom Bentley, DEMOS £9.95 (supported by the Design Council and the Qualifications and Curriculum Council)  

Extract:  
"while qualifications are still integral to personal success, it is no longer enough for students to show that they are capable of passing public examinations. To thrive in an economy defined by the innovative application of knowledge, we must be able to do more than absorb and feedback information.  

".This report argues that creativity can be learned and presents leading examples from different sectors of society of how it can be done. It argues that to realise the creative potential of all citizens , and to boost competitiveness in the knowledge economy , we must make radical changes to the education system. In particular we must restructure the school curriculum to reflect forms of learning which develop creative ability. "  

To order a copy contact DEMOS on 020 7321 2200  

Making Movies Matter: how the moving image can become part of literacy in the 21st century is the report of the Film Education Working Group (July 1999). It set the agenda for the British Film Institute's policy deveopment in education and has been the basis of ongoing discussion.  

A conference joint hosted by BECTa and the bfi discussed moving image media and digital literacy concluding:  

• We need a metalanguage to describe and understand the new 'literacy'
• However, it was suggested the language of literacy may not be appropriate
• Embracing 'cineliteracy' and digital literacy thinking involves a mindshift out of analogue/linear/alphabetical thinking

For information on the bfi, its education policy and to download a free copy of Making Movies Matter visit: 

www.bfi.org.uk/education/research/advocacy/mmm/

Or call 01752 202 301 to order a copy of the report (£8.95).