Craft and Education - recent reports
Revival 2008, Harris Academy, Photo: Michele Panzeri Revival 08 was a ReachOutRCA/SSAT/Crafts Council collaboration
The Crafts Council places a great deal of importance on craft in the classroom and has been monitoring recent reports on art, design and craft in schools. Read more below.
It has been a busy couple of weeks for major reports about education with no fewer than four published recently. Ofsted published a new report on art, craft and design in schools, Drawing Together: art, craft and design in schools. It acknowledges that ‘the relevance of art, craft and design extends far beyond being an outlet for pupils’ creativity and has a knock-on effect: ‘learning to work independently, manage a range of tasks, pace their progress and meet deadlines’. It recommends that every child and teacher should have the opportunity to work with ‘an artist, craft worker or designer’ as part of their cultural entitlement. The report goes on to say that these offers rarely happen, noting that, ‘Sustained links, including those with the creative industries, were underdeveloped.’
Responses to this report in the media have focussed on the use of digital design and photography to engage boys. Just as important is the use of three-dimensional and haptic techniques that craft can offer, which engage both genders in equal measure.
Commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) The Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum, by Sir Jim Rose, also recognises the value of ‘challenging cross-curricular studies’. It suggests that the traditional subjects have been left behind, for new interdisciplinary learning around 6 new ‘areas of understanding’. This would make the curriculum less prescriptive, and allow teachers to nurture creative learning in the classroom. The new focus would be child centred, rather than subject led, to foster in children a life-long love of learning.
At the same time another independent report, the Cambridge Primary Review’s, Towards a new Primary Curriculum, recommends a broad and balanced syllabus that is not compromised by pressure for ‘standards’ in ‘basic’ subjects, but recognises their benefits. ‘Standards and breadth are interdependent, and high-performing schools achieve both.’
Meanwhile, the Culture and Learning Consortium, in response to public consultation, published Get It: The Power of Cultural Learning. This was a rallying cry to demand the cultural entitlement that the government promised in their Every Child Matters agenda. The focus was on formal learning and the social benefits for children and young people of engaging with the arts. Their argument, again, is that cultural learning should be at the heart of what we teach, not just an afterthought, or a luxury: difficult to argue with. There is a certain amount of cynicism that we have heard this all before; but this shows arts organisations with a united front at a time when creative learning could easily be marginalised by financial implications. Their next step will be the creation of a temporary Culture and Learning Alliance that may be able to promote practical ideas to enable some of these ideas to be put into practice.
Here at the Crafts Council, we have demonstrated the benefit of craft as a cross-curricular activity in recent years and the possibilities of enriching curriculum subjects and teaching practice through engagement with craft – whether through the making process or through the opportunity to work with craft objects over a period that allowed for considerable depth of engagement. As one example, a recent pilot in partnership with the Royal College of Art saw RCA alumni and students working alongside teachers and pupils using the Crafts Council Collection as inspiration.
Looking ahead, we are working in partnership with the National Society for Education in Art and Design to support the development of the new Maker Teacher MA and to encourage confidence in teachers to engage in contemporary craft through continuing professional development opportunities. To complement this, we continue to work with the RCA to enable maker-educators to gain the skills and understanding that enable them to act as catalysts alongside teachers in schools.
Beyond formal education, we are focussing on career routes, economic development, entrepreneurship and alternative learning progression to ensure that there is a ladder of opportunity into the craft sector at all stages from secondary school to second career. The Crafts Council aims to promote contemporary craft as a way to unlock creative potential, create cultural empowerment for the user and to help strengthen community groups, and generate the skills that will feed back into the workplace. Equally, the Crafts Council aims to promote the value of craft to the learner to ensure that we develop the next generation of makers and audiences for craft as well as those who become designers, architects and artists.
Notes:
The Crafts Council is increasing craft activity in formal and informal education through advocacy and exemplar projects by:
• Encouraging craft participation and learning projects outside the classroom and during the extended school day.
• Providing professional development support for teachers and group leaders to invigorate their creative making skills
• Working strategically in partnership on participation and learning projects with galleries, museums, educational institutions and other relevant organisations across the UK to enhance the profile and celebration of contemporary craft
To find out more about our work in this area, contact participation@craftscouncil.org.uk
8 May 2009
