Primary Curriculum Review
The Qualifications and Curriculums Authority (now QCDA) was asked by the secretary of state to manage a public consultation on important changes to the national curriculum.
The consultation ran from Thursday, 30th April 2009 until 5pm Friday, 24th July 2009.
The Crafts Council has responded to the review of the primary curriculum below.
Read more about the Review and the National Curriculum
July 2009
1. Background
1.1 The Crafts Council is the national development agency for contemporary craft. It aims to build a strong economy and infrastructure for contemporary craft, to increase and diversify the audience for contemporary craft and to champion high quality contemporary craft practice nationally and internationally.
1.2 Nearly 35,000 people work as makers in the contemporary craft sector in the UK, and the sector produces a turnover in excess of £1bn each year.
1.3 The Crafts Council works to promote participation and learning, promoting opportunities for interaction and informal engagement with craft. It supports makers’ professional development and builds the market for contemporary craft by running fairs and promoting export. It holds a significant collection of contemporary craft, which it makes available through touring exhibitions and loans. It also works to raise the profile of contemporary craft through critical debate and by building an evidence base that demonstrates the nature and value of craft.
1.4 The Crafts Council believes it is vital to promote opportunities for learners at all levels to experience craft. Craft practice has much to offer learners. The challenges of making things by hand and of thinking through making improve specific aspects of cognitive development, promote problem-solving and innovation, and develop haptic skills that are important for any careers that involve fine manipulation, from surgery to horticulture. There is also evidence that making can improve young people’s confidence and self esteem.
2. Introduction
2.1 The Crafts Council broadly welcomes the proposed new primary curriculum. We think it has the scope to offer children a much richer experience of the arts in general, and of craft in particular, than the current curriculum. It also seems to reflect the recommendations of the Rose review effectively.
2.2 We have some specific comments and concerns on matters of detail, and these are outlined below. We have also completed the questionnaire for administrative convenience. The comments below follow the structure of the questionnaire and repeat the content of that response where appropriate.
3. How the curriculum is organised
3.1 The Crafts Council welcomes the breadth of the proposed curriculum, and in particular the emphasis on promoting cross-curricular learning. It is worth noting that teaching craft in schools has been demonstrated to be very effective at promoting cross-curricular learning since it brings together critical thinking, practical making, an understanding of materials and creative approaches to ICT. Craft-based activities can bring together learning in diverse disciplines, such as science, history, music and technology. We would like to see encouragement for teachers to make full use of the arts, including craft practice, in this way. However, in order to realise the full potential of craft, there is a need for better training to increase the confidence of teachers, both during initial teacher training and during continuous professional development.
4. Essentials for learning and life
4.1 The Crafts Council was particularly encouraged by Recommendation 9 of the Rose review, which advocated the use of the arts as a means of promoting language development in young children. Learning to debate and develop critical opinions around the arts builds children’s confidence in their ability to form balanced, reflective opinions and to express their views. We hope the curriculum guidance will reflect this recommendation.
4.2 ICT is an increasingly important part of craft practice, as well as many other arts disciplines, and again we hope teachers will have good training opportunities to build their confidence in using ICT in creative and imaginative ways.
5. Areas of learning: Understanding the Arts
5.1 The Crafts Council is pleased to see Understanding the Arts included as an area of learning and broadly supports the description of this area of the curriculum.
5.2 However, there are some points of detail that could have a serious detrimental impact on the place of craft education in schools. Firstly, it is both confusing and unnecessary to use “art and design” as a short-hand for “art, craft and design”. There is a danger that this phrasing could relegate craft practices to a lower status than other visual art forms in the new curriculum. It would be preferable simply to use “art, craft and design” throughout.
5.3 More specifically, in section M6, the draft curriculum gives a list of techniques which is far from comprehensive. Although this is not intended to be an exclusive list, there is a danger that it could be interpreted in this way and exclude other techniques by implication, unnecessarily narrowing the curriculum. All forms of craft practice include “manipulation of materials” and this phrasing could be used in this section to cover all forms of making. Removing the detail would allow teachers more scope to decide what techniques to include in their practice.
5.4 The description of why this area of learning is important is in general strong. However, it may be useful to add that practical making, when combined with creative thinking, boosts specific cognitive and perceptual skills. This might help reinforce the place of craft as a vital element of the arts curriculum.
6. Learners’ needs and transition
6.1 In supporting the implementation of the new curriculum, DCSF and the QCA should bear in mind the importance of learning outside the class room.
6.2 In particular, visits to museums and galleries are an essential adjunct to class-room based learning in art craft and design.
6.2 The Crafts Council welcomed recommendation 16 of the Rose Review, which stressed the importance of play-based learning. It is essential to provide support to ensure young children’s learning is facilitated at home through play. For some parents, access to after school or weekend/ holiday clubs, which they could attend with their children, would be an effective means of promoting this approach to learning. For example, the Crafts Council is in the process of developing a scheme to support teachers, group leaders, families and volunteers in various branches of education to run a ‘Craft Club,’ aided by a comprehensive resource pack.
7. Conclusion
7.1 The Crafts Council considers that the aims of the new curriculum are sound and that many of the detailed recommendations will help to promote the teaching of craft in schools effectively.
7.2 Small changes to language will ensure craft is not marginalised within art, craft and design, and that craft can therefore fulfil its potential to support cross-curricular learning.
7.3 The full potential of the new curriculum to promote craft-based learning will only be realised if DCSF works with its partner agencies to promote more effective training and development opportunities for teachers. We would also like to see the new curriculum accompanied by a reinvigorated commitment to learning outside the classroom, with emphasis on the importance of visits to museums and galleries, as well as other arts venues.
For more information on the points made here, please contact:
Dr Karen Yair
Crafts Council
44a Pentonville Road
London
N1 9BY
k_yair@craftscouncil.org.uk
+44(0)207 278 7700
www.craftscouncil.org.uk
