Representations of Working in Arts Education : Stories of Learning and Teaching [1 ed.] 9781783202614, 9781783201877

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R E P R E S E NTAT I O N S

OF WORKING IN ARTS E D U C AT I O N STOR I ES of LEA R N I N G and T EACHI N G

NA R ELL E L E MO N, S USA NNE GA RV IS & C H R ISTO P H ER K LO P P ER

Representations of Working in Arts Education

Representations of Working in Arts Education Stories of Learning and Teaching

Narelle Lemon Susanne Garvis Christopher Klopper

intellect Bristol, UK / Chicago, USA

First published in the UK in 2014 by Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK First published in the USA in 2014 by Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA Copyright © 2014 Intellect Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Cover designer: Gabriel Solomons Copy-editor: MPS Technologies Production manager: Tim Elameer Typesetting: Contentra Technologies Print ISBN: 978-1-78320-187-7 ePDF ISBN: 978-1-78320-261-4 ePUB ISBN: 978-1-78320-262-1 Printed and bound by Hobbs, UK

Table of Contents List of Figures, Tables, Images and Cases

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Foreword

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Chapter 1: Listening to Stories: A Framework and Introduction to Why It Is Important to Really Hear What Happens in Arts Education Narelle Lemon, Susanne Garvis and Christopher Klopper Chapter 2: The Lived Experience: Finding Joy Through Working in the Arts Christopher Klopper

1 15

Chapter 3: Twitter for Arts Community Collaborations and Networking: Social Impact of Fostering Partnerships Narelle Lemon

29

Chapter 4: Building Capacity and Confidence Through Arts-Based Learning Experiences: A Whole-School Approach Christopher Klopper

51

Chapter 5: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed but Not Blue: The Educational Impact of the Arts Susanne Garvis and Christopher Klopper

71

Chapter 6: ‘Whose Art Is It – Mine, Yours or Ours?’: Exploring Ethical Impact Susanne Garvis

91

Chapter 7: Money Makes the World Go Round: The Economic Impact of Arts in Education Susanne Garvis

103

Chapter 8: Innovative Partnerships: Opportunities to Create, Make, Explore and Respond in the Arts Narelle Lemon and Susanne Garvis

115

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Chapter 9: Transforming Pedagogy from Listening to Young People’s Voices: Catalytic Impact on a Gallery Narelle Lemon

133

Chapter 10: Pitfalls and Speed Bumps of Being an Arts Educator: Risk and Negative Loss Impact Narelle Lemon and Susanne Garvis

161

Chapter 11: Conclusion: Parallels, Overlaps and Potholes in Sharing Stories: ‘Which Way From Here?’ Narelle Lemon, Susanne Garvis and Christopher Klopper

177

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List of Figures, Tables, Images and Cases List of Figures Figure 1: Summary of pre-service teachers’ engagement with Twitter during the study of the core course Visual Arts 42 Figure 2: The cultural ecosystem of education (adapted from Bronfenbrenner 1979) 56 Figure 3: Visual representation of the ways of seeing pilot project’s five stages 136 Figure 4: Student-centred pedagogical decisions in integrating digital camera in the gallery and school setting 149 List of Tables Table 1: Week 1: Year Prep–Year Three Table 2: Week 2: Year Four–Year Seven Table 3: Week 3: Year Prep–Year Three Table 4: Week 4: Year Four–Year Seven Table 5: Week 5: Year Prep–Year Three Table 6: Week 6: Year Four–Year Seven Table 7: Week 7: Year Prep–Year Seven Table 8: Week 8: Year Four–Year Seven Table 9: Catalytic impact of integrating a digital camera in a gallery setting to support listening to young people’s voices

60 61 61 62 62 63 63 64 139

List of Images Image 1: Melanie’s performance art visual narrative that represented her lived experiences of viewing art by the artist Andy Warhol Image 2: Melanie’s planning for performance art visual narrative Image 3: Jim sharing his visual narrative with the NGV staff when they visited the school Image 4: Tim’s artwork and reflection inspired by his visit to the NGV Image 5: Marcus sharing the shield he made inspired by the South Pacific artwork he viewed during the gallery visit

140 141 143 144 146

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List of Cases Case 1: Case 2: Case 3: Case 4: Case 5: Case 6: Case 7: Case 8: Case 9: Case 10: Case 11: Case 12: Case 13: Case 14: Case 15: Case 16: Case 17: Case 18: Case 19: Case 20: Case 21: Case 22: Case 23: Case 24: Case 25: Case 26: Case 27:

The circle of life Teaching is a performance Debi – ‘Facebook you are dropped!’ Linda – ‘I have so much I want to share’ Madhu – ‘Twitter in visual arts could be just what I need’ Nora – ‘I’m loving the galleries you visit’ There is not enough time to teach the arts Smarts Grammar School John’s College Evelyn Regional Conservatorium of Music Tenderville city Treetops Community School Smithfield School Darville All Girls’ School Maxton School Exploring public art while collaborating with others Video annotation to reflect on own arts practice development Enhancing the musical development of students Melanie Jim Tim Marcus Rochelle Tennille’s confusion The balancing act Sharing my passion Policy intrusion

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18 22 35 36 37 38 57 77 80 82 84 94 97 107 109 120 122 124 139 142 142 145 146 166 167 168 169

Foreword The tables of the art room are covered in large sheets of white paper. In front of the paper are arranged selections of pencils, crayons, pastels, charcoal and thick marker pens. The pencils are newly sharpened. The crayons and pastels are perfect cylinders with enticing colour protruding from their printed paper overcoats. The charcoal is thin and willowy or finger-thick, which echoes the snarls of the original branches; the marker pen a rebellious graffiti tool smelling of alcohol, indicative of a rebellious, liberating streak. To the artist, the table is set with the most delicious feast. And yet, in my first-year undergraduate art class, the prospective teachers look terrified. One brave student confesses, ‘I am no good at art, you know. I can’t draw. This is going to be the subject I will fail.’ Murmurs of agreement ripple through the room. It might be easy to discount such experiences as ‘first day’ nerves, and yet, undoubtedly, even the most artistic among us has remembered something similar: being the first person on the dance floor, forgetting your lines in the theatre production, having to sing on your own, the piano exam; the list goes on, but understanding these lived experiences is essential if quality arts education is to be implemented. High-quality arts programmes do have impact. Despite criticism that says that it is almost impossible to determine causality in relation to arts and cultural education evaluation, it is very possible to use an ‘inductive’ analysis to ascertain both whether a programme of arts education is of high quality and then importantly, does it make a difference – in other words, does it have a positive impact. The clarity around these two aspects – quality and impact – emerged out of two pieces of extensive research. Firstly, in 2004 I undertook an extensive inductive analysis of arts education programmes around the world for UNESCO. This work emerged out of a larger UNESCO programme that was aiming to ensure there was ‘Education for All’. In global terms, delivering on a goal as basic as comprehensive education for all children under 12 years of age is arguably enough of a challenge. But what if a child received poor quality education? Would it be better to not receive an education or to receive an education that might make the child learn to hate learning? So a more refined question began to be asked, that is, could all children receive quality education? It was within this framework that I examined quality arts education around the world. This involved gathering hundreds of case studies from all over the world. The case studies ranged from massive national programmes, such as those in Canada, the United Kingdom

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and the United States of America, to small, locally based projects in Senegal, Bhutan, Brazil and Fiji, among others. As the hundreds of case studies gathered in piles on my desk, I began to analyse each one for what had worked and what had not worked. Rather than being predetermined, the themes were allowed to emerge from the data. These characteristics were mapped out on a large matrix. Quite quickly a very clear pattern began to form. No matter what the scale or scope of an arts education programme, it shared consistent groups of factors that defined quality. All in all, there were ten clear factors, namely, partnership and collaboration; accessibility to all; flexible organizational structures; professional development; reflection and evaluation; local relevance; an inquiry-based approach; opportunities for performance and exhibition; championing leadership; and risk-taking. It was also evident that for maximum quality all ten of these characteristics should be present. The results of this work were that it was now possible to evaluate, with a relatively high degree of accuracy and consistency, if an arts education programme was good or not. This was an important step forward as it is possible, once quality has been established, to measure the impact of arts education programmes. Unfortunately, we know that while good quality arts programmes have a positive impact on the child, poor quality programmes have a negative impact on the child. If we return to the scared teacher-education student, perhaps their fear of looking at the paper and drawing implements was due to negative arts experiences in their own development. Perhaps as you read that sentence in your own personal narratives you can recall such moments: the child whose teacher did not praise their painting, the child picked as the tree in the school play, the singer not included in the choir, the keen piano player whose music practice taught them to hate the piano, the dancer whose growth made them too tall, heavy or uncoordinated for the elite dance group, the aching legs on the gallery school excursion that convinced a child never to return, and so on. The impact of negative arts experiences run deeply within most people’s perceptions of the arts. Risk and negative loss factors can include opportunity costs, talent loss, personal loss, unhappiness, loss of enjoyment and loss of creativity. This is not just for children and young people. In the book passionate arts educators also highlight the consequence of exhaustion, impaired inspiration and unrealistic expectations in implementing arts programmes. On the other hand, what if the narratives emerging from an arts programme were so positive and so profound that you wanted to highlight and share these impacts? Such was the case when I evaluated an extensive 10-year programme of scientists and artists working together funded by the Welcome Trust. This programme, known as SciArt, was innately based around the quality indicators and resulted in some stunning artistic and scientific outputs. This then led to the second part of the highly influential piece of research that resulted in the development of a matrix for capturing and reporting on these impacts, and it was this research that resulted in the development of the Evaluation Impact Tracking Matrix (EITM) that underpins the structure of this book. The EITM aims to group and classify the impacts that become apparent in the short, medium and long term as the result of quality arts programmes. The framework of the x

Foreword

EITM allows researchers, programme funders, policy makers and those charged with delivering arts education to determine the impact of their work. This can be quite important for the arts and cultural world as it has long been argued that ‘we know the arts are good’, but this impact has not been fully relayed to a wider audience. The EITM is not about simplifying the impacts down to something that can be easily converted to a numerical value, but rather about highlighting the richness and diversity of impacts that can occur. Previous impact measures, such as number of people attending a concert or grades in a music exam, may show participation and some degree of engagement but fail to capture the full breadth of impacts that can result from the arts. I will not venture in depth into the EITM in this foreword as this is comprehensively covered in the book, but I would like to touch on just a few aspects. I would like to highlight the importance of the arts as a driver for innovation. Quality arts education can be very successful at developing people with the skills, knowledge and characteristics to drive innovation. In particular, the arts play a crucial role in talent development, the development of new pedagogic techniques, processes or products and the instigation of debates or new discourse. This in turn can lead to something referred to as the ‘catalytic impact’. Catalytic impact is often considered to be the hardest of the EITM impacts to measure as it may occur over a period of time, even decades, after the individual experiences the arts education programme. For example, a parent might take their own child to the museum 20 years after they were taken there by an enthusiastic teacher. Or a dentist performing root canal therapy using computer-aided technology might be using visual literacy gained in a drawing lesson. Catalytic impacts could be described as being the key-turning moments when arts education opens the door to new worlds. As such, catalytic impacts can include aspects such as flow-on effects, changes in direction, transformations and journeys. Through the use of rich narrative, this book provides invaluable insight into some of those individual and collective journeys. These are the lived experiences of those involved in the process of implementing quality arts education programmes. The stories presented reveal ‘old knowledge, new knowledge and borrowed knowledge’ that provide very rich insight into the practical and ethical dilemmas surrounding the implementation of the arts. The narrative of participants’ own stories and experiences highlight the personal impact of working in the arts, such as the development of confidence, aspiration, enjoyment, fun and happiness. As we read these stories we are able to reflect on the future practice of arts education in school classrooms and be inspired to tap into the educational possibilities and potential. The narratives are presented in a reflective manner enabling the reader to make the connection between self-knowledge and working in the arts and how you use your knowledge of self within your work. There are many things about human experience that exceed the representational capacity of language or intellectual analysis but yield themselves to us through empathy and an understanding of the experiences of others. Much recent work within the field of neuroscience and behavioural science has highlighted the importance of ‘mirroring’ in developing a deep, empathetic understanding. The mirroring neurons within the brain help us make sense of xi

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the actions, emotions or sensations in others through embodied simulation. Hearing the rich stories of others leads to the same brain activation as direct experiential understanding of objects. Through stories we are able to experience a vicarious understanding of the inner world of others. Empathy itself requires imagination and this brings the individual to the realm of creativity. The stories and the experiences they present create an empathetic link between the teachers and artists and the reader. In its most dramatic form, this embodiment enables the reader to learn by imaginatively ‘living’ the experiences presented. This means that the complexities that too often stifle and stultify the implementation of arts education programmes  are ‘unpacked’ and revealed. For example, embedded in the narratives of implementation are the exploration of social problems, inclusivity, diversity and the promotion of changes in attitude. The deep understanding of complexity captures the richness of the artistic process and shows how the arts can contribute to the promotion of ethical behaviour. While a discussion of empathy may imply an individual journey of discovery, this is not the case. An underpinning theme is that effective arts education exists within a social and cultural context. Partnership working and collaboration is at the heart of successful programmes, and case studies have been drawn from a range of contexts including museums and galleries, cultural institutions and virtual networks including peer partnership learning. These case studies provide very practical examples of partnership working that encourage growth, learning and change. Partnerships between schools and the professional arts sector play an important role in deepening students’ engagement with learning. The most important partners in arts learning are of course the young people themselves. More than just listening to the voices of young people, truly inspirational arts education programmes provide challenges to young people and lead to changes in knowledge, skills, internal perceptions and attitudes. Forging a deep engagement with young people includes connecting with their learning dispositions and needs and with their life experiences, not just their experiences of an arts programme. Children are capable of seeing, experiencing and understanding at a far deeper level than they are sometimes thought to do. I hope that you find this book inspirational and that it fires your imagination to lead on organizational change within your sphere of influence, whether that is in a school, in a cultural institution, at a policy level or in the life of a child. Arts educators are powerful change agents and where high-quality programmes exist, the effect is marked. It is possible to create a domino effect that can change the life chances of a child, the profile of a school or the economic success of a country. Professor Anne Bamford Chair and Director Engine Room University of the Arts London

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Chapter 1 Listening to Stories: A Framework and Introduction to Why It Is Important to Really Hear What Happens in Arts Education Narelle Lemon, Susanne Garvis and Christopher Klopper

A

rts education ideally provides students with valuable opportunities to experience and build skills and knowledge in relation to self-expression, imagination, innovative and collaborative problem solving, co-creation of shared meanings and respect for self and others. This is what Eisner (2003) calls ‘literacy of the heart’. Engagement in a quality arts education programme can positively affect overall academic achievement, engagement in learning and development of empathy towards others (Australian Council for Educational Research 2004; Board of Studies NSW 2006; Cornett 2007; Russell-Bowie 2006). The teaching and integration of the arts in education is an internationally recognized form of interdisciplinarity that organizes the curriculum in integrated, humane and imaginative ways (Aaron 1994; Barrett 2001; Burton 2001; Chyrsostomou 2004; Hauptfleisch 1997; Klopper 2004; Russell-Bowie 2006, 2009; Snyder 2001). Through the integration of the arts in learning opportunities it is believed that young people can explore creativity, imagination and problem solving while connecting arts-specific experiences to meaning making in other contextual areas. The arts are seen to encompass different things in different contexts including, but not limited to, the performing arts (music, dance, drama and theatre) and visual arts, media, industrial arts and literacy arts. This book sets out to open up discussion and listen to the voice of arts educators, students, parents, school leaders and arts practitioners from the industry engaged in arts education. In presenting detailed and rich narratives throughout, the book invites the reader to reflect, connect and question the place of arts education and indeed the impact on individuals involved. The context of Australia is presented, with the reader invited to consider how the narratives resonate to international perspectives because it is believed lived experiences assist in making connections to one’s own understandings. Throughout Australia, music, dance, drama, media and visual arts have been merged into the Arts Learning Area (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] 2011a). This transfers to the generalist teacher being predominately responsible for teaching arts education in the majority of Australian primary school classrooms (Alter et al. 2009; Davis 2008). Alexander et al. (cited in Alter et al. 2009) projected that teaching the primary education curriculum is ‘a far too demanding expectation of a generalist teacher’s subject-knowledge’ (18) and that often arts education is the subject that suffers most of all. Generalist teachers have been perceived both by themselves and others as lacking the experience, training and subject knowledge to teach arts education effectively (Alter et al. 2009). The situation is exacerbated by little support being available for teachers interested in teaching the arts after they graduate (Russell-Bowie 2002) and minimal

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professional development in the arts being offered to primary school teachers (Pascoe et al. 2005; Senate Environment, Recreation, Communications and the Arts References Committee [SERCARC] 1995). Klopper and Power (2010) present an overview of arts education research in Australia. They reveal that there is extensive research in the fields of music education and visual arts education, with comparatively little on drama education, dance education and arts education, as an umbrella term. The majority of studies are on arts education in relation to pre-service teacher education, with slightly fewer on arts education in primary schools and significantly fewer on arts education primary classroom practice. Aside from Power and Klopper (2011), no research is available on primary classroom practice of arts education as an umbrella term, that is, studies that focus on what is actually happening in environments where art is taught or explored and that look at all five art forms (music, visual art, drama, media and dance). Although Power and Klopper (2011) began to address this gap in the literature, theirs is only one study with identified limitations and more research is needed. Currently, in Australia, ACARA is in the process of establishing a national curriculum for the arts. The recently released Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts (ACARA 2011a) outlines the purpose, structure and organization of the proposed Australian Arts Curriculum. This paper guided the writing of the Australian Arts Curriculum (ACARA 2001b). While full implementation of the Australian Arts Curriculum should not occur until 2015, it is nevertheless an important consideration in understanding the current contexts of arts education in Australia. A provocative statement was made by Bamford surrounding the lack of Australian research in arts education (cited in Gibson and Anderson 2008: 103): ‘While substantial studies into the benefits of arts education have been undertaken in the USA and the UK, very little research has been conducted into the impact of arts education in Australian schools. There is urgent need for a detailed study of the impact of arts programmes within the context of Australian schools.’ This book helps to fill this void, building on the success of ‘Tapping into Classroom Practice of the Arts’ (Klopper and Garvis 2011), the outcome of the first Arts in Practice Symposium in Australia, held in 2010. Traditional methods of assessing arts practice in generalist classrooms have been claimed inadequate. As Winner and Hetland (2000: 7) suggest, ‘more rigorous research’ is needed within arts education to ensure better research. Researchers must move ‘beyond measuring the effects of the arts in terms of scores on paper and pencil tests to assess how the arts affect learning in areas that are more difficult to measure, but may well be more important’ (Winner and Hetland 2000: 7). In the past, the more measurable may have driven out the more meaningful. Within Australia, evaluations of arts education research studies suggest a lack of baseline data and of replication studies, inconsistent measures, vague definitions, imprecise methodology and over-reliance on anecdotal evidence. In a postmodern era, every inquiry mode is now an option. In this book the authors provide a snapshot of learning and teaching of arts education in Australia. The book provides a series of case studies that identify effects, sustainability and impacts of the arts on children’s lives. Case studies are drawn from artists, arts 4

Listening to Stories

educators, gallery and museum arts educators and community arts education organizations and partnerships. Semi-structured interviews with arts educators from a variety of settings aim to uncover the pedagogical practice and decisions to engage students in arts learning; specifically by uncovering the visions, tensions, challenges and celebrations of these practices and decisions based around Bamford and Glinkowski’s (2010) Effect and Impact Tracking Matrix (EITM). This construct assists in identifying a number of domains that have been identified through international research in arts education that are consistently associated with high levels of impact. The nine domains are defined by Bamford and Glinkowski (2010) as: 1. personal impact, such as the development of confidence, aspiration, enjoyment, fun and happiness 2. social impact, such as the fostering or development of networks, collaborations, partnerships and contact webs 3. cultural impact, such as changes prompted at an organizational level, changes in external perceptions, changes in profile and influence 4. educational impact, such as new knowledge, skills development, conceptual development, professional education, education of the broader field or community 5. ethical impact, such as addressing social problems or minority issues or audiences, promoting changes in attitudes, or contributing to sustainability 6. economic impact, such as value for money, changing spending patterns, income generation 7. innovation impact, such as talent development, the development of new pedagogic techniques, processes or products and the instigation of debates or new discourse 8. catalytic impact, such as flow-on effects, changes in direction, transformations and journeys 9. negative loss impact, which described things that had to be sacrificed or negative consequences of some other kind that arose – such as opportunity costs, talent loss, personal loss, unhappiness, loss of enjoyment, loss of creativity. (2010: 8) A plethora of literature exists documenting the underlying belief and procedures associated with analysing qualitative data. Most are associated with particular approaches or traditions such as grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin 1990), phenomenology (e.g., van Manen 1990), discourse analysis (e.g., Potter and Wetherall 1994) and narrative analysis (e.g., Leiblich 1998). However some analytic approaches are ‘generic’ and are not labelled within one of the specific traditions of qualitative research (e.g., Ezzy 2002; Pope, Ziebland and Mays 2000; Silverman 2000). When using the EITM, an ‘inductive’ analysis exists where ‘rather than being predetermined, themes are allowed to emerge from the data’ (Bamford and Glinkowski 2010: 18). The primary purpose of the inductive approach is to allow research findings to emerge from the frequent, dominant or significant themes inherent in raw data, without the restraints imposed by structured methodologies. Key themes are often obscured, reframed 5

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or left invisible because of the preconceptions in the data collection and data analysis procedures imposed by deductive data analysis such as those used in experimental research and hypothesis testing research. Such an approach is ‘widely understood to offer a suitable approach to impact evaluation in the field of creative learning’ (Bamford and Glinkowski 2010: 18). The EITM (Bamford and Glinkowski 2006) serves as a basis for the presentation of case studies to promote opportunity to listen and hear stories of learning and teaching that highlight each of these domains throughout the book. This strengthens and emphasizes the need to hear, share and critically reflect and understand the work that arts education performs in supporting all key stakeholders. The writing style of the book highlights the voice of arts learners and educators with narrative used to deepen the conversation. The authors provide a contextual place for all key stakeholder voices to be heard in regard to arts education. It contributes to this area of academic study by being one of the first books to include all stakeholder voices from a variety of contexts that are important for children’s learning. We show similarities and tensions for arts education, providing the reader with the possibility of working with the arts in the future. The important feature of the book is the illumination of the voice as a respectful way of contemporary research. The concept of ‘children’s voice’ has received greater focus in child-centred research. Spyrou (2011: 151) suggests that ‘one could argue that the interdisciplinary field of childhood studies has built its very raison d’etre around the notion of children’s voice. By accessing the otherwise silenced voices of children – by giving children a voice – and presenting them to the rest of the world, researchers hope to gain a better understanding of childhood’. A moral perspective further strengthens the concept of children’s voice when children’s voice is considered to empower the social position of children and childhood from a social justice and rights perspective. Children’s experiences are organized in narrative form within the memory. Narrative is considered a universal mode of thought and a form of thinking (Bruner 1986; Nelson 1998, 2007). According to Haakarainen et al. (2013: 215), ‘from the cultural-historical perspective, a narrative could be defined as a psychological tool formalising and unifying human thought and knowledge into thematic units – units of thought’. Accordingly, narrative is the smallest cell of human thinking, providing insight into the child’s experiences. The use of narrative as a contemporary research technique allows young children to share their experiences with others. The research technique is respectful of the child’s voice and allows the child to choose what they would like to share with others (participation). Later chapters in this book will discuss the many different approaches that contemporary research can choose to collect and analyse narratives. Greater awareness and understanding, however, is needed for the widespread importance of narrative as a sense-making form for young children (Bruner 1990). This book is significant because it allows the use of narratives and highlights the understanding of the ‘voice’ that comes from children, parents, teachers and principals. According to this concept of voice telling a narrative, we learn from the knowledge that is shared. Our interest is in the particular, in the authentic lived experiences associated 6

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with arts education and experiences in schools. As story and narrative have served as the inspiration for many of the chapters within the book, it seems fitting to also describe in this chapter the foundations of their use in research, particularly educational research. Stories are present within all cultures, as a way of communicating history, understanding experience and making sense of the world. Bruner (1986) describes ‘narrative knowing’ as one of two modes of thinking and meaning making in which story and experience play a central role. Polkinghorne (1988) agrees: Our encounter with reality produces a meaningful and understandable flow of experience. What we experience is a consequence of the action of our organizing schemes on the components of our involvement with the world. Narrative is the fundamental scheme for linking individual human actions and events into interrelated aspects of an understandable composite […] Narrative displays the significance that events have for one another. (13) The stories people live and tell are a rich source of knowing and meaning making. Narrative inquiry is an epistemological approach to research through which this knowledge is explored and interrogated. Narrative inquiry, the study of experience as story […] is first and foremost a way of thinking about experience. Narrative inquiry as a methodology entails a view of the phenomenon. To use narrative inquiry methodology is to adopt a particular narrative view of experience as phenomenon under study. (Connelly and Clandinin 2006: 477) Following the definition given above of narrative inquiry, lived experience is central to the methodology. This book provides opportunities for the exploration of arts experiences. The originality in this book is the incorporation of different stakeholder voices and stories being appraised by the EITM. The overall analysis shows the true benefit and cost of arts education within the Australian landscape. Unique insights into what it means to participate in arts education from varying perspectives are provided. Participants were selected using convenient sampling from a range of different educational landscapes across Australia. A range of different consenting voices were chosen to illuminate the diversity that exists within and across Australia. The unique perspectives from teachers, artists, students and arts organizations are shared throughout the following chapters: The Lived Experience – Finding Joy Through Working in the Arts This chapter focuses on the connection between self-knowledge and working in the arts and how self-knowledge is used within one’s work. It highlights the personal impact of working in the arts, such as the development of confidence, aspiration, enjoyment, fun and happiness. 7

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Twitter for Arts Community Collaborations and Networking: Social Impact of Fostering Partnerships New ways of engaging with networks are emerging and with this comes the recognition that social media is an innovative way to communicate, collaborate and curate content. For the arts community the introduction of, engagement with and use of Twitter as a professional social-networking tool is beginning to gather more momentum and interest amongst art educators, artists, performers, galleries and organizations globally. What comes with this is networking possibilities and the potential for the establishment of a community that collaborates and shifts boundaries of isolation. Twitter can increase interaction in a variety of forums through real-time feedback, enhancement of conversation, quick transfer of knowledge, and quick building of social knowledge of users as external sources. Despite its short history it has clearly defined conventions of use that enhance networking possibilities. This chapter looks at the social impact of working in this online space, mapping the development of networks, collaborations, partnerships and contacts for arts education. The perspective of pre-service teachers undertaking studies in visual arts with discussion around the following questions is explored: What are the benefits associated with this practice of peer partnership learning? What parameters guide best practice in this area and what cautions should we be aware of? Building Capacity and Confidence Through Arts-Based Learning Experiences: A Whole-School Approach This chapter reports on a year-long project that aimed to build capacity and confidence through the arts-based learning experiences of identified teachers and students. The project was conceptualized through comprising multi-layered and potentially multi-pronged PIRI (Plan, Implement, Review and Improve) cycles that: • offered identified students arts extension activities on a weekly basis each school term • provided ongoing professional development for all staff about ‘finding the arts’ in what they plan and prepare • offered consultation for staff about ‘finding the arts’ in what they plan and prepare • mentored two identified teachers over the duration of one year to deepen their capacity and confidence in arts-based learning experiences and move from dependency to autonomy. Areas of cultural impact, such as changes prompted at an organizational level, changes in external and internal perceptions and changes in profile and influence, are extrapolated and showcased through the presentation of the visual feast. 8

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Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed but Not Blue: The Educational Impact of the Arts In this chapter, three vignettes are presented that look at the various ways in which arts education knowledge has been embodied into practice. The vignettes are explored in a holistic way, providing consideration to a broad range of multidisciplinary aspects of arts education. Each of the vignettes uses old knowledge, new knowledge and borrowed knowledge to help inform the implementation of the arts. As we read these stories we are able to reflect on the future practice of arts education in school classrooms and be inspired to tap into the educational possibilities and potential. Whose Art Is It – Mine, Yours or Ours?: Exploring Ethical Impact This chapter explores a number of vignettes from teachers, parents and children to highlight the ethical impact of arts in a variety of schooling contexts. Ethical impact includes the exploration of social problems, inclusivity, diversity and the promotion of changes in attitudes. What happens when cultural music is taught in school? How confident do teachers feel engaging with arts from different cultures? Who is included and excluded in school arts programmes? Can the arts build a community within a school? Findings also show how the arts can contribute to sustainability of societal values in the promotion of ethical behaviour. Money Makes the World Go Round: The Economic Impact of Arts in Education The chapter shares insight into an area that is often forgotten when discussing arts education: economics. This chapter explores the economic impact of the arts in three different schooling contexts. Issues arise such as the positioning of children’s arts as income generation for schools, the economic impact of schools in funding cycles and how schools define value for money with arts education funding. Innovative Partnerships: Opportunities to Create, Make, Explore and Respond in the Arts Partnerships between schools and the professional arts sector have been found to play an important role in deepening students’ engagement with learning. These partnerships are also often associated with innovation in how they extend and develop processes and products in the instigation of arts education. This chapter shares three cases across the primary arts education programme that looks at partnerships and innovative 9

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approaches to the development of new pedagogic techniques, processes or products and new discourse among teachers, students, arts organizations and artists. In each of the cases, highlighting student engagement is a priority for the teachers in either their partnerships with others or design and implementation of an innovative programme or project. Transforming Pedagogy from Listening to Young People’s Voices: Catalytic Impact on a Gallery This chapter shares a case study where one national gallery set out to rethink, change and transform the pedagogical approach of their schools’ programmes in the arts. An approach of listening to the children and young people who participate in these programmes was initiated out of acknowledgement of the need to connect with young people, their learning dispositions and needs and to meaningfully engage with feedback and evaluation of programmes and experiences. Shared in this chapter is a project that used visual narratives, created through the generation of digital photographs paired with reflection, to understand what children and young people think, see and experience at the national gallery. Using digital technology to record their learning as visual narratives (photographs plus text) in gallery-based learning programmes enhanced engagement with art knowledge, understanding, meaning making and the national gallery as an art space. Most importantly, hearing the voice and opinion of young people highlighted impact on the gallery education staff and teachers who organized the school-based excursion to the gallery. Specifically, the gallery allowed for the creation of unique and innovative relations and collaboration between young people, teachers and an arts organization. Pitfalls and Speed Bumps of Being an Arts Educator: Risk and Negative Loss Impact This chapter explores the hidden and evaded stories associated with arts education. Multiple case studies are shared that describe things that either had to be sacrificed so that they did not produce negative consequences for the arts educator or thus cause a domino effect for organizations and learners. Risks and negative losses discussed include opportunity costs, talent loss, personal loss, unhappiness, loss of enjoyment and loss of creativity. The four shared stories highlight the negative impacts and risks associated with the extra hours of work involved when one is a dedicated and passionate arts educator who wants to provide opportunities for students in their development, understanding and knowledge in the arts. The consequence of exhaustion on multiple levels is highlighted. 10

Listening to Stories

We hear from a beginner music teacher whose passion and creativity to support and inspire students was slowly chipped away at, resulting in a loss in confidence, morale and engagement with the school and with the teaching profession. There was a significant cost in terms of health for this beginner teacher, which impacted on the teacher’s ability to continue to share in and motivate arts experiences. The cost in turn-over rates of beginner teachers associated with burn-out and conflicts in pedagogical approach are explored and juxtaposed against the tensions associated with the negative effect on the teacher’s perception and approach to children. Paralleling the beginner-teacher story is one from an experienced art teacher who juggles family change, not enough time, too many projects to manage and the cost on energy and focus. With a reduction in teaching hours in order to manage and balance work and personal life, an additional layer of this story is the negative impact on job sharing with a non-arts educator whose focus is on a competing subject area within the school. Even though the principal agreed to maintain the high-performing arts programme, the politics of position and people available, along with pressure not to advertise, challenged the agreement. Issues that arise with training, curriculum support, planning, resourcing, consistency across multiple teaching levels, arrangement of room time and resourcing materials are all highlighted as risk factors that impact the workload of an arts educator. The story of an educator from a one-teacher school is shared, which highlights the negative impacts and risks associated with working in this way and envisaging active arts learning and teaching opportunities for young people. The book’s concluding chapter provides a summary of each chapter and of the importance of arts experiences for all children. While the book has intended to illuminate diversity across the context of Australian arts education, it is limited in its approach as it has not heard the voices from all involved and sometimes found contexts related only to music education. Nevertheless, the book provides a window into the complexities of arts education and allows the voices of those who participated to be heard. Concluding thoughts The purpose of this book is to give voice to the stories of arts experiences and to evaluate the importance of the arts in adults’ and children’s lives. These stories of experience are often kept secret. This book, however, brings these stories to the forefront, providing a platform for stories to be shared. The stories told by the individuals illuminate personal thoughts and actions at the same time as the individuals make sense of their relationships with others and their stance in the world (Bruner 1986). While these stories do not match traditional beliefs about research, they provide meaning for arts experience. The stories scratch the surface of the arts education research domain and provide a trail of meaning. 11

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References Aaron, J. (1994), ‘Integrating Music with Core Subjects’, Music Educators Journal, 80: 6, pp. 27–33. Alter, F. T., Hays, T., and O’Hara, R. (2009), ‘Creative Arts Teaching and Practice: Critical Reflections of Primary School Teachers in Australia’, International Journal of Education & the Arts, 10: 9, pp. 1–21. Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2010), ‘Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts’, http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Draft+ Shape+Of+The+Australian+Curriculum+The+Arts-FINAL.pdf. Accessed 12 November 2012. Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2011a), ‘Consultation Feedback Report on the DRAFT Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts’, http://www. acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Consultation_Feedback_Report_-_The_Arts.pdf. Accessed 12 November 2012. Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2011b), ‘Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts’, http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Shape_of_the_ Australian_Curriculum_The_Arts_-_Compressed.pdf. Accessed 12 November 2012. Australian Council for Educational Research (2004), Evaluation of School-based Arts Education Programmes in Australian Schools, Canberra: Author. Bamford, A. (2006), The Wow Factor: Global Research Compendium on the Impact of the Arts in Education, Münster: Waxmann. Bamford, A. and Glinkowski, P. (2010), “Wow, it’s Music Next.” Impact Evaluation of Wider Opportunities Programme in Music at Key Stage Two, Leeds, United Kingdom: Federation of Music Services. Barrett, J. R. (2001), ‘Interdisciplinary Work and Musical Integrity’, Music Educators Journal, 87: 5, pp. 27–31. Board of Studies NSW (2006), Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus, Sydney: Board of Studies NSW. Bruner, J. S. (1986), Actual Minds, Possible Worlds, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Bruner, J. S. (1990), Acts of Meaning, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Burton, L. H. (2001), ‘Interdisciplinary Curriculum: Retrospect and Prospect’, Music Educators Journal, 87: 5, pp. 17–21, 66. Chrysostomou, S. (2004), ‘Interdisciplinary Approaches in the New Curriculum in Greece: A Focus on Music Education’, Journal for Research in Music Education, 105: 5, pp. 23–29. Clandinin, D. J. and Connelly, F. M. (2000), Narrative Inquiry: Experience and Story in Qualitative Research, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Connelly, F. M. and Clandinin, D. J. (2006), ‘Narrative Inquiry’, in J. L. Green, G. Camilli and P. Elmore (eds), Handbook of Complementary Methods in Education Research, 3rd ed., Mahwah: Erlbaum, pp. 477–487. Cornett, C. (2007), Creating Meaning Through Literature and the Arts, New Jersey: Pearson Education. Davis, D. (2008), First We See: The National Review of Visual Education, Australia: Australian Government. Eisner, E. W. (2003), The Arts and the Creation of Mind, New Haven: Yale. 12

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Ezzy, D. (2002), Qualitative Analysis: Practice and Innovation, Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. Gibson, R. and Anderson, M. (2008), ‘Touching the Void: Arts Education in Australia’, Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 28: 1, pp. 103–112. Hakkarainen, P., Bredukyte, M., Jakkula, K. and Munter, K. (2013), ‘Adult Play Guidance and Children’s Play Development in a Narrative Play-World’, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 21: 2, pp. 213–225. Hauptfleisch, S. (1997), ‘Transforming South African Music Education: A Systems View’, Unpublished D.Mus. thesis, University of Pretoria. Klopper, C. J. (2004), ‘Variables Impacting on the Delivery of Music in the Learning Area Arts and Culture in South Africa’, Unpublished D.Mus. thesis, University of Pretoria. Klopper, C. and Garvis, S. (2011), Tapping into Classroom Practice of Arts Education: From Inside Out, Brisbane: Post Pressed. Klopper, C. and Power, B. (2010), ‘Illuminating the Gap: An Overview of Classroom-Based Arts Education Research in Australia’, International Journal of Education through Art, 6: 3, pp. 293–308. Leiblich, A. (1998), Narrative Research: Reading, Analysis and Interpretation, Thousand Oaks: Sage. Nelson, K. (1998), Language in Cognitive Development, New York: Cambridge University Press. Nelson, K. (2007), Young Minds in Social Worlds: Experience, Meaning and Memory, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Pascoe, R., Leong, S., MacCallum, J., Mackinlay, J., Marsh, K., Smith, B., Church, T. and Winterton, A. (2005), National Review of School Music Education, Australia: Australian Government. Polkinghorne, D. (1988), Narrative Knowing and the Human Sciences, Albany: State University of New York Press. Pope, C., Ziebland, S. and Mays, N. (2000), ‘Qualitative Research in Health Care: Analysing Qualitative Data’, British Medical Journal, 320, pp. 114–116. Potter, J. and Wetherall, M. (1994), ‘Analyzing Discourse’, in A. Bryman and R. Burgess (eds), Analyzing Qualitative Data, London: Routledge, pp. 47–68. Power, B. and Klopper, C. (2011), ‘The Classroom Practice of Creative Arts Education in NSW Primary Schools: A Descriptive Account’, International Journal of Education & the Arts, 12: 11, http://www.ijea.org/v12n11/. Accessed 7 February 2014. Russell-Bowie, D. (2002), ‘Where in the World are We?: How the Perceptions of Australian Primary Teacher Education Students Differ from Those from Four Other Countries in Relation to Their Background and Confidence in Music Education’, Australian Journal of Music Education, 1, pp. 33–44. Russell-Bowie, D. (2006), MMADD About the Arts! An Introduction to Primary Arts Education, Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Prentice Hall. Russell-Bowie, D. (2009), ‘Taming the Wild Beast! Developing Preservice Primary Music Education Students’ Confidence and Competence’, in ASME XVII National Conference, July, Launceston: Australian Society for Music Education. Senate Environment, Recreation, Communication and the Arts Reference Committee (SERCARC) (1995), Arts Education, Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Silverman, D. (2000), Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook, London: Sage. 13

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Snyder, S. (2001), ‘Connection, Correlation, and Integration’, Music Educators Journal, 87: 5, pp. 32–40. Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990), Basics of Qualitative Research, Newbury Park: Sage. Van Manen, M. (1990), Researching Lived Experience: Human Research for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy, New York, NY: The University of Western Ontario. Wenger, E., White, N. and Smith, D. (2009), Digital Habitats: Stewarding Technology for Community, Portland: CPSquare. Winner, E. and Hetland, L. (2001), ‘The Arts and Academic Achievement: What the Evidence Shows’, Arts Education Policy Review, 102: 5, pp. 3–6.

14

Chapter 2 The Lived Experience: Finding Joy Through Working in the Arts Christopher Klopper

Finding that little space for art in my life is my motivation for getting up in the morning and staying alive. – Elaine

T

he arts have been noted to improve health, mental well-being, cognitive functioning, creative ability and academic performance. Engaging in creative activity or attending some kind of artistic event appears to improve physical health (Angus 1999; Baklien 2000; Ball and Keating 2002; Bygren, Konlaan and Johansson 1996; Thoits and Hewitt 2001). This could be due in part to its stress-relieving capabilities. Opening, widening and strengthening social bonds through arts engagement is claimed to also improve one’s health (Baklien 2000; Ball and Keating 2002). Bygren, Konlaan and Johansson (1996: 1580) provide a more physiological explanation: We know that the organism responds with changes in the humoral nervous system – for example, verbal expression of traumatic experiences through writing or talking improves physical health, enhances immune function, and is associated with fewer medical visits. Attending arts events may be stimulating and relieve stress, leading to improved happiness through life balance and satisfaction (Harland et al. 2000). Active participation in the arts further leads to improved self-concept and sense of control over one’s life. There are many reasons why this might be so. Many of the claims have been supported by anecdotal evidence originating from community arts programmes, some of which have specifically targeted poor, marginal or ‘at-risk’ populations (Seham 1997; Weitz 1996; Williams 1995). Some research suggests that the creation and completion of some arts projects provides an opportunity for participants to succeed and gain some positive public recognition, which in turn can improve their sense of control over their life and self-concept (Fiske 1999; Jackson 1979; Seham 1997; Weitz 1996). The focus for this chapter is on the connection between self-knowledge and working in the arts and how you use your knowledge of self within your work. The methodology employed is a phenomenologically informed narrative – stories lived and told (Clandinin and Connelly 2000). This allows the telling and development of participants’ own stories or lived experience.

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What is real in our everyday lives? ‘What is real in our everyday lives?’ is the fundamental question of phenomenology (Neergaard and Ulhoi 2007: 259). Through the systematic uncovering of life-world experiences that happen, the experience can be shown in a deeper way focussing on the meaning as it was lived. Phenomenologists claim and believe the world and the objects we perceive exist because of the meaning we give to them, through an act of interpretation. Through the analysis of interview transcripts, emerging themes, ideas and trends were connected to make sense objectively about each participant’s conscious experience of finding joy through working in the arts. These themes were based on the questions asked in the interview and covered: • self-knowledge • work engagement • the relationship between self-knowledge and work • internal and external driving factors • work and life satisfaction • heart and passions • authenticity • strengths, hobbies, beliefs and values. Through review of the interviews, an objective understanding of the content and the conscious experience of finding joy through working in the arts was brought to the fore. This chapter is about hearing more about the individual’s voice, the true lived experience, as opposed to quantifying or presenting a set of variables of factors. Case 1: The circle of life Elaine is a community artist who has worked in non-profit organizations for most of her professional career. Her story of her work journey and how she came to be doing what she does today started when she was a young girl and recollects how her grandmother would show her how to make various items. We used to sit on her front veranda and my grandmother would show me how to make plasticine vases with jam jars in the middle and how to make Christmas trees and how to make daisy chains and a whole bunch of stuff. So I guess my work journey started way back then where I started making things and then I would just always be looking for ways to make things. I would even take lolly wrappers and make flowers out of them or if I had nothing else to do I’d be out making clover chains because I just liked to make things, it makes me happy. It’s just how I was. 18

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I was led to believe that I was not very good at school. The only thing I was any good at was drawing. I got my first commission when I was in Year Nine. A girl at school loved horses and she wanted me to paint her a horse. So I painted this horse for her. She just thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Interestingly enough my family didn’t like my art stuff at all. I didn’t get any pats on the back at home but what I did achieve at home was fixing things. I fixed the taps when they dripped, light bulbs; I took mowers apart and then put them back together again. That’s what I liked to do. My mum taught me how to sew. The beauty of being able to do art stuff is that I could imagine and visualize an outfit, whereas my mum had to buy a pattern and cut it all out. I would just see this thing that I wanted to make. I’d go find some fabric because texture is really important to me, the feel of it, and then I would cut out a piece of newspaper and go this is the shape I want and I’d make an outfit. And so I learned the love of doing things where you could make something out of nothing. It just would materialize through the sewing machine and that would be good. When I left school I wanted to be an artist. I wanted to be a jeweller because I could imagine these things and I wanted to make jewellery. But I wasn’t allowed because I was a girl. Back then you couldn’t be an apprentice if you were a girl. Increasingly, the things that gave me most joy involved making something and seeing how beautiful it was when it was finished or solving the problem to make it work for me. But I couldn’t do that really well because I wasn’t academic and art wasn’t recognized at home so it was a real struggle to realize this is what really makes me happy but it doesn’t seem to make anybody else happy when I’m doing it. So it was a conflict always as to whether I should do it or shouldn’t do it. So eventually I decided that I could do fashion. I’d become a fashion designer because then I could draw and I could make things and I just loved fabric. It wasn’t as easy as I thought. I went off to the School of Arts at George Street. But my dad didn’t like the company I was keeping because they all had long hair even though that was the look back then. So he got me a job so I had to leave the School of Arts. Interestingly enough he got me a job at a chemist, which happened to be in an arcade where there was a fashion shop. So everyday I’d walk past the shop front and go, I can do that. Then I would go home and make my own outfits. I eventually got myself a job at a bridal shop where I would make the dresses. I’d draw the dresses and make them, and I was quite happy with all the laces and the trims. I guess I made other people happy because they’d come in with their ideas and I’d draw it up and create it for them, and they would go wow, that’s amazing! I felt as if I had to earn a living so I would become an art teacher. But I took one look at how they taught teachers to teach art and I just said no, I couldn’t do that, that’s just a crazy way to teach art. So instead I ended up completing a two-year course in drawing, painting, spinning and weaving because I had this love for textural fibre. And so I made things for two years, I loved it, I just loved it, which is really funny because being at school I hated; I hated school, I couldn’t wait to get out. Going to tertiary education later in life 19

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started my love affair with tertiary education. And so I seem to go back every ten years to do more short courses but that whole idea of I can spend hours, just on my own, doing this because I can, it just feels good, looks good and smells good. So after two years of study I decided not to do teaching. This led to having my own label at one stage and I was making money. I was selling stuff to all of the resorts up and down Queensland – running a business. The problem with the business in doing fashion was initially I was doing 90 per cent design and 10 per cent business, but when you actually decide to make a career and a business out of it, you have to do 90 per cent business and 10 per cent design. This took away what I like to do most. So I thought no, that’s not going to work because I’d just got very unhappy and again figures, working out the maths, all involved doing hardball with people trying to get money out of them for your outfits. That’s not what I’m on about. So when I gave up the fashion I got married (again), we went travelling for six months around Australia. We ended up in Mildura around the grapes. And so I would spend the morning picking grapes and the afternoon painting. I loved that it was idyllic. We were only going to pass through but decided to stay, and this got me right back on track. I found myself in the situation where the guy I was married to was enrolled in the hospitality course and I was hanging out all the time on campus with him. So I just hung out at the art department, oh that’s right, I entered a competition. As it turned out, the gentleman who was the judge of the competition, head of the art department, picked my work. He was very impressed and said: I need one more person, you’ve got to come and sign up and start your Graduate Diploma. There’s always, always, always drama around my art making. I’d just found myself in this nice place where I could make art, then something would happen. And so it has always been a curse and a gift to my life as I saw it and it still drove me. And it took me to this place, to Mildura and it took me into this learning environment and the university. Every time I tried to do something like this, it just had gone wrong. And it had usually gone wrong on a personal level. It was almost like, ‘Do I really want to put myself through this again? Can’t I just be normal?’ But as life would have it, I found myself in Mildura, at TAFE, starting my first year and I haven’t stopped studying since then. Art saved my life back then because of the emotional dramas that were going on. Art became a friend instead of a shadow. And then I understood how art worked for me and how I could use educational institutions to progress my work. I negotiated myself through universities all around the east coast because I always had to go here, there and everywhere because of family commitments. But art became my anchor and my saviour. The more I used art, the more I understood what I was doing. I think early on it was just responding, doing something, fiddling somehow; but now I use art, I understand it more. I’ve found my niche. The thing about art is you can reject it as much as you like but if it’s there, it’s there. I used to not make art if I didn’t have a studio because I’d think ‘I’ll have to get a studio first’, but that’s not true. Now I have a school as my studio. That’s the way I see it. I don’t know what it is, but inside me it is just right. 20

The Lived Experience

Finding that little space for art in my life is my motivation for getting up in the morning and staying alive. Initially, a strong driver was to prove that I could do something with my life, probably to my family and the imagined group of people who used to put me down. But I think that has all changed now. That was the internal but I think that has changed. I think now there is an external force that says I’ve got to find a way to make a living but not separate from my art as it was before. It’s now how do I use my art effectively to make myself happy, making my work support me financially. The sheer exhilaration I feel when I have an idea is such a high for me that it carries me forward. I think you get to a point in your life where you think – stuff it, who cares what they think, I’ll just do it anyway because that’s what I want to do. And so what is it that I really want to do here? I like putting art together with the making of the art and then writing about it and talking about it and putting it out there for other people and writing children’s stories for my grandchildren so they’ll read it long after I’m gone. I always used to think, ‘What’s the point of having a few paintings on the wall, that doesn’t really do it.’ But the idea of being able to put something out there that is worthwhile makes me feel really good to know that maybe something I’ve done with these people will be passed on. My heart and my passion nowadays are actually in publication. It’s one thing to put something on a wall, but I’ve always thought that’s just such a dead end place for it to go. That kind of tells my story of my life which seems to be important for me to get out there but not just doing paintings on a wall. I want it to be having something that somebody can take and use because that’s important to me. I now feel comfortable and confident enough to write and that’s the passion that drives me today. The relational dialogue between art and life, and life and art, has been evident throughout Elaine’s career. Harmonizing the dialogue at various stages has not been melodious. At times the dialogue lulled melodiously and rhythmically, while at other times there was discordant jarring and screaming. What was striking about Elaine’s story is how her artistry, creativity and originality have always been evident; the only thing that has changed over time is the medium through which she has explored. Elaine’s interview highlighted a range of external forces, both positive and negative, throughout her life that influenced her decisions in regard to the arts and the journey that was undertaken. Regardless of the amount of time elapsed since the stereotypical judgements were passed, their impact can be long and lasting. Despite such effects, Elaine persevered to continue to destabilize the myths that her family and society planted in regard to her love of and participation in the arts. During the interview, Elaine repeatedly shared the strong relationship that exists between who she is and what she does. It was revealed that because of being constantly swayed from art in her earlier years, she has felt a constant need for affirmation and acceptance for what she does. Even though this experience was lived 50 years ago, Elaine’s need for 21

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affirmation and acceptance has continued to play, whether consciously or subconsciously, throughout her career. During the interview, the factors that initially drove Elaine to pursue her dreams, and in some cases continue to drive her, were chronologically revealed, along with her perspective of how what she does within the arts positively contributes to her life satisfaction: Initially, a strong driver was to prove that I could do something with my life, probably to my family and the imagined group of people who used to put me down. It’s now, ‘How do I use my art effectively to make myself happy, making my work support me financially?’ I now feel comfortable and confident enough to write and that’s the passion that drives me today. My heart and my passion nowadays are actually in publication. The idea of being able to put something out there that is worthwhile makes me feel really good to know that maybe something I’ve done with these people will be passed on. It is simply captivating to read how art has woven through Elaine’s life. Her grandmother, the cultural custodian of the family, handed down art and crafts and inspired her artistic interests. Completing the full circle of life, Elaine’s passion is driven today to capture her art in book format for her grandchildren, for posterity. Maybe the front veranda of yesteryear has been replaced by the digital publication of today? Case 2: Teaching is a performance Neal’s work journey started when he was six or seven years old when his grandmother and mother said: ‘We should put the boy into some singing lessons.’ When reaching the age of nine, Neal began to learn the violin, and over the years continued to improve in both violin and voice. As a boy treble, Neal performed various roles with the Australian Opera in the Magic Flute, Tosca, La Bohème and Midsummer Night’s Dream. His operatic performances continued for a number of years until his voice broke. At this stage, Neal’s vocal skills and training had to start anew. I didn’t do much singing for a few years and then started as a baritone for a while and pushed it up to a tenor. I went to university at the end of my private schooling and went to the Conservatorium of Music and studied a Bachelor of Music Education degree, where it was a combination of educational philosophy and performance. And then from there, I got some singing lessons in Brisbane, so I moved up to the Gold Coast back in 1996 and starting singing with Opera Queensland for three or four years. I did a year with the Ten Tenors, right at the start, when it was all starting and that was a good experience. And then, I had a few years of teaching. I just needed to do something totally different. I did 22

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marketing. I came back into teaching after a few years. I was doing high school teaching at that time, while I was performing in opera. And then, after a few years off, I experienced a few casual days in a primary school, and I’d never done much in primary. I thought, ‘Well, this’ll be interesting.’ So I had a few days and I enjoyed the primary school. They actually laughed at my jokes, even though they weren’t funny. Whereas [with] a high school kid, it could be a funny joke, but if Joe Bloggs isn’t laughing next to you, I’m not laughing at it, so I thought, ‘I like these kids!’ So I started with a choir at the primary school. I didn’t have many kids in the beginning because I really didn’t know how to get kids interested in that sort of thing. And I underestimated the power of repertoire and how important it was to have the right song choices for children to sing, and it took me several years to realize that. And then, once I started thinking about my music instead of just looking at it and going, ‘Oh well, try that or try that,’ I actually studied the music and thought about how appropriate would it be for these children or not. Whether they would like it, whether there were some challenges in there, was it too easy? So I really started to think about what I was doing with the music. And from there, the numbers started to grow. I was in a band at the same time called Hoff & The Antman. I played my violin. The other guy played the 12-string guitar. We did a lot of the hits from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. I sang a bit of opera and then I went into Metallica. Really mixed it up a bit and that’s what got us a lot of gigs and a lot of corporate functions and weddings and things like that. So we were very busy doing that, because of our different range of styles that we could just pull off like that. So I had the band going and worked two or three days a week at that time, because I had three or four gigs a week and we were travelling around Australia with it. I did that for about seven years. And then, he had a job where he had to be committed and couldn’t commit to the gigs, so we said, ‘Well, I’ve had enough. I need a break from this.’ It was every weekend for seven years. I then went full time with teaching and had the experience of the violin plus the marketing that I’d had which really helped me with my teaching, having multiple strings to my bow. It really helped with the way I developed myself as an individual and for the children, as well, being able to bring all those skills together and combine them into various things like the choir and my individual teaching, classroom teaching; I could really sell what I was doing. I’ve become an expert arranger of songs, as well as somebody who could sell the idea of a choir to his students, instead of trying to get a child to join the choir. ‘Anyone want to join my choir?’ It was, ‘No. You can’t join. You have to do an audition.’ So all those skills that I’d learned in marketing now started to come to fruition. I now have one of the biggest choirs in a state school. I’ve got 78 students in junior choir and 50 students in the senior choir, which represents about 20% of the entire school population, which is huge, where before I was lucky to get 2%. So then I thought, ‘Well, I got some experience with the Australian Youth Choir about four years ago’, with a company, a different company. They didn’t really look after me as 23

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far as paying for petrol or anything like that, so after a couple of years I left. And then I thought, ‘Well, I could probably do it. I’ve been watching how that company works. Start my own company with a choir.’ Birralee invited me at the end of last year to a concert, which is one of the biggest and best choirs in Queensland. They had a Gold Coast section of choristers, and I was invited by one of the mothers who was the choir manager to come along. It was their last show. They were shutting down their Gold Coast section. It wasn’t working financially. I sat and watched the kids sing in this concert. It was very moving. And then I was approached, ‘What about you, Neal? Can you start a choir? Can you do something?’ I replied, ‘I don’t know.’ And then after a while, I said, ‘All right. I’ll give it a go!’ I spent the entire school holidays establishing a company with vision statements, website and business cards. Advertisements in the newspaper, here was my marketing skills now coming through – I wouldn’t have been able to do it without that, because I wouldn’t have actually thought I could, which is more than anything. I actually wouldn’t believe that I could actually do it. And then having that belief, which made a huge difference with my confidence, I actually believed that I could do this. We started off in February with auditions of 35 children. About 15 of those were from the other choir that wanted to keep going, so I was happy to keep them happy. ‘Hey, I’ve spent all this time setting the thing up. What are we going to sing?’ So I spent time looking through the music and getting this done and trying to be one step ahead of everything all the time or months ahead. And then the choir just grew. Word got around and now it’s the biggest choir on the coast. It’s now got 93 choristers. Neal’s international notoriety has not only shaped his passion for his current music specialist teaching position in a primary school, but has also guided him as a person. The relationship between who he is and the work that he chose to follow is best explained when he describes how he walked away from following one career trajectory, with which he could not fully commit, towards a career pathway that has afforded opportunity to exploit all facets of his personality and character collectively. Opera guided me as a person; I was guided away from it, because of who I am as an individual and how I’d like to go down to the pub and have a beer with the boys and not have to be too overly concerned with my voice all the time. Opera singers have to wear a scarf every day and have to be really careful at looking after their vocal asset. It’s a lifestyle that can be very lonely. You have to be 100 per cent committed to being an opera singer as far as looking after your voice. I’m too much of an extrovert to be able to pull that role off and it took me years to realize that. I love arias. I don’t like a lot of the recitative, so if you could just take that out of an opera all you would be left with are the arias and they are beautiful. That’s why I don’t mind listening to the arias. I have sung them before and they are beautiful and part of me does miss the fact that I’m not following that path, but at the same time, I’m doing what’s best for me, really, because as a person, I wouldn’t be happy. I would be constantly 24

The Lived Experience

frustrated with the fact that I can’t be myself. So that’s where it’s been a self-guided discovery-learning process. I didn’t know I was going to be doing this choir thing and the original stuff with this other girl that I’m working on and doing that sort of style of work – things have just happened, evolved over time. So what engages you in your work? More than anything, I would have to say the music itself. The tingling down my spine. That feeling you can’t get with anything else. You know, you can’t get it sitting in a math class going, ‘12 times 12 is 144. Goodness, that’s unreal.’ You know? You can’t – even looking at some artwork, I don’t get that same feeling. But being able to teach the kids that and seeing them getting that feeling and having them sing that way or play that way and passing that knowledge down. I think inspiring children is the most important thing, because if they don’t like you, it doesn’t matter how good you are at teaching, they’re not going to take it in and they’re going to be thinking about something else. I mean, if you don’t inspire them, only half of what you say may go through. If you inspire them, then you can educate them. I think some people get that round the wrong way. They forget that personality plays a huge role in the kids’ learning. Not just the knowledge that you have of the way you teach, but how you react and interact with the children. ‘Hey, don’t take it too seriously. We can get better at it, but we can do it in a fun way and we can enjoy it.’ Neal’s narrative alludes to his pedagogical approach developed over time in which he has skilfully managed to combine three distinct roles – teacher, performer and musician. While he identifies with each of these titles, it is the combinative approach based on his experiences on and off the stage that inform his teaching style, rapport with the students and maintaining a love for music. I think of myself as an all-rounder cricket player. One who can bowl, bat and field. One that might not be amazingly good in any one of them, but combining all together becomes really good. Having something that’s unique that hasn’t been explored before. Like, the violin with the choir. I want to have something that I’ve created, because creativity in music is probably my weakness part. As far as coming up with a song myself and going, ‘This is entirely myself ’, when I’ve tried it in the past and all I’ve done is put in the 16 bars, I’ve put every single idea I can possibly think of and spent weeks on this one thing, I’m thinking, ‘This is ridiculous.’ And then I’ve got this friend that I work with, she’s really good at coming up with an idea and I’m good when I work with her, arranging that or developing that or putting the icing on the cake and, ‘Hey let’s change that chord and let’s do this’, so together we work really well. When I went to the Conservatorium, composition was not one of the subjects that I explored very much. It was more about performing, 25

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arranging, listening and the history of music and comprehending all those things, but actual creation of your own musical works wasn’t something that was there. External and internal drivers for Neal are centred on his dream of being something. He acknowledges that the dream might change slightly now and then, but having success in one’s life emerges through always having a dream and never giving up on that dream. I think if I ever lost my dream, I would lose out on life. I’d be sad and think, ‘There’s no hope’, and negative, but because I’m a very positive person, I react well to positive things. One of my weaknesses is coping with things that happen that are unexpected that are negative or upset me. But that doesn’t often happen to me. I work on that weakness by keeping myself busy and keeping the music going, it blocks all that out. Working with authenticity is extremely important for Neal – what you see is what you get. When he first started teaching, he claims there was a lot of sugar coating. He was afraid of what might happen if he did reveal the ‘real Neal’. However, as he has gained experience, not just in teaching, but in all facets of life, he has become less apprehensive in bringing down those walls. Neal sparked discussion about reaching what he termed ‘career maturity’. He regards himself as having reached maturity in his career, as he is confident with the decisions he has taken and has comfort in the routine of his career, but, most importantly, he finds he is still creating and developing new teaching and learning experiences. This is really important. His own musical journey has cultivated his belief that all young children value appreciating and making music. They want to hear more music or they want to do more of that. It makes them happy because they’ve been inspired by music. Maybe not just me, but by what they’re listening to. They suddenly have an interest in wanting to learn the piano or there’s kids at school where the parents come up and go, ‘They learn the piano because of you. You’re not a piano teacher, but every single day they learn the piano and all they talk about is how you’ve inspired them.’ And if I can just transform one child in my entire career, I’ve done my job. Finding joy through working in the arts Both Neal and Elaine revealed the origins of their art influence. In both cases, a family member played a pivotal role through the encouragement of their passions in the arts. Although Elaine and Neal are at very different stages in their careers, it is evident that both have tenacity for the chosen art form and make an enduring contribution to the next generation. It is hard not to recognize the master-apprenticeship relation that grounds many art disciplines in their drive to pass their passion, knowledge and skill on to others. During the interviews, 26

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neither participant saw themselves as a master within their particular discipline of the arts. Although Neal might have promoted career maturity, he did not discount the need for continued learning and development; he recognized that as a teacher, one is always required to upskill as no student or class is the same and society is ever evolving. By employing the phenomenological interpretation, it is apparent that there is indeed a connection between the realization of knowledge of self and the accumulation of happiness within one’s work. The personal narratives that Neal and Elaine have shared so freely highlight the personal impact (gain) working in the arts has had. Their stories tell of developing confidence through sustained resilience, always aspiring towards their dream and ensuring enjoyment, fun and happiness is achieved while finding joy through working in the arts. References Angus, J. (1999), An Enquiry Concerning Possible Methods for Evaluating Arts for Health Projects, Bath, UK: Community Health. Baklien, B. (2000), ‘Culture is Healthy’, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 7, pp. 235–257. Ball, S. and Keating, C. (2002), ‘Researching for Arts and Health’s Sake’, in 2nd Conference on Cultural Policy Research, Wellington, NZ. Bygren, L. O., Konlaan, B. B. and Johansson, S. E. (1996), ‘Attendance at Cultural Events, Reading Books or Periodicals, and Making Music or Singing in a Choir as Determinants for Survival: Swedish Interview Survey of Living Conditions’, British Medical Journal, 313, pp. 1577–1580. Clandinin, D. J. and Connelly, F. M. (2000), Narrative Inquiry: Experience and Story in Qualitative Research, 1st ed., San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Fiske, E. B. (1999), Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, Washington: Arts Education Partnership President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Harland, J., Kinder, K., Lord, P., Stott, A., Schagen, I., Haynes, J., Cusworth, L., White, W. and Paola, R. (2000), Arts Education in Secondary Schools: Effects and Effectiveness, Slough, Berkshire: The National Foundation for Educational Research. Jackson, E. (1979), The Impact of Arts Enrichment Instruction on Self-concept, Attendance, Motivation, and Academic Performance, New York: Fordham University. Neergaard, H. and Ulhoi, J. P. (2007), Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Entrepreneurship, Cheltenham, UK, Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Seham, J. C. (1997), The Effects on At-risk Children of an In-school Dance Program, New York, NY: Adelphi University. Thoits, P. A. and Hewitt, L. N. (2001), ‘Volunteer Work and Well-Being’, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 42, pp. 115–131. Weitz, J. (1996), Coming Up Taller: Arts and Humanities Programs for Children and Youth at Risk, Washington: President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Williams, D. (1995), Creating Social Capital: A Study of the Long-term Benefits from Community Based Arts Funding, Adelaide: Community Arts Network of South Australia.

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Chapter 3 Twitter for Arts Community Collaborations and Networking: Social Impact of Fostering Partnerships Narelle Lemon

Twitter was my favorite discovery of the course; it was extremely useful and full of resources! I will definitely continue to use Twitter throughout my life. As a teacher I was able to gain many more ideas, resources, activities and knowledge through this class. I am now able to see how a social media such as Twitter can be used professionally.  – Madhu, second-year pre-service teacher

F

ostering and developing networks in arts education has a strong place in the traditions of supporting one another as educators, generating ideas, and sharing resources. In a traditional sense connections between arts educators have been mainly been through face-to-face opportunities to network during conferences, exhibitions, art shows, teacher previews, professional teaching associations, teacher professional development, regional meeting groups or with familiar colleagues with whom one has maintained a relationship. The intricacy of a community’s digital habitat itself lends to its own complexities, especially in regard to what digital technology(ies) is engaged in and with (Wenger, White and Smith 2009). For the arts community, the introduction of, engagement with and use of Twitter as a professional social-networking tool to become a networked learner and arts educator offer unique insights into fellow educators’ arts classrooms, artists’ studios, performers’ galleries and organizations. The networking possibilities and the potential for the establishment of a community that collaborates are strong. For arts learners and educators active engagement with Twitter challenges many traditions and perceptions of what should and shouldn’t and what hasn’t been and could be possible when working with(in) an arts community. Twitter can increase interaction in a variety of forums through real-time feedback. It can enhance the conversation by quickly building social knowledge of users as external sources, and significantly it is also becoming part of many practices from newsgathering to emergency alerts to sharing innovations. This chapter leads you through two distinct sections. First, the chapter addresses Twitter as one type of social media for pre-service teachers (PSTs) studying visual arts education. The PSTs engaged with the medium to network with artists, visual art teachers and art organizations while they begin to learn about teaching arts as a generalist primary teacher. The second thread to this chapter discusses what this means for the revolution of communication and the possibilities to support arts educators who often report that they feel isolated from networks, ideas and support (Huffstutler, Wyatt and Wright 2002; Peppler and Solomou 2011; Blake 2012). A discussion is shared that begins to place the

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value of Twitter as one type of social media for arts educators to network, collaborate and engage with each other over questions, content and inquiries. What is social impact? The social impact of the arts addresses such issues as fostering or development of networks, collaborations, partnerships and contact webs. In writings on the arts in education, the areas of collaborations and partnerships between schools and industry (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development 2009, 2010; Pringle 2011) are well documented. The benefits of providing further opportunities for learners to engage with the arts through interactions with professional artists, musicians, actors and dancers have been heralded as supporting social and emotional development for both learners and educators. Paralleling these discussions is also the reality of lack of opportunities to collaborate due to costs, location and lack of resources or support. The arts in education are not only about the students, but also the educators who advocate and provide the opportunities. Without networking, collaborations and partnerships that support professional development, the fostering of ongoing learning for the educators becomes an issue. Digital technology is also an area that challenges social impact for the arts. Today, not only are the tools and modes of artistic practices, processes and products in art changing, so too are the ways we participate in arts education planning, collaborations and networking (Gauntlett 2011). Peppler (2012), in her literature review about new opportunities for interest-driven arts learning in a digital age, noted that online content creation for the arts and arts education has changed considerably. The growth in social media in particular is an area just emerging that could significantly impact and encourage communication and active participation (Peppler 2010). Social media such as networking sites like Facebook and Twitter ‘provide targeted scaffolds to foster online cultures based upon idea exchange, media sharing, critique, peer mentorship, and debate’ (Peppler 2012: 29). We can think about how this view of arts education can affect networking and collaborations in regard to enabling learning at multiple levels. The relationship between the individual, the social group and other cultures suggests possibilities of reciprocal relationships between layers of meaning and meaning making (Peppler 2010; Peppler and Kafai 2007). There are many online resources for the arts educator to access. Jeanneret and O’Toole (2012) state that although ‘the quality is variable’, social media provides access to information from ‘professional organizations and arts organizations [that] provide a constant feed of news, resources and events’ (217). There have been few studies that look at social media and the impact in general it  could and can have on networking and collaborations for educators (Lemon 2013a;  Kwak, Lee, Park and Moon 2010; Solis 2008; Sinnapan and Zutshi 2011; Skiba 2008; Wakefield, Warren and Alsobrook 2011; Wolf 2008). Most studies examine the areas of quantitative data that tracks discussions and interactions. Few studies, as yet, 32

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have  focussed on qualitative presentation of Twitter use, potential to network and individuals’ considerations when networking with others this way. This chapter aims to contribute to this later discussion and begin to demonstrate, as Bradshow (2008) would advocate, how it is possible to use social media for professional interactions and to understand the broader impact of technology. Emphasis has been placed on the value of creating networks and communities via Twitter. Advantages and experiences have been reported in regard to networking, for popularizing projects or personal blogs and for finding project partners (Lemon 2013b). In the Australian context, Twitter offers much potential as a social-networking medium for educational interactions. The statistics provide interesting numbers that establish the current position and thus offer perspective for future growth. Twitter numbers indicate a significant increase in Australian visitors to their site (Cowling 2011). At the end of June 2011, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011), there were 10.9 million Internet subscribers in Australia (excluding Internet connections through mobile handsets). This represents annual growth of 14.8 per cent and an increase of 4.4 per cent since the end of December 2010. At the end of June 2011, there were 9.7 million mobile handset subscribers in Australia, which represents an increase of 18.1 per cent from December 2010. Of the 9.7  million mobile handsets, 3.6 million (37 per cent) were dedicated data subscriptions and 6.1 million were all other active standard mobile subscriptions. Twitter.com has 1.1 million unique Australia visitors each year, with an increase of 100,000 since January 2011 showing that Twitter is a popular social-networking channel, with potential to grow with more users (The Digital Marketing Agency 2011). Based on the results of the 8th Annual Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index (AMPLI) (MacKay 2012), 80 per cent of respondents would own a smartphone by end of 2012, with 84 per cent predicted to own a smartphone by mid-2013. Social-networking sites and applications on the mobile phone were found to be almost as popular as email, with just over 40 per cent of users being high-level users. These statistics support the notion that smartphone uptake is still growing in the Australian environment with ongoing access to social media as one form of communication. Social impact for pre-service teachers engaging with Twitter Context In the core course of Visual Arts situated in the Bachelor of Education programmes at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, Year Two students were beginning to identify and build their Personal Learning Network (PLN). The PSTs were invited to extend their professional networks and access to content via Twitter. This social medium is seen as a digital access point where teachers can access ideas, opportunities, networks and possibilities for learning and teaching and arts education. This research aimed to evaluate the use of 33

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Twitter to identify content, connections and connectivity for extending PLNs for PSTs as well as impact in the Higher Education (HE) Visual Arts classroom. This chapter does not aim to provide and identify ‘distinct classes of Twitter users and their behaviours, geographic growth patterns and current size of the network, and compare crawl results obtained under rate limiting constraints’ (Gill and Arlitt 2008: 19), nor is it about a content analysis of Twitter (Humphreys, Gill and Krishnamurthy 2010). Rather, it contributes to the research regarding low uptake in Twitter use in the higher-education learning environment (Conole and Alevizou 2010), and adds to the few empirically grounded studies documenting and evaluating use (McNeill 2009). Most significantly, this chapter contributes to the discussion about the possibilities to professionally network through social media in the arts education field. The focus throughout the chapter is the perspective of four PSTs who engaged in Twitter for their professional development. The invitation to participate was offered to the PSTs as a way to experience social media for professional use and to make connections to personal experiences with similar media. The PSTs were invited to participate in order to achieve three goals: (1) to extend their professional networks; (2) to use Twitter as a digital access point to content; and (3) to extend their current knowledge of arts education resources, artists, artwork, art organizations and pedagogical approaches. The concept was unfamiliar to many, with only eight of the 151 PSTs having a Twitter account and only three occasionally using Twitter for personal communication with friends. The reason for introducing this social medium was to allow participants to consider it for professional interactions and for accessing ideas, opportunities, networks and possibilities for education (learning and teaching and arts education). The collation of networks was the focus of this approach and it ran parallel to assessment tasks (pass or fail participation) and course content. The PSTs were encouraged to share ideas about weekly workshop themes and strategies as well as resources, works in progress and ideas for future learning and teaching opportunities. In this sense the aim was to create a sense of classroom community and familiarize students with both disciplinary and professional discourses (Briggs 2008). Arts education was often the stimulus for content shared although it led into discussions exploring content on a professional level that related to the education profession and industry. This research involves case studies that utilize qualitative methods of reflective notes and mind maps, field notes and observations of activity on Twitter through contributions to the class stream coded as #visarts2012. A connectivism paradigm informs the project. Analysis of narratives was thematic and based on social learning theory (Bandura 1977) and explored the development of professional identity, values and behaviours (Higgs 2010). The case studies shared in this chapter are representative of the total cohort of this study. Debi, Linda, Madhu and Nora were selected to provide a snapshot of how students as PSTs approached the invitation to use Twitter to connect professionally and to expand their personal learning networks associated with arts education. Each case study introduces the student by describing her initial use of Twitter and sharing of content, and then describes the challenges, highlights and interesting aspects. 34

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Case 3: Debi – ‘Facebook you are dropped!’ Debi is a student who, as a pre-service teacher, throws herself into whatever a lecturer or mentor suggests. She is enthusiastic, upbeat, and passionate. She readily expresses these emotions and is open to exploring opportunities that will assist her to grow into the best teacher she can be while providing students innovative possibilities. Debi, on hearing about using Twitter in visual arts, was reserved in her approach, an uncharacteristic reaction. When I was first told about Twitter in the visual arts workshop to be honest I was hesitant in as much as I don’t know if I have room in my life for another social media. But in saying that after being introduced to it from a professional stance it didn’t take me long to change my opinion. I use Facebook, but Twitter to me was all about celebrities tweeting things that I’m just not interested in. Throughout the semester-long subject of visual arts, Debi enjoyed the scaffolding of what to tweet in relation to the curriculum content being covered in the weekly three-hour workshops. She reflected: The hints about what could be tweeted were great. I enjoyed how these were provided through our subject guide, through on the spot observations and hints and then through learning with and from Twitter itself. I was so nervous when I first sent a tweet but once I got going I realized everyone else in the class felt the same way and that actually we were helping each other by sharing these feelings. We were soon able to share with each other what we had tweeted via Twitter but in one-to-one situations in class through conversations and showing how we attached a photo or a web link from our mobile phone or tablet. This was really good to learn on the spot and to try immediately. I learnt so much from my peers doing this. Plus in turn I could share how to do something as well. Debi later reflected that: My tweets documented our work in class; I shared ideas and work. Anything related to the week and thoughts. I thought this was valuable to teaching. What I particularly enjoyed was content that caught my eye. I love that we could go to our national gallery and live tweet. Even better that the gallery interacted with me as well. It just showed me what you were talking about in connecting with others involved in the arts … I mean who would have thought that the major gallery in Melbourne would tweet me back. I like Twitter as it gave me the chance to gain immediate feedback from followers and others. I also like the chance to see others’ ideas so quickly. The sharing side is very generous. I’m converted … I just didn’t realize how great Twitter is for teacher and art resources. FB [Facebook] say goodbye. 35

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Case 4: Linda – ‘I have so much I want to share’ Linda entered the undergraduate classroom with openness to explore but with some speculation about whether or not Twitter, as another social medium, would be beneficial for her personally or professionally. As the semester progressed Linda shared: I enjoyed it more than I thought – I’ve been much more aware of things I come across online (i.e., Tumblr). I have a number of posts ‘liked’ on my Tumblr that I’ve been slowly tweeting about. Throughout the semester Linda shared content on Twitter that was inspired by: [a] lot of different things … artists and exhibitions that I like, creative installations, relevant and irrelevance – ha! … but it was all connected to opening up how I was viewing my world. I’ve also been posting about other education[al] things, not just art. Linda reflected regularly about her use of Twitter and she noticed that she was becoming more aware of her surroundings, observing art, artists, colour, shape and texture in relation to visual arts, but also making connections to the bigger picture of learning and teaching and the education profession. Learning in class and then having to share this content via tweets supported Linda to explicitly connect her thoughts and participation in a metacognitive manner. Her self-evaluation and self-awareness about her own participation in content in real life, layered with the sharing in the Twittersphere, supported Linda to extend her interaction with the visual arts content being addressed within her undergraduate studies. She was also aware of the content she was sharing and the blurring between professional and personal use of Twitter. Being a familiar user of other social media interfaces, the challenge for Linda was the sharing of appropriate content on Twitter. She wrote in one reflection: …are you meant to be personal at all? Because I’ve been occasionally talking about other things (like losing my wallet and then finding it! ) Linda had a pattern of content she would like to share and the time to tweet, but she did not have the technology to allow her to tweet in the moment. In dedicating time to tweet, Linda expressed a challenge in how she could contribute to the online community and extend her network. Linda’s access to mobile technology that enabled connections to Twitter was limiting to her contributions. She often shared that she had ‘so much to say’ but found herself writing thoughts down rather than sharing via Twitter at that moment in time as she did not have access to a computer. The immediate connection via a mobile phone became an appealing facet for Linda, but being a student meant her priorities in technology and resources were in other areas. 36

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‘Figuring out how to RT and edit the post’ required problem solving for Linda. Although a demonstration had occurred in class and the PSTs had taken on the role of peer teachers, Linda had missed the workshop that had focussed on this aspect of Twitter. She expressed a want to ‘work it out as I go’, and this exploration allowed her to challenge how she interacted with the interface as well as encouraged her to have conversations with peers to decode, share and elaborate as their use progressed throughout the semester. Case 5: Madhu – ‘Twitter in visual arts could be just what I need’ As a pre-service teacher, Madhu relished the opportunity to utilize her mobile tablet in a university course and through such a student-centred approach. Particularly attractive for Madhu was the opportunity to be given the time to actually explore and use a particular technology and interface rather than to be just told about it by others. I had previously signed up to Twitter years ago but had never actually worked out how to use it. I wasn’t active. After networking during class I am beginning to see how I can use it, especially for professional connections. It is easy to use and I will continue to use it after visual arts ends. It’s very easy to upload photos and share ideas.   Madhu had not completed any artwork since the age of 13, and, even then, she participated only because it was a compulsory part of high school curriculum. Madhu had never taken to her art teachers. She found it frustrating that creativity was stifled by views about every student generating similar images and that no discussion occurred about sharing artwork, reflecting on the process or celebrating final pieces and different approaches to meaning making. This challenged Madhu’s natural sense of creativity and was detrimental to her enthusiasm and passion for visual arts. In attending the visual arts course as a part of her pre-service education, she was excited but also slightly hesitant regarding the pedagogical approaches and practical work that would have to be undertaken. Madhu was pleasantly surprised with her experience throughout the subject. She views Twitter as an alternative way for her to reflect with her peers: I really like to see what people are up to and their thoughts about art. I have enjoyed actually linking up with other resources in the education profession and getting lots of different ideas from them. As a part of the visual arts subject, the students also engaged with major art galleries in Melbourne in person and via Twitter. Madhu reflected that she enjoyed this aspect and didn’t realize that such large arts organizations would engage with the public. She tweeted: ‘Imagine having lead light like this in your house!’ The gallery tweeted back almost immediately with: ‘Makes us feel like dancing on the ceiling!’ 37

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The opportunity to engage with others motivated Madhu. She enjoyed the opportunity to further extend her understanding and observations in visual art. The challenge Madhu found in engaging with Twitter was in regard to putting pressure on herself to engage optimally with the social media. Although interaction with Twitter was provided during class time and this was an organic approach closely connected to when and what individuals wanted to access, Madhu expressed concerns over having enough time to access Twitter outside of class. She reflected that the challenge was: … the actual tweeting part – I have not really shared all that much because it doesn’t come easily to me even in my personal life. Often times things I have seen in the moment have never made it to Twitter because by the time I get to my phone I have forgotten or the moment has passed. I don’t like that this makes me look uninvolved. Case 6: Nora – ‘I’m loving the galleries you visit’ Nora was able to connect with Twitter at home via a desktop computer and during class through a mobile phone and tablet. Nora found using Twitter to connect professionally with the education industry rewarding, especially due to the possibilities of finding out more about artworks and artists. Nora used Twitter in an additional way to her peers, in that she connected with her teacher’s tweets about gallery visits, artists and overseas travel associated with arts education. Twitter was not just about the classroom scaffolding of use and introduction to the possibilities of professional interactions with social media; it also became an innate communication tool. Consequently, Nora was an innovator in her use of Twitter inside and outside the classroom. As a keen observer of art, Nora finds it hard to produce artwork due to time constraints, but was finding the practical aspects of the visual arts course inspiring and motivating. She lists the Russian-American painter Mark Rothko as one of her favourite artists. She reflects: When I was following your tweets at the Portland Arts Gallery [US] about the Rothko exhibition I was in awe. Wow I actually felt like I was there with you. The photos and commentary were detailed enough for me to be able to follow the journey you were having. I loved that your live tweeting also meant that you we could interact with you and others in the moment. What a unique experience. I’ve saved your images so I can look them up and research further details. Nora later reflected that through following her teacher’s tweets she was able to follow and engage with other arts educators and artists. I’ve kind of been stalking you on Twitter. You are so active so I watch what you have been doing and then follow who you are following or having conversations with about art or 38

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arts education. I’ve learnt so much in doing that about Twitter itself. But I’ve actually extended my access to content. I saw one teacher last week tweet about some work she did with her students. This has inspired me to try the same task with the students I have to teach while on PP [professional practice placement in a school setting]. I can’t wait to tweet the work back to the teacher to show her how she inspired me. So what does this mean? Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), multimedia and social-networking tools are giving people unprecedented opportunities to download resources, discuss their ideas (Hillier 2009) and record their learning. Technology is lending a hand, allowing learners to demonstrate the richness of their experience in pictures and film as well as the written word. The intertextuality of Twitter supports multiple learning dispositions. There is much interest from schools and Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes and universities in the potential of public social-networking sites and social media to leverage or complement formal educational activities and enhance learning outcomes (Brennan 2003; Notley 2011). While e-learning frameworks are now integrated into most educational settings, the use of social-networking sites is less comprehensively utilized (Collin et al. 2011; Lemon 2013b). In the Australian context, access to social-networking sites varies according to state and educational level, with some states banning access to social-networking sites and social media services altogether (Anderson 2007; Notley and Tacchi 2005). Nevertheless, pilot projects and research are being rolled out that highlight both the potential and the need for social software, services and practices to be integrated into school and higher-education frameworks (Fitzgerald and Steele 2008). One such project is the Teaching Teachers for the Future (TTF) project, funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) in 2011–2012, which dedicated AU$8.8 million to build the ICT Education (ICTE) capacity of the next generation of Australian teachers through its focus on pre-service teachers, teacher educators and the new Australian curriculum. This study was identified due to teachers’ lack of confidence in the role of ICT in learning (Dawson 2008); reluctance to change from more traditional teaching methods (Barak 2007); and isolation of the ‘knowledge of technology’ from pedagogical and discipline expertise (Demetriadisa et al. 2003; Lloyd and Albion 2007; Mishra and Koehler 2006). This chapter hopes to be able to contribute to the discussion, particularly highlighting the voice of the learners in their introductory moments of first integrating Twitter into their higher-education learning, with considerations for teacher education. The four case studies presented in this chapter, in accompaniment to the overall context of the study, begin to paint a picture about possibilities for arts educators and how they could consider Twitter as a social media for networking, collaborating, accessing content 39

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and sharing the work of artists, art organizations and arts educators. Debi, Linda, Madhu and Nora’s narratives provided opportunities to consider parallels. In their approach to considering Twitter as an interface for visual arts education, the PSTs have: • demonstrated an openness to experiment • demonstrated an ability to explore how the social media could work for them • generated a professional etiquette for participation and observation • accessed varying technology via computers, tablets and mobile phones • learnt by doing • worked with others to ask questions and tried the ‘how to’ aspects of a new and/or unfamiliar social media. More specifically, we can learn from each individual case study in regard to considerations for arts educators to become networked learners and to support unique insights into fellow educators’ arts classrooms, artists’ studios, performers’ galleries and organizations. This consideration also invites us to think about how networking can support formation and enactment of community and the potential this way of working can have to address the often expressed feeling of isolation. Debi teaches us about the openness to possible ongoing use of Twitter beyond its initial use in the context of the higher-education visual arts classroom. She is positive about the potential for Twitter to allow access to information and to facilitate contact with other arts educators and organizations. Debi was not naïve about the place social media could take in her professional development and critically thought about how she would participate, what her professional identity would look like and what she could contribute to the generation of ideas and content. Debi was able to share artwork and ideas, utilizing both the format of Twitter (Lenhart and Madden 2007) and the platform’s strength in communicating ideas visually and verbally succinctly. As Peppler (2012) states, ‘social networks offer places to share original content’ with ‘users hav[ing] shared some kind of original, artistic work online’ (26). Twitter as a microblogging platform ‘enables a real-time interaction between users, using different devices, technologies and applications’ (Grosseck and Holotescu 2008: 1). Allowance is made for users to write messages of up to 140 characters via the Internet, short message service (SMS), instant-messaging clients and third-party applications and interfaces. The limitations of Twitter for Linda came in the interface’s requirements. The challenge for Linda was to limit ‘what I say in 140 characters’ and to critically think about and reflect about what it is ‘I actually want to say’. The stories of Linda and Debi offer much in a demonstration of critical thinking about how Twitter could be integrated as a part of many other digital interfaces and devices with which they actively engaged. In addition to these case studies, the story of Madhu demonstrates the variety of access through digital devices (including mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones, and fixed devices, such as desktop computers). All of these case studies shared a variety of access points and access times in their use of Twitter. For Twitter 40

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to become a regular part of communication and professional development, there has to be consideration of when the social media will be accessed. These case studies demonstrate how arts educators value social and interactive opportunities for learning. In particular, the handheld technology is a useful tool for workplace learning due to regular accessibility (Huffstutler, Wyatt and Wright 2002). The voice of Madhu shared the engagement with being able to view peers’ artwork alongside her own creating and making process. Madhu was reflective about the opportunity to reflect in action and on action (Schön 1983) about her own art making and about the place it would take in her teaching as a generalist primary teacher. The impact of being able to communicate with arts organizations that were perceived as non-contactable or beyond means of access past a self-arranged visit was particularly significant for Madhu. Nora’s approach to Twitter aligns itself with the potential to quickly access information about artists, artworks, museums and galleries alike. Like Madhu, Nora felt that the ability to further research, observe, interact and engage with artworks, artists, art teachers and arts organizations around the world was a positive element of Twitter as a social medium to develop professionally and network beyond familiar environments. This newfound knowledge and experience supported one’s own development as a teacher of art and a creator of art. Twitter was introduced and integrated into the undergraduate second-year core course of Visual Arts as a way to support the PSTs’ belief system for Visual Arts and assist them in being able to find alternative networking possibilities. Specifically, the aim was to integrate Twitter as an alternative way to: .

• develop confidence to be able to see self as a capable ‘artist’ and ‘teacher of art’ • develop a community of practice to share, celebrate and support visual art ideas, knowledge and pedagogical development and to develop the ability to see a variety of visual arts experiences • practically demonstrate how a social medium can be used professionally as an educator/ teacher. The case studies shared are examples of how PSTs, engaged with the ideas in their first experiences as second-year undergraduates, are moving between the tensions and space of being a learner and teacher. However, as an overall sense, key themes emerged from the PSTs’ reflections about their use of Twitter to engage with Visual Arts (Figure 1). As with any integration of digital technology or an alternative learning strategy, there were positive and negative areas that emerged in participation, outcomes and delivery. This evaluation assists greatly in being able to consider the impact of this social medium for arts educators. This research used the Visual Art core course as an entry point to Twitter; however, strong connections were made to the bigger picture of learning and teaching and also other fields of study. Openness to use throughout the course was motivated by the key pedagogical 41

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Figure 1:  Summary of pre-service teachers’ engagement with Twitter during the study of the core course Visual Arts.

decision to invite the students to participate in using Twitter throughout their semester of study. This stimulated students to: • share content • share artwork created during dedicated weekly class/workshop time • share artwork made in personal time • celebrate peer work • observe while on professional practice placements in educational settings • share resources • comment on observations on art and/or educational theorists • generate ideas regarding teaching with and through art as a generalist primary teacher • network with peers across a year level, educators, galleries, artists and other PSTs outside of their own institution. There was a significant shift in online profiles and how the PSTs built and portrayed personal and professional identities. The interaction with Twitter was the first time all of the PSTs had considered a social media for professional networking and personal learning. They were encouraged to critically think about their profile, content and the people with whom they connected. The thinking required a very different way of working; many PSTs had not considered the use of, let alone the layers associated with, working in this space. 42

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What was evident was that some PSTs struggled in seeing Twitter as a social media for professional use, having been indoctrinated with the use of other media for personal sharing of content. Those who were explorers interacted in different ways, many in class time and others when they were reminded, while a few became regular sharers of content both class related and professionally related. Twitter for some PSTs (approximately 20 per cent) was not a preferred social medium, as it was hard to get used to because Facebook was the dominant social medium used personally. This caused some confusion regarding expectations of the interfaces. Problems included specific interface features, such as thumbs up (I like this) versus a star (mark to come back to), and keywords and discussion threads marked with hashtags versus discussion boards. Individuals often need to find a period of time to tweet or find a tweeting pattern that works for them (Lemon 2013a; 2013b). Another consideration is the tension between users’ desires to tweet and the lack of access to technology that allows for sharing content in the moment of thought or observation. The parallels to access and equity are interesting as assumptions are often made that university undergraduates have the latest mobile technology in terms of mobile phones or tablets. For a considerable number of current undergraduate students the mobile phone is not a priority in technology as most cannot afford to spend the money until absolutely necessary. The complication for use in the teacher education classroom is that live tweeting is not possible unless access can be given through a tablet, laptop or desktop computer, and these are not always available. Use of Twitter in the higher-education classroom requires flexibility to tweet when one can. Impact for the arts Digital technology makes it easier for audiences to engage with arts content (The Australia Council for the Arts 2009). Of social media and the arts, Blake (2012) says: Twitter is shaping up to be revolutionary, as some of the world’s oldest media forms are compelled to engage with the newest. Both are about groups coming together to share an experience. But now, through Twitter, the audience and the makers of art are getting closer and closer (para 1). In Australia, almost a third of arts consumers currently use the Internet to research a show or event, buy tickets, view art, listen to music or write blogs and share thoughts on social media, according to a recent report from The Australia Council for the Arts (2009). Art galleries and museums around the world are also embracing Twitter. We can see the Tate galleries, SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) and National Gallery of Victoria growing in their followers as they are active participants in sharing content and networking with their audiences: curators, artists, teachers, students, researchers and lovers of the arts alike. Small arts organizations are also using social media as a way 43

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to connect with content they chose to share and curate. The Performing Arts London’s Royal Opera House in 2011 performed Twitterdammerung: The Twitter Opera (Adam 2009), with the libretto sourced from 140-character tweets received from the public, who were invited to become involved with the inventiveness of opera as the ultimate form of storytelling. On Broadway, Rock of Ages (Adam 2009) is now playing 1980s trivia on Twitter, and Next to Normal (Adam 2009), a musical about a family dealing with mental illness, was performed in tweets over three days. The Australia Council for the Arts now has a Geek in Residence programme (The Australia Council for the Arts 2010), teaching nine arts organizations each year how to update their websites and fire up their social media profile, as well as archiving digital material and learning about live and online performance. However, in Australia not all ‘artists or arts companies have the means or the knowledge to engage with digital technology. These artists risk losing existing audiences and income streams, while also missing out on new audiences, ways of doing business and methods of creating work’ (The Australia Council for the Arts 2010: 4). The rise of interactive content forms, coupled with a new artist–audience dynamic, is challenging for many artists as well (The Australia Council for the Arts 2009). Recognition is made that artists and arts companies wishing to engage in new forms must learn how to write, design, create, rehearse and perform in new ways and be willing to explore the benefits of letting their audiences in on the action in a safe and appropriate manner. Social media such as Twitter is revolutionizing the way artists and art organizations communicate and how arts educators communicate and access information. We can see through the case studies shared in this chapter that the potential to scaffold a presence in Twitter is possible. The Australia Council for the Arts (2012) acknowledges these benefits in their social media policy, stating: Social media participation has multiple benefits to the Council. It demonstrates transparency; makes the agency more approachable and responsive; promotes access to our programmes and people; and distributes our knowledge, advocacy, research and expertise to a wider audience. (3) Twitter impacts arts education through: • contributing to social media conversations and thus supporting better achievement in the role of supporting and promoting the arts • distributing new content • posing questions • providing access to artists, arts educators, arts programmes and researchers and arts organizations that in other media would not be available or accessible • providing content that is relevant, useful and responsive to arts community needs 44

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• prompting collaborations • prompting engagements • focusing on building a community of practice with those of shared interests • contributing to the evolution of arts content and practice. Technology-enhanced, participant-centred environments provide the opportunity to engage higher-order processes, test ongoing hypotheses, and construct and revise physical models of concepts under study (Hannafin and Land 1997). Participant-centred learning environments attempt to support personal-theory building and theory enhancing. Although personal theories or models may be incomplete initially, participants or learners become immersed in experiences that allow them to identify, make and test predictions and modify their intuitions (Hannafin and Land 1997). Participants feel they can both produce and evaluate knowledge and culture (Ito et al. 2006) and these effective social environments support the individual’s intentions to derive and solve problems through the use of available resources and tools (Edwards 1995; Jonassen 1992). Concluding remarks This class has provided me with more resources than what I first started with, for example web sites and apps. This class has also provided me with ideas for when I am a teacher, for example ice breaker activities, the community ball, etc. It also started me to realize that when I am a teacher I should get my students to move around in different groups as this allowed me to get to know more students – that made me feel more comfortable in the classroom. The big surprise for me was the opportunity to see how my resources can expand so rapidly through social media. I just didn’t realize how much I could access on Twitter. It’s [a] total[ly] new world – an exciting one. (Nora, second-year pre-service teacher) Debi’s, Linda’s, Madhu’s and Nora’s cases share examples of the social impact of working in this online space of Twitter to engage with arts and arts education content, people and activity. Each case study shares insights into the beginnings of engaging with social media and provides opportunity to hear the voice of pre-service teachers about their trepidations or excitement about accessing and sharing content about arts education. The development of networks, collaborations, partnerships and contact for arts education is explored from multiple perspectives with discussion around openness to explore, generation of professional etiquette and the fact that, rather than there being only one way to engage with Twitter, engagement involves a mix of observation and active participation as a way to network over time and across boundaries. The benefits associated with this practice of professional learning and networking are discussed in relation to the parameters and guides of best practice in this area and things of which we should be cautious. 45

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Twitter offers much potential as a networking medium to support the fostering of relationships and partnerships. Although under-researched, more qualitative data is being generated about the authentic learning and networking possibilities of Twitter in education. Specifically, for the arts, there is little research advocating this social media as a possibility to extend, connect and engage arts educators from across the world. This chapter is the beginning of sharing such insights and provides a starting point for further discussions and collaborations. What is evident, though, is the strong possibility of establishing a participatory online learning community with Twitter that allows participants to actively reflect, as Le Cornu (2009) would reiterate, on their own practices through dialogue with their peers.

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Humphreys, L., Gill, P. and Krishnamurthy, B. (2010), ‘How Much is Too Much? Privacy Issues on Twitter’, Conference of International Communication Association, Singapore, June 2010, http://www2.research.att.com/~bala/papers/ica10.pdf. Accessed 6 June 2012. Ito, M., Okabe, D. and Matsuda, M. (2006), Personal, Portable, Pedestrian, Massachusetts: MIT Press. Jeanneret, N. and O’Toole, J. (2012), ‘Support and Partnerships for the Teacher’, in C. Sinclair, N. Jeanneret and J. O’Toole (eds), Education in the Arts, 2nd ed., Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press, pp. 213–224.  Jonassen, D. (1992), ‘What are Cognitive Tools?’, in P. Kommers and H. Mandl (eds), Cognitive Tools for Learning, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. Kwak, H., Lee, C., Park, H. and Moon, S. (2010), ‘What is Twitter, a Social Network or a News Media?’, Categories and Subject Descriptors, Most, http://an.kaist.ac.kr/~haewoon/ papers/2010-www-twitter.pdf. Accessed 18 May 2014. Le Cornu, R. (2009), ‘Building Resilience in Pre-service Teachers’, Teaching and Teacher Education, 25: 5, pp. 717–723. Lemon, N. (2013a), ‘Is There a Place for Twitter in Pre-service Teachers Personal Learning Network? Introducing Social Media into Teacher Education’, Refereed paper for 2013 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, 27 April–1 May, San Francisco. Lemon, N. (2013b), ‘@Twitter is Always Wondering What’s Happening: Learning with and through Social Networks in Higher Education’, in B. Patrut, M. Patrut and C. Cmeciu (eds), Social Media in Higher Education: Teaching in Web 2.0, Hershey, Pennsylvania: IGI Global, pp. 237–261. Lenhart, A. and Madden, M. (2007), Social Networking Websites and Teens: An Overview, Washington: Pew Internet and American Life Project. Lloyd, M. and Albion, P. (2007), ‘Altered Geometry: A New Angle on Teacher Technophobia’, Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 17: 1, pp. 41–61. MacKay, M. M. (2012), ‘8th Annual Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index (AMPLI)’, http:// www.aimia.com.au/enews/AMPLI/AMPLI%202012%20Report_FINAL_upd_Oct.pdf. Accessed 2 November 2012. McNeill, T. (2009), ‘Twitter in Higher Education’, http://www.scribd.com/doc/20025500/ TwitterinHigherEducation. Accessed 2 June 2012. Mishra, P. and Koehler, M. J. (2006), ‘Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Framework for Integrating Technology in Teachers’ knowledge’, Teachers College Record, 108; 6, pp. 1017–1054. Notley, T. (2011), ‘Why Digital Privacy and Security are Important for Development’, The Guardian, Poverty Matters Blog, http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/povertymatters/2011/aug/04/digital-technology-development-tool. Accessed 2 June 2012. Notley, T. M. and Tacchi, J. A. (2005), ‘Online Youth Networks: Researching the Experiences of ‘Peripheral’ Young People in Using New Media Tools for Creative Participation & Representation’, 3CMedia: Journal of Community, Citizen’s and Third Sector Media and Communication, 1: 1, pp. 73–81. Peppler, K. (2012), ‘New Opportunities for Interest-Driven Arts Learning in a Digital Age: A Literature Review’, New York: Wallace Foundation. 48

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Peppler, K. and Solomou, M. (2011), ‘Building Creativity: Collaborative Learning and Creativity in Social Media Environments’, On the Horizon, 19: 1, pp. 13–23. Peppler, K. (2010), ‘The New Fundamentals: Introducing Computation into Arts Education’, in E. P. Clapp and M. J. Bellino (eds), 20Under40: Reinventing the Arts and Arts Education for the 21st Century, UK: AuthorHouse, pp. 1–17. Peppler, K. and Kafai, Y. B. (2007), ‘Collaboration, Computation, and Creativity: Media Arts Practices in Urban Youth Cultures’, in Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, CSCL’07, New Brunswick, NJ., USA, 16–21 July, Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Pringle, E. (2011), ‘What’s with the Artist? Researching Practice with Visual Arts Practitioners’, in P. Thomson and J. Sefton-Green (eds), Researching Creative Learning: Methods and Issues, London: Routledge, pp. 35–45. Robards, B. (2010), ‘Negotiating Identity and Integrity on Social Network Sites for Educators’, International Journal, 6: 2, pp. 19–23, http://www.ojs.unisa.edu.au/index.php/IJEI/article/ viewFile/700/542. Accessed 10 February 2012. Rodens, M. (2011), ‘What the Tweet? Twitter as a Useful Educational and Professional Development Tool’, Communicating For Learners, Spring #2, http://www2.bgsu.edu/downloads/ provost/file95934.pdf. Accessed 18 May 2014. Schön, D. A. (1983), The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action, New York: Basic Books. Sinnappan, S. and Zutshi, S. (2011), ‘Using Microblogging to Facilitate Community of Inquiry: An Australian Tertiary Experience’, Paper Presented at the Meeting of the Asclite, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, http://www.leishman-associates.com.au/ascilite2011/downloads/papers/ Sinnappan-full.pdf. Accessed 22 January 2012. Skiba, D. J. (2008), ‘Emerging Technologies Center: Nursing Education 2.0: Twitter & Tweets. Can You Post a Nugget of Knowledge in 140 Characters or Less?’, Nursing Education Perspectives, 29: 2, pp. 110–112. Solis, B. (2008), ‘Customer Service: The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social Media’, http://www.briansolis.com/2008/03/new-ebook-customer-service-art-of/. Accessed 22 January 2012. The Australia Council for the Arts (2009), ‘Australian Council for the Arts Strategy Paper: Arts Content for Digital Era’, http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/53612/ Arts_Content_for_the_Digital_Era_Strategy.pdf. Accessed 14 November 2012. The Australia Council for the Arts (2010), ‘Geeks Open Gateways for the Arts’, http://www. australiacouncil.gov.au/news/items/pre-2010/geeks_open_gateways_for_the_arts. Accessed 14 November 2012. The Australia Council for the Arts (2012), ‘Social Media Policy’, http://www.australiacouncil.gov. au/about/strategies-policies/social-media-policy. Accessed 14 November 2012. The Digital Marketing Agency. (2011), ‘Australian Online Marketing Trends – 2011’, http://www. socialmedianews.com.au/ social-media-statistics-australia-march-2011/. Accessed 22 January 2012. Wakefield, S. A., Warren, S. J. and Alsobrook, M. (2011), ‘Learning and Teaching as Communicative Actions: A Mixed-Methods Twitter Study’, Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An 49

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International Journal, 3: 4, http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-publication/ article/viewArticle/145. Accessed 10 February 2012. Wenger, E., White, N. and Smith, J. D. (2009), Digital Habitats: Stewarding Technology for Communities, Portland: CPSquare Wolf, K. (2008), ‘A Blogging Good Time: The Use of Blogs as a Reflective Learning and Feedback Tool for Final Year Public Relations Students’, in Australian Collaborative Education Network, Proceedings of World Association for Cooperative Education-Australian Collaborative Education Network Asia Pacific, Australia: Australian Collaborative Education Network, pp. 649–656.

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Chapter 4 Building Capacity and Confidence Through Arts-Based Learning Experiences: A Whole-School Approach Christopher Klopper

Wow Tommy! I never knew clever kids could do art! – Year 4 student from Beachside State School

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rts-based learning experiences produce positive learning outcomes, such as creating productive attitudes to learning, facilitating development of a greater sense of personal and cultural identity and fostering more creative and imaginative ways of thinking in young children (Bamford 2006; Eisner 2002; Robinson 2001). Internationally, there is a growing body of evidence that arts-based learning and engagement has a range of positive outcomes in terms of the lives of young people both in and out of school settings (Bamford 2006; Deasy 2002; Seidel, Tishman, Winner, Hetland and Palmer 2009). The Australian curriculum learning area of the arts equally recognizes the distinctiveness of dance, drama, media arts, music and visual arts, and further recognizes the connections between the art forms. It promotes the arts as fundamental to student learning and the expansion of capacity to ‘perceive, create, think, feel, symbolize, communicate, understand, and become confident and creative individuals’ (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] 2010:  2). From Kindergarten to Year Eight, all art forms are taught through a balance of three organizing strands: generating, realizing and responding. Within these broad categories, each art form has its own specific terminology, concepts and processes. Students learn to use art form-specific concepts, skills and processes in their making and responding, while developing aesthetic knowledge through their arts learning (ACARA 2011). The very nature of the learning area requires pupils to be exposed to dance, drama, music, media and visual art, which can be a rather daunting task for even the most experienced teacher. It is highly improbable to find an expert in all five art forms; however, what is more important is for teachers to become experts at facilitating teaching and learning activities in all art forms so that the students in their classroom are exposed to the arts and access channels of creativity and further study. This chapter reports on a year-long project, the Arts 2 Excellence programme, which aimed to build the capacity and confidence of identified teachers and students through artsbased learning experiences. The project responded to the problem identified by classroom teachers at Beachside State School by offering quality arts-based learning experiences. The project was conceptualized as an applied form of participatory action research in a dynamic setting. The participatory action research methodology was employed to cyclically evaluate the question: ‘How can a whole-school approach to arts-based learning experiences build capacity and confidence in students and staff?’ Creswell (2012) explains that participatory

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action research strives for ‘open, broad-based involvement of participants by collaborating in decisions as consensual partners and engaging participants as equals to ensure their wellbeing’ (583). Over time, the methods and modes of action are formed through a ‘dialectic movement between action and reflection’ (Kidd and Kral 2005: 187). Participatory action research is cyclical in nature, and the relationship between action and reflection can be understood as a self-reflective spiral that involves ‘multiple cycles of reflecting, planning, acting and observing’ (McTaggart 1997). Gall, Gall and Borg (2007) emphasize the importance of continued reflective practice, as this process provides teachers (practitioners) with the ability to ‘step back from the fast-paced and problematic world of practice to ponder and share ideas about the meaning, values, and impact of their practice’ (604). Kidd and Kral (2005) believe that within a participatory action research study, the generation of knowledge is inextricably connected to one’s action(s), and a successful participatory action research study is ‘best measured by the changes in the lives of the participants’ (189). The project was operationalized through a series of multi-pronged PIRI cycles (Plan, Implement, Review and Improve) that focused on: • offering identified students visual arts extension activities on a weekly basis each school term • providing ongoing professional development for all staff about ‘finding the arts’ in what they plan, prepare and deliver • mentoring two identified teachers over the duration of one year to deepen their capacity and confidence of arts-based learning experiences to move from dependency to autonomy. Drawing on a cultural anthropological framework to trial the project, areas of cultural impact, such as changes prompted at an organizational level, changes in external perceptions and changes in profile and influence, are extrapolated and showcased. Cultural impact The importance of arts-based learning experiences has gained increased recognition through active global advocacy; however it is also true that ‘arts education is continually struggling to establish a secure status in formal curricula’ (Iwai 2003: 13). The lobby encouraging arts-based learning activities and innovations within schools has attempted not only to promote the implementation of the arts in formal and non-formal settings, but also to improve the quality of education, appreciating the role of the arts and creativity in the school environment as a tool for promoting ethical values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours while deepening cultural wealth. The collection of beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of all persons in a school community profile that particular culture. The effect of school culture on school improvement initiatives and innovations is significant. Maehr and Midgley (1996) offered 54

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the acknowledgement that a school can be understood as a discrete culture evolved from the field of organizational and corporate research. School culture refers to the interactions that occur behind the scenes of the school, such as friendships formed, conversations and informal roles that members of the school community take on. These behaviours arise from the values, norms and beliefs of the school. The school culture influences how members solve problems, work together and integrate new ideas into the classroom. Those within the school system often change their beliefs after being a part of the school for a period of time. Just as culture within a community is verified through the values, beliefs, rituals and behaviours of the people within it, school culture is made manifest through similarly shared social understandings, relationships and activities (Bruner 1996). Kindler (1987) highlighted how education innovations are regularly grounded in common assumptions of their inherent value. Charland (2011: 2) furthered: ‘little consideration is given to overcoming the pre-existing structural, cultural and dispositional barriers to teacher professional development that may defeat program acceptance and persistence’. A shift in a culture’s shared social understandings, relationships and activities can, and often do, occur primarily in response to contextual change (Steward 1967). Contextual changes such as environmental, political or economic changes, or those originating from any other domain outside a culture group’s immediate control, require attention, adoption, adaptation and, frequently, new ways of thinking about previously held relationships. For example, the introduction of the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)1 regime in Australian schools has altered many teachers’ conceptualizations of teaching and learning; their relationships with students, caregivers and administrators; and their interactions with each other. This emphasizes how a school’s culture is fluid and predisposed to change through dynamic responses to the various internal and external contextual variants. Identifying the contextual variants requires a framework through which the demarcation of the accounts of knowledge and subsequent dissemination can be viewed. Drawing on the work of Bronfenbrenner (1979, 2005), which originally was intended to explain the relationship between environmental conditions and child development, an application for interpreting an eco-systemic culture of a school is offered. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) model of the cultural ecosystem (Figure 2) represents the interrelated connection and influence, from society at the macrosystem level, to the individual at the microsystem level. The culture of a school is resultant of constant negotiation of variants from each level of the cultural ecosystem. Predominant ideas about the role, place and value of education in society operate at a macrosystem level; policy, curricula and professional standards at the exosystem level; learning expectations and outcomes together with teaching practices operate at the mesosystem level; and teachers’ personal understandings of identity and mission at the microsystem level. The dynamic interchange between students’, educators’, caregivers’ and administrators’ microsystem understandings and mesosystem relationships, functioning within the opportunities and constraints of the exosystem and macrosystem, characterize the distinctive culture of a school. The attendance to school improvement 55

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Figure 2:  The Cultural Ecosystem of Education (adapted from Bronfenbrenner 1979).

initiatives and innovations requires not only traction from exosystem-level engagement, but also enactment by individuals – teachers – at the microsystem level. As Charland (2011) so aptly articulates: [e]ach level of scale presents an important consideration in the adoption of a curricular or pedagogical intervention; the intervention should capture in some form macro-level values, fit within the systemic constructs of the exosystem, be compatible with basic curricular and pedagogical expectations that define the mesosystem, and ultimately allow for a sense of purpose, agency, efficacy, and idiosyncratic creation of meaning by individuals at the microsystem level. (5) Employing Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) cultural ecosystem model to trial the project required attention, not simply to the proposed eco-systemic levels, but also to the fluidity of the relationship(s) between and alongside the levels. Such attendance afforded the establishment an entry point and a delineation of the subsequent stages required to successfully implement and sustain the initiative. The success of any educational initiative or innovation is dependent on collective consultation coupled with mutual respect among all stakeholders (Fullan 1990). Foisting educational initiatives that might challenge teachers’ values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours, without transparent and consultative dialogue at a microsystem level, has the potential to trivialize the initiatives and offer a shallow and often short-lived attendance. The corollary of introducing an initiative at the exosystem level can result in a ‘tick-a-box’ response by the stakeholders involved. Such responses do not bring about any cultural change to practice, but 56

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rather manifest a culture of maintaining status quo. It is fair to claim that to bring about an effective cultural change when implementing educational initiatives or innovations, ongoing collective consultation between all stakeholders is required. Collective consultation values the maintenance and expansion of relationships with the intention that these new and renewed relationships would produce changes in individuals’ beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviours at both a microsystem and macrosystem level as new expectations supersede old. The Australian curriculum learning area of the arts promotes this discipline as fundamental to student learning and expansion of capacity to ‘perceive, create, think, feel, symbolize, communicate, understand and become confident and creative individuals’ (ACARA 2010: 2). It has been identified that arts education in primary schools both in Australia and overseas is unsatisfactory (Alter, Hays and O’Hara 2009; Anderson 2003; Klopper 2007; Wiggins and Wiggins 2008). Generally it is asserted that students receive limited exposure to formal arts education instruction and the quality of the instruction they do receive is poor due to teachers’ lack of content knowledge. Wiggins and Wiggins (2008) argue that in order for there to be improvement, policy makers need to be provided with a clear understanding of what is occurring in primary classrooms pertaining to the teaching of the arts. There is a need for research that explores the contextual variants and associated efficacy of teachers’ teaching of the arts within the primary classroom. Case 7: There is not enough time to teach the arts Beachside State School is no ordinary primary school. Unlike traditional schools, the primary school is situated metres from the beach and nestled between apartment housing. At Beachside State School, there is a strong affordance of creative experiences; in particular, music, movement and visual arts, because of their acknowledged role in enhancing children’s intellectual, social and emotional development. In the Preparatory classroom, the arts are taught as part of an integrated programme with the aim that all learning experiences assist children to develop vital skills. Years One to Seven receive discrete music lessons, while the class teachers incorporate drama, dance and visual art in the classroom curriculum. The principal and deputy head teacher of the school share a common vision: ‘all children have the potential to succeed, it is just a matter of identifying the avenue and then providing opportunity for growth and excellence’. To promote this shared vision, it has been identified that the school and its respective staff are committed to providing a variety of extracurricular activities and clubs, such as Soccer-X, Australian National Tae Kwon-Do, rugby league, Fitness Friday, Music Excellence Programme, guitar and keyboard lessons, choir, Hatchlings – Introduction to Drama and junior art lessons. Collegial conversations between the deputy principal and teaching staff revealed that they believed they lacked the time and skill to teach the arts well. During focus group discussions, the teachers participating expressed feelings of being overwhelmed with the needs of all of the curriculum areas and said this resulted in a reduction in the time they devoted to arts 57

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education. Some teachers felt that the time devoted to the visual arts was also pressured by the tasks necessary to facilitate activities, such as provision of art materials, preparation and clean-up as well as locating resources. Additionally, the majority of teachers believed their teaching time was dominated by an attention to English and Mathematics because the demands of departmental directives necessitated that students achieve benchmark standards in literacy and numeracy. The Beachside State School administration responded by offering ongoing professional development opportunities through a partnership with the local university to build teacher competence, confidence and the skills required to deliver an arts education without draining the time allocations to other learning areas. The Arts 2 Excellence programme was thus conceived. The Arts 2 Excellence programme A year-long Arts 2 Excellence learning experience programme for primary students and their teachers was designed to address the teachers’ raised concerns. The programme was envisioned to remove and/or lessen such concerns by building confidence around teachers’ own skills and abilities to be creative and artistic in their classroom practices and for students to use their innate and learned creativity to take risks, explore possibilities in their learning and develop life-wide problem-solving skills. The project centred around four key foci, namely professional development opportunities for the staff, delivering weekly visual arts extension classes for identified students, consultation with staff about ‘finding the arts’ in what they plan and deliver and mentoring two staff members towards a sustainable practice of professional development. Professional development opportunities for the staff Finding time in a school calendar and teachers’ diaries is never an easy task, especially when professional development opportunities are being offered outside the regular school programme or pupil-free development days. Nonetheless, three one-and-a-halfhour Friday afternoon dates were set and advertised to all staff as an opportunity to build capacity and confidence in arts-based learning. When 28 of the 31 teachers arrived for the first professional development session, the school administration was overwhelmed at the positive response and heartened that the staff really did want to commit to professional development in the arts. The introductory session introduced staff to an overview of arts education and the possible approaches available for adoption or adaption for their classroom environment. Once a shared understanding of the capacity the arts has within the classroom was achieved, a brainstorming activity followed. Each discrete learning area was grouped together and 58

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tasked with ‘dreaming possibilities’ of arts-based learning support resources that could be realized in and around the school. This activity generated much enthusiasm and energetic cohesiveness, and potential resources beyond the classroom were conceived. These included: • an Indigenous garden full of native edible fruits and plants • a dinosaur park located in one of the courtyards in the school • stairwell mathematics – measurements demarcated on the stairwell to be used as an oversized measuring tape • a self-directed interactive science tour through the school • healthy eating murals around the tuck shop area • an amphitheatre • musical chairs – interactive audible musical murals that narrate and share facts and figures • a world map on a corridor wall • height charts • alphabet charts • literature quotes • interactive rubric-cube-type teaching aids. Following this rather academic activity, the staff were guided through a series of foundational drawing techniques. Initially, many were reluctant to start and to share their attempt. In the literature surrounding arts education, one of the recurring issues highlighted is teachers’ lack of confidence in their ability to teach the arts (Hudson and Hudson 2007). However, as the wandering eyes across the tables noticed attempts similar to their own, it was as if a key had been turned. Immediately, the noise level rose as the staff realized their own artistic capacity and saw that their angst was shared. Now the non-verbal body language transformed into verbal communication of affirmation and confirmation: ‘Look at this, not bad for a Friday afternoon and computer teacher! What about Fitzy, he’s the muso but can he draw?’ To which Fitzy held up his sketching and showed all. Fitzy was able to confirm that exceeding in one area does not prevent someone from exceeding in other areas. The teachers’ conversations turned quickly to how easy it is to compartmentalize their own and students’ abilities. Often this compartmentalization is convenient, used to self-limit involvement with activities that are perceived not to come easily. During the afternoon, it was noticed that an adult was with a group of children painting a mural on the exterior of one of the classrooms. I asked the principal if this was a parent or community volunteer, to which the answer was ‘No, that is Amanda.’ Amanda works as a teacher aide at Beachside State School with both her mother and sister. She has remained in this profession for 15 years and demonstrates her passion and artistic ability through the offering of art classes for students outside of school hours. I felt really bad that Amanda was not afforded access to the professional development sessions and decided that a plan needed 59

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to be devised. It was the motivation that came from witnessing this exclusion that resulted in the Arts 2 Excellence programme mentoring two staff members towards a sustainable practice of professional development. Amanda and Charlie (a full-time teacher) were approached by the administration and requested to assist the Arts 2 Excellence programme’s weekly arts extension classes for identified students. Amanda was delighted to be offered this opportunity and could not wait to start with the programme. By the end of the afternoon session, all staff sketches were displayed on the wall in the activity room. The staff decided that a calendar should be produced using their artistic offerings. The idea was encouraged and furthered by offering more sessions. Visual arts extension classes for identified students The visual arts extension classes were held weekly for students identified by classroom teachers as having exceptional interest and skill in the visual arts. We want to make sure that all students feel that they can succeed, and if that means drawing a picture, then so be it. Not everyone can be good at Math and English. Because many of our teachers don’t know how to provide extension activities for these visually artistic, gifted and talented students we need you [the university] to assist us all. (interview with deputy principal) The programme was designed to implement group classes for Year Prep–3 students and Year 4–7 students on alternate weeks. Amanda would support the Year Prep–3 students while Charlie would support the Year 4–7 students. The group of 23 students excitedly arrived outside the all-purpose activity room. Amanda was employing her best behavioural management techniques, but the sheer novelty of something new was no match. Students entered the classroom and hurriedly secured a chair. These were height adjustable, swivel enabled and on wheels and therefore not conducive to a productive visual arts session with young children. Amanda demonstrably confronted each student who dared to swivel, but a losing battle played out. I noticed that the tables were Table 1:  Week 1: Year Prep–Year Three Warming-up exercises – draw their name in the air with different parts of the body to different-paced music – fast–slow Theme: Musical Drawings

Draw lines, different media and different musical stimuli and move from drawing to drawing as the music starts and stops Choose a small ‘section’ of line drawings to work on further Each student to give one example of a good thing/experience of the session 60

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Table 2:  Week 2: Year Four–Year Seven Warming-up exercises – respond to music with different body movements – imagine using invisible brush on end of arm (or pretend to be an elephant with brush in trunk) to ‘paint’ strokes in air Theme: Musical Drawings

Work on paper – make lines/strokes in response to music and the feelings evoked by the music Choose one work or section of one image to continue to work/reflect on Each student to give one example of a good thing/experience of the session

height adjustable too, so with some strategic convincing of the students, tables were adjusted and chairs were pushed alongside the wall. Now we were ready. Making visual art builds children’s self-esteem by providing opportunities to express what they are thinking and feeling (Harland et al. 2000). The small-group art activities help children practise important social skills such as taking turns, sharing and negotiating for materials. While making art, young children develop control of large- and small-muscle groups. The large arm movements required for painting or drawing at an easel or on large paper on the floor build coordination and strength. The smaller movements of fingers, hands and wrists required for cutting with scissors, using model clay and drawing or painting on smaller surfaces develop fine motor dexterity and control. With repeated opportunities for practice, young children gain confidence in their use of tools for making art and later for writing (Weissman and Hendrick 2013). As the children’s art-making skills developed, their activities moved beyond exploring just with their senses and began to involve the use of symbols. The children began to represent real objects, events and feelings in their artwork. Drawing, in particular, became an activity that presented the children with the prospect of symbolizing what they know and feel. It is a necessary outlet for children whose vocabulary, written or verbal, may be limited. The use Table 3:  Week 3: Year Prep–Year Three Make shapes with body and change with the music – round, square, triangle etc. Play with shapes – ball, blocks, boxes, etc. Theme: Fun with Shapes

Print, draw, paint shapes – templates available if needed Use materials provided (paper, material, textures, squares, circles, rectangles) to create collage of city, house, park, backyard, etc. Each student to give one example of a good thing/experience of the session 61

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Table 4:  Week 4: Year Four–Year Seven

Theme: Shapes and Images – My Shape

Lie on a big sheet of butchers’ paper and have a friend draw outline around body – then use all materials, different textures to ‘describe’ your body on paper. Showing positive and negative – outside and inside the body shape Each student to give one example of a good thing/experience of the session

of symbols in artwork is very important because it provides a foundation for children’s use of words to symbolize objects and actions in formal writing (Siegesmung 1998). Teacher focus group and follow-up A teacher focus group was held after the first four weeks of the programme. Teachers spoke of most children in their class wanting to attend the extension visual arts classes. However, with limited time and space, the project could not just keep accepting more and more children. This was an impetus for classroom teachers to implement for themselves the activities that were on offer in the extension classes. This provided Amanda and Charlie the break that they had been hoping for. Their attendance in the sessions was legitimized and clarified, as their role was now crucial for all teachers to gain insight and expertise. The speed at which this transfer of skill and knowledge occurred was truly amazing to witness. The visual arts extension classes occurred 45 minutes on either side of lunch break. The first session focussed on skill development and briefing of the task that would be expected after lunch. During the lunch break, Amanda would share the skills and task covered with class teachers, and then they would head back to their rooms and attempt to implement the activity. It appeared that resource acquisition was achievable and visual art was now a part of the class curriculum, at least on a Tuesday. Encouraged by their perception of the children’s response to the arts-based learning experiences, the teachers’ readiness to transfer pedagogical approaches from restricted visual arts activities to visual stimuli in other learning areas marked a significant shift from limited application to wider learning Table 5:  Week 5: Year Prep–Year Three Warming-up exercises – respond to music – ‘What colour do you feel/see?’ Theme: My Favourite Colour

My book of colours – warm and cool – colour friends/colour opposites My favourite colour … it makes me feel … Each student to give one example of a good thing/experience of the session 62

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Table 6:  Week 6: Year Four–Year Seven Body movement to music/songs with colour theme Warm and cool colours – choose your favourite Theme: How Colours Make My World Look

Colour mixing with black and white – make form and shape/light and dark Each student to give one example of a good thing/experience of the session

experiences for all. With this knowledge, the second professional development session was planned and delivered. Accompanying handouts were provided for all the activities completed to date to reinforce the practical nature of the sessions, but not to take away the invaluable conduit Amanda and Charlie had become between the extension classes and the mainstream classrooms. This reinforced the need for continued productive mentoring possibilities. As the children decided how to make parts fit together into a whole, where to place objects and what details to include, they learned to coordinate what they experienced with the movements of their hands and fingers. This eye-hand coordination reinforced essential classroom skills required for many activities, including forming letters and spacing words in formal writing. The children found that making visual art was a sensory exploration activity. We asked them to describe the feeling of a crayon moving across paper and seeing a blob of coloured paint grow larger. Exploring a variety of materials is very important because it is through exploration that children build knowledge of the objects in the world around them. Activities centring on making visual art also required children to make decisions and conduct selfevaluations. Week 8 exemplifies the process: • first, they decide what they will portray in their art, e.g. a person, a tree, a dragon • second, they choose the media they will use, the arrangement of objects in their work and the perspective viewers will take • children decide how quickly or how slowly they will finish their project and, finally, how they will evaluate their creation. Table 7:  Week 7: Year Prep–Year Seven Warm-up to music – body movement/shapes to variety of music styles Theme: Self-portrait

3D – forms, shape and textures Construction – clay, card, objects, paint Each student to give one example of a good thing/experience of the session 63

Representations of Working in Arts Education Table 8:  Week 8: Year Four–Year Seven Warm up to music – body movement/shapes to variety of music styles Theme: Symbolic Portrait of Self

Construct image of self – or mask – from materials provided – clay, card, objects, paint etc. Each student to give one example of a good thing/experience of the session

The Arts 2 Excellence programme facilitated young children to experience a sense of emotional satisfaction when they were involved in making art, whether they were modelling with clay, drawing with crayons or making a collage from recycled scraps. Deciding what they were to make and what materials they were to use may have been the first opportunity some children had to make independent choices and decisions. During a review of the progress and impact of the Arts 2 Excellence programme, the project leaders identified the opportunity to establish an artist-in-residence programme in order to: • expose more students of Beachside State School to a visual artist in practice • offer deeper learning experiences • afford a group of students the opportunity to leave their legacy in the form of artwork • provide an opportunity to draw media attention to a whole-school approach to artsbuilding capacities • offer further professional development for the staff of Beachside State School to illuminate how to work with an artist from the community to reinforce their artistic ability. After consultation with the administration of Beachside State School, it was decided to offer the seven students the opportunity to actively participate in the artist-in-residence programme. This afforded 70 students access to this learning experience over four days. Each session ran for two hours, with groups of ten engaging in the artistic processes offered by the artist-in-residence. A staff-specific session was offered so they too could make their indelible contribution to the school surround. As the artist-in-residence programme had not been part of the approved project, further funds were needed to support this initiative; these were raised through the school administration and the Parent and Community Association. Parents and care-givers had witnessed the positive effects of the children’s participation in the project, and supporting such initiatives was now deemed necessary by all involved with Beachside State School. Mosaics were chosen as a medium that would offer all children the opportunity to demonstrate their imagination and creativity in their own artwork, but would contribute to a larger work with relative ease. Drawing on the location of Beachside State School, an 64

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underwater theme was chosen for the mosaic mural that would be a permanent installation stemming from the artist-in-residence programme. The Year Seven classes were divided into groups of ten, and, each day, two groups would spend half the day working together with the artist. A range of mesh sheet templates was available for the students to use as a starting point. The all-purpose room was littered with jars and tubs of mosaic tiles interspersed with squeeze bottles of adhesive. The children got working with limited guidance or encouragement, and the sound of industrious children reverberated from the room. Tommy stands out among his peers and is known for his academic prowess and is equally identified for his non-athletic build and ability. Tommy ensured he remained a safe distance from conversations, sitting quietly to one side to carefully plot each mosaic. He struggled significantly with not being able to produce a work of art that he could deem perfect. The artist-in-residence recognized Tommy’s internal struggle and spent time conversing with him and showing pictures of artworks she had produced or was in the process of producing. Tommy withdrew even more, and no further conversation was held. When closing the session, children carefully placed their mosaics outside to dry and Tommy pensively placed his alongside the other drying artworks. Before placing it down, he stood observing the other artworks and remained even when the lunch bell chimed. Upon approach, Tommy turned and said: ‘My whale actually looks like a whale. Some of the other mosaics don’t really look like sea creatures, but mine does. I’ve never been able to draw, I’m not real good at sport, but everyone knows I know Math and Science. But look at my whale! It really looks like a whale.’ After the children had been dismissed, Tommy appeared with an adult, soon identified as his father. Tommy excitedly said: ‘I need to show my dad my whale. He doesn’t believe me that I made a whale today.’ Upon locating his mosaic, his dad’s response summed it all: ‘Wow Tommy! I never knew clever kids could do art!’ Tommy had broken the mould. For an extended period in his primary school career, Tommy had been labelled as the clever kid and was only expected to achieve academically. Today, Tommy had demonstrated not only to us all, but most importantly to himself, that you never know what you are capable of unless you have an attempt. Rich arts-based learning experiences for all The success of any educational initiative or innovation is dependent on collective consultation combined with mutual respect among all stakeholders. There is no expectation of a macrosystem-level change to the Australian curriculum and in particular the arts learning area in the foreseeable future. However, there remain numerous opportunities for school cultures to change through carefully planned interventions involving the exosystem, mesosystem and microsystem levels of the school cultural ecosystem. Even though Beachside State School claimed that they privilege young children to experience a sense of emotional satisfaction when they are involved in making art, they did not necessarily indicate that all staff 65

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adhere to these learning and teaching ideals. Due to the several contextual variants at play in a school cultural ecosystem, varying degrees of commitment to the goals and consequential practices manifest in multiple forms. If an intervention focuses solely on exosystem-level change – that is, whole-school change – there is the tendency that classroom practice will reflect short-term accommodations rather than lasting cultural adjustment. For effective cultural assimilation to occur, the collective consultation at the mesosystemic level – which involves all stakeholders in the ecosystem – needs to be purposefully nurtured, supported and sustained to generate change in teachers’ individual understandings and response. Charland (2011) succinctly asserts: ‘Meaningful cultural change is instantiated at the microsystem level, evidenced in the espoused values and beliefs of the individual’ (13). The project was designed initially as an extension project, but realized significant change  in practice at a classroom level. Individual teachers responded exclusively to the influence of the intervention introduced in the mesosystem level. These responses could be identified as changes in beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviours of teachers enacting a cultural change in varying degree. Variability is to be expected in any social group, as ‘not all of any culture is internalized in anybody’ (D’Andrade 1992: 41). While it is evident that the culture at Beachside State School has changed, the influence of cultural knowledge on individual behaviour is not foretelling, but interacts with other contextual variants such as individual characteristics, affective ups and downs and recurrent re-evaluation of motivations and rewards. The Arts 2 Excellence project described in this chapter is an example of second-order educational change. It aimed to influence essential arrangements and opportunities in learning and teaching through offering arts-based learning experience. Cuban (1990) makes the distinction between first-order and second-order change in schools. Firstorder changes influence staff, resources, curriculum content and approach to learning and teaching, ‘without substantially altering the ways in which adults and children perform their roles’ (73). Charland (2011: 3) describes first-order change as ‘a new wardrobe, giving the appearance of a new identity, but easily cast off in favour of the next fashion trend’. Second-order changes, on the other hand, influence the business-as-usual model by introducing new goals and new ways of doing things. Second-order changes reconfigure roles and responsibilities of teachers and students and include pedagogical transformations. Second-order change has the potential to significantly impact the cultural core of a school by challenging the understandings of its staff. However, it also faces ‘the quiet but persistent resistance of teachers and administrators’ (Cuban 1990: 75) who may not immediately see worth in forsaking deeply held and culturally reinforced traditions. Identified areas of cultural impact at Beachside State School include a financial commitment by the administration to continue funding the arts extension programme that affords both students and staff the opportunity to develop and extend artistic skills. The school now offers a designated arts enrichment programme with prospects of advancing music, dance, drama and visual arts. The enrichment programme has become a positive 66

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contributor to the school marketing, especially when parents or caregivers present with a child who has not had the chance to shine in previous school environments. As a result of the teacher professional development and student extension programs in visual arts, dance and music, Beachside State School now offers rich arts-based learning experiences for all. The Beachside State School Arts 2 Excellence programme provides important opportunities to develop young people’s practical, exploratory, expressive, design and problem-solving skills at a level appropriate to their age, maturity and physical dexterity. It allows children to express their ideas, feelings and interpretations of the world through picture, sound, drama and dance. Note 1

In 2008, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) commenced in Australian schools. Every year, all students in Years Three, Five, Seven and Nine are assessed on the same days using national tests in Reading, Writing and Language Conventions (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation) and Numeracy [see http://www.naplan .edu.au].

References Alter, F., Hays, T. and O’Hara, R. (2009), ‘Creative Arts Teaching and Practice: Critical Reflections of Primary School Teachers in Australia’, International Journal of Education & the Arts, 10: 9, pp. 1–21. Anderson, M. (2003), ‘I Took the Road Less Travelled and That Has Made All the Difference: The professional journeys of two primary drama teachers’, Drama Australia Journal, 27: 1, pp. 5–14. Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2010), ‘Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts’, http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/ Draft+Shape+Of+The+Australian+Curriculum+The+Arts-FINAL.pdf. Accessed 23 July 2012. Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2011), ‘Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts’, http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Shape_of_the_ Australian_Curriculum_The_Arts_-_Compressed.pdf. Accessed 23 July 2012. Bamford, A. (2006), The WOW factor: Global Research Compendium on the Impact of Arts in Education, New York: Waxmann Munster. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979), The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Bronfenbrenner, U. (ed.) (2005), Making Human Beings Human: Bioecological Perspectives on Human Development, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. 67

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Bruner, J. (1996), The Culture of Education, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Charland, W. (2011), ‘Art Integration as School Culture Change: A Cultural Ecosystem Approach to Faculty Development’, International Journal of Education & the Arts, 12: 8. Creswell, J. W. (2012), Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 4th ed., Boston: Pearson Education Inc. Cuban, L. (1990), ‘A Fundamental Puzzle of School Reform’, in A. Lieberman (ed.), Schools as Collaborative Cultures: Creating the Future Now, London: Falmer, pp. 71–77. D’Andrade, R. (1992), ‘Schemas and Motivation’, in R. D’Andrade and C. Strauss (eds), Schools as Collaborative Cultures: Creating the Future Now, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 23–44. Deasy, R. (2002), Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic Achievement and Social Development, Washington: Arts Education Partnerships. Eisner, E. (2002), The Arts and the Creation of the Mind, New Haven: Yale University Press. Fullan, M. (1990), ‘Staff Development, Innovation, and Institutional Development’, in B. Joyce (ed.), Changing School Culture Through Staff Development: 1990 Yearbook of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, VA: ASCD, pp. 3–25. Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P. and Borg, W. R. (2007), Educational Research: An Introduction, 8th ed., Boston: Pearson Education. Harland, J., Kinder, K., Lord, P., Stott, A., Schagen, I., Haynes, J., Cusworth, L., White, W. and Paola, R. (2000), Arts Education in Secondary Schools: Effects and Effectiveness, Slough, Berkshine: The National Foundation for Educational Research. Hudson, P. and Hudson, S. (2007), ‘Examining Preservice Teachers’ Preparedness for Teaching Art’, International Journal of Education & the Arts, 8: 5, pp. 1–25. Iwai, K. (2003), ‘The Contribution of Arts Education to Children’s Lives’, Paper Presented as the UNESCO Regional Meeting on Arts Education in the European Countries, Canada and United States of America, Finland. Kidd, S. A. and Kral, M. J. (2005), ‘Practicing Participatory Action Research’, Journal of Counselling Psychology, 52: 2, pp. 187–195. Kindler, A. (1987), ‘A Review of Rationales for Integrated Arts Programs’, Studies in Art Education, 29: 1, pp. 52–60. Klopper, C. (2007), ‘So You Gotta Teach Music!: A Case for Advocacy in Regional Australian Teacher Education’, in A. Stanberg, J. McIntosh and R. Faulkner (eds), Celebrating Musical Communities: Proceedings of the 40th Anniversary National Conference, Perth, 6th–8th July 2007, Nedlands, WA: Australian Society for Music Education, pp. 130–134. Maehr, M. and Midgley, C. (1996), Transforming School Cultures, Boulder: Westview Press. McTaggart, R. (1997), ‘Guiding Principles for Participatory Action Research’, in R. McTaggart (ed.), Participatory Action Research: International Contexts and Consequences, New York: State University of New York, pp. 25–44. Robinson, K. (2001), Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, West Sussex: Capstone Publishing. Siegesmung, R. (1998), ‘Why Do We Teach Art Today?’, Studies in Art Education, 39: 3, pp. 197–215.

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Seidel, S., Tishman, S., Winner, E., Hetland, L. and Palmer, P. (2009), The Qualities of Quality: Understanding Excellence in Arts Education, Cambridge: Harvard Graduate School of Education, Project Zero. Steward, J. (ed.) (1967), Contemporary Change in Traditional Societies, Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Weissman, P. and Hendrick, J. (2013), The Whole Child. Developmental Education for the Early Years, 10th ed., Upper Saddle River: Pearson. Wiggins, R. and Wiggins, J. (2008), ‘Primary Music Education in the Absence of Specialists’, International Journal of Education & the Arts, 9, pp. 1–26.

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Chapter 5 Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed but Not Blue: The Educational Impact of the Arts Susanne Garvis and Christopher Klopper

Music really helps me learn a language. I learn German and many of the words are the same. – Chloe, Year 8 student from John’s College

T

his chapter explores the educational impact of arts programmes in four Australian educational environments encompassing formal and non-formal schooling. Educational impact includes identification of new talent, the generation of new knowledge, arts skills development, conceptual development, professional education and education of the broader field or community. In the case studies there was evidence to suggest that a significant gain in musical and other skills occurred both for children and the professionals involved at case-study sites. Learning took many forms and styles and, for some students, learning had been transformational for motivation towards schooling. Educational impact Arts education provides students with valuable opportunities to experience and build knowledge and skills in self-expression, imagination, creative and collaborative problem solving, communication, creation of shared meanings and respect for self and others (Klopper and Power 2011). Engagement in quality arts education has also been said to positively affect overall academic achievement, engagement in learning and development of empathy towards others (Power and Klopper 2011). Eisner (2002) postulates that learning in and through the arts can develop complex and subtle aspects of the mind. He promotes the value of the arts experience as a cognitive tool in transformative learning (Eisner 2002). Building on Dewey’s view of art and meaning, Eisner (2002: 10) suggests that ‘art is a mode of human experience that in principle can be secured whenever an individual interacts with the world’. This form of experience encourages ‘complex and subtle forms of thinking to take place when students have an opportunity either to work meaningfully on the creation of images – visual, choreographic, musical, literary or poetic – or to scrutinize them appreciatively’ (Eisner 2002: xii). Subsequently, the arts can transform consciousness (Eisner 2004: 10): [t]he modes of thinking…recognise the unity of form and content, they require one to think within the affordances and constraints of the medium one elects to use and they emphasize the importance of aesthetic satisfactions as motives for work.

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To Eisner (2002), arts experiences refine our sensory system and cultivate our imaginative abilities. Through such enriching experiences, learning includes basic ideas that: • There can be more than one answer to a question, where variability of outcome is okay. • The way something is formed matters. • The capacity of an art form depends on the relationships that are composed by the artist. • Intrinsic satisfactions matter. • Literal language and quantification are not the only means through which human understanding is secured and represented. • The importance of taking one’s time to relish the experience that one seeks (Eisner 2002). Moreover, ‘the arts provide a kind of permission to pursue qualitative experience in a particularly focussed way and to engage in the constructive exploration of what the imaginative process may engender’ (Eisner 2002: 4). It is this form of experience that Eisner believes promotes consciousness by providing models through which we can experience the world in new ways and providing the materials and occasions for learning to grapple with problems that depend on art-related forms of thinking. Eisner (2002) asserts a direct link between curriculum and thinking skills. Each subject area has an effect on the type of thinking skills students develop, which shapes the ways that students experience, organize and understand the world. Eisner maintains that the current curriculum in schools delineates the types of thinking endorsed by schools, consequently determining the cognitive abilities of students. He suggests that, at present, mainstream educational systems do not focus on promoting cognitive development and thinking skills associated with the arts. It is for these reasons that Eisner contends that the arts be part of the curriculum. He urges that the arts receive recognition and be included as a discipline in their own right, receiving as much attention as other subjects. If not, the full benefits of arts education will not be achieved. Arts education has been claimed to promote extrinsic outcomes in the school curriculum. Arts education has also been linked to improved student motivation, with Mussoline (1993: 83) concluding that: Art can be a powerful motivational tool to those who are successful. It can provide the impetus to succeed in other areas of school work. Participating in an art activity is generally a joyful experience for a child, regardless of his academic achievement level […] Peer group acceptance through art work builds self-esteem in the child who feels accepted and important. Arts education may act as a motivator for school attendance and retention. In an evaluation of school-based arts education programmes in Australian schools (Bryce, Mendelvits, Beavis, 74

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McQueen and Adams 2004), students from Indigenous communities that were engaged in arts programmes had improved school attendance rates. Similarly, in an American study investigating the impact of arts education on dropout rates, 22 of 36 ‘at-risk’ students answered ‘yes’ when asked whether something about the arts had kept them at school (Barry, Taylor and Walls 1990). In 2005, Bryant also found that arts programmes raised student attendance, reduced student dropout rates, fostered a love of learning in students and developed students who were better team players. This suggests that engagement with arts education also extends to increased student participation within school. Improved student learning has also been noted in the Champions of Change: The Impact of Arts on Learning project (Fiske 1999). Researchers found that arts education was significant to the development of student learning by reaching students who were not otherwise being reached, connecting students to themselves and each other, transforming the environment for learning, providing new challenges for those students already considered successful and connecting learning experiences to the world of real work. Moreover, it suggested that involvement in the arts increased academic success for all students in the middle years, including children from low-socio-economic backgrounds (Catterall, Chapleau and Iwanga 1999). In 2002, the National Arts Education Consortium confirmed the findings, described in the Champions of Change (Fiske 1999) report, that involvement in arts education increased students’ fluency, motivation, ability to connect subjects and ability to think critically to ask better questions. In the school curriculum, another means of promoting extrinsic outcomes is through the integration of arts experience with other curriculum areas. Research has found that arts integration: • increases multi-cultural understandings (Goldberg 1997) • deepens understandings of text (Cecil and Lauritzen 1994) • increases self-esteem and confidence (Harland, Kinder and Hartley 1995) • furthers comprehension of mathematical and scientific concepts (Goldberg 1997) • may be used as a valuable entry point for educating under-achieving students (Arnold 2001) • has a positive impact on reading and critical thinking skills (DuPont 1992). Recent studies on the extrinsic benefits of arts education in Australia are mixed. Hunter (2005) provided an overview of six recent Australian studies as a tool for evidence-based decision making by Government agencies. Findings suggested that the arts provided enhancement of students’ enjoyment and valuing of the arts through the promotion of student-centred learning and further encouraged family involvement in their child’s learning process. In a 2007 Australian study, research studies claiming arts education provided extrinsic benefits were examined. Oakley (2007) proposed that the consensus view was not proven as to whether the arts boosted academic achievement. Rather, arts education was characterized by a lack of baseline data and of replication studies, inconsistent measures, 75

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vague definitions, imprecise methodology and over-reliance on anecdotal evidence. Oakley also suggested there was a lack of evaluations, surveys and studies, with the added challenge of translating evidence into improved practices and deeper engagement. Further research into arts education is necessary to provide support for arts education within Australian schools, especially to contribute to the ‘lack of baseline data’ (Oakley 2007). Arts education may also contribute to increased cognitive functioning of the brain. Recent neuroscience findings from Ashbury and Rich (2008) suggest strong correlations between arts training and several cognitive functions. For example: • There was evidence that attention may be the common factor that accounted for improved cognitive test scores in children, suggesting classroom exposure to various art forms may provide an important way to strengthen children’s abilities to focus attention in general (Gazzaniga 2008; Neville et al. 2008). • Music training correlated with reading acquisition, phonological awareness and the mathematical skill of geometric reasoning (Spelke 2008). • Music training directly correlated with the amount of improvement in reading fluency in children (ranging in age from seven to twelve) over a three-year study (Wandall et al. 2008). • There were correlations between drama and memory, with acting students able to effectively extract the general gist from an experience, which is a cognitive strategy that is transferable to various verbal cognitive skills (Jonides 2008). • There was evidence that learning to dance through effective observation is closely related to learning by physical practice (Grafton and Cross 2008). Findings on brain research suggest strong correlations between arts engagement and several cognitive functions (Jensen 2001; Zatore 2005). Brain-based arts education research, however, is still within its infancy, and findings cannot be claimed to indicate a causal relationship between arts training and improved cognitive function. Strengthened correlations, however, provide an important step forward in research about learning. As Gazzaniga (2008: vi–vii) points out: It is important to realize that neuroscience often begins with correlations – usually the discovery that a certain kind of brain activity works in concert with a certain kind of behaviour […] a life-affirming dimension is opening up in neuroscience; to discover how the performance and appreciation of the arts enlarge cognitive capacities will be a long step forward in learning how better to learn and more enjoyably and productively to live. From this perspective, neuroscience is in the beginning stages of development, and with more research leading to cause-and-effect evidence, educators can take note of the importance of arts for all students. 76

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Case 8: Smarts Grammar School In the first case study, we visited the Smarts Grammar School. The school is located in the inner city of a large town that services many rural communities. The school has approximately 1000 students in grades from Kindergarten to Year Twelve, with boarding facilities readily available for students who require them. This school is recognized for its provision of a well-rounded education for all its students. They are encouraged in all areas of their development, and there is a strong emphasis on promoting students to develop a sense of social justice. Each year, all students are encouraged to be involved in charity and fund-raising events for the local community. Furthermore, each year-level sponsors a number of children in a developing country. Smarts Grammar School has a long history of arts education as a part of its curriculum. All students from Kindergarten to Year Ten have access to individual music, art and drama specialists. The school also boasts various choirs, orchestras, instrumental ensembles and drama troops in which all students have the opportunity to participate. Students in Year Four learn a string instrument with group lessons as part of the curriculum, and, in Year Five, they have the option to learn a wind instrument. The school website states: An avenue of creativity and self-expression, the arts offers students the opportunity to acquire new skills including academic competencies and interpersonal skills. Through involvement in the artistic process, the arts at Smarts Grammar School provides students with new ways of experiencing and understanding the world around them. The school is also set up for arts activities, especially with technology. All students from Year Seven to Twelve have a laptop and, consequently, technology is incorporated into all areas of the arts. Students are able to use specific programmes for composing, art work, film editing and choreography. There is a performing centre that provides facilities for students, with specialist studios for music and dance tuition and rehearsal. Students are provided with access to quality spaces and resources, such as twelve individual practice rooms for instrumental lessons and boarder practice, as well as two visual arts studios and a drama classroom. In the early childhood and junior school sectors, all classrooms are supplied with percussive instruments. A piano is available in some classrooms so children can sing to morning songs. The principal highlights the importance of ensuring musical tools and resources are readily available so as to foster student learning and enjoyment: It is important that the children learn arts skills and techniques alongside musical enjoyment. In the early years we encourage active arts making to help build a strong foundation for future arts learning. For example, in music, the children in the early years 77

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learn to understand differences in beat and rhythm. They learn about crotchets and quavers through ‘tas’ and ‘ti-tis’. The students also learn about basic pitch. Daily routines within the school are embedded with the principles and concepts of music and dance. For example, hymns are sung at assembly and choirs, ensembles and dance troops perform at both public and private celebratory events. Additionally, students are provided with opportunities to individually perform at lunchtime concerts as well as an arts carnival (similar to a sports carnival in a school) whereby individuals compete in the arts against one another to earn points for their team. One parent commented: Here the students learn it is the same as other subject areas and even sport. They learn that some students are better than others at each art discipline. The arts require the development of skills and talent; it is not just about something you go and do. The children are taught a strong foundation of arts skills to later draw upon and develop. Here children learn arts education requires hard work with many rehearsals. That is what I love about the arts carnival. It provides the same ranking for the arts as sport in the school. Children who are good at the arts can also excel and receive recognition from others. The annual sports carnival also incorporates elements of the arts. Each year, the competing teams must create their own theme, uniforms and props to perform in a march. In conjunction with this, each team will rehearse and present a dance and drama production to the school, and a prize is awarded to the winning march. If students would like to pursue a career in music, they can study music extension in senior school alongside music; however, they must audition to be accepted/enrolled. The select group of students who are accepted is encouraged to take part in a music school over the summer holidays based at a local university. The students can gain credits towards a certificate in a special music education technique. The principal believes it is important to support all children within the arts discipline and to ensure that those children who show specific talent are nurtured and guided accordingly. The principal notes that talent identification first takes place in Year Four, when children learn a stringed instrument. While all children will learn an instrument, different students will be selected for different instruments based on their skills and grouped with like-minded peers. For example, all children who are demonstrating skills in early strings learning will join the same orchestra. Similarly, musical groups in the middle and senior school are based on the level of skill. This means that some musical groups are considered elite and require entry via an audition. These specific groups also require students to be available for more rehearsals through the week, encouraging dedication, time management and teamwork skills. The principal further notes the importance of the arts in benefiting other curriculum areas. She states: 78

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[t]he arts really help students in their other areas. We are a top-performing school academically and I think this is because the students have access to a rounded education where they can see how academics, arts and sports combine and benefit one another.   I really think there is a link between early arts learning and language and communication. Children learn how to sing and pronounce words in music. They also learn fine motor and gross motor [skills] with associated movement with the songs. I know there is research out there to support this.   I also think there are links between music exposure and numeracy learning. We find that since the children have such a strong introduction in music in the early years, the children are able to easily grasp mathematical concepts. A teacher in the early years’ classroom spoke of the importance of arts integration for the learning of the children: We teach everything with and through the arts in the early years. The arts act as a developmental tool to support the children as they engage in their own meaning-making. It allows us to teach the key areas of literacy, numeracy, history and geography, even science in the early years. We ask children to mix colours and to also build their own musical instruments with string to experiment with vibration. We also use songs to help the children remember everyday tasks and routines that we do such as packing up, getting ready to go to the library and transitions in the classroom. We try and have as much arts as possible until the children are in Year Four when we can start to look at talent identification. Professional education for the arts for all teachers is encouraged in the school. Teachers will have regular workshops on new arts practices to implement with the students. In the early years and junior school, the arts specialist teachers would work closely with generalist teachers to ensure children’s learning was cross-disciplinary and thus aligned across learning domains. Both parties engage in teaching each other skills to enhance the professional learning within the school. Professional learning for school staff also stemmed from regular visiting academics and artists-in-residence. Academics often provide professional development to the school every six months. Every year, an artist-in-residence works with staff and students to encourage skill development and create a performance or exhibition to share with the community the learning that has taken place. The principal encouraged his staff to engage in further academic study. For the arts specialist teachers, three are currently enrolled in a Master of Education to pursue research in arts education and are currently engaged in action-research projects within the school. Literature reviews from these teachers have been published on the school website for parents and the community to read. One teacher commented: I really like working in this school because I am supported in my own education. I am encouraged to keep up to date with current ideas in the field and also share this with the 79

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school community. The school community supports the research projects that I want to undertake with my teaching. I feel like I can align my practice with theory. Case 9: John’s College John’s College is a state school that prides itself on providing a high quality of public education. The school has 1500 students from Year Eight to Twelve. Each year, the students perform well in standardized tests and university admission exams. Admission into the school is usually reserved for the catchment area of the school. A small number of places are reserved for students outside the catchment area who can pass entrance exams. There are specific programmes for German immersion and music extension from Year Eight to Ten. Generally, the students who are involved in the music extension programme are also involved in the German immersion programme. Both these programmes require auditions and interviews in order to select the highest performing students. There are currently two classes of 25 students for the music extension class in Year Eight, Nine and Ten. These students engage in more music classes throughout the week compared to those students in the generalist studies programme. The school website states that this programme is: specifically designed to extend students who have already developed sound music reading and performing skills throughout the primary years of education. This exciting two[-] year program allows students to develop advanced skills, in a challenging atmosphere with other like[-]minded musicians. Students enroll for a full two[-]year course and [are] also expected to participate in a school extra-curricular music ensemble. Music Extension involves creative performance opportunities that involve full class performances, small group and solo performances. Students develop skills in a variety of instruments (including guitar and keyboard), as well as voice. Students participate in a singing based aural program (Kodaly) to develop advanced musicianship skills. An e-learning website is also used to develop aural skills. Students visually and aurally analyse music by deconstructing musical elements, and making connections with style, context and genre. There are countless opportunities for students to join performing ensembles, including three concert bands (Symphonic Band, Concert Band  Two and Concert Band Three), the Big Band, the Percussion Ensemble, two String Orchestras (Sinfonia Strings and Philharmonic Strings), the Show Choir, the Concert Choir and the Male Voice Choir. The school encourages membership in more than one ensemble. State government funding of the arts programmes provides students with free tuition at all levels in woodwind, brass, strings and percussion. The music extension group has rallied a strong parent support group. Regular fundraisers are held to provide and maintain musical resources in the school, including school performingarts uniforms for celebratory occasions, competitions and school functions. 80

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A parent commented on the programme: We didn’t live in the catchment area of the school but our daughter was able to get in for German immersion and music extension after passing entrance exams. She plays the violin. I really like that she can be extended in her musical learning. In primary school she was a high achiever but she wasn’t really extended in her music ability. My daughter was also at a state school and they had group lessons when learning the violin. While her group might be on page three of the violin book, my daughter would often come home and be at least 20 pages ahead. She would teach herself and practice to her level even if it was above the rest of the group that she was learning in.   The other thing I really like is that she gets to experience playing in a prized orchestra where entry is by audition. The quality of what the students are able to achieve from having to be auditioned is incredible. In primary school all children who learned a musical instrument were expected to play in the orchestra. It was not compulsory for the children to practice as it was a very non-competitive environment. Now my daughter is able to be in a community where quality and excellence is encouraged. Her daughter agreed with her mother and added: It was a nice feeling to be identified as having musical talent because now I know the teachers will want to challenge me. The other students in my class are also talented musicians so we can really help each other. I’m not the most talented in the class for once but I want to be. I really want to try again to achieve in music because I am being challenged. The music teachers in the school are still actively performing musicians. They perform in ensembles and bands and also teach instrumental students privately. Additionally, teachers attended professional development sessions organized for Kodaly teaching. Attracting around two hundred Kodaly teachers, this professional learning opportunity enables staff to learn new songs and explore, experience and familiarize themselves with a variety of ways to teach music skills and concepts. The two case studies presented thus far indicate the potential educational impact of arts education within the boundaries of a formal school setting. While most formal school settings strive to offer arts education learning experiences to all students, limited curriculum time restricts the potential for deep learning that results from children’s engagement in instrumental tuition, dramatic classes, specific dance genre instruction or even training in visual art techniques such as pottery or sculpture. Many children are afforded opportunities to extend their formal school curriculum arts education by engaging in private tuition in non-formal settings. Educational impact in these environments is seemingly beneficial and allows for greater skill development and refinement, complementing the foundation offered at school. Let us take a closer look at two case studies that illustrate arts education learning experiences in non-formal settings. 81

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Case 10: Evelyn Regional Conservatorium of Music Regional conservatoriums of music in New South Wales (NSW), Australia are unique in that they are not associated with a tertiary institution and receive proportion funding from the State Government of NSW Department of Education and Training. No other Australian state or territory funds or part-funds non-tertiary conservatoriums located in regional areas. NSW regional conservatoriums are most often the principal provider of music education services for their region, servicing schools, individuals and the wider community through specialist instrumental and vocal training with emphasis on school-aged students and curriculum support for schools. The regional conservatoriums, in most cases, teach across wide geographical areas requiring specialist teachers to travel vast distances in order to provide students in outlying communities, villages and cities with access to them. The majority of these outreach programmes work solely with NSW public schools. Klopper (2009) highlighted the fundamental aim of regional conservatoriums as: ‘attempting to provide equity for students in remote areas having the same access to music education opportunities, as do their city counterparts’ (36). Klopper and Power (2012a) maintained that preparing students for musical life beyond the private studio by offering fundamental guidance on instrumental teaching and opportunities for ensemble music making was a strong bearing of the regional conservatoriums. Evelyn Regional Conservatorium of Music is situated in a regional city of New South Wales. It is housed in a former faith temple and appears somewhat daunting due to the large austere external façade. After stepping inside the building you are transported to a sonic cacophony of melodious and rhythmic patterns resounding through the hexagonal building. In the centre of the building is the large performance auditorium surrounded by private music studios, where peripatetic staff passionately shared their love of music and technical mastery of their instrument. In order to appreciate the potential educational impact of arts education, knowledge of the educational context and landscape is important. When discussing this with the director of the Evelyn Regional Conservatorium, it was apparent that dialogue at state government was ongoing and that this required continued attendance demonstrating repeatedly the quality education being offered to many students: We still have not convinced the government of the essential place that we play in the educational landscape. We’re getting closer but I’m personally not convinced that we’ve done that. And the essential place that we hold, even though we don’t have a curriculum, is we teach to the highest standard that we can, employ tutors who exhibit a high level of music, musicality, musicianship and on the whole are motivated. The Department of Education and Training does not provide regional areas with equitable services to metropolitan areas – they simply can’t. But we haven’t yet convinced government and the way we need to respond to that particular danger [is] by being like the planters that water the educational world. 82

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Drawing on sustained conversation between the researcher and the director about the perceived educational opportunity and subsequent impact: […] the first and foremost is instrumental one-to-one tuition, I would say that is the largest one particular thing that we offer and that’s an enormous thing and it’s also of a very high standard given how removed we are from a much larger centre – Sydney. Yes, one-to-one tuition but I think within that context of the one-to-one tuition we have so many different instruments being offered within the one building that creates its own energy so I think what happens there is not only are staff drawn to it rather than teaching privately at their house or something, they’re drawn to teaching here because they’re able to work with like[-]minded people and because we have a large variety of different instruments on offer with the tuition. I think what we have there is the energy, whether it be with the staff being given greater opportunity to get together and play together or whether it’s a more general drawing on the student population of the area because they know they can come here. That’s certainly a big part of what we offer. [There are] [m]any performance opportunities for both staff and students and that’s an enormous part of what we do. Probably academically, there’s the musicianship class, but it’s not like we offer academic classes in the same way that you would at a tertiary level conservatorium which I don’t think would be appropriate at this point in time because we’re not a tertiary institution as such. The rhizomatic offshoot suggested by the director provides students access to music education in both the formal and non-formal environments. A consequence of enacting this rhizomatic response is: […] we go into schools and do little tutorials with the schools each week which is different from what I’m used to because a lot of those kids don’t get one on-one-lesson[s] so it’s sort of a fun introductory class and they’re with their peers and with their friends and they can play, it’s inexpensive, it’s getting them involved and giving them access to music. The pedagogical activities offered by the conservatorium are essentially student centred. It was expressed that while the student is central to the activities planned, the direction followed is negotiated between the student’s needs and the teacher’s experience. This dialogic negotiation is crucial in the maintenance of the student-teacher relationship (Klopper and Power 2012b). Student expectations are centred on their consideration of their teacher as a person, performer and musician. Students are seen to value observing their teacher as a performer, as well as the opportunity to perform alongside them during various performances. Students also expressed the importance of ‘keeping it fun’ during lessons. During school vacation periods, many two-income families struggle to effectively manage the parental and professional balancing act. One community’s response to this balancing act 83

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has been the introduction of council-run vacation care programmes. This next case study details an example of a local council delivering a vacation care programme. Case 11: Tenderville city Tenderville city is located in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. The closest metropolitan city is four hours’ drive away or four-and-a-half hours’ travel by train and bus. The city has most services that are commonly found in cities around the globe, just on a small scale, and at times limited by the availability of specialist expertise. The local council had for a number of years offered ad hoc vacation care activities. In 2009, it was planned to offer something old, something different, maybe something blue, but definitely something new. The council was offering a week-long vacation care programme for twoincome families. Council staff had been tasked with planning the programme and sought assistance from the teacher education faculty housed in the locally situated regional university. The assistance brief sought arts-type activities. Resources were limited, with the exception of enthusiasm. Undergraduate students studying teacher education were called to volunteer, and the team of ten students was formed. The lecturer from the university worked with the group of students to design a connected week-long arts programme. The connected programme allowed for integrated arts activities to be implemented and then connected with the non-arts activities. The design of the programme culminated with a performance of highlights from the week, which parents and caregivers were invited to attend at the time they would usually have collected their children. Each morning began with students engaging with a djembe drumming session. The windows vibrated and shook; the 34 students were sonically charged for a day filled with activities and opportunities. The programme was presented from council facilities, which meant that the administrative staff working in other areas of the facility could hear and, most times, feel the pulse of activity emanating from the vacation care programme. At the beginning of the week, the staff were not amused by the sonic vibrations, but within a couple of days, the drumming session had grown to include the administrative staff. After each rousing morning of musical activity, the programme participants would be divided into four groups. Each group had a designated leader in one of the teacher education university students who would present, in workshop style, a range of activities previously prepared for small groups. The activities were broadly categorized by art form domain: dance, drama and visual art. Media technology was one domain that could not be offered due to a lack of access to technology for this programme. Nevertheless, the rotation of students through each workshop provided a connected arts approach to the programme. After the mid-day meal and rest, the children were able to engage in a range of non-arts activities, such as movie lounge, readers’ corner, building blocks or ‘surprise me!’ At the conclusion of each day, the university students and lecturer met to debrief and decide on any required changes or augmentations to the programme for the following day. 84

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It was apparent that what was planned for each day was being covered substantially faster than initially intended. This was partly due to the inexperience of the student teachers. Adaptations and extension activities were then included to provide opportunities for the participants to extend their learning. As the students attending the vacation care programme were from a range of local primary schools, there was a noticeable range of previous experiential foundations. On day three, the teacher education students offered to present the ‘surprise me!’ activity corner. They decided that this would be an arts activity corner and would provide the children with activities other than those covered during the more structured workshops. It was during this day that the stage set for the performance was designed, and construction work began immediately. The performance was to have a nautical theme, and the best way to exhibit this was by building an almost life-size vessel complete with flagpole. During the following morning’s musical interlude with djembe, the rhythms soon became representative of rowing meter, together with accompanying work-song singing. Once the children had transported themselves away at sea in their own built vessel, their imagination and sense of creative spirit held no boundaries. The dress-up corner became a valuable source for the wardrobe; subsequent days saw children bringing in articles from home that became adornments and necessary attachments for the sailing vessel. ‘What shall we do with a drunken sailor?’ was adapted to ‘What shall we do with an inland sailor?’ and narrated the plight of a young child living in inland Australia longing to be a sailor out at sea. What we all witnessed was the children’s natural ability to harness learning opportunities in many of the planned activities with which they are presented. Learning knows no boundaries, and whether at school, at home, in the community or at the local council offices, affording children with the opportunity to learn will have a profound impact upon all involved. And, yes, the performance for parents and caregivers was a resounding success, and the local newspaper ran a feature on the programme. The inclusion of arts activities provided by teacher education students has become a regular feature of the vacation care programme. What does this mean? The case studies have provided us with insights into the development of knowledge and skills, talent identification, professional learning and community learning. Furthermore, they have provided evidence of the educational impact of the arts in each of the sites and described the way in which the arts is used as a teaching tool to aid other curriculum areas. It has also shown how the arts can be used as a motivational tool for student learning. The case studies showed the opportunities provided in schools for talent identification in the arts. In the Smarts Grammar School, students could audition for certain arts ensembles, they could participate in music extension courses in secondary school and those with exceptional arts talent were also identified in primary school. Likewise at John’s College, 85

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students could audition for certain arts ensembles. There was also a music extension course for early secondary school to enhance the knowledge and skills of music students beyond the current expected level of understanding for mainstream students. Comparable to extension classes provided for disciplines such as science or maths at school, music extension classes were used for high-achieving students. Similarly, Evelyn Regional Conservatorium of Music offered audition opportunities for aspiring students by connecting with local schools. This provided the opportunity for students to identify their passion and/or potential within the discipline of the arts, specifically music, in the hopes of expanding upon their knowledge and understanding in a safe and supportive environment. Talent identification is an important process in schools to support children who display exemplary talent in the arts. Just as sporting ability and academic ability are nurtured in school programmes, an aptitude for the arts can also be accommodated. It is interesting to note that both the Smarts Grammar School and John’s College also have talent identification programmes for sports, academics and language. At each school, it is accepted that children excel at different activities, and it is important that they can be catered for regardless of the activity. Each institution celebrates the successes of students by recognizing their achievements and acknowledging that each child is an individual. In the school case studies, the arts were taught for ‘art’s sake’. At both schools, individual arts are taught to develop specific arts skills and knowledge. At the Smarts Grammar School, arts are seen as an important area of the curriculum for all children in primary school. There are individual instrumental music lessons and a number of specialist arts teachers. At John’s College, all children have access to music in Year Eight and instrumental lessons are free. At both schools, there are also numerous arts ensemble groups that students can join. The arts at both schools were also used as a tool to help enhance other learning areas. Smarts Grammar School used the arts to enhance literacy, language and numeracy. In the early years, all curriculum areas were taught through the arts to assist young children in becoming active meaning makers regarding the world around them. At John’s College, many children who completed music extension also completed German immersion. These students found many connections between both subjects that helped enhance each subject. This showed the educational benefit of having an arts education programme in a school to also aid the levels of understanding in other curriculum areas. It aligns with most of the findings described above of the extrinsic benefits associated with arts education. In these case studies, the arts appeared to make connections for students across the curriculum and provided a strong foundation for other subject areas. The professional learning of teachers was also evident in the case studies. In each of the scenarios, it appeared important to teachers to improve their own educational understanding of teaching the arts; they would regularly attend workshops to improve their own skills and knowledge. The teachers would then implement many new ideas into their classrooms. They appeared dedicated to professional learning as part of being a teacher of arts education. Teachers’ flexibility and openness to teaching of the arts is crucial, and their willingness to learn, understand and attempt to practise concepts that are foreign to them demonstrates 86

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their dedication to improving their teaching and learning pedagogies, which in turn benefits their students. The teachers also recognized the importance of educating the community about the arts. In order to aid community understanding, they would regularly present on the school’s website information about the benefits of engaging in the arts. This approach was important to help raise the community understanding of the school’s curriculum regarding arts education and the role the arts can play in life. The two non-formal education case studies have demonstrated that educational impact is not restricted to formal education settings. In many instances, the opportunities and challenges faced at the Evelyn Regional Conservatorium of Music were not dissimilar to those at the case-study schools. The Tenderville city vacation care programme exhibits the rich tapestry that can be woven when formal and non-formal education settings merge and offer educational opportunities that afford deep learning outcomes for all students involved. The performance occasions in both case study sites were a success for a number of reasons, including that: • parents were given the opportunity to see the children perform in a professionally programmed event • multiple aspects of the arts were incorporated into the performance • students were given the opportunity to demonstrate material they had been preparing over time. The students extended basic arts education knowledge and were offered the opportunity to develop skills in areas in which they possibly had not had opportunity before. Conclusion These case studies have explored educational impact in four Australian case sites through interviews with employees. They have shown how some arts education programmes can identify talent of children in the arts. Arts education can also have the power to generate new knowledge about skill development and conceptual development in a variety of ways. The arts are also used as a transformational and motivational teaching tool to aid other areas of the curriculum. In the case studies, we see the importance of professional education at each of the schools where the teachers are based and the education of the community. The case studies indicate that educational impact extends beyond children to also include the educational learning of teachers and the community. It is important that when schools are examining their arts education programmes and funding that arts programmes receive, they consider the educational impact for students, teachers and the community. Specific classes in skill development in particular arts are also 87

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important to help the student improve their craft. It appears in all of these sites that students would not be reaching their education potential without access to a quality arts education programme. References Arnold, A. (2001), ‘Towards a Finer Description of the Connection Between Arts Education and Student Achievement’, Arts Education Policy Review, 102: 5, pp. 25–26. Asbury, C. and Rich, B. (eds) (2008), Learning, Arts and the Brain: The Dana Consortium Report, New York: The Dana Foundation. Barry, N., Taylor, J. and Walls, K. (1990), The Role of the Fine and Performing Arts in High School Dropout Prevention, Tallahasse: Centre for Music Research, Florida State University. Bryant, B. (2005), The Importance of Fine Arts, Katy: Katy Independent School District. Bryce, J., Mendelvits, J., Beavis, A., McQueen, J. and Adams, I. (2004), Evaluation of School-based Arts Education Programs in Australian Schools, Canberra: ACER. Catterall, J. S., Capleau, R. and Iwanaga, J. (1999), ‘Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive Involvement in Music and Theatre Arts’, in E. Fiske (ed.), Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, Washington: The Arts Partnership and the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, pp. 1–19. Cecil, N. L. and Lauritzen, P. (1994), Literacy and the Arts for the Integrated Classroom, White Plains: Longman. DuPont, S. (1992), ‘The Effectiveness of Creative Drama as an Instructional Strategy to Enhance the Reading Skills of Fifth-grade Remedial Readers’, Reading, Research and Instruction, 31: 3, pp. 41–53. Eisner, E. W. (2002), The Arts and Creation of Mind, New Haven: Yale University Press. Eisner, E. W. (2004), ‘What can Education Learn from the Arts About the Practice of Education?’, International Journal of Education and the Arts, 5: 4, pp. 1–13. Fiske, E. (ed.) (1999), Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, Washington: The Arts Partnership and the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Gazzaniga, M. (2008), ‘Arts and Cognition: Findings Hint at Relationships’, in C. Asbury and B. Rich (eds), Learning, Arts and the Brain, New York: Dana Press, pp. v–viii. Goldberg, M. (1997), Arts and Learning, New York: Longman. Grafton, S. and Cross, E. (2008), ‘Dance and the Brain’, in C. Asbury and B. Rich (eds), Learning, Arts and the Brain, New York: Dana Press, pp. 61–70. Harland, J., Kinder, K. and Hartley, K. (1995), Arts in Their Review: A Study of Youth Participation in the Arts, Slough: NFER. Hunter, M. A. (2005), Education and the Arts Research Overview, Sydney: Australia Council for the Arts. Jensen, E. (2001), Arts with the Brain in Mind, United States: ASCD. Jonides, J. (2008), ‘Musical Skill and Cognition’, in C. Asbury and B. Rich (eds), Learning, Arts and the Brain, New York: Dana Press, pp. 11–16. Klopper, C. J. (2009), ‘Bringing Music Skills to Remote Schools’, Music Forum, 15, pp. 36–37. 88

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Klopper, C. J. and Power, B. (2011), ‘Mend the Gap! An Overview of Classroom-based Arts Education Research in Australia’, in C. J. Klopper and S. Garvis (eds), Tapping into Classroom Practice of Arts Education: From Inside Out, Brisbane: Post Pressed. Klopper, C. J. and Power, B. (2012a), ‘Music Teaching and Learning in a Regional Conservatorium, NSW, Australia’, Australian Journal of Music Education, 1, pp. 80–91. Klopper, C. J. and Power, B. (2012b), ‘Surgery or Studio: Music Teaching-Learning in a Regional Conservatorium, NSW, Australia’, in Proceedings of the International Society for Music Education 30th World Conference on Music Education, 15–20 July 2012, Thessaloniki, Greece. Mussoline, S. D. (1993), ‘Art and Academic Achievement: A Qualitative Study of Elementary School Students’, Dissertation, Miami, FL: Florida International University. Neville, H., Anderson, A., Bagdade, O., Bell, T., Currin, J., Fanning, J., Klein, S., Lauinger, B., Pakalak, E., Dabourin, L., Stevens, C., Sundborg, S. and Yamada, Y. (2008), ‘Effects of Music Training on Brain and Cognitive Development in Under-privledged 3-5 Year Old Children: Preliminary Results’, in C. Asbury and B. Rich (eds), Learning, Arts and the Brain, New York: Dana Press, pp. 105–116. Oakley, K. (2007), Educating for the Creative Workforce: Rethinking Arts and Education, Canberra: Australia Council for the Arts. Power, B. and Klopper, C. J. (2011), ‘The Classroom Practice of Creative Arts Education in NSW Primary Schools: A Descriptive Account’, International Journal of Education & the Arts,12: 11, pp. 1–26, http://www.ijea.org/v12n11/. Spelke, E. (2008), ‘Effects of Music Instruction on Developing Cognitive Systems as the Foundations of Mathematics and Science’, in C. Asbury and B. Rich (eds), Learning, Arts and the Brain, New York: Dana Press, pp. 17–50. Wandall, B., Dougherty, R. F., Ben-Shacher, M., Deutsch, G. K. and Tsang, J. (2008), ‘Training in the Arts, Reading and Brain Imaging’, in C. Asbury and B. Rich (eds), Learning, Arts and the Brain, New York: Dana Press, pp. 11–16. Zatorre, R. (2005), ‘Music, the Food of Neuroscience?’, Nature, 434: 7031, pp. 312–315.

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Chapter 6 ‘Whose Art Is It – Mine, Yours or Ours?’: Exploring Ethical Impact Susanne Garvis

At this school, arts are like the glue that binds the community. – Stephen, Year 6 teacher from Smithfield School

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his chapter explores a number of vignettes from teachers, parents and children to highlight the ethical impact of arts in a variety of schooling contexts. Examination of ethical impact includes the exploration of social problems, inclusivity, diversity and the promotion of changes in attitudes. What happens when cultural music is taught in school? How confident do teachers feel engaging with arts from different cultures? Who is included and excluded in school arts programmes? Can the arts build a community within a school? Findings also show how the arts can contribute to sustainability of societal values in the promotion of ethical behaviour. This chapter discusses the ethical impact of arts within schools. It explores two case studies in Australia. In the first case study at Treetops Community School, cultural understanding is an important foundation of the curriculum. Each school term, students explore a different culture and become familiar with music, food and way of life in their investigation. This case study explores the parents’, teachers’ and children’s perspectives of such a cultural programme and explores issues of teacher confidence in delivering a cultural curriculum and parent response. It also explores ideas of inclusion and exclusion within the school when cultural celebrations occur. Like the Treetops Community School, the Smithfield School believes in delivering a holistic education for children. The school is located in a low-socio-economic suburb and has recently seen an increase in the diversity of groups within the school. The school has made a conscious effort to engage the community to provide a supportive and sustainable environment for all children. This has been achieved through many of the out-of-schoolhours arts activities that involve family participation. While these events are not part of the official curriculum of the school, they provide the fabric for creating and understanding the diverse community that collectively joins to make the school a better place for all. Combined, both case studies highlight the ethical impact of arts education in Australian schools. Ethical impact An investigation of ethical impact can explore minority issues and promote change by providing inclusion rather than exclusion opportunities.

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Inclusion within arts education is discussed in two ways. First, the arts is argued and illustrated empirically to be integral parts of the child’s everyday life in early childhood institutions, such as preschool. Because preschool in many countries around the world is not subject based (e.g., music or visual art), the manner in which the arts are made a part of the child’s experiences in this institution is investigated and debated (Narey 2009; Wallerstedt and Pramling 2012). Second, studies report attempts to make an art, for example, music, into a more integrative practice, showing empirically that basing music activities on listening rather than on singing in tune facilitates children’s musical self-esteem and their participation in the activities (Kellett 2000). Inclusion in arts practice may also depend on access to digital technology. Digital technology, where available to children, is changing the nature of arts, arts practices and arts participation (Lamont 2008; Roulston 2006). For many families, the home is now the primary site of cultural participation. Understanding the implications, potential and challenges that arise as a consequence of diversity and digital technology for contemporary childhoods is crucial for early childhood researchers and educators (Lemon 2010; Synder and Bulfin 2007). Traditionally, arts research with young children has focussed on behaviours and drawn on developmental psychology, with little regard for social and cultural processes. Researchers acknowledging cultural and social processes argue for a broader inclusive and integrative framework for the study of contemporary childhood influenced by context and popular culture (Young 2009). There have been a few studies exploring cultural diversity can be promoted by the arts, including language arts (Amour 2003), visual arts (Terrini 2008) and music (Young 2009). In regard to language arts, Amour (2003) reports on the combination of children’s natural storytelling abilities with quality multicultural literature to enhance their language skills and appreciation of cultural differences. In regard to visual arts, Terrini (2008) examines the New Zealand early childhood curriculum (Te whariki he whariki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa) (Ministry of Education 1996) to ascertain the requirements for developing culturally inclusive visual arts education in early childhood settings. In regard to music, Young (2009) argues the importance of sociological and anthropological lens for music education with young children, moving beyond the traditions of developmental psychology. These researchers provide a critical view of cultural diversity in early childhood education and call for greater awareness of social and cultural processes. A critical view of cultural diversity will also lead to greater inclusion and sustainability. Below, two cases are shared that show how ethical impact operates in two Australian schools: the Treetops Community School and the Smithfield School. Case 12: Treetops Community School The Treetops Community School is a small school dedicated to providing children with a holistic education. It is located near the coast. The school was deliberately built within a rainforest and is dedicated to environmental sustainability. The school is made out of 94

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recycled wood and has been built to allow cooling in summer and heating in winter. The school consists of 150 students from preschool to Year Seven. Cultural understanding is an important foundation of the curriculum. Each school term, students explore a different culture and become familiar with music, food and way of life in their investigation. This term the students are focussing on Norwegian fairy tales. The entire curriculum of arts, language, numeracy, sport and science is based around the concept of Norway. There is a Norwegian troll that a different child takes home every night. The child needs to take a photo of the troll in their garden and post the photo to the school’s website. At the end of the term, parents are invited to take part in a Norwegian cultural day. During this day the students present Norwegian fairy tales, Norwegian food and games for parents to be involved in. Children plan and organize the entire day for the parents. The case study focusses on a composite class of preschool and Year One children. There are 20 children in the class and Mary Jobes is their teacher. This is her second year of teaching after a previous career as a marketing director. This is the first time Mary has taught the cultural unit on Norway. The children are now in the second term of school, with the younger children now feeling settled with the routines in the classroom. Teacher Mary Jobes has found the organization and development of the Norwegian unit difficult. With limited knowledge about Norwegian fairy tales, she has had to spend many hours outside of school time researching, learning new songs and developing material for the young children. I really think it is great that the children can learn about the culture of different countries. This means they learn about the stories, language, songs and games of a country. We then have a big cultural day at the end of the term that the children organize. They invite their parents and family and present what they have learned. This semester we are studying Norway. It is probably one [of] the countries I don’t really know much about. I had to spend much time researching about the country. My family weren’t initially happy with me having to work on the weekend but they also realize how important my job is and that I need to get the Norwegian content right.   It is great to see the children understanding the different cultures in my class. They learn some of the language, about food and games etc. I really think it is important that in arts programmes the children are able to experience many different cultures. I think it makes them better human beings and it also educates the parents. They also learn about different cultures. It provides opportunities for family learning. I really think this type of approach can really change society. We aren’t only educating children, we are educating families. 95

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Mary also comments on her level of confidence in delivering the cultural curriculum: You know sometimes I really worry if I am pronouncing things correctly, if I am singing the right way, have I interpreted things correctly. I am learning Norwegian for the first time and then having to speak and sing with it with the children. What if I’m not doing a good job? It is difficult because often you will have a parent or a friend who can come in and help with speaking etc. This is the first unit where it is just me trying to organize it all by myself. Children The preschool and Year One class shared comments on what they had been learning in their unit on Norwegian fairy tales: I like the way Miss J teaches us the different songs. I can speak over four languages. I like that we are learning about trolls and fairy tales in Norway. I like playing the games and singing the songs. (Student 1) We have so much fun. I really like coming to school every day. One day I want to go on holidays to Norway. (Student 2) The trolls live in Norway and you can sing them songs. I like singing. (Student 3) Parents Nearly all the parents attend the cultural days at the end of each term. Parents who can’t attend are absent because of work or other commitments they have. Parents value the school cultural curriculum and feel it is important for helping their children understand the world. Kym and Michael Brood have sent all of their three children to this school. Their youngest is in the preschool/Year One composite class with Mary Jobes. They recognize the importance of the cultural curriculum: We really love this school and the cultural understanding it promotes. I think it is fabulous that each semester they learn about another country. My older children can tell you so much about the world. They know about different traditions and festivals. I really think they have a better outlook on life and the world. We also make it a family activity. When the children bring home work we make sure we work together as a family. If we want to know more we can search on the Internet. When our youngest is older we are going to go travelling to some of these countries to actually show them. In the meantime, my husband 96

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and I try to attend the cultural day at the end of every term. It is wonderful to see all the students singing together and learning about the arts and languages of other countries.   I know for some parents, however, it is difficult to be involved in the cultural day because they have to work. Our youngest has a best friend whose parents have to work. I feel sorry for her. We will often take photos to show the parents at a later time. I know it is difficult but the cultural day is a little strange because it includes but also excludes parents because it is run during school time. The school is also non-religious so I sometimes wonder how some families, who may be religious, get on. How do they get on when the children explore the language, songs and culture of another country? Maybe they are secretly excluded from the school. Case 13: Smithfield School The Smithfield School is located in a relatively low-socio-economic area on the outskirts of a large city. Approximately two hundred and fifty students are enrolled at the school; however, the school population appears to be declining. As the principal explained, the area around the school is largely populated by elderly people, suggesting that the demand for schooling may have decreased. Alternatively, the principal suggested the school is also in close proximity to three state schools. One of the state schools is relatively new, with new buildings and resources. The school has a good reputation for catering for children with special needs. Within the school population of 250 students, 26 (or 10 per cent) are ascertained as needing intervention strategies for their learning. There is also, in the principal’s words, ‘quite a large below-average sector of the school where the school is trying to spend a lot of money and [which it is trying to] resource with teacher aide time’. A specialist teacher is employed to take drama and music with each class for an hour a week. Sport is taught by the generalist teacher. Within the school, there are also regular arts activities such as the Easter pageant and participation in arts council events. The school curriculum is designed around outcomes-based education. Learning is based around three stages and a junior stage. The school has a Preparatory Year that is stand alone, before the junior stage that equates to Year One. Stage one is equivalent to Year Two and Three grouped together, stage two consists of students in Year Four and Five grouped together and stage three consists of Year Six and Seven students grouped together. Students are further placed into ‘journey’ groups for maths and languages based on results of wholeschool testing that occurs in October every year. Other key learning areas are dealt with on a two-year cycle of rotation for their curriculum programme. Teachers Steven Matthews is a third-year teacher of stage three (Year Six and Seven students) at Smithfield School. This is his first year at this school and he has taken on the responsibility of 97

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teaching physical education. Previously, he spent two years at a rural school where he was one of three teachers. Steven began his story by drawing on his experiences with the arts as a child. He then connected these experiences with his current teaching practice. The story Steven was expected to live and tell was that of a generalist teacher who could teach all key learning areas. Steven Matthews lived by this story, trying to teach all subjects. He did admit he was not capable of teaching arts as he did not have the knowledge or skills. I think the arts should be a compulsory part of the curriculum. It would be good to get the kids more involved. There is one little girl who can draw really awesome cartoon characters so that would be rather remiss on my part if I could not feed that interest – do you know what I mean?   My average school day – mornings we start off with fitness and get them going with that. From there we move into reading journeys or journey groups in regard to literacy and the stuff that goes with that. And [for] those we actually separate the class out into ability groups, or stage groups. From there we go into religious education and then we have a break. After the break we have mathematics most days, and after maths I have an English group where I look at the parts of English and all the grammatical parts and that type of stuff. And then it is integrated after that. Most days, I probably get two hours of art in, just because of the way that the curriculum is set up.   My only complaint is that there is so much stuff in the curriculum at the moment that there is just not enough time to get everything done. And then if you do, you’ve rushed through some stuff and you’ve not done it justice. There is just not enough time. I find it difficult with only two hours. At the moment I am doing ‘angry art’, you know where the arts means different things … Feeling art in a sense. So from feeling art I went to drawing an object that the kids had brought into school. From there we went to gridding it, putting it into a grid and distorting it with only one on the vertical instead of the horizontal (the verticals are distorted while the horizontals stay the same). And the kids have to re-draw it into there. I notice that the kids who were perfectionists really battle with it because there is not enough time to do it justice.   The role of arts in education is really complementary to literacy and numeracy and a lot of skills in both of those areas can come from the arts. But I think the most important thing is that it gives an area of outlet for children who are not academic to feel like, you know, ‘I can do this and I know I can do this well and there is nothing wrong with this’. You know, in visual arts you can’t go wrong with your interpretation of a task set by a teacher in the arts and I think for some kids that’s really important and they achieve success.   I’d love to see all children learn a musical instrument. Unfortunately, even at our school, we have families who aren’t able to afford it. I think some of the state schools have a great idea. I don’t know if it happens in all state schools where it is just available for anybody and it is paid for within the school budget. It would be great if this could be extended to all schools across our nation … I think the students learn to express themselves. I know 98

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that there is research that correlates learning an instrument and academic achievement. I think it can really teach students a lot of skills and also about themselves. They learn to focus on tasks and it’s that idea that they perform to an audience. The use of community activities is highly valued within the school. These include dance and talent competitions that provide children with an opportunity to have an audience. The activities allow all children to access arts education: In previous years we have had a fairly large Sudanese population, and last year we were allocated a Sudanese aide and she actually had a flair for hip hop dancing. She used to take the kids once a week who were interested during morning tea time just to do a little bit of that.   There was a teacher who was teaching here a couple of years ago who started this up. She has since retired but comes back every year to run it for us. We have judges that the children nominate, and they [the children] go for rehearsals and practice with the teacher, and then we have a day where they bring the judges in and all the school goes to watch. We do try and narrow it down, but we must admit the retired teacher’s really generous and we sit there for a few hours watching. There are various categories – the dance category, instrumental music. There’s a singing category and a drama category. One community activity involved the painting of school murals by teachers, children and the community. This provided an important experience that developed a shared understanding of the role of the school. The artwork became an endeavour for all involved with a shared understanding of ownership and access. Yeah, students and the community can really appreciate the murals and I think that’s really important. Oh, the other thing was the creation of the garden. The students created a garden close to their eating area and with help, created mosaics around it. And from this sprung the parents and helpers who came together to garden. From that actually sprung a gardening club for our mothers who have met quite a number of times this year and are planning more.   At this school, arts are the glue that binds the community. Children The children at the Smithfield School commented on the experience of creating the mural: I really enjoyed making the mural. We got to work with other children in the school and also people from the community and families. We all had to design, paint and organize what was going on. It felt really good to be all working together. I think it’s one of the first 99

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events in the school that wasn’t based on talent that was free. We all took part. You didn’t have to pay.   The mural was really good for my Mum. She got to meet other Mums and now they garden together. It was good because since we moved here, my Mum didn’t have a lot of friends. Now she does. Every day that we go to school we get to see the work that we did together as a community. Parents Sally Williams is a single mother whose son attends the Smithfield School. She is proud of the way the school supports all children and the community is involved to help the school: The school is such a wonderful place and it is fabulous they can involve and offer so many arts experiences without the cost. I can’t afford music lessons for my child but he can still be involved in the talent competitions and dancing etc. It doesn’t matter if you do or don’t have money. Everyone has access to be there. It is really inclusive. I also went to the original mural painting with my son. From there the mothers developed a gardening group. We have become really close friends and visit the school every day. We come from so many backgrounds in the gardening group. It is lovely how a school activity also helps us. What does this mean? In both case studies we identify ways in which arts programmes include and exclude children and families. In the Treetop Community School, the idea behind the cultural curriculum is to broaden children’s understanding of other cultures. Children learn the songs and art of another culture and hold a cultural day at the end of the semester. For most families, the cultural curriculum also provides opportunities for inclusion in the daily activities within the school. The parents will help children with homework and contribute to the cultural day at the end of each term. Most parents will take time off work to contribute to the cultural day. At the same time, however, parents in the case study also noted that some parents are excluded from involvement in the school because they had to work. While the day was intended to be inclusive of parents and family, it was also exclusive. At the Smithfield School, the arts acted as a prompt for inclusion in the school and community. For example, the dance group allowed Sudanese children to perform and take part in dance activities around the school. The talent competition provided all children in the school an opportunity to perform and present their arts skills. The mural painting in the school also allowed children, families and teachers to come together to form a community. One child spoke of this being an area of support for his mother. From this group we can 100

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see the further development of a parents’ group that provides support for mothers. The arts therefore help build a sustainable community. While the Smithfield School does promote inclusivity throughout the arts, the teacher also noted that private instrumental lessons exclude some children because of cost. While the majority of arts experiences in the school were free, private instrumental lessons required payments from parents. For some parents, the cost of instrumental lessons was too high, meaning their children had little access to learning an instrument. Both teachers at the two schools exhibited limited confidence in teaching some of the cultural units for arts education. The teacher at the Smithfield School lacked confidence to teach the arts in general. At the Treetops Community School, the teacher did not feel confident teaching Norwegian arts experiences as she did not have much prior experience with Norwegian arts. The teacher was worried about the correct pronunciation of words and whether she was teaching Norwegian culture correctly. Previously, she had been able to rely on parents and community members to help support her to gain knowledge of the country under study. This time, however, she was alone in her teaching regarding Norway. This highlights the stress arts programmes may place on teachers in their delivery. While cultural understanding is the goal, the teaching of cultural arts activities appears to place stress on teacher confidence in delivery. While the cultural activities appear to be well accepted by families and children and provide opportunities for inclusion, they ask the teacher to develop news skills to help support the teaching of the cultural activities. Evidence suggests a positive ethical impact on arts education in both schools. In the Treetops Community School, the intention is that the cultural programme will allow all children to explore something about another country and culture. Since this is part of the children’s learning every term, the types of thinking and understanding are developed as children move from one cultural study per term to the next. The cultural programme is integrated into the daily part of the children’s learning so it becomes part of sustained teaching and learning. In the case of the Smithfield School, the sustained ethical behaviour is in the arts activities outside of the school curriculum that contribute to the sustained community within the school. Ethical behaviour is sustained by the continuity of the groups that provide access to all parents, children and families. Conclusion Ethical impact is important to consider in regard to school arts education programmes in Australia. This chapter has explored two case studies with vignettes shared from teachers, parents and children. The ethical impact of arts is shown in the two different contexts. Ethical impact in both schools raised issues of inclusion and exclusion. Investigation of ethical impact also explores how arts programmes address issues of diversity and the promotion of changes in attitudes. In both case studies, the teachers sometimes did not feel confident to 101

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engage with arts from different cultures. Nevertheless, the case studies showed that the arts built a sustainable community within the schools and can contribute to the sustainability of societal values by promoting ethical behaviour. For this to occur, however, we must, as the research acknowledges, step back and take a critical view of cultural diversity that will lead to greater inclusion and sustainability. References Amour, M. (2003), ‘Connecting Children’s Stories to Children’s Literature: Meeting Diversity Needs’, Early Childhood Education Journal, 31: 1, pp. 47–51. Kellett, M. (2000), ‘Raising Musical Esteem in the Primary Classroom: An Exploratory Study of Young Children’s Listening Skills’, British Journal of Music Education, 17: 2, pp. 157–181. Lamont, A. (2008), ‘Young Children’s Musical Worlds: Musical Engagement in 3.5-Year-Olds’, Journal of Early Childhood Research, 6: 3, pp. 247–261. Lemon, N. (2010), ‘Young Children as Digital Photographers – Possibilities for Using the Digital Camera in the Primary Classroom’, Australian Art Education, 33: 2, pp. 1–27. Narey, M. (ed.) (2009), Making Meaning: Constructing Multimodal Perspectives of Language, Literacy, and Learning Through Arts-based Early Childhood Education, New York: Springer. Roulston, K. (2006), ‘Qualitative Investigation of Young Children’s Music Preferences’, International Journal of Education & the Arts, 7: 9, http://www.ijea.org/v7n9/. Accessed 10 July 2010. Synder, I. and Bulfin, S. (2007), ‘Digital Literacy: What It Means for Arts Education’, in L. Bresler (ed.), International Handbook of Research in Arts Education, Springer International Handbooks of Education, Vol. 16, New York: Springer, pp. 1297–1310. Terrini, L. (2008), ‘Providing Visual Arts Education in Early Childhood Settings that is Responsive to Cultural Diversity’, Australian Art Education, 31: 1, pp. 66–79. Wallerstedt, C. and Pramling, N. (2012), ‘Conceptualising Early Childhood Arts Education: The Cultivation of Synesthetic Transduction Skills’, International Journal of Early Childhood, 44: 2, pp. 127–139. Young, S. (2009), ‘Towards Constructions of Musical Childhoods: Diversity and Digital Technologies’, Early Childhood Development and Care, 179: 6, pp. 695–705.

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Chapter 7 Money Makes the World Go Round: The Economic Impact of Arts in Education Susanne Garvis

A cardboard xylophone doesn’t sound the same as the real thing. – Principal, from Maxton School

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n previous centuries, the arts were funded and supported by noblemen, kings and clergy. In modern times, they are supported by benefactors and patrons as well as government organizations. The chapter shares insight into an area that is often forgotten when discussing arts education, economics and money. What are spending patterns for arts education in schools, and does the spending provide good value for money? Can the arts generate income for a school? What is the difference between a school with a well-funded arts programme and a school that does not have funding for one? This chapter explores the economic impact of the arts in two different schooling contexts. Listening to the voices of the principal, teachers and parents, it provides different perspectives when examining the economic impact of the arts in schools. The first case study examines Darville All Girls’ School, a private school that heavily funds the arts. The case study centres on an annual art show where children’s artwork is auctioned to families and the community. The second case study, of Maxton School, highlights the limited opportunities available when there is no funding for arts in a school. The school relies on the skills of the generalist teacher to compromise and integrate arts experiences. Issues arise such as the positioning of children’s arts as income generation for schools, the economic impact of schools in funding cycles and how schools define value for money with arts education funding. Economic impact The debate about whether the arts should be supported is not new, with most governments supporting the arts in some way. As described by Champarnaud, Ginsburgh and Michel (2008), economic arguments for the subsidizing of the arts include: • art is a public good, which, unless it gets subsidized, is not produced in sufficient amounts • it yields positive externalities • its demand depends on its supply, and if it were not available, consumers would not know its value • for equity and efficiency reasons, it should be made available to everyone and not only to those who can afford it.

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In general the arts are assumed to be ‘useful’ and are linked with promoting cultural education. While being assumed as ‘useful’, however, funding for arts education is often subjected to cuts from government funding. In 1966, Baumol and Bowen first reported the ‘cost disease’ of the performing arts in which government funding had decreased because it was difficult for the arts to achieve productivity gains. From this perspective, there is limited perceived benefit to the economy if there is limited productivity gain. However, it is also argued in economics literature that funding public education arts may indeed, in the long run, lead to possible reductions needed in government funding (Champarnaud, Ginsburg & Michel 2008). Surveys show that arts education, both at school and at home, increases participation in the arts. Bergonzi and Smith (1996) even show that providing both has additive effects on participation. As more people participate in the arts, the amount of subsidies needed can be reduced. The arts feature in many educational policies around the world. In an international study of arts education, Bamford (2006: 11) noted that while this may be the case, ‘there is a gulf between the “lip service” given to arts education and the provision provided within schools’. The funding of arts education in Australia appears patchy. ‘To date Commonwealth and state governments have provided relatively little funding or resources to support the adequate resourcing of arts education’ (Ewing 2010: 22). In regard to the two longest established art forms in Australia – music and visual education – the national reviews of both showed clearly that there are arts-rich and arts-poor schools showing inequity of access, inadequate resources funding and lack of teacher expertise (Davis 2008; Pascoe et al. 2005). Walker (2009) has also drawn attention to the differences in the provision of specialist music teachers in grades from Kindergarten to Year Twelve (K–12) in the more affluent end of the independent school sector, as compared with schools in state systems. This suggests a few children have lots of experience of the arts, some children have much less experience and some children have no arts experiences in their schooling at all. Within Australia, there is a fear of the impact of reduced funding on arts education within schools and higher education: art education is struggling to maintain a strong foothold in schools and tertiary institutions as the curriculum continues to grow and the imperatives of government become more oriented towards conformity and standardised performance. Funding at all levels is under threat. Policies and financial imperatives are rendering our place in the educational landscape vulnerable. (Flood 2004: 1) Reduced funding leads to problems with quality teacher education to ensure all teachers have adequate arts content knowledge and also leads to difficulty in retaining specialized teachers and resources within schools. With new arts technologies, there is also an increased pressure on schools to include film, photography and digital arts for children’s learning. Resourcing these areas to allow creative 106

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processes is expensive. Professor Ewing (2010: 23) describes the differences in access to the arts in Australia: Children of the economically affluent have more opportunities to study the arts throughout their years at school. They are more likely to visit museums and art galleries and attend theatre and concert performances. If they show an inclination to participate in arts activities, their parents can often provide the finance for lessons with art teachers and artists. But for children living in or near poverty, approximately one in seven in Australia (Brotherhood of St Laurence 2005; Vinson 2007), opportunities for formal arts learning experiences are minimal. The National Advocacy for Arts and Education (NAAE 2009) continues to advocate for adequate resourcing of individual art forms within the curriculum, but is also concerned about the lack of mandated representation of the arts across the K–12 curriculum. It suggests that more funding is necessary for arts education programmes in schools. Case 14: Darville All Girls’ School This case study explores the economic cost of providing arts experiences for children and highlights how one school positions children’s artwork as income generating for the school. The Darville All Girls’ School is a private school for girls from Kindergarten to Year Twelve. It is located in the inner-city suburbs of a large city. The school has a population of around a thousand students. There is a long waiting list to receive entry into the school, even though school fees are significantly high. The school is respected as a high-achieving school that performs well in all national and international standardized tests. The school is well resourced with world-class facilities. It has an athletics track, a gymnasium, two Olympic-size swimming pools, three cafés, an auditorium, a library and a music studio. All classrooms have a class set of laptop computers. Attached to the school is also an outdoor education centre. The arts is an important part of the school curriculum, extra-curricular activities and culture. In primary school, children have access to a music specialist, visual art specialist and drama specialist. All students learn a musical instrument as part of their tuition and are involved in an orchestra and choir. Children also receive a 30-minute class music lesson three times a week. The children receive a 30-minute lesson for drama and visual arts. A continually changing exhibition of children’s artwork is positioned in many places around the school. Highly appreciated pictures are pinned on notice boards. There are also several permanently displayed artworks, each of which represents the children from one year. On the staircase there is a mosaic representing children from the year 1999. Near the main office is a statue created by the children. 107

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There is also an artists-in-residence programme at the school. Each year a local artist is paid to reside in the school and work with the children. This year it is a clay artist and the children are busily making figurines. The children are active producers of artworks, and the school uses this artwork to generate income for the school. Each year a children’s exhibition is held in which children’s drawings and paintings are auctioned to parents and community members. Children attend the auction. The school believes it is a fantastic idea to bring the artist (child) and the audience (or buyer) together. The school suggests this is a complete cycle of the arts process. One parent comments: I think it is wonderful that the school can come together as an arts community and show how much we value children’s artwork. The auction is also very fun. I love having to buy my children’s artwork. I then go home and frame it, and we stick it in the children’s retreat. Children really get to experience the economic value of their artwork and how art is an actual industry in today’s society. Although children’s and parents’ attendance is compulsory, the principal informs me that often around ten families will not attend. The day after the art show, I was able to contact one of the parents who did not attend. She provided her perspective about the art show: I dread the art show every year. Most of the families are really wealthy in the school but we are just average income. We can’t afford to pay thousands of dollars for my daughter’s artwork. Some of the parents get really competitive with betting and I don’t know how the children feel about it. I think the children must understand that my artwork sold for AU$500 while another child’s sold for AU$5000. What does that mean to the child? That her painting wasn’t as good as the other child’s? That her parents can’t afford that much like the other parents? We don’t take our family to the art show. If it was about building children’s experiences and improving their confidence, there shouldn’t be a competitive financial element attached. I don’t want my child’s confidence destroyed.   I really don’t like having to remove my child from school experiences because it creates an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality. The day after the art show all the girls who attended are madly talking about it. I tell my daughter that the hype will calm down in two days and then the girls will talk about things that interest you. The principal also shared her experiences: To be honest, I actually dread the art show each year because I have to become two people. I have to respect the children and parents who want to attend the art show and I also have to respect the children and parents who do not attend the art show. I think we would have a different outcome if the art show was a community event without the income generation attached. All parents could then attend and make it more of a community 108

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event where art is encouraged. But at the same time I also have my finance hat on and I know how much money the art show generates for the school’s income. That income can be used for resources for art within the school and also infrastructure. Rather than asking parents to pay a compulsory levy to generate income, this is a productive way in which the parent receives something in return for providing money.   I also think about the girls in this situation. We ask the girls to choose their best artwork to auction but after that it is all controlled by the parents. Children have no say how or where their artwork is placed in the auction. They lose ownership as soon as it goes to the auction. While most families will buy their children’s artwork, some community members are also interested in buying other children’s work. How does the child feel if their artwork is bought by an outsider, never to be seen again? The community member will pay money that will help benefit the school, but what about the child’s interests? It is an interesting issue with pros and cons for the art show. It is a school tradition so these issues will continue. Case 15: Maxton School In contrast, the Maxton School cannot afford to employ an arts specialist. There is no specialist teacher for music, visual arts or drama like at the Darville All Girls’ School. There is an instrumental strings teacher who is available for lessons provided parents can pay the levy. The majority of arts experiences for children are taught by generalist classroom teachers. Only some generalist teachers have had prior experiences with the arts. The Maxton School is a state school and provides education to children from a working and low-socio-economic background. There are no school fees as funding is supplied by the government. The school caters for 400 children from Preschool to Year Seven. At least 20 per cent of the students in the school receive extra assistance because of learning and physical disabilities. The principal is supportive of the generalist teaching staff in the school. She realizes that it is difficult for the generalist teacher to cater for all the areas that the government expects should be taught. She realizes that the teachers will each have their strengths and weaknesses and the emphasis is on working with competent people in the area: All my teachers are talented in at least one learning area. The idea is the teacher who is the strongest can help the other teachers create learning experiences in that area. For example, I have one teacher who also studied music at university. She is able to help the other teachers choose songs etc. and help teach them some basic musical concepts that they can then teach their students. I try and promote a sharing community here where all the teachers can learn from the other teachers.   The only arts areas we haven’t been able to cover well are dance and drama. We have teachers with expertise in music and visual arts but dance and drama are difficult. We 109

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have a few books that we take ideas out of but we really just try and make it up. The children are supposed to have 30 minutes of arts experience a week. We try and give them more based on how we can integrate learning areas together.   It is difficult in our school because it is difficult for us to fundraise from parents and the community because they often do not have extra money to donate. It is also wrong for us to expect that they should have to pay for extra resources. It is a state school so the education is free to all. Our government income is enough to cover the administration costs of the school but not to buy resources etc. I would like to have basic percussion instruments in my school (such as drums and xylophones) but we don’t have enough money. We get the children to make instruments out of cardboard boxes but it is not the same as the real thing. A cardboard xylophone doesn’t sound the same as the real thing.   I think a good-quality arts programme in a school takes a lot of funding for resources and quality staff. It is amazing when you see the quality from some of the other schools in regards to the arts. Unfortunately we don’t have the money and we never will have the money to fund such quality. It would be wonderful if the government could also fund arts programmes in schools. That way all children would have the same opportunities.   We do have an instrumental programme at this school but there are still a lot of costs for parents even though it is mostly funded by the government. I would say only a fraction of children take part even though most of the children would like to learn an instrument. It is sad to think that we might have the next Mozart in our school who will never get a chance because their skills can’t be nurtured. The arts in a school really come down to funding but it shouldn’t be something only for the rich. The arts should be accessible to all. Kim is a generalist teacher who has been working at the school for seven years. She currently teaches Year Five children. She has had previous training in music and shares this with other teachers. Kim comments: Music is one of the things that all children should be exposed to. It is full of fun and creates new worlds for children. At this school we are limited in what we can do in music but we are still able to enjoy music. I am a generalist teacher but before that I studied music at university. I help the other teachers with music in their classroom. I will show them little musical games and singing songs they can use when we don’t have instruments. I also show them how we can use body percussion to make songs when we don’t have musical equipment. I try and provide opportunities for all the children to engage in music to show them how enjoyable and important music can be.   It would be nice to have a music specialist in the school but that is not possible. It would be nice to have more resources for music and the arts but we don’t have the income to support this. A lot of our activities then are created around what we can do with the resources that we have. I know music and another teacher knows visual arts. The only areas we can’t cover in our entire school for arts is dance and drama. We try and teach 110

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these skills but we can’t really extend the children beyond our own understanding. Most of the time children are actually teaching us dance steps!   We still have a music concert each term where each class performs. We choose songs that the children want to sing and will rehearse these with movements. The children gain a lot from singing together in their generalist classes. It is very powerful to sing in a group of people and to see what it can achieve. We try and use the resources that we have. Everyone has a voice so it is like having a free instrument. What does this mean? Each case study has provided insights into the economic component of the arts in two differing contexts. From this we can answer three important questions:

1. What is the difference between a school with a well-funded arts programme and a school that does not have funding for one? 2. Is the programme value for money? 3. Can the arts generate income for a school? The spending patterns for arts education differed greatly between the two schools. In the Darville All Girls’ School, the arts were well funded with children having access to arts specialists and many arts resources, and the arts were included in all areas of the curriculum. The Darville All Girls’ School is also a private school, allowing the school to have income from student fees to help provide arts learning experiences. Children have the opportunity to experience a range of arts experiences including visual arts, music, instrumental lessons, dance and drama. At the Maxton School there were no specialist arts teachers. Children had access to private music lessons if they could afford tuition and an instrument. Arts activities were organized by the general teachers and the community. The teachers had to make their own musical instruments with the children. The principal also commented that quality arts programmes require adequate funding to ensure resources and specialist teachers. This aligns with much of the Australian research and national reviews that regularly report the lack of resources, teacher training and funding for quality arts education programmes. Although the two schools had different spending patterns for arts education, the question of value for money remains. In both of these case studies, parental socio-economic status contributed to the quality of the arts experience for the children. Questions are raised about whether the arts are really a free good for all children in schools or if they are an elite good that is well funded only in private schools. Value for money also raises questions regarding governmental funding of arts programmes in schools. At the Maxton School, funding covered the day-to-day running of the school and staff salaries, however, it did not cover the cost of an arts programme. As the 111

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Darville All Girls’ School was a private school, it had a variety of ways to generate income and, while there was a well-funded programme, it is difficult to make a judgement about whether the provision for arts education provided value for money. It is clear that parents of a higher socio-economic status are able to provide their children with more arts-learning experiences. Findings of the two case studies align with Ewing’s (2010) postulation that Australian children from affluent homes have more exposure and opportunities for arts experiences. The findings also reiterate the importance of the arts being a public good that is available to everyone to allow economic impact for all. At the Darville All Girls’ School, however, the children’s artwork was used to generate income for future arts resources. The children’s artwork would be auctioned every year to parents and community members. There was demand for the children’s artwork, which created supply from the children. While the principal admitted that the selling of the children’s art created income for the school, it also had a negative effect of segregating parents. Some parents could not afford the art auction and did not like the way the children’s art was positioned in the auction. The children also did not have control over the sale or placement of their artwork in the art auction. The arts did not provide opportunities for income generation at the Maxton School. It could be that, for the arts to generate income, initial funding is needed to create an arts event of works that could be sold. As the Maxton School had limited resources for arts experiences, it could not allow opportunities for arts income generation. As there is no supply for arts experiences there is also no demand. Conclusion This chapter has shown insights into the economic component of the arts in two differing contexts. It explores money, economics and arts education and examines questions on income generation, value for money and differences in funded arts programmes. It also examines the differences in opportunities for children based on the arts funding within the school. From this study further questions are raised about the importance of adequate funding and support for all children in all schools to provide equal opportunities in arts experiences. It appears that children’s arts experiences are dependent on parental socioeconomic status. If the goal is to allow all children to have access to quality arts experiences then funding from government agencies is an important start. References Bamford, A. (2006), The Wow Factor: Global Research Compendium on the Impact of the Arts in Education, Berlin: Waxmann Verlag. Baumol, W. J. and Bowen, W. G. (1966), Performing Arts: The Economic Dilemma, New York: Twentieth Century Fund. 112

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Bergonzi, L. and Smith, J. (1996), Effects of Arts Education on Participation in the Arts, Santa Ana, CA: National Endowment for the Arts. Champarnaud, L., Ginsburgh, V. and Michel, P. (2008), ‘Can Public Arts Education Replace Arts Subsidization’, Journal of Cultural Economics, 32: 2, pp. 109–126. Davis, D. (2008), ‘First We See: The National Review of Visual Arts Education’, http://www. australiacouncil.gov.au/research/education_and_the_arts/reports_and_publications/first_ we_see_the_national_review_of_visual_education. Accessed 23 July 2010. Ewing, R. (2010), ‘Australian Education Review. The Arts and Australian Education: Realising Potential’, http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/AER-58.pdf. Accessed 23 October 2012. Flood, A. (2004), ‘Defining the Visually Literate Individual’, Australian Art Education, 27: 1, pp. 172–184. National Advocacy for Arts and Education (NAAE) (2009), The Arts: Essential Learning for all Teachers, Braddon, ACT: NAAE, www.ausdance.org.au/.../articles/the-arts- essentioallearning-for-all-teachers.pdf. Accessed 6 July 2010. Pascoe, R., Leong, S., MacCallum, J., Mackinlay, E., Marsh, K., Smith, B., Church, T. and Winterton, A. (2005), National Review of School Music Education, Canberra, ACT: Department of Education, Science & Training. Walker, R. (2009), ‘Beethoven or Britney? The Great Divide in Music Education’, Platform Papers, Quarterly Essays on the Performing Arts, No. 20, Strawberry Hills, NSW: Currency House.

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Chapter 8 Innovative Partnerships: Opportunities to Create, Make, Explore and Respond in the Arts Narelle Lemon and Susanne Garvis

Our job in arts education partnerships lies not only in supplying content knowledge and skills training, but also in developing all the partners’ capacities, including the participating arts organizations and artists. It is not enough for organizations to reach out to communities. Schools and communities must be activated and supported in reaching in to cultural organizations to share their own knowledge and skills. (Arnold Aprill of Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) 2012)

Overview Partnerships between schools and the professional arts sector have been found to play an important role in deepening students’ engagement with learning. These partnerships are also often associated with innovation in how they extend and develop processes and products in the instigation of arts education. This chapter shares three cases taken from primary arts education programmes that look at partnerships and innovative approaches to the development of new pedagogic techniques, processes or products and new discourse among teachers, students, arts organizations and artists. In each of the cases, highlighting student engagement is a priority for the teachers in either their partnerships with others or design and implementation of an innovative programme or project. Interestingly, in all of the three cases, innovation changes the perceived role of the adult, by challenging the notions of process and product, and of an artist, a visiting arts educator or an arts programme as being quasi-teachers (Bamford 2006; DEECD 2009). What is highlighted are opportunities to create, make, explore and respond in the arts through creative pedagogies either facilitated by the arts teacher or a school/arts partnership. Thus the innovative impact is observed as relating to enhanced pedagogy and talent development. In education there are many barriers that reduce the likelihood of innovation in practice. These include constraints of time, policy and curriculum. With constraints and barriers, many arts education programmes become dependent on repetition of the norm, year in and year out. With repetition also comes the reinforcement of learning styles that are based on recall and fact recognition, which often stunts or shuns the creative, analytical and practical sensibilities needed by students. Students have become more comfortable about being told what to think over how to think (Sayers 1947). Innovation, however, can break from this norm by providing opportunities for students to engage in learning opportunities

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that promote creativity, critical thinking and learner autonomy. For teachers and schools to do this, they must be purposeful about the learning and thinking culture they create. Beyond just dispensing the right content to students, being mindful that the culture relies upon integration (connection making), student autonomy (choice) and personal and creative expression are the keys to developing innovative practices for students (Cullen et al. 2012). This chapter, while not providing the ‘golden key’ to innovative practice, highlights the potential benefits of the introduction of three innovative strategies in arts education. A narrative approach was used to collect, from case sites, data regarding the ways in which some schools are trying to enhance pedagogy and talent development within arts education. Direct quotes have been used to allow the voices of the individuals to be heard and to empower individuals about their innovative practice. The direct quotes provide insights into the world of the teachers involved from their perspectives and vantage points. The representation of each of the teachers in the case sites was also negotiated with the individuals to ensure each was represented in the manner in which they wanted to become known to the reader and ultimately the world. What is innovation impact? Innovation in arts education provides opportunities for enhancements in pedagogy, talent development and collaboration between the education sector and industry. According to Bamford (2006), the innovation impact relates to talent development, the development of new pedagogic techniques, processes or products and the instigation of debates or new discourses. Innovation in arts education has been called for in numerous government policies over the last decade. Innovation is seen as integral to enhancing the pedagogy, providing links between school and industry and providing more opportunities for talent development. In 2003, the Arts Council Australia initiated the Education and the Arts Strategy 2004– 2007 in an attempt to facilitate collaborations by ‘bringing together the arts sector, the education sector, government and community to find creative ways to enrich the education of children and young people’ (Australia Council for the Arts 2003: 2). One of the intentions was that through collaboration, innovation with arts education could occur. The council’s vision was to create an environment where the arts were an integral part of the lifelong learning of every Australian. The strategy consisted of two priorities: 1. to articulate the role of the arts in enabling young people to thrive in a rapidly changing world (2003: 7) 2. to facilitate collaborative effort between the arts and education sectors (2003: 8). In 2005, the Backing our Creativity symposium was one example of the strategy. The symposium, funded by the Australian Government and convened by the Australia Council for the Arts, aimed 118

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to examine the critical role of innovation and creativity in education and to consider new ways to bridge the gaps between research, policy and practice in education and the arts in Australia. The expectations towards arts education in the curriculum were again made public by the Australian Ministerial Council on Education Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) releasing the National Education and the Arts Statement (MCEETYA 2007). This statement was designed to foster a culture of creativity and innovation in Australian schools. It acknowledged that an education rich in the creative arts maximizes opportunities for learners to engage with innovative thinkers and learners, emphasizing not only creativity and innovation, but also the values of broad cultural understandings and social harmony that the arts can engender. Three key principles underpinned the statement to drive change by laying a foundation for stronger coordination between educational institutions and also to guide arts and education leaders to ensure that the Australian education system helps children and young people to achieve. These were (MCEETYA 2007: 5): 1. all children and young people should have a high quality arts education in every phase of learning 2. creating partnerships strengthens community identity and local cultures 3. connecting schools with the arts and cultural sector enriches learning outcomes. In particular, the statement acknowledged that arts experiences enhanced all phases of schooling. School-based arts experiences should be diverse, based on models of effective practice, and embedded from the early years through to graduation in order to unlock the creative potential of young people (MCEETYA 2007). The statement acknowledged that fostering the skills and knowledge of teachers through innovative pedagogy is necessary to foster this crucial change in arts education. The updated Education and the Arts Strategy 2009–2012 (Arts Council Australia 2008b) was launched in 2008 to build on the outcomes of the previous strategy. The council was committed to strengthening the place of the creative arts across the school curriculum and recognized the importance of arts education provisions for all Australian students. The strategy was designed to intersect with the Cultural Engagement Framework (Arts Council Australia 2008a), which was designed to implement authentic engagement across all arts practices throughout life. The 2009–2012 strategy (Arts Council Australia 2008b: 1) consisted of four key priorities. These were to: 1. strengthen the relationships between state/territory arts and education jurisdictions and the Australia Council 2. pursue a position of leadership through influencing the policy directions of key education and the arts organizations 3. promote, recognize and publish Australian best-practice examples of education and the arts 4. design and develop a research programme around education and the arts. 119

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Point 4 in particular relates to the development of research and innovation in arts education. The initiation of a research programme was designed to provide evidence of effective pedagogy and ways to support talent development within the arts. Innovative cases of creating, making, exploring and responding The three examples given below are based on narratives collected from teachers and pre-service teachers who share in their reflections of personal experiences with the implementation of an innovative concept. The innovative concepts strongly align with current policy and frameworks surrounding the enhancement of community partnerships, pedagogy and allowing all children to reach their potential. In the first example, we read of the implementation of a public art project in a school and how this has changed the pedagogy and learning occurring in the classroom for students. The outcome of a teacher being asked to take innovative risks is explored. In the second example we learn of the innovative partnership between pre-service teachers, mentor teachers in schools and higher education lecturers and the outcome of utilizing technology to support critical thinking. The innovative implementation of portfolios allows personal reflection and growth for the pre-service teachers involved. In the final case, we read of St Lucia College that initiated a talent development programme for highly able music students. Innovation is seen in the implementation of the programme that provides challenging and professional learning opportunities for all students involved. Cases of innovation Case 16: Exploring public art while collaborating with others The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (Victoria) and the New South Wales Department of Education in collaboration with Kaldor Public Art Projects announced a project that focused on developing a Kindergarten to Year Six arts education resource based on Kaldor art projects and specifically designed for interactive whiteboards. Schools were invited in late 2009 to submit an expression of interest to be involved in the project. The arts teachers were selected on the basis of the following key selection criteria: belonging to a school with a strong creative arts programme; involvement in innovative visual arts projects; demonstrating contemporary practice; and utilizing/engaging with digital technology. From this process, teachers from nine primary schools from government and catholic sectors were invited to participate. The project aimed to build teacher capacity in using contemporary visual art in primary arts programmes. Vital to the project was the partnership with Kaldor Public Art Projects, a not-for-profit organization that has pioneered the presentation of influential 120

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art projects in Australian government bodies and Australian schools. As part of the exploration of all these areas four professional development days were held to further unpack specifics and to plan for integrating interactive whiteboards into the visual art curriculum using the curriculum documentation as the structure for exploration of public art. One of the schools that participated in this project was Appin Park Primary School, located in Wangaratta, North East Victoria. The visual art teacher, Ros, reflected upon her programme and the need for such a partnership: I teach at Appin Park Primary School in Wangaratta, North East Victoria. I have been at the school for 20 years and in that time have had various roles. My main role here has been as the Visual Arts teacher for 10–14 years. The students have a one-hour session of art a week and some classes have an extra hour studying Maths Art. I also do Art Extension, each year-level gets an extra term to extend the students’ knowledge and skills in visual arts, and this programme attracts students to our school. One of the greatest assets I see of this project is the collegiate sharing of skills and ideas. I really struggle with the limited opportunities for professional conversations and sharing, so I wanted to take advantage of that opportunity. Ros shared that working in this way was exhilarating and a wonderful opportunity to work collegially across sites and with other arts educators and artists. She also noted that it was challenging in regards to being able to meaningfully integrate all the project’s components and openly include and value everyone’s opinion and experiences. Ros notes: This project is forcing me to step outside my comfort zone of teaching art to primary students. My challenge with this project was to link with the topic of what the students were doing in the classroom. They were working with their classroom teacher on the topic of insects and I wanted to see how I could combine this with the notion of public art. After quite some time of thinking and discussing with the partnership government bodies and arts advisors about working with areas of visual arts, I decided that we could create some public art in our schoolyard. This artwork would involve the study of insects, the beautifying of our school through public art and the creation of a feature within our school that was outside and permanent. It was fortunate that we had some large cement pots in the garden and a wall that overlooked the yard that could be the basis for our public artwork.   It was the wonderful opportunity of working with other art teachers that exposed me to new and interesting ways of engaging students in the visual arts classroom. I had never previously thought about the concept of homework or that students would be so engaged in what they were doing that they would pursue it in their own time. The students have been very interested and animated with this project and found the concept of having ‘art homework’ fun. As I have not done this before, the students would say, 121

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‘It was cool to have art homework’ and ‘Are we going to have art homework again these holidays?’   To initiate the public art topic with the students I took photos of public art installations in the Wangaratta community and used these as a starting point in the art classroom. I asked students to categorize the artworks, to ask questions and to inquire further into pieces that some had seen before and others hadn’t noticed. I presented them with the holiday homework, which was to conduct a treasure hunt of public art in Wangaratta. I wanted them to think about the questions such as: Where is this artwork? Who is (are) the artist(s)? Does this artwork have a message? And what did you like and/or dislike about the artwork?   After the holidays we, the students and I, talked about what our project was going to be. So we established the goals of the project and that we needed to understand public art and insects in order to be able to think about and design the artwork to be completed on the wall and pots. The students began to apply their knowledge from the classroom and through exploration in the art room.   I didn’t want to duplicate what the classroom teacher was doing; I was aware that the students had done a lot of scientific investigation of insects. So my job was to access artists’ interpretations of insects to make the connection between scientific investigations to a visual representation. I looked at the artist Annemieke Mein for her work with machineembroidered insects, Pro Hart’s work with his ants and dragonflies and John Glover. We also watched the Australian Geographic DVD, Amazing World of the Mini Beasts – Webs of Intrigue. I even wore my Pro Hart apron with the ants climbing all over it! I asked students to sketch and experiment with use of line, shape, texture and colour.   An unexpected outcome is learning the true value of spending art sessions with the students on reflections and not just creating and making. Previous to this my students arrived at the door for their hour ready to paint, draw, make and create. They would walk in and say, ‘What are we making today?’ Now I can easily spend the session sitting together looking at artworks, [having] discussions [and] sharing ideas without one person asking, ‘When are we going to start?’ and then not realizing that the session time has finished. This would not have happened six months ago. I have had to take risks in my teaching to allow this to happen. Case 17: Video annotation to reflect on own arts practice development In the teacher education context, pre-service teachers beginning to consider their role as primary generalist teachers and integrating the arts were invited to participate in an innovative project that saw them utilize an online media annotation tool (MAT). Underpinning this project was either teacher-generated video of arts education practices or student-generated video of own arts education practice. Using video as one way to critically reflect on arts practice and teaching ignited some interesting responses, with 40.9 per cent 122

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of pre-service teachers fascinated and open to using video as a strategy and 54 per cent willing to discuss theory as related to arts practice and teaching; however, 22.7 per cent were unsure of the possibility that surrounds arts practice discussions. Video was a format that seemed to intrigue the students in regard to possibilities to view others’ arts practices and teaching, with 63.7 per cent agreeing they would like to engage in this type of learning activity. Integral to this project was the partnership between pre-service teachers, mentor teachers in schools where the pre-service teachers had been placed for professional practice experiences and higher education lecturers, and openness to utilize technology to support critical thinking. Julie shares her initial reflections about this project: Today in class we experimented with the new MAT technology for the first time. Two of our fellow students taught us the new program which was quite funny. As a first-year student, I haven’t felt at this early stage that there was a requirement for me to use a program such as MAT to annotate media so I didn’t quite know what to expect from the program or how it could benefit me.   However, after having a play around with the program and trialling uploading a few video clips, I can see how the program might be applied to my own studies, particularly arts, but also in literacy and on professional placements, where self-reflection and peer review are particularly important. I think as a self-reflective tool and as a peer assessment tool this program will be very useful in helping us improve on our teaching techniques. I like the idea of annotating important points in the video clip to provide further information to the viewer. I also think this program will prompt me to use video as a medium of communication as this can provide more of an overall story or context to a situation in a classroom or excursion than a picture can, particularly with the annotated comments.   As an artist, we will be able to walk the viewer through the reasons for using different tools or techniques when we post up a film of our artwork, for example, with the video I posted up on MAT from painting in Week 4. We will also be able to film the stages we are going through to produce the artwork. In turn, we’ll be able to learn from other artists by viewing their artwork video clips and we will be able to receive or provide tips or suggestions with our peers. I feel that this is an important step when producing art, stories or videos because these creations are usually produced with the intention of being viewed by others. Knowing from the outset that our artwork is going to be the subject of assessment by our peers will challenge us to ensure we produce the best that we can, as well as building our confidence over time by getting us used to the idea receiving feedback and constructive criticism. In the classroom, we will constantly be receiving feedback from mentors, professional placement teachers, coordinators, parents and children and so if we are used to having our work on display for comment it will greatly assist us in our career.   In reviewing my first video, I didn’t find it too exciting! It was a bit hard to take a video in a gallery (LOOK exhibition) because you have to be quiet so there’s no sound, there 123

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are other people in the way viewing artwork when you are trying to take video and it is hard to fully capture and appreciate the artworks on film. I thought the second 30-second clip I took of the still fish tank was more worthwhile because if this was a photograph you wouldn’t be able to appreciate that the fish and plants weren’t actually moving and it would just look as though you had taken a photo of an aquarium! In this exhibition I found the still photographs I took of the illustrations more useful for post-reflection and comment and on hindsight I think it would have been more useful to film the exhibition as a whole – the people moving about, children reading stories and the overall space to get more a feel of the calm of the gallery and provide an atmosphere to the still photographs. At least this first video has provided me with some good ideas for what to produce next time. As the time in the project progressed, the pre-service teachers were invited to work with a peer to talk about their art making. The learning focus was to promote the discussion about the creating of art and to use and express arts practice theory and knowledge gain mid-way through the subject in an interview with each other. Craig reflects: I think talking about our portfolios was a good way of seeing how we may have developed from the first workshop. I feel like my art vocabulary has expanded and I can describe things in artistic terms a little more confidently but I also wish to further expand my own artistic ability. I found talking about my portfolio on video forced me to go back and have a deeper look at some of the work we have been doing this semester. James and I formulated some questions that we thought might give a bit of insight into how we are developing as artists. We chose to focus on different elements of art present in our own work and I found it a little bit of a challenge to identify all of these elements in my work. Another pre-service teacher, Amanda, shared her development in thinking about her own skills development in art and how this in turn would impact her approach to integrating art into the generalist primary classroom: Today I was filmed talking about the progression of my portfolio so far. I discussed how it had made me feel as an artist and as a teacher. Having a portfolio to reflect on is helpful in being able to see how far I have come and developed my ideas as an artist. It assists in developing ideas and this process is evident in my portfolio. It was interesting to look at our work and how it has developed consecutively over the weeks. Uploading the video to MAT is becoming easier to do with practice. Case 18: Enhancing the musical development of students St Lucia College is a state school catering for children from Year Seven to Year Twelve. During 2007, St Lucia College decided to implement a music extension programme for 124

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highly able students who had already achieved above the required music skills specified for the year level. The musical development programme was introduced after it was discovered many capable music students were underperforming or disengaging with music in secondary school. Students involved in the programme are entitled to daily group music lessons. Students are also provided with access to elite instrumental groups within the school and have the opportunity to have mentoring sessions with professional state orchestra members. Every second year there is a cultural tour to Europe for the students to compete in musical competitions and attend master classes with European musicians. One of the teachers in the school, Kate Jones, helped with the design and implementation of the programme. She was a part of a working party consisting of teachers and parents to help improve the opportunities for talented students. Kate had previously been a professional musician. She had many contacts across the state that could be drawn upon to support the programme. Kate commented: When I first started teaching at the school, I saw a group of talented musical students not being challenged. They would attend music for 45 minutes a week in a class environment. I knew they could do better because I had records that they had passed very high grades of Australian Music Examination Board (AMEB) exams. I remember talking to one boy and he told me that his music development was something that was done outside of school as there were limited opportunities.   I would often think to myself, why can’t this school provide opportunities to allow all children to reach their potential? Isn’t that what schooling is about? There were already programmes set up in the school aligned with the university that catered for highly able students in chemistry and math. The students could attend the university in Year Eleven and Twelve to complete university-standard subjects. Still there was nothing for music to help students develop their talent.   I started to lobby the school and families about supporting students in music. The response was overwhelming. For parents of music students there was a sigh of relief that finally something was being done. Many had waited for an opportunity where their children could be provided with opportunities to support their musical development to the level it should be. Many of the parents joined the working group and we haven’t really stopped from there. The programme is always evolving.   In the programme we wanted to provide a range of opportunities for students. This included being part of an elite musical ensemble where practice schedules and performances are at a higher level of expectation compared to most school bands. We also wanted the students to have access to professional musicians in the field who could mentor the students in music. Having been a professional musician, I also wanted to show the students the musical opportunities beyond Australia. In Australia we have a few musical opportunities but not as many as in Europe where the arts are considered an important part of society. So every second year we go to Europe for a 125

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tour where the students can compete against European students. We also have master classes with professional European musicians so the students are aware of the high standards of performing musicians overseas. The opportunity actually allows students to see that you can have a successful career as a musician. The experience has actually changed my role too. I am not just a classroom teacher of music but seen as a musical professional.   I wish I would have had this opportunity when I was a student. The students seem much happier now they are being challenged in their musical ability to improve their skills and knowledge. I know some people refer to our programme as ‘elite music’ but I think they miss the bigger picture that these children are gifted in music and we need to support that gift. We support gifted children who are academic and show exceptional sporting ability; why shouldn’t we also support and help develop students who are gifted in music? Analysis and connection to literature Innovative processes and products in arts education often focus on outcomes related to student engagement, student voice, social learning, creativity and the development of artsrelated knowledge and skills. However, it is important to note, as suggested by Bamford (2006), that: Children require high quality arts education at all levels of education and within both formal and informal education. Yet with the exception of a few countries, the overall standard of arts education received by children is very low. In most countries of the world teachers are not prepared to teach the arts or to use some of its techniques in the learning process. There is insufficient guidance given to the teachers by way of the curriculum. (4–5) These are vital in the discussion of arts education and particularly what is innovative for the arts programme. Of course what is considered innovative for one school may not be innovative for another. As noted in Chapters 6, 7 and 10, negative, economic and ethical impacts have significance, as do access to resources, teachers’ knowledge and ability, location and support of policy-makers. In almost all cases observed by Bamford (2006), quality arts education is the sole responsibility of the teacher. In many instances, although arts are mandatory in the curriculum, the teacher is largely unsupported in the teaching of arts education. It is often the innovative thinking from the arts educator in the initial stages of considering what is possible, paired with passion and enthusiasm for what art form they teach, that leads to accessing partnerships with artists, arts organizations or other arts

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educators. In each case presented we can see there are varying approaches to this; however, common elements exist that see: • the student placed at the centre of the arts learning experience • open communication among teacher, students and artists/arts organization • creative problem solving in approaches employed in the use of resources to accommodate any ethical/economic/negative impact • high-quality arts experience • establishment of a community of practice that sees teachers, students, parents and a wider school community involved • flexible organization • ongoing professional development for the educator to be able to build on and continue to develop and explore arts skills • evaluation strategies that involve multiple voices. Good-quality arts education enhances self-esteem, builds a sense of identity, and encourages unity and diversity. It improves an individual’s ability to handle change in a dynamic society and encourages an appreciation and understanding of both tangible and intangible heritage. These values are important for all involved – teacher, student and artists/arts organizations. The first case presented in this chapter is a wonderful demonstration of a partnership between different schools and other educational entities such as institutions, artists, the community and the families. The exploration of public art through integrating the projects commissioned by Kaldor Public Art Projects supported a united approach, a common language and a reference point for professional development and evaluation. The teachers involved in this project had to engage in reflection, thinking and preparing and actioning best practice in visual arts education through the exploration of public art. In doing this they had to demonstrate, confront and explore their own current practice. Throughout the journey they were encouraged to extend skills, knowledge and understanding of visual arts, pedagogy and contemporary arts practice and artists. Alongside each other they continually engaged in professional dialogue that was supportive of what high-quality art teachers know and do. Not only did they see themselves as learners but they also openly challenged how the children in their art rooms learn. For the process and product associated to this case, it is evident that: High quality art teachers base their teaching on a strong knowledge of the visual arts. They know how to plan, make decisions and interact effectively with students and colleagues. They know how to engage students in art experiences so that students learn to work with ideas, develop artistic skills and respond to artworks by others. They convey an appreciation of the role of the visual arts in differing cultural contexts and use technology appropriate to artistic processes. (Art Education Australia (n.d.))

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The act of reflection in teaching is critical for improving teaching and student learning; yet it is not innate. Reflection is a learned skill that needs guidance and support (Korthagen 2001; Lyons 2010). This begins to shift thinking about teacher education towards understanding how teachers learn; a recent addition to teacher education research (Darling-Hammond and Bransford 2005; Feiman-Nemsar 2008). As seen in the second case, the capacity for digital video is offering further opportunities to re-vision case-based pedagogy and create new ways of learning and teaching with new e-technologies. In regard to the increased capacity to manipulate digital videos for reflective learning and teaching, some researchers are indicating that the use of digital video has a lot of promise in teacher education, even though it has not been adopted quickly and there is a lack of research on good practice (Moyle 2010). Consequently, the second case in this chapter introduces the impact of embedding a media annotation tool (MAT) utilizing video into curricula so to better understand and support thinking about and seeing arts practices in the generalist classroom or alternative learning environments. The pre-service teachers who are participating in this project are learning to enter the profession of teaching or are re-engaging with learning to teach and also reengaging with what constitutes an artist and/or visual artist teacher, to further refine their teaching practice. Learning to teach is a complex activity that encompasses four broad areas of learning: thinking, knowing, feeling and acting like a teacher (Feiman-Nemser 2008). The use of MAT facilitates unpacking the act of teaching through annotation, where students are able to articulate teacher thinking, knowing and feeling. Recent discussion among arts educators shows many pre-service teachers graduate from their teacher education degrees with the understanding that visual arts will be taught by a specialist arts teacher (also explored in Chapter 10). However, nationally, and particularly in the state of Victoria, there has been a decline in such specialist teachers in the primary school setting due to resources, budgeting pressures and development of the national curriculum. Therefore with the expectation and requirement for generalist primary school teachers training in Australia to be able to competently teach visual arts, there is a need for reflective practice in multiple areas, particularly in order to process past experiences and assumptions as a visual arts learner; in practically engaging with visual arts knowledge, history, techniques and skills; and in pedagogy. It was anticipated that introducing MAT and supporting PSTs to use it would encourage application of metacognitive practice to learning and teaching experiences. Most importantly, the online forum of MAT supports a collegial community of practice for pre-service teachers to learn from each other, gain further perspectives and see alternative teaching practices through the viewing of each other’s videos. MAT also honours student-generated video with content that is supported through teacher guidance. This ownership allows for students to be empowered in a studentcentred learning environment. The third example at St Lucia College shows the importance of talent development for students who are highly able in music. The innovation is evident in the creation and  implementation of a music extension programme that supports the needs of the students and allows them to have connections to local and international industry. Students 128

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are supported to reach their potential, aligning with the three key points in the National Education and the Arts Statement (MCEEYTA 2007) of providing students with a highquality arts education, creating partnerships and connecting students in the school with the local and international arts sector to enrich learning outcomes. The teacher also spoke of a change in her perceived role within the community and by herself. Through the innovative approach to talent development, the teacher was able to step beyond her traditional orientation of a ‘classroom teacher’ to be considered more of a ‘professional’ known within the school and the arts industry as a musician. The shifting of identity is important to the teacher as it also justifies her role moving beyond delivering content to the children to providing innovative learning experiences that provide real-world learning opportunities and allow the students to have meaning in a broader context of a local and international music community. The role of the teacher is to be a ‘professional’ alongside other ‘professionals’ in the music industry. Without the implementation of this innovative strategy at the St Lucia College, the future for music students relied on students engaging with music opportunities outside of school during their own time. Rather than having a divide between music activities in school and music activities outside of school, an outcome of the talent programme was a reconnection for the student between the school and home environment, allowing for a realignment of the same expectations and opportunities. The music talent development programme was designed to support the highly able music students, similar to the way the school had supported sports- and academic-oriented students. Not only did it provide opportunities for home-school partnerships, it provided an equal opportunity for music students to also be supported within the school to reach their potential. One of the questions that is raised by this approach, however, relates to attitudes towards elitism of arts education programmes at St Lucia College. While the music programme does provide programmes for highly talented students, questions are raised about access to arts education programmes for all children within the school and the community who are not selected for the extension programme. The programme inadvertently excludes students who were not selected. These issues require greater discussion within the arts education community to explore ways to cater for all children to allow them to reach their potential. Talent development programmes provide innovative development for arts education, yet at the same time have a negative impact for some children. Concluding remarks This chapter has shown insights into three examples of innovative practice in arts education. Innovation was based around pedagogical approaches that enhanced creative insight and reflective practice and talent development that provided enhanced learning opportunities to support the needs of highly able students in the classroom. Reading the voices of the teachers and pre-service teachers, we can document the personal 129

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and professional growth that occurred that provided benefits for all involved with the innovation. The importance of partnerships also becomes known in each of the case sites in the implementation and development of the innovation. The partnerships provided a shared ownership of the learning and provided enriched opportunities to engage with private and public domains. This approach allowed students to move beyond learning ‘content’ to develop and extend on new ways of thinking and understanding about the arts. We also learn that the innovation changed the roles of the participants in the partnerships. Rather than having boundaries based on novice and expert, innovation allows all participants to become professionals working towards the same outcome. The new roles of participants allows for the easy crossing of boundaries between educational settings, public spaces and industry settings. Participants are able to see their learning within a bigger part of society. While innovation is often constrained by boundaries, the recognition of the role of the teacher in improving students’ learning overrides many of these. The teacher is given autonomy to develop meaningful learning experiences in the arts that allow for students to think critically and creatively. Much has been written about developing twenty-first-century skills and the importance of the I-Generation’s need for thinking, creating, collaborating and communicating with higher order and purpose (Gardner 2007; Pink 2005), and innovation in arts education provides a vehicle for achieving these skills. Although it is difficult to step away from the norm and be prepared to take risks on the educational landscape, the outcomes of the innovation far exceed the traditional day-in-and-day-out repetition of arts education. References Aprill, A. (2012), ‘Characteristics of Quality Arts Education Partnerships’,  Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE), http://www.arts.qld.gov.au/blog/index.php/ characteristics-of-quality-arts-education-partnerships/. Accessed 2 August 2013. Art Education Australia (n.d.), ‘Quality Art Teaching: What High Quality Art Teachers Know and Do’, http://www.arteducation.org.au/resources/ index.html. Accessed 10 August 2010. Arts Council Australia (2003), ‘Education and the Arts Strategy 2004–2007’, http://www .australiacouncil.gov.au/. Accessed 6 February 2010. Arts Council Australia (2008a), ‘Cultural Engagement Framework’, http://www.australiacouncil. gov.au/. Accessed 6 February 2010. Arts Council Australia (2008b), ‘Education and the Arts Strategy 2009–2012’, http://www. australiacouncil.gov.au/. Accessed 6 February 2010. Bamford, A. (2006), The Wow Factor: Global Research Compendium on the Impact of Arts in Education, Berlin: Waxmann Verlag. Cullen, R., Harris, M. and Hill, R. (2012), The Learner-Centered Curriculum: Design and Implementation, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 130

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Darling-Hammond, L. and Bransford, J. (eds) (2005), Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and Be Able to Do, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) (2009), ‘Partnerships between Schools and the Professional Arts Sector’, Paper No. 19, June 2009, Melbourne: State of Victoria, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Feiman-Nemser, S. (2008), ‘Teacher Learning: How Do Teachers Learn to Teach?’, in M. CochranSmith, S. Feiman-Nemser, D. J. McIntyre and K. Demers (eds), Handbook of Research on Teacher Education: Enduing Questions in Changing Contexts, 3rd ed., New York: Routledge and The Association of Teacher Educators, pp. 698–705. Gardner, H. (2007), Five Minds for the Future, Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Korthagen, F. (2001), Linking Practice and Theory: The Pedagogy of Realistic Teacher Education, Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Lyons, N. (ed.) (2010), Handbook of Reflection and Reflective Inquiry: Mapping a Way of Knowing for Professional Reflective Inquiry, New York: Springer. Ministerial Council on Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (2007), ‘National Education and the Arts Statement’, http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/ National_Education_Arts_Statement.pdf. Accessed 27 January 2007. Moyle, K. (2010), ‘Building Innovation: Learning with Technologies’, Australian Education Review, http://research.acer.edu.au/aer/10. Accessed 19 January 2010. Pink, D. (2005), A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age To The Conceptual Age, New York: Riverhead Books. Sayers, D. (1947), The Lost Tools of Learning, London: Methuen and Co Ltd.

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Chapter 9 Transforming Pedagogy from Listening to Young People’s Voices: Catalytic Impact on a Gallery Narelle Lemon

Working with the gallery this way encouraged further interaction and promoted the freedom to come back and revisit their learning […] for the children to explore in a way that is centred around their own inquiry, and that they can come to the gallery for as long or as short a period a time […] the digital camera encouraged a more meaningful interaction with the gallery. – Barbara – teacher reflection

T

his chapter shares a case study where one national gallery set out to rethink, change and transform the pedagogical approach of their schools’ programmes in the arts. An approach of listening to the children and young people who participate in these programmes was initiated out of acknowledgement of the need to connect with young people, their learning dispositions and needs and meaningfully engage with the students’ perspective of feedback and evaluation of programmes and experiences. At the heart of this transformation is the placement of student voice – the acknowledging of opinion and listening to perspective to impact ongoing professional reflection and action on gallery pedagogy and programme development. Shared here are aspects of a longitudinal project that sought to understand what children and young people think, see and experience at a national gallery located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, through the generation of digital photographs paired with reflection to create visual narratives (visual(s) + narrative). The digital camera in this sense is seen as a digital technology to record learning in gallery-based learning programmes that aim to enhance engagement with art knowledge, understanding, meaning making and the national gallery as an art space. Most importantly, hearing the voice and opinion of young people thus highlighted impacts the gallery education staff, teachers who organized school-based excursion to the gallery and the students themselves. Within the context of an interpretivist paradigm, this study uses qualitative data to provide rich understandings of the phenomenon (Yin 2003). By using a participatory action research methodology the project attempts to take full benefit of available data to support the multiple constructs of realities (Lincoln and Guba 1985). The primary sources of data include written reflections, observations and field notes, participant photographs and focusgroup interviews. Participants included 27 young people in 2011 and a further 23 students in 2012, aged between eight and twelve, one primary art teacher from an outer southern metropolitan primary school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and three gallery education staff from the major gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).

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This research follows a participatory action research methodology that aims to establish possibilities for young people to use digital technology to record their learning as visual narratives in gallery-based learning programmes. It highlights one approach to gaining feedback and evaluation of programmes and experiences from the perspective of the young people for which the programmes are designed. The project included five stages that highlighted the transferring of learning between all participants in multiple sites at multiple times (Figure 3). These five stages were carried out over a 12-month cycle and were repeated over a two-year period. The digital camera integrated into this project was seen as an emerging technology as it was not a digital tool commonly accessed for gallery education interactions (Lemon 2013). Emerging technology in gallery spaces are sometimes reconnections to ways of working with pre-existing technology (Dixon 2011; Johnson, Adams and Witchey 2011). In their nature, the interaction with digital technologies offers the possibility to be more flexible and access personalized information while encouraging interaction and discussion between visitors, gallery staff and artists (Becker 1995; O’Brien, Djusipov and Wittlin 2007; Burnham and Kai-Kee 2011). In this case, the collaboration between the technology and the gallery space offers innovative ways of working, celebrating learning and challenging new ways of listening to young people. This chapter does not intend to serve as an evaluation of young children’s reactions and responses to various exhibitions in the gallery, rather it shares the insights the young

Figure 3:  Visual Representation of the Ways of Seeing Pilot Project’s Five Stages.

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people have shared themselves about being invited to use a digital camera in the gallery space and highlights how supporting voice through this alternative reflective strategy is an inclusive and innovative practice. Juxtaposed against the student voice in the cases is the voice of the teacher and gallery education staff members as a way to contribute to the impact on their assumptions of how young people can access technology to capture their gallery experiences and pedagogical discussions in order to support this way of working. From the outset, the project was designed to yield information that would be useful in more than one gallery context. Catalytic impact The arts change as society changes, but by and large arts programs have not. For arts education to yield optimal results, teachers need to embrace new technologies, e.g. in the form of training and in ICT and professional skills relevant to the arts. (Bamford 2009: 147) Creating positive attitudes to learning, developing a greater sense of personal and cultural identity and fostering more creative and imaginative ways of thinking in young children (Bamford 2009; Eisner 2002; Robinson 2001) have all been associated with quality arts education. As a part of arts-based processes, children gain the opportunity to express their knowledge, ideas and feelings in ways that do not necessarily involve words (Dinham 2013; Livermore 2003; Robinson 2001). There is a growing body of evidence internationally that creative arts learning and engagement has a range of positive outcomes in terms of the lives of young people both in and out of school settings (Bamford 2009; Catterall, Chapleau and Iwanaga 1999; Deasy 2002; Fiske 1999). In Australia, an inquiry conducted by the Senate Environment, Recreation, Communications and the Arts References Committee (1995) concluded that creative arts as a subject remained marginalized in Australian schools, reporting that this had resulted from a lack of teachers’ confidence, skills, adequate training and resources (Gibson and Anderson 2008). More recent reviews of arts education in Australia, such as the National Review of School Music Education (Pascoe et al. 2005) and the National Review of Education in Visual Arts, Craft, Design and Visual Communication (Davis 2008) have shown a continued serious deficit in these areas in primary education over the past decade. These issues were noted in Chapter 1 and discussed further in Chapter 7 of this book; however, they are relevant in the discussion of the place arts hold in the education context of Australia and the flow-on effects of what such reviews provide. Currently, advocacy for arts education is high and there is growing research that is supportive of the outcomes of arts education practice and process, as well as the innovative approaches that educators, researchers, and arts organizations develop and enact (Ewing 2010; Bamford 2009; Alter, Hays and O’Hara 2009). More partnerships between teachers, artists and art organizations are being explored 137

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and are considered as having potential to enhance quality of teaching pedagogy as well as innovative learning experiences. Highlighted throughout is an authentic arts education programme and/or project that thrives on diversity (Dinham 2013), and, in addressing this, the following principles can be pursued: • provide a creative space where children express their own thoughts, feelings, perceptions and ideas, i.e. where they express the individuals they are • provide open-ended challenges that enable children to create their own responses within the framework of their capabilities • include learning situations that require children to work cooperatively for the group’s benefit • encourage children to reflect on the work of others as well as their own experiences and to be informed and constructive communicators with, and about, the work of others • explore the diverse world of art production by individuals, groups and across cultures. In this chapter, the collaboration between the participants – student, teacher, gallery educator – was paramount for the catalytic impact and thus the presence of flow-on effects, changes in direction, transformations and journeys for individuals and gallery (Table 9). As Bamford (2009) reiterates, the partnerships and flexibility of the participants included ‘shared responsibility for planning and implementation’ (92). At the heart of the collaboration is the digital camera, seen as an accessible technology for a school and its students and as a renewed technology for a gallery. The digital camera is seen as a tool to support reflective practice of the students and to invite them to share their voice. In supporting reflective practice, the place of technology in arts education is transformed for the students, teachers, gallery education staff and gallery itself. Listening to voice, although a regular practice by the art teacher, has not been a regular practice for the gallery education staff. The gallery was also challenged to participate in and go on a journey that promotes student-centred inquiry into the gallery space, regular use of a camera to photograph artworks and value more social interactions. In considering the catalytic impact of technology in arts education in the variety of contexts in which it can be delivered, the project shared in this chapter considers the digital camera as a handheld, accessible technology that supports young people to be generators of digital still photographs that support sharing voice. The flow-on effects and changes in directions for the participants of this study are demonstrated in Table 9, focussing on the impact of voice, digital camera and visual narratives as an alternative reflective strategy. Substantial evidence is being gathered to suggest that technology in arts education is having significant impact, particularly in terms of ‘a strong connection between arts-rich education and extensive and imaginative use of ICT’ (Bamford 2009: 138). The arts have an intrinsic value and a higher purpose to ensure children can flourish and evaluate the world in which they live. ‘Arts education need[s] to be given greater access to technology’ (Bamford 2009: 137) in order to assist young people to present, research, process and communicate their arts making and responding. 138

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Table 9:  Catalytic impact of integrating a digital camera in a gallery setting to support listening to young people’s voices. Students

Teacher

Voice

Knowing that they can share their voice

Being open to Supporting students Listening to listening to students to share their voice voice of young people about their experiences

Digital camera

Trusting and Being open to supporting students using a digital camera to capture to use technology their experiences Teaching camera Developing skills skills prior to use in gallery context in capturing images that communicate what they see

Visual narratives as an alternative reflective strategy

Visual literacy Alternative communication strategy

Gallery Education Staff

Supporting student voice and choice in digital images generated Inclusive way for all to communicate and not word/text based

Gallery

Reconsidering student-centred pedagogy to support mobile technology and practices of student use

Reconsidering how technology can be integrated into education programmes

Valuing young people as capable photographers of their gallery experience

Using student voice as evaluative data to inform programme and pedagogical changes

Clearly defining in a positive way how the digital camera can be used in the gallery space

Specifically, the gallery allowed for the creation of unique and innovative relations and collaborations between young people, teachers and an arts organization. The catalytic impact of the gallery listening to young people’s voice regarding their wants, needs and likes associated with learning in the gallery space in education programmes included flow-on effects on how young people engaged with such an arts space, effects on how a teacher engaged with a gallery and promotion of the beginning of changes in direction and transformations in education programmes at the gallery. Case 19: Melanie Year Five student Melanie is 11 years old. She reflects on her past gallery experiences: I have been to the Louvre [Paris, France] at the age of five. I remember the Mona Lisa. I’ve been to Italian galleries with my family, Mum and Dad. I have seen the Archibald 139

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Image 1:  Melanie’s performance art visual narrative that represented her lived experiences of viewing art by the artist Andy Warhol.

[Prize] in Ballarat [a regional town in Victoria, Australia] at eight years [of age] with grandparents. I went to the NGV in 2009. I have been to Italy and seen the statue of David. I have been to the Bayside [a seaside area in Southern metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria] art competition. Melanie loves art so much that she says she creates various artworks at home ‘almost every day’. She goes on to say: ‘I love exploring art and looking at it. I especially love painting. I’m not so keen on drawing simple shapes, but I like doodling and sewing. Almost every time I go on holidays we visit some sort of art exhibition. Maybe even two.’ Prior to this project Melanie had never used a digital camera at home but had had the opportunity at school where she had sometimes been able to download images that were used for school projects and her personal albums, but had not emailed or uploaded them onto social-networking sites. She mentioned that she did not have her own camera and had not had the opportunity to use the family’s camera. In reflecting about the digital camera and the best aspect of this technology being used in the gallery space, Melanie reflected, ‘you could capture the artwork however you wanted’. In thinking about the opportunity of visiting the gallery to photograph her experiences and share her voice, Melanie stated: ‘I think I’ve been invited to go to the gallery to use our 140

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Image 2:  Melanie’s planning for performance art visual narrative.

experiences to help the teachers understand how we learn and what art interests us. I think we will see some sculptures and paintings.’ In sharing about being listened to by adults, Melanie stated: ‘Sometimes they listened but sometimes they were more worried about what they were saying or they didn’t value what I said.’ On interacting with the NGV and generating photographs of her experience, Melanie said: We got to show our performance [Melanie created a performance art piece that represented the impact of seeing an Andy Warhol piece of artwork while at the gallery]. When I made 141

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the visual narrative I wanted to make sure I did the best I could do and that it involved what I honestly thought. Sharing my opinion meant I could say what I felt I liked about the artwork.

Case 20: Jim At the age of 11 years, Jim has had few experiences visiting a gallery. He has been to the NGV with his family prior to this project. Jim enjoys art, commenting: I enjoy painting, sketching and drawing maybe two to three times a week. The best thing I like about art is that there are no rules so anything is fun. I’m not that keen on cleaning up afterwards. Jim has had past experiences accessing a digital camera to capture photographs: I’ve used a camera for sport, people and random stuff. I’ve never used one at school before. We have a family camera that I can share and use. I’m allowed to download the photos myself but not for email, not Facebook, not Hotmail … mainly for school projects. I’m allowed to keep my photos for my album and I can print them as well. In reflecting about the digital camera and the best aspect of this technology being used in the gallery space, Jim said: ‘We could see what we took photos of and we didn’t have to stop for ages while we wrote about the pictures. I took as many as I could.’ In thinking about the opportunity to visit the gallery to photograph his experiences and voice, Jim noted: ‘We’re going to NGV so they can see what interests kids. We will see some really interesting sculptures, paintings and [other works of] art.’ Jim reflected about giving his opinion to adults in the past, saying: ‘Some listened well and others didn’t listen.’ In thinking about sharing his opinion with the gallery staff, Jim mentioned that he liked the NGV educators visiting the school because ‘we got to show them what we made. Sharing my opinion meant that I could show everyone what I like and what I don’t’.

Case 21: Tim Tim has been to galleries with family before this project. Being in Year Four and 10 years of age, he reflects: ‘I have been to the NGV with my nanny. I remember [the] great hall [from when I was] four years old. I’ve been to the London History Museum and Science Works [a science museum in the inner west of Melbourne].’ 142

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Image 3:  Jim sharing his visual narrative with the NGV staff when they visited the school.

Tim’s mother is an artist. This inspires his own artwork: Mum paints and she does abstract [work] like mandarin but squiggles. I like abstract. I paint at home, mostly in holidays, sometimes on weekend. When [I was] young [I] used to draw diesel trains. I like how you cannot be controlled [with] free art – make the instructions yourself – when I do abstract I make it up as I go along. Makes me feel good. Stops me from being bored. I’m not so keen on art with instructions – for example howto-draw books; plans for miniature railways [are] hard to follow. Tim has not used a digital camera at home but has had the opportunity at school previously: Dad has his own digital camera and sometimes I can ask him to take a photo for me. I email and can ask for permission to attach a photo. I don’t use Facebook and don’t post photos. I use a lot of photos in school projects. I usually print and put them in album[s]. 143

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Image 4:  Tim’s artwork and reflection inspired by his visit to the NGV.

In reflecting about the digital camera and the best aspect of this technology being used in the gallery space, Tim said: ‘We could do either video or photo. [I] liked being able to do this, [it] meant that I could keep the information so [I] can get to it later to use it, look at it, listen to it.’ In thinking about the opportunity to visit the gallery to photograph his experiences and voice, Tim stated: I think we’re visiting because the NGV need info about our opinions. I predict we will have a great tour to remember. I want to pretend to be a statue and get a friend to take a photo. I would like to share the best parts and the things I liked most. I want to zoom in to the parts that I really like. In regard to being listened to by adults, Tim shared: ‘I never have been listened to for my opinion and it wasn’t very nice. Mum ignored me and talked about what she thought.’ 144

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Tim collated many of his images from the gallery visits to create an original artwork that communicated his thoughts. On being listened to by the gallery education staff and art teacher, Tim reinforced: I liked sharing my opinion and it meant that I could express my thoughts and didn’t get bossed around to say what someone wanted me to say … but I could really take photos free range and say what I think. When I made the visual narrative I wanted to make sure I included something from the NGV so they understood that this was a way of reflection on what I enjoyed from my visit. I wanted to make a mixture of art from school exploration with the NGV artworks. I liked the NGV visiting us at school because I got to do a performance in front of the NGV and Mum so they could see what we enjoyed, what we thought … what stood out to most of us. Case 22: Marcus Marcus is a 12-year-old boy in Year Six. His prior visit to a gallery was guided by a school camp. He commented on what he thought of art: I like drawing in things a lot and creating cool stuff. I sometimes draw when I’m bored but I normally only once a year get a canvas to work on at home. There is not much I don’t like; well I’m not sure. The only thing I hate is when something is stuffed. Marcus has access to a digital camera at home and he states that once he downloads the images from the camera onto a computer, ‘I just keep them on the computer and sometimes Mum prints them for me’. In reflecting about the digital camera and the best aspect of this technology being used in the gallery space, Marcus said: ‘[We] got to choose what we wanted to take pictures of.’ In thinking about the opportunity of visiting the gallery to photograph his experiences and voice, Marcus stated: ‘… to take photos of the interesting artworks that attract me. Big, exciting artworks and sculptures that are the best in Victoria or Australia. Maybe share at assembly’. In regard to being listened to by an adult, Marcus shared that he had had the opportunity: ‘… like after movies I think they want to listen.’ In regard to sharing his opinion with the gallery education staff about his gallery experience, Marcus shared: I like the NGV visiting us at school because I like that they came here so we didn’t have to [do] everything there. They took their time [out] to see us. When I made the visual narratives I wanted to make sure it looked real … that it was a reflection of the real shield 145

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Image 5:  Marcus sharing the shield he made inspired by the South Pacific artwork he viewed during the gallery visit.

[Marcus was inspired by a Pacific Island exhibition where war shields were a part of the display]. In sharing my opinion I wanted to be honest, to say what I wanted. Case 23: Rochelle Rochelle is 11 years of age and in Year Five. She reflects on her past gallery experiences: ‘Yes, I have been with family and friends. With school [as well]. I have been to national galleries in Thailand and Melbourne.’ She enjoys participating in art making, saying: ‘Most days I draw. On the weekend I do sewing. I like sculptures and realist paintings with details. I want to make stuff that looks great. I’m not keen on abstract.’ In using the digital camera Rochelle reflects: ‘I share a camera with my sister at home. I have not used one at school before. I don’t download images but my parents do.’ In reflecting about the digital camera and the best aspect of this technology being used in the gallery space, Rochelle said: ‘We got to take pictures and videos of all the artworks we liked.’ 146

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In thinking about the opportunity to visit the gallery to photograph her experiences and share her voice, Rochelle stated: ‘I think we will see sculptures, paintings and other artwork. I feel excited to see all the different artworks. I think we will look and film artwork. I want to remember – “don’t forget no flash!”’ Prior to going to the gallery Rochelle had shared that she had never really felt that an adult had truly listened to her. However, on return from the gallery and on reflection of her experience, Rochelle noted: ‘Sharing my opinion meant that I got to tell people what we thought instead of them telling us what they thought. I like the NGV visiting us at school because they showed us their collection of art so now we got to show them ours.’ What does this mean? Whether attending a gallery or other cultural venue, Piscitelli (2011) reports that Australian children have long formed a significant audience for the stories and objects contained in collections across the nation. Visits often are in the form of a formal school excursion or a more casual family outing, each occasion allowing children to enjoy learning from objects and stories in Australia’s collections. This relationship, as Piscitelli (2011) reiterates, is between children and collections and has changed considerably over time as different museums, galleries and libraries responded to social and educational focusses. Trends to engage young people developing in Australian galleries and museums include (Piscitelli 2011; QUT Museums Collaborative 2004): • specially designed exhibition spaces for children • interactive displays that demonstrate how something works and operates • promoting a rise in children’s cultural citizenship • community-based arts projects and children’s creative outputs • focus on delivering high-quality child-centred arts experience • design and development of a dedicated children’s gallery • assuring a welcoming and engaging experience for new audiences • presenting a diverse and changing menu of programme options for children from birth to 12 years of age. The cases of Melanie, Jim, Tim, Marcus and Rochelle demonstrate a sample student voice about their experiences of visiting a gallery, the NGV in Melbourne, Australia. Their visit was a part of a project that invited young people to be digital-image makers of their experience. As a part of this process, each student was given a digital camera to use and was encouraged to photograph anything that interested them with no limit on how many images could be generated. Strongly reiterated to the students by their art teacher was that they could share their opinion and that there was no right or wrong answer. The gallery education staff also supported this approach and reinforced their wish to hear differing opinions in order to 147

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support their own growth as educators. At the heart of this approach was a student-centred exploration of the gallery and its exhibition spaces, which is a shift from more guided approaches that occur during school visits. Also interesting in the integration of the digital camera was the connection to the idea that the students as visitors can take home content, memories and their lived experiences (Burnham and Kai-Kee 2011; Simon 2010). Impact on students In this chapter we highlight that learning with and through the digital camera as a renewed digital technology ‘happens nearly anywhere and anytime’ (Peppler 2011: 9). The camera enables the generation of photographs that support reflection during the visit but most importantly they become a part of the memory of the experiences. The images assist in accurately reporting the experiences while sharing insights with others who did not attend, including peers, friends and family. Language, reflection, metacognition and thinking are all supported, often scaffolded, by the generation of digital images of one’s own experiences. The connection to the students being visitors who could take home memories of their lived experiences was validated throughout the project. As Simon (2010) reiterates, ‘the ideal personalized cultural experience doesn’t end when visitors leave the institution’ (67), and, while it is impossible and unrealistic for museums and galleries to continually maintain a relationship with each visitor, there are opportunities for personalized connections ‘to follow visitors beyond the exit doors’ (67). The project tuned into this, highlighting the eagerness for young people to continue to engage with the photographs they had generated on their visit to the gallery in other spaces such as at school and home. A strong connection to ‘voice’ and ‘choice’ in regard to how and what the young people photographed was evident in the insights shared across spaces (Lemon 2013). The digital camera, although a commonly used technology in school settings, is not a mobile tool that all students have the opportunity to use, such as in the cases of Melanie and Rochelle. The digital camera may be seen as an accessible camera for all but this accessibility is not always an equitable one in school or at home. In the gallery space the digital camera has a history of being a technology underutilized and in many cases not encouraged to be used due to fears associated with damage of artwork. This project enables all students to access a digital camera (Figure 4). An explicit part of the project was the support and scaffolding of use through familiarization workshops and lessons on how to capture and compose a photograph to communicate true intentions and download and insert images into various programmes to use in visual narratives. A student-centred approach that supported inquiry and hands-on use with independent problem solving was crucial in highlighting voice. Tuning into the students’ past experiences with art viewing and gallery experiences was deemed important in being able to understand students’ perspectives during the visits to the gallery of the project. The students’ prior experiences with the NGV were varied, with some students having visited but not remembering specifics, others specifically mentioning 148

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Figure 4:  Student-centred pedagogical decisions in integrating digital camera in the gallery and school setting.

an exhibition that had captured their interest and others reporting they had not had the opportunity to visit. In preparing the students for the visit to the gallery, their art teacher briefed the students about the purpose of the project and thus the excursion to the gallery space. The communication and mutual respect in this process meant that the students were included and valued for their contribution, their participation and the sharing of their voice from the beginning of the project. The value of sharing opinion, the sharing of understanding and the exploration of how young people see and experience the gallery space and subsequent artworks was a common understanding for the students prior to visiting the gallery to generate digital images. The sense of being appreciated for this opportunity was evident in pre-reflections especially when the children were asked to reflect on other opportunities to share their voice with an adult. I want to take photos of the interesting artworks that attract me. Big, exciting artworks and sculptures that are the best in Victoria or Australia. Maybe share at assembly. (Marcus) 149

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Clear communication was established from the beginning of this project with inclusive behaviour and language used by the art teacher. This approach was continually built on at each stage of the project as evidenced in other areas of the data (gallery education staff ’s explicit decision to talk to students at their physical level; to ask for advice and ideas and to listen to different perspectives; and to genuinely show an interest in how the students moved around and manoeuvred their natural inquiry within the gallery space). Prior to visiting the gallery, students were also asked to reflect about their predictions for the visit. Some students reflected on the use of the digital camera: ‘I want to pretend to be a statue and get a friend to take photos. I would like to share the best parts and the things I liked most’ (Tim). Some students even described how they planned to generate their digital photos to capture their lived experiences. The reflection and metacognitive thinking became evident in how young people and children are capable photographers, especially when trusted to use the technology and scaffolded in the practical know-how of use. The camera introduction sessions carried out in school accompanied with the why of the pilot project reinforced children’s capacity to generate digital images purposefully rather than by means of spontaneous generation with no intention or connection to the story they share in the subsequent image: I want to zoom in to the parts that I really like. Don’t forget no flash!

(Tim) (Rochelle)

Other students noted that they were excited about the prospect of the gallery visit and anticipated that they would be able to engage with artwork and inquire into specific styles, mediums and artists. In working in such a different way on an excursion and in the gallery space, the students often commented, questioned and sought clarification in what they could actually do in the gallery during the exploration session: gallery educator (ge): We are going up to the next level as we are interested in doing this [exploration] again on another level. jim (j): Ahhh. Cool! ge: We can check our maps and see where we are but I’m not going to tell you about what we are going to see as it’s about you discovering and seeing what you think. j: What if we get lost … ge: With your map you can see where we can go and where our meeting place is. 150

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j: ge: j:

Oh yeah, I can go around by myself and know where I can come back to … plus others are around so I can check with them. That’s right. Cool, so it really is – go where I want [big smile and eyes widen with the realization of the option of self-exploration at hand]

The students are seen as independent learners (Burnham and Kai-Kee 2011; Kydd 2007). This significant pedagogical decision on the part of both the teachers and gallery educators throughout this project was made to support young people to have the choice to interact within peer groups that are friendship-driven and interest-driven (Ito et al. 2010). Peer connections were seen as a motivator of sharing opinions and being heard while inquiring together. Students commented about this pedagogical decision in the guided session in comparison to the more student-centred ‘free range’, as they labelled it, exploration programme. stu. 1: stu. 2: stu. 3:

I like how we were explained to at each painting as we went along … how you would explain how an artist would see the world differently and that’s the same as everyone. I didn’t like how we spent so much time on one [painting]; I’d like to see more. Kind of boring when we have to sit still so many times on the ground … gets a little boring.

Students also commented on problem solving through dialogue to allow for use of camera with no flash in areas of exhibitions that are darker than others: parent (p): tim (t): p: t:

You know you don’t have to keep taking photos, space it out … Why can’t you use a flash? Light can damage and fade an artwork. Also can’t touch [it] as well. My camera is not working, I can’t photograph anything now … [standing at meeting point halfway through the session]

Capturing moments in time from different angles was supported from the scaffolding that occurred during the camera introduction session. Some students knelt on the floor to get down low under a sculpture and others captured close-ups or the whole artwork with ornate frames included. It was reiterated that there are no incorrect ways of capturing their experience. Student interactions with gallery staff supported their inquiry and there was an easy formation of trust and mutual respect. This emerged early in the day and was helped greatly by the welcome by gallery educators that had them place themselves at student height when speaking. This immediately highlighted the breaking down of teacher/ student hierarchy behaviour that can often be interpreted as power plays when adults 151

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seek opinion from young people and interfere with relationship development in seeing all as learners. Students used connections with each other to inquire and solve problems: Students are allowed to roam in areas guided by their maps and interestingly enough individual exploration turns into buddying up with a peer to interact verbally about what they have seen. Students often show each other their digital camera screen and say ‘did you see this artwork?’ or ‘what do you think of this one?’ (Field notes) Students would give their camera to a fellow peer and direct them to take a photo of themselves in front of their favourite artwork. There was a natural connection to taking the image on their camera, rather than someone else’s, for easy access to use later. Will be interesting to see if these images are used in the visual narratives. (Field notes) Oh that’s cool that M [gallery educator] got down on the floor where we were sitting to talk to us. I really liked that as she showed she really wanted to listen to us. (Marcus) The catalytic impact on the students was particularly evident in the honouring of voice by educators across spaces and learning sites. Through the scaffolding of digital camera use the generation of visual narrative as an alternative reflection strategy engaged the young people in the sharing of their lived experiences. Impact on teacher Barbara, the art teacher, on reflecting about the gallery visit, noted several areas of impact on the students and how the experience was designed: I would be interested in developing this programme further. There is room to move with this model today. Explore floor by floor, then pick favourites and then go to each with a guided session in the afternoon based on the students’ choice. The students could vote for their top five.   A Year Six student came back to class the next day and shared with us all what she thought. She just loved the day and the chance to photograph in the gallery. She had a buzz and a glow that [showed that] she was just so excited. She encouraged everyone to go there and to go in the school holidays. It was a must that they should go. Barriers with security were noted by some of the educators involved in the project. There was a sense of frustration in this interaction: although there was an acknowledgement that their role 152

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is vital in caring for the artwork, questions were raised around their approach that, at times, seemed intimidating and seemed to indicate that they presumed that individuals were going to display behaviour in an obtrusive, disruptive or interfering manner. Barbara further reflects: Parent helpers and other teachers all reported the security was not sympathetic to the children and cameras. [They] were watching and hovering expecting them to be badly behaved. Some pre-empted and told students off when they hadn’t and weren’t going to do anything wrong. They scared the children and parents as well. One parent was questioned by a guard saying ‘What school are you from?’ She replied in a timid voice as [she was] scared with the name of the school, the guard replied ‘Right, I will remember that’ as if to indicate he was going to report the school for misconduct in the gallery.   At times I felt like there was no variety in reflective strategies, no real interaction with the artwork in some exhibitions by the guided programme. Questions were fired but no variety and too many that didn’t read the body language of the students not being engaged anymore. The stories were a connecting point but the questions dragged out.   Another teacher mentioned that it would have been great to have other pedagogical approaches to looking at art that would extend the children’s responses and interaction. [The] same style of delivery throughout the programme was disengaging; some struggled at times, with a more secondary focus on delivery than primary. The children were already interested [so] they would have responded to variety of questioning, looking at art without much effort at all. Repetitiveness just turned them off.   In the free-range programme the students who were not really into art could have misbehaved, [but] this wasn’t the case. They wanted more and had a natural inquiry to explore what interested them, fed by working this way. The sharing of voice and being listened to really resonated with the students. Once they knew they were going to be listened to they [were willing to] share deeply. Assisting students to use digital cameras was deemed essential prior to visiting the gallery. It was anticipated that an introduction and orientation session prior to the gallery visit would allow students to focus specifically on generating digital images, rather than problem solving basic camera operational features such as turning on and off, zoom, button roles and use of the view finder. The orientation to the camera was also seen as necessary in order to make sure that students understood that the gallery etiquette of no flash was non-negotiable. Impact on gallery education staff I am interested to hear how students process their experiences at the gallery and to see their reflections after returning to school. Such comprehensive recording of student views and those of impartial observers will be very interesting and useful in developing education practice in the gallery. This view into student experience … what students 153

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take away from their visit … and the follow-up with students sometime after their NGV experience, is a rare opportunity. (Sharon, Gallery Educator, post-reflection) Noticing what the students photographically generated challenged predisposed thoughts, as one gallery education staff member noted: Although we did try to emphasize to the students that they could use the camera to record anything that they were interested in, to show us what they liked/disliked etc., I was interested [to see] that the students seemed to be almost exclusively interested in photographing artworks [as is reiterated in Table 9]. I had anticipated that some students might want to photograph other aspects of the Gallery/experience i.e. building details … security guards … each other etc. I assume this is because the artworks were the things that they were most curious about/interested in, but also wonder if it also reflects the fact that they have already absorbed a museum culture that is often represented by the heroic ‘single’ artwork … at the expense of the stories and ideas that might be suggested by people, the building, details of artworks, groupings of artworks. It may also be that the artworks were simply the best way for students to communicate their questions, ideas or feelings … Observation of how the students manoeuvred freely through the gallery space motivated by interest rather than guidance from a gallery education staff member ignited reflections about visual literacy: Not many of the students have been reading the plaques for the artworks. That concerns me about art literacy. How will they know how to investigate later what they have seen? They will have trouble with the name of the artist and work. Something to think about in our guidance of exploration. (Jennifer, Gallery Educator, field notes) I did note that very few students seemed to read – or photograph – labels or captions. This did make me reflect on the importance of educating students that labels/captions can be useful for providing information for further investigation/learning. To be fair, the students had not been set a particular learning task so they were more focussed on consuming the ‘visual feast’ laid out before their eyes than on looking for or recording ‘information’. However I had anticipated that some students might photograph a caption as a way of noting what they had seen. On the most basic level it would have been useful for them to be able to refer to the work by the title. (Sharon, Gallery Educator, field notes) Reflective practice on behalf of the gallery education staff triggered pedagogical observations and acknowledgement of how the students were viewing the artwork. It was noted in the field notes: 154

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[8 minutes into gallery visit] I expected the students to move faster through this [pink room] but they are stopping. Hmm … is it because they don’t know how much more there is on the floor?   [30 minutes into gallery visit] I’m fascinated by how they are moving through the gallery floor space and where they go. They are using the maps well. I’m now trying to keep ahead of the pack [as the students manoeuvre through the floor and only go into areas specifically dedicated to the programme]. (Jennifer, Gallery Educator, field notes) This was reiterated by Jennifer’s reflection: In the reflection session which we did after we finished in each area the students were very focussed on the artworks they ‘liked’ best … although with prompting some also spoke about things they did not enjoy. Very little inclination among the group to speak about other aspects of the Gallery experience … but suspect this was because they were simply having a good time and enjoying the variety of artworks, which was very affirming. In speaking about the artworks the students were very articulate in expressing their ideas, often using quite specific terminology. … ‘I like the contrast/detail/style’ etc. Some students brought a performative element to their responses … acting a little like art critics … perhaps because they recognized the interest in their opinions and the appropriateness of this sort of response to the environment. One of the objectives for the project was to support students to explore artwork in a more student-centred approach. The pedagogical challenge for the gallery education staff came from the definition of this term and what it meant in practice. The challenge of integrating the digital cameras as a renewed technology in the gallery presented a different way of working and unique sets of strategies to support student engagement. At times I wondered about what looked like a limited level of engagement with the art … but I also felt that there was some validity in allowing the students the opportunity of a ‘scoping’ exercise as they are naturally curious about ‘what else there is’ … the challenge is to then provide something more focussed to encourage a deeper level of engagement. (Sharon, post-reflection) I’ll wait for the paparazzi, I had to wait and they would get distracted so gave instructions as to when to and can’t take photos. (Jennifer, field notes) In a conversation with a parent, these areas were reinforced further: parent:

Do you often let the students go free in the gallery on a school visit? 155

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jennifer (gallery educator):

We tend not to as there is an expectation on behalf of the teachers that it [the visit] is led by us … this could be a good way to shift this and to perhaps give the teachers the opportunity to run sessions like this or for us to set it up and model possibilities … these are ideas we can think about.

Observations and reminders of gallery etiquette were explored and challenged in some ways with the digital camera being a dominant tool in the exploration and inquiry into the gallery space: The idea of giving students freedom in a limited, defined area of the Gallery worked very well. In the first session when a couple of students instinctively stepped back to lean against a wall to have their photo taken with a painting I was quickly reminded of how there are subtle gallery behaviours – beyond the ‘don’t touch the artwork’ that students need to learn – that we need to manage in these situations … without filling the students with endless rules and fear about moving through the Gallery. (Jennifer, Gallery Educator, field notes) Using technology to capture their experiences was very engaging for students. They appeared to take many, many photographs. Initial problems with flash, still photo/video were overcome after the first 30 minutes or so. (Melissa, Gallery Educator, field notes) The opportunity for the gallery educators to work with young people in this way supported ongoing professional development and reinforcement of promotion of student voice and inquiry. Paramount to this advocacy for voice and need to reinforce the integration of reflection in traditional and non-traditional ways to support the thinking about artworks was the engagement that enhanced student participation and extended their art experiences and knowledge. The most significant transformation from this project was the integration of the digital camera and moving across sites over time – two areas that can be notoriously difficult to meaningfully address in gallery settings. The long-term relationship supported critical reflection and building of partnerships to enhance student voice, thus allowing impact on pedagogical noticing. Concluding remarks Galleries are now actively concentrating on enriching the total gallery experiences for visitors and, as McIntrye and Murphy (2011) reiterate, are ‘tailoring new kinds of social experience for visitors to exhibitions’ (4). In addressing this focus, mobile devices, interfaces and connections with websites are becoming more embedded and networked and are thus 156

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changing the experience of visiting galleries (Johnson, Adams and Witchey 2011; Dixon 2011). In their nature, the interaction with digital technologies offers and provides more flexible and personalized information and encourages interaction and discussion between visitors, gallery staff and artists (Becker 1995; O’Brien, Djusipov and  Wittlin 2007). The impact of these changes for gallery education staff in these settings is allowing for new and innovative exploration (Chamberlain 2011; Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport 2011; Johnson, Adams and Witchey 2011; McIntyre and Murphy 2011). Digital technology is challenging the way gallery education programmes (both public and school programmes) support exploration and discovery, especially with the development of mobile technology. This way of working and engaging with meaning making has become very important to gallery educators and many are exploring how digital and communication technologies can be developed to offer visitors a more interactive, personalized gallery and art museum experience (Chamberlain 2011; Dixon 2011; Mackey, Adams and Focus 2010). The digital camera is seen as one technology that can be used in this space to enable the interaction with young people on school-organized visits. Young people are often invited to view photographs, ask questions about photographs, talk about photographers (The University of Virginia Art Museum) and participate in workshops that teach about keyhole cameras and composition (National Portrait Gallery Canberra); and some galleries donate a camera for children to use in workshops in gallery and art museum spaces (Cedar Rapids Museum of Art). Never has a child been given a camera to explicitly photograph what they see and experience when visiting a gallery space. This project’s uniqueness offers much for consideration by other sites interested in integrating technology such as digital cameras to support inquiry into art, promotion of student voice and impact on gallery educators’ professional reflection and development. Young people were seen as capable photographers and generators of visual narratives to communicate their experiences, thoughts and ideas as lived experiences of their gallery visit. The initial insights gained, although not fully shared in this chapter due to ongoing analysis, allowed for understanding of what types of artworks fascinated students, how they engaged with the size and multi-sides of artworks, as well as their needs for information, want to be able to ask questions, and appreciation of being able to express what they actually think about artwork rather than conforming to what an adult wants to hear. For the teachers and education gallery staff, the realization that students want to share their voice more and that they felt empowered by being trusted to use the digital cameras will have implications for further learning and teaching design. References Alter, F., Hays, T. and O’Hara, R. (2009), ‘The Challenges of Implementing Primary Arts Education: What Our Teachers Say’, Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 34: 4, pp. 22–30. Bamford, A. (2009), The Wow Factor: The Global Research Compendium on the Impact of Arts in Education, 2nd ed., Berlin: Waxmann Münster. 157

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Becker, H. S. (1995), ‘Visual Sociology, Documentary Photography, and Journalism: It’s (Almost) All a Matter of Context’, Visual Sociology, 10: 2, pp. 5–14. Burnham, R. and Kai-Kee, E. (2011), Teaching in the Art Museum: Interpretation as Experience, Los Angeles: The John Paul Getty Museum. Catterall, J., Chapleau, R. and Iwanaga, J. (1999), ‘Involvement in the Arts and Human Development’, in E. Fiske (ed.), Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, Washington: Arts Partnership & President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, pp. 2–18. Chamberlain, G. (ed.) (2011), Interactive Galleries: Digital Technology, Handheld Interpretation and Online Experiences, England and Wales: Museum Identity. Davis, D. (2008), ‘First We See: The National Review of Visual education’, www.australiacouncil. gov.au/research/education_and_the_arts/reports_and_publications/first_we_see_the_ national_review_of_visual_education. Accessed 20 November 2012. Deasy, R. (2002), Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic Achievement and Social Development, Washington: Arts Education Partnerships. Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport (2011), Draft 10 Year Plan for the Northern Territory’s Museums and Galleries 2011–2021: Building our Museums and Art Galleries Sector Understanding the Past to Move into the Future, Palmerston NT, Australia: Arts and Culture Division, Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport. Dinham, J. (2013), Delivering Authentic Arts Education: Visual Arts, Drama, Music, Dance, Media, 2nd ed., Melbourne: Cengage. Dixon, M. (2011), ‘Why We Need to Listen to Kids’, http://jennnelson.com/2011/08/30/why-weneed-to-listen-to-kids-by-mardixon/. Accessed 1 December 2011. Eisner, E. (2002), The Arts and the Creation of the Mind, New Haven: Yale University Press. Ewing, R. (2010), ‘Australian Education Review, The Arts and Australian Education: Realising Potential’, http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/AER-58.pdf. Accessed 20 November 2012. Fiske, E. (ed.) (1999), Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts on Learning, Washington: Arts Partnership & President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Gibson, R. and Anderson, M. (2008), ‘Touching the Void: Arts Education Research in Australia’, Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 28: 1, pp. 103–112. Ito, M., Baumer, S., Bittanti, M., Boyd, D., Cody, R., Herr-Stephernson, B., Horst, H., Mahendran, D., Martinez, K., Pascoe, C., Robinson, L., Sims, C. and Tripp, L. (2010), Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media, Cambridge: The MIT Press. Johnson, L., Adams, S. and Witchey, H. (2011), The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 Museum Edition, Austin: The New Media Consortium. Kydd, G. S. (2007), ‘Moving Beyond the Classroom: Learning and the World at the Art Museum’, in P. Villeneuve (ed.), From Periphery to Centre: Art Museum Education in the 21st Century, Reston: National Art Education Association. Lemon, N. (2013), ‘Digital Cameras as Renewed Technology in a Gallery: Young People as Photographers of Their Learning’, Refereed paper for 2013 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, 27 April–1 May. 158

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Lincoln, Y. S. and Guba, E. G. (1985), Naturalistic Inquiry, Newbury Park: Sage Publications. Livermore, J. (ed.) (2003), More than Words Can Say: A View of Literacy through the Arts, Canberra: National Affiliation of Arts Educators. McIntyre, D. and Murphy, B. (2011), ‘Museums Australia 2011: Submission to Commonwealth Inquiry on National Broadband Network (NBN) Rollout. Museums Australia Submission to Commonwealth Inquiry into the National Broadband Network (NBN)’, Canberra: House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications. Mackey, E., Adams, M. and Focus, A. (2010), Evaluation of J. Paul Getty Museum’s Art Together: A Getty Museum and School Multi-Visit Program, New York: Paul Getty Museum. O’Brien, V., Djusipov, K. and Wittlin, F. (2007), ‘Visible Voices, Shared Worlds: Using Digital Video and Photography in Pursuit of a Better Life’, Paper presented at The Meeting of Social Interaction and Mundane Technologies Conference SIMTECH 07, November, Melbourne, Australia. Pascoe, R., Leong, S., MacCallum, J., Marsh, K., Smith, B. and Church, T. (2005), National Review of School Music Education, Perth: Centre for Learning Change and Development, Murdoch University. Peppler, K. (2011), New Opportunities for Interest-Driven Arts Learning in a Digital Age, New York: The Wallace Foundation. Piscitelli, B. (2011), ‘What’s driving children’s cultural participation?’, in D. Griffin and L. Paroissien (eds), Understanding Museums: Australian Museums and Museology, National Museum of Australia, nma.gov.au/research/understanding-museums/BPiscitelli_2011.html. QUT Museums Collaborative (2004), ‘Young Children’s Interactive Learning in Museums’, ART SPIRT Grant #C10024104, 2000–2003, in L. Kelly, G. Savage, J. Griffin and S. Tonkin, Knowledge Quest: Australian Families Visit Museums, Canberra: National Museum of Australia and Australian Museum. Robinson, K. (2001), Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative, West Sussex: Capstone Publishing. Simon, N. (2010), The Participatory Museum, USA: Museum 2.0. The Senate Environment, Recreation, Communications and the Arts References Committee (1995), Arts Education, Canberra: Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. Yin, R. K. (2003), Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

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Chapter 10 Pitfalls and Speed Bumps of Being an Arts Educator: Risk and Negative Loss Impact Narelle Lemon and Susanne Garvis

Every solution once tried gives rise to other problems; relief is always temporary. (Eisner 2002a: 174) Introduction As Eisner (2002a) reminds us, ‘among all the fields of study in our schools, the arts are the forefront in the celebration of diversity, individuality, and surprise’ (235). A decade of this rings strong, if not stronger, in a society where there are pressures to express feelings, emotions and thoughts in a way that challenges, celebrates, appreciates and respects individual’s expression as well as others who may or may not have the same perspective. The arts generate a way to communicate and make meaning in a diverse world. These thoughts and, often, philosophy, are also poignant in relation to the pressures surrounding arts educators and their ability to enact, support and promote, especially when these elements are hindered. What happens to the arts teacher and the arts students who cannot fully experience their capacity to celebrate diversity, individuality and surprise through the arts? This chapter explores the hidden and evaded stories associated with arts education. Multiple case studies are shared that describe ‘things’ that either had to be sacrificed or created negative consequences for the arts educator. In turn, this causes a domino effect for organizations and learners. Risks and negative losses discussed include opportunity costs, talent loss, personal loss, unhappiness, loss of enjoyment and loss of creativity. The first two stories come from two arts educators who teach in music and visual arts, respectively. Both these stories highlight the negative impacts and risks associated with the extra hours often associated with the planning for and delivery of innovative arts education programmes that engage students. We hear first from Tennille, a secondary school music teacher, who is finding challenges to her ideal of being a dedicated and passionate arts educator. She battles with the want to provide opportunities for students in their development, understanding and knowledge in the arts while also maintaining a professional musician identity as a performer. The burnout and exhaustion accompanying the shifting and swaying professional identity of an arts educator offers a not so unfamiliar insight into benefit of reflective practice to develop resiliency. Megan is an experienced visual arts teacher in the primary school setting. She is beginning to transition her focus from generating an active

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arts programme full-time into part-time teaching. The letting go and working with others provides tension in the balancing act that sees challenges between what can be perceived best for the students versus the cost to personal well-being and work–life balance. With the first two cases, the consequence of exhaustion on multiple levels is highlighted. We then hear from two generalist educators who discuss loss of enjoyment and loss of creativity created from following strict guidelines to deliver the arts curriculum in their schools. Both Tom and Claire share their unhappiness and loss of sense of independence as they experience the day-to-day running of the schooling context in a climate of performancebased standardized testing. Tom is a self-taught musician and a beginning teacher at a new school. He initially implements arts activities in his classroom but is soon questioned by the music specialist teacher. A decision for Tom to stop engaging with arts in his classroom leads to a sense of loss, as his pedagogy was previously based on the arts. Claire is a specialist teacher who is feeling challenged with a prescribed arts curriculum that was introduced to supplement language and literacy skills for national standardized testing. Claire can no longer deliver the same curriculum she used to and feels a negative loss associated with loss of control. Negative impact Negative loss impact of arts education describes things that have to be sacrificed or else negative consequences of some other kind arise. Negative consequences include opportunity costs, talent loss, personal loss, unhappiness, loss of enjoyment and loss of creativity. Research indicates that teachers have reported barriers to arts teaching, such as short class periods or insubstantial dedicated curriculum time, parental and societal influences, demanding curriculum, heavy workload, lack of a studio or appropriate teaching space, lack of collegial cooperation and pressure to attend local competitions (Alter, Hays and O’Hara 2009; Bamford 2006; Strom 2010). As the twenty-first-century blossoms, we see reported negative-loss complications with resiliency to teach, self-efficacy, expectations from self and others (Bobis 2010; Delgado 2011; Garvis and Pendergast 2011; Sebobi 2012); pressures with the integration of digital technologies (Lemon 2012); and challenges with abundance of professional demands and expectations versus personal transcendence and well-being (Pink 2005). All these areas have significant implication for parents/families, arts educators, teachers education programmes, educational policy makers and curriculum specialists (Buldu and Shaban 2010). For teachers to engage with children, they must develop suitable skills and techniques to become aesthetic educators (Eisner 2002b). According to Eisner (2002b: 382–384): Artistry requires sensibility, imagination, technique and the ability to make good judgments about the feel and significance of the particular. Good teaching depends on artistry and aesthetic considerations. Artistry is most likely when we acknowledge its 164

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relevance to teaching and create the conditions in schools in which teachers can learn to think like artists. Studies have found that teachers’ self-efficacy and self-image relating to creativity and artistry influenced their use of the arts more than any other personal characteristic (Alter, Hays and O’Hara 2009) and this has been further explored in Chapters 6 and 9. This suggests that a teacher’s negative experience in a schooling context may directly contribute to their selfefficacy or self-image, leading to an individual loss. This may result in loss of confidence, talent or creativity. It may also lead to feelings of unhappiness and lack of enjoyment. Another problem resulting from individual negative loss is teacher attrition. Teachers may leave for a variety of reasons: family, personal circumstances and job dissatisfaction were the reasons most frequently cited by teachers leaving the profession (Voke 2002). For example, arts activities may take significant time for the teacher outside of general school hours. The turnover rates compromise learning by destabilizing the learning environment and exposing students to limited opportunities (NCTAF 2002). A part of negative loss can also result from teachers having a change of identity created by outside forces such as policy from a ‘curriculum maker’ (Connelly and Clandinin 1988) to that of a technician of learning and curriculum. Teachers as curriculum makers (Connelly and Clandinin 1988: 4) acknowledge that: It is simply that all teaching and learning questions – all curriculum matters – be looked at from the point of view of the involved persons. We believe that curriculum development and curriculum planning are fundamentally questions of teacher thinking and teacher doing. We believe it is teachers’ ‘personal knowledge’ that determines all matters of significance relative to the planned conduct of classrooms. As teaching can be based on personal knowledge, it acknowledges that the curriculum is the interactions, experiences and associations with others. A negative impact and a change in context to that of technician can take away the teacher’s individual feelings of autonomy, creativity and control over what they are doing in the classroom. When teachers are expected to perform in ‘sanctioned’ ways, to fit into a limited and reductive version of what constitutes a good teacher, they are less likely to take risks to explore their own creativity (White and Smerdon 2008). Furthermore, ‘sanctioned teaching’ may create lack of opportunity as the teacher becomes less willing to contribute to new ideas of how the arts should be taught. The consequence of negative loss in arts education often involves loss of quantity and quality of arts programmes within schools for children. Arts policy researchers often cite the harm in reducing the quantity and quality of arts education children receive in schools. For example, Boughton (2004: 585) argued that the loss in time and resources in the arts limits the core values of the arts to allow for students’ ‘freedom … to pursue independent learning pathways and the autonomy of their expression’. Thus, an individual negative loss can have a direct impact on children’s learning and access to arts education in schools. 165

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Cases of negative loss Case 24: Tennille’s confusion Tennille is a beginner music teacher. Since her second year out of undergraduate teacher education studies, she has been working in a large, suburban Melbourne high school with an enrolment of 1500 students and a staff of 150. She is one of four classroom music teachers and her teaching load is mainly at junior level (Year Seven and Eight) with one class of Year Ten students. Tennille, alongside her teaching, is also maintaining a professional career as a practising musician. She believes that: To be a teacher of music I need to be a musician as well. It would be like a physical education teacher teaching sport to young people with no idea about how to be a sportsman. To me they are closely married. With Tennille’s passion and creativity to support and inspire students to explore meaning making through music, she soon realizes her philosophy is not aligned with her colleagues nor the school she is working in. In balancing performing with teaching, Tennille’s passion and energy levels were slowly chipped away and this caused a loss in confidence, morale and engagement with school and with the teaching profession. It was about six months into my teaching position when I realized I was in the wrong place. It was a shock actually. The feeling really took me by surprise. I had been working away at balancing performing in evenings with teaching during the day. I actually thought I was living my dream … I was immersed in my artform in what I had set out to do. But I was tired. Not tired from balancing two careers but tired from constantly banging my head against a wall. Everything seemed so hard in the school context. There were all the underlying political movements that I wasn’t privy to. Most importantly, I soon realized music was a tokenistic offering in the curriculum, not a subject area that was viewed as important at all. This really grated with me. In the performing context if someone who I work with has an idea, they are supported to do whatever they can to realize the opportunity. But, in the school context every idea I had was blocked, too hard, criticized or left up to me to envisage and enact. I just realized I was in the wrong place. My enthusiasm was not valued at this school. The arts were seen as a compulsory part of the curriculum that just had to be offered, not seen as an avenue for exploration and expression. That was a WOW moment for me! It was a shock that I had surrounded myself with colleagues who thought the total opposite of what I did. Tennille shares the inevitable cost of continuing to work in this environment: The realization was just one part of my noticing in this situation. I actually continued working in this environment for another 18 months. In retrospect, C-R-A-Z-Y!!! I mean, 166

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honestly, I paid a toll. I lost confidence in my teaching ability. I lost my inspiration, my motivation … and honestly my enthusiasm was just sucked dry. I ended up to stop suggesting possibilities to engage the students in music and taught what was given to me in curriculum documents by a senior colleague. I tried to adapt strategies with what was given to me but really I felt like I had to teach exactly how my colleagues were. It was like a factory and so not conducive to creativity. It just wasn’t me.   This experience was also paralleled with guilt. I had just trained for six years to be in this position and not very far into this journey I was thinking, ‘Oh dear, this is just not for me, what have I done’. I felt like I couldn’t talk to my colleagues and my silence became internalized. This also transferred to my musician friends, many of whom were balancing the teaching gig and were sharing amazing experiences. The total opposite to me. My internalizing meant my reflective practice stopped. So too my ability to critically think about the situation or apply my problem-solving skills. I just fell into this unproductive pattern with my teaching. I became the teacher I never wanted to be … walk in and walk out. While this was happening I was also still performing. It was my shining light. My little pocket of creativity … of expression. In some cases I was burning the candle at both ends. Up early to teach all day and out late performing. The price was inevitable … burnout! Burnout didn’t consist only of physical tiredness for Tennille; her health also paid a cost: I ended up taking several months off due to a serious illness. Well I was told by medical professionals to take time off. I was so stressed, mentally tired and physically exhausted my body just yelled out STOP! Now looking back this was the best thing that happened to me. I had forced time out to refresh and rethink. I was also forced to speak to others about what was happening. This not only assisted in shifting my negative thoughts but also helped me clarify what it was that I actually wanted and what environment I wanted to teach in. Ideally I was reassessing my professional identity as a music teacher – why I wanted to teach, why I wanted to teach music and what impact I wanted to share with students. I also had a quick and harsh dose of educational politics and the place arts can and can’t have according to leadership and teachers’ perspective. In the end a rewarding opportunity to move forward and reposition my passion for creativity … inevitably in a totally different school with a passion for the arts as a whole. Case 25: The balancing act Meagan is a primary-school visual-art teacher with 27 years’ experience. She has taught in her current school for six years. Until recently, Meagan has been teaching visual art to students from Preparatory to Grade 6 level (five- to twelve-year-olds) and has developed a solid curriculum across the year levels to scaffold student-centred creative exploration and 167

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inquiry. She has focussed on building up the profile of visual arts within the school and its subsequent wider community. One of the ways Meagan has done this is through participation in artists-in-residence programmes, visiting artists programmes and excursions to varied arts organizations, as well as arts days and exhibitions. I love the arts and I want to share this with the young people I teach. I love the buzz that I can achieve from seeing the insights and connections that can be made … especially when they are all so different for each individual. Our principal and school board are very supportive of the arts and are flexible when I want to offer an extra arts engagement programme. Meagan as an experienced art teacher also is at a point in her life where she is juggling family change, not enough time, too many projects to manage and the personal toll on energy and focus. With a cut back on teaching hours in order to manage and balance work and personal life, an additional layer of this story is the cost and negative impact on job sharing with a nonarts educator whose focus is a conflicting and competing subject area within the school. I just got to a point where I had to let something go before I totally burned out. I decided that I would cut back my teaching to four days. This means that I would have a threeday weekend to manage family and the commitments that I’m currently struggling to meet. I just don’t want to let people down so I thought this would be the best thing to do for the immediate, and I can always re-evaluate after a certain period of time. Ideally in doing this I wanted to co-share my job with another arts practitioner, so I could continue to maintain a high-profile arts programme, so the students would be not compromised and so I could also have a colleague that I could bounce ideas off and have a common understanding for the good of the programme.   The principal agreed on maintaining the high-performing arts programme this way. But the politics of position and people available along with pressure not to advertise for a one-day [job] challenged the agreement. Unforeseeable issues then surfaced in coteaching with a colleague who didn’t know the basics of visual arts, materials, pedagogy, how to keep the art studio clean or even how to manage the resources and equipment so they would last an academic year across seven grade levels. Areas I was just hoping not to have to enter into. So job sharing has ended up adding more work for me because of the wrong person being placed into the position. Case 26: Sharing my passion Tom has been a teacher for four years. He recently moved from a rural school to a city school to teach a Year Four class. Tom is a passionate musician who enjoys playing his drums on the weekend. He is a self-taught musician who can’t read music but can play from hearing songs. When he was in his rural school he tried to integrate music in the school curriculum: 168

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I wanted music to be present everywhere in the school. We sang when we first came in the morning and before we went to break. I used to bring in the guitar and we would sing our times tables and things we were learning to pop songs. Children were able to rote learn many of the concepts through singing. We also explored guitars, drums and microphones in a science unit looking at vibration. Many of the songs on the radio we would also sing together as a class. This was great, especially if we had to perform somewhere like a concert to parents.   I was really excited to be moving to this new school and being in the city again. I was excited to be teaching Year Four and sharing my love of music with the children. I had a lot of success with music in the rural school so I thought I would teach the same way and try to integrate music into the children’s school day as much as possible. Tom soon realized that his new school was different: It was going really well and then the music specialist teacher wanted a meeting. I didn’t know what it was about or what I had done wrong. The music specialist didn’t agree with my integration of music into the children’s lives. She suggested that I should stop singing with the children as this was her job. She also commented on my voice. She said if I was singing out of tune this could actually be detrimental to the children.   My song choice was also questioned. The music specialist said I should not be using pop songs or music from the radio with children. She told me it was inappropriate for their music development and that the students should only be singing four pitches. Apparently my pop songs had the wrong sounds for the children to sing.   I felt really hurt about my own competence. I thought it didn’t matter if you did or didn’t sing in tune, as long as you had fun. Apparently I was wrong. I have enjoyed music my entire life but I never took a formal music lesson. I don’t understand what she meant by music development but since she was the music specialist in the school I had to stop my music integration approach. I really enjoyed teaching this way and now I can’t because it is not my role in the new school.   I spoke to the principal about it and he said that the music specialist was the expert. It was her territory, not mine. I felt shame. I had to eliminate music out of all of my planning and pedagogy. Our lessons went from being engaging to very traditional. I don’t sing or play the guitar with the children. I am actually starting to question my own confidence with my personal music. Maybe I’m not a good singer and I can’t play the guitar very well. Last weekend I didn’t even feel like playing the drums. Case 27: Policy intrusion Claire is a generalist teacher with 15 years’ experience. She has taught in the same school for ten years. Claire is currently teaching Year Two and enjoys working with the younger 169

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children in schools. She tries to encourage all children in her class and ensure that all children have access to appropriate arts education experiences. In previous years she has created class murals, musicals and dance and drama performances based on the learning and interests of the young children. She believes that the arts are an important part of multiple intelligences and she wants to develop this in all children. Claire also believes the arts are important for building cultural understanding and community. In the last year she has expressed feeling challenged with a prescribed arts curriculum being introduced to supplement the language and literacy skills that are needed for children to demonstrate in the national standardized testing in Australian schools in Years Three, Five, Seven and Nine. Claire no longer feels free to deliver the arts curriculum that she used to in school: I used to think we could have arts for art’s sake but now the stakes are higher. Everything in my teaching is trying to prepare the students for the standardized tests as much as possible. That means that I was given an arts curriculum that would help strengthen the children’s language and literacy skills. There are activities each week and we have resorted to worksheets. I hate worksheets with young children for arts education. It doesn’t help them think in creative and imaginative ways. The activities now are linked to singing songs about language and literacy rules and spelling games. There is limited opportunity for musical play, exploration and discovery. I have had to cut out dance and drama completely.   Previously I had freedom over what I could do in the arts and how I could deliver it. I would work from what the children wanted to do and together we would try and develop arts skills and knowledge. I could even take the children to musical performances and the art gallery. Now I can’t. I was given this curriculum from the principal to improve the test results and I have to follow it. It is not good for young children. Rather than allowing young children to explore and benefit from the arts, the activities are all based around the outcomes of improving literacy and language. Claire also raises concern about personal loss of independence and creativity as she struggles with losing control of her own teaching practice: I actually feel no longer a curriculum maker. I am unhappy because I can’t control what and how I want to teach. It is like a grieving process. I can’t be independent and creative in how I deliver my arts programme. Once I would cater for the needs of all the children so they could all feel good about engaging with an arts experience. But now I have this set programme and I have to align it with language. Once upon a time I could allow the children, for example, to be creative and compose music. Now to improve language we just sing the songs in the manual to help improve understanding grammar and spelling. It has taken the fun out of the arts for the children and more importantly for me. I’m not a curriculum maker but a dream breaker. I feel like I am losing control of my own teaching practice. I am losing control and I don’t like it. I am losing who I am as a teacher. I am 170

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teaching the arts, but not how I want to teach the arts. I am losing who I am and what I want to be for children. What does this mean? There are no permanent solutions to negative loss associated with being an arts educator. As Eisner (2002a) reinforces, ‘every solution once tried gives rise to other problems; relief is always temporary’ (174). However, to try to do one’s best in whatever situation one finds himself/herself is a challenge and requires attention and alternative approaches that promise improvement. The challenge, though, can be the constraints that are out of one’s control in regard to marginal status, lack of community support, political barriers and impediments relating to school, curriculum or resources. The stories shared in this chapter are not uncommon, although many would advocate that they spend much of their time trying to avoid, diffuse or shift the negative experiences surrounding arts education and being an arts educator. Sometimes these situations come from a place of surprise, other times one sees them coming for some time but does not know what to do. Creative problem solving, united approach and support and persistence in the passion and beliefs for what arts experiences offer are what make possible the continued vision.  Reflective practice on and in action (Schön 1983) plays a significant part in this process. In the stories of Tennille, Meagan, Tom and Claire we see a rawness; an honesty in their sharing that allows for layers of experience to be unpacked and explored. In each case, what Mason (2002) calls ‘noticing’ is present and enacted, that is, the interactions between identity, beliefs and action. This framework contributes to the professional and personal growth as well as decision making and actions. This noticing is deeper than just observing. The arts educators in this chapter critically reflect on their experiences and move beyond the ‘superficial to allow the interpretation of influences and elements that are not always directly observable’ (Dixon et al. 2005). For Tennille, a beginner teacher, a significant cost in terms of health impacted the ability to continue to share in and motivate arts experiences. The cost in turnover rates of beginner teachers associated with burnout and conflicts in pedagogical approach are explored and juxtaposed against the tensions associated with the harmful cost on the perception of and approach to children. There is a layer about her own ideals of what it means to be an arts educator. She believes that being a practising musician is important to her ability to teach, relate to students and share/facilitate authentic arts experiences. The cost to her mental health is a crucial element of her processing the situation; it contributes to the negative impact but also allows her to recognize a place of critical reflection in teacher practice that underpins her realizations as to what is occurring. This ‘transformative intellectual’ (Demetrion 2001) reinforces the need to be reflective and reflexive about her work and to confront the expected (but sometimes unexpected) changes in this ambiguous and unbounded place/space called ‘professional identity’ (Dixon et al. 2005). 171

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The loss in the case sites was largely dependent on external factors that contributed to the teachers’ sacrifice and discontent. Both teachers had no control over the external factors and could not influence these in any way. Rather, they had to absorb the external factor influence into their own sense of agency, creating feelings of loss and sacrifice. The influence of the external factors was created by others who perhaps had concepts of ‘best intentions’ in mind, yet the resulting implementation resulted in loss for two teachers who were directly affected. The consequence of exhaustion on multiple levels is highlighted further with the second case. Meagan, an experienced primary-school visual-arts teacher, is juxtaposed against Tennille, a beginner or graduate teacher. Even though the principal agreed on maintaining the high-performing arts programme, the politics of position and people available along with pressure not to advertise challenged the agreement. Issues thus arose with training, curriculum support, planning, resourcing, consistency across multiple teaching levels, arrangement of room time and resourcing materials, all of which are risk factors that impact the workload of an arts educator. As Beattie (2001) reiterates, the narrative focus on authenticity, integrity and self-acceptance is important in the creation of teacher identity. For Meagan, these aspects are vital in her coping with the negative impact of deciding what is best for the arts students with whom she engages in her visual arts programme. Negative loss is also found in the stories of the two generalist teachers. Both stories highlight the power of the curriculum in the school to control the teacher. While both teachers prefer to be ‘curriculum makers’ (Connelly and Clandinin 1988), they feel that they have lost their authority and authenticity in being a teacher of the arts. Rather, they have moved from being in control of their own pedagogy to a technician of the curriculum. They can no longer draw on strategies that they have previously used for helping children succeed in all areas of the curriculum in their classroom. In the case of Tom, power relations became evident in regard to control and ownership over the music curriculum. While Tom wanted to include music and arts experiences in his classroom, he was made to feel disempowered by the school music specialist teacher who tried to take ownership of the content and delivery of music. It is unknown what the intentions of the music specialist teacher were, but a negative impact on Tom’s confidence, ability and pedagogy resulted. This led to an outcome of even less arts being used in the classroom by Tom for children. Australian children have limited access to arts experiences, and Tom’s experience suggests that internal factors within the school may limit arts opportunities for children. Tom’s experience also begs the question of what is the role of the arts in Tom’s school: Are the arts positioned for children’s engagement and enjoyment (arts integration for all) or are they an academic area where there is a right and wrong way of teaching (arts for excellence)? An answer to such a question may reflect the way that the arts are played out within a school and the loss that may result. In the fourth case study, Claire was controlled by the new hidden curriculum that valued certain subject areas over others because of standardized testing. As Dorn (2005) notes, policy is not neutral, rather, it interferes with private choice and coerces compliance within specific rules and regulations. The cultural capital of what matters within the school 172

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community changed because of external education policies and initiatives. Subsequently, test results appeared to become important capital within the school. Such a change in the school landscape created losses for the teacher in terms of control of teaching the arts. Claire lost her creativity and feelings of control. Again, this led to losses for children who have fewer arts opportunities within their general classroom. Although the arts were supposed to remain part of the school curriculum, they were not given the same standing as the subjects in the standardized tests and were consequently removed from the curriculum. As schools are not monitored on how much arts education is provided, and arts education is not part of standardized testing, there is limited compliance with the idea that arts education needs to exist within a school. The findings in Claire’s case study also do not mirror emerging research on the ability of arts education to enhance performance in standardized tests. For example, studies have found that students in the lowest socio-economic quartile who engage in arts study outperform in language and maths students who have less exposure to the arts (Caterall 1998; Catterall, Chapleau and Iwanaga 1999). Eisner (2002a) warns, however, that raising test scores cannot be the primary reason for allocating time and resources to arts education, and argues that the arts cannot be perceived as a mere support of generative subjects. Conclusion The very nature of arts education reinforces that ‘there can be more than one answer to a question and more than one solution to a problem’ (Eisner 2002a: 196). Sacrifices of one’s own arts practice, beliefs in value of arts education in the curriculum, mental health and well-being and politics of schooling, as well as the created (perceived or not) negative consequences on the arts educator, are profound. For many arts educators, one or more of these stories ring true; from personal experience or from observation of a colleague. The resonance that these stories have for arts educators makes more poignant the need to share, problem solve and support one another to foresee and plan for ongoing reflective practice and professional development. The likelihood of a teacher engaging with arts activities in the classroom is dependent on their level of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is a personal judgement about one’s ability to complete the task to a perceived level of competence. If a teacher has positive experiences with arts engagement and teaching, they are more likely to continue engaging with arts activities. They will be more willing to help all children in arts experiences and spend more time in developing their own skills in the arts. If a teacher has negative experiences with arts engagement and teaching, they will either limit their arts engagement or disengage from the arts completely if the fear of self-failure is too great. In this case, the loss associated with each of the case studies contributes to lower self-efficacy for the arts. The effect of loss, however, can be long term. If the loss is a strong feeling of loss of control over their own agency in the classroom, lower self-efficacy in terms of teaching the arts can 173

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result. There may be negative emotion associated with the activity, meaning that the teacher does not want to revisit the remembered experience. This can also be problematic if teachers change schools. Even though the new school may be encouraging of arts activities, the low self-efficacy may have a long-term effect with the teacher not wanting to engage in arts activities. This means that even though a school may be supportive of the provision of arts education, the teacher no longer feels capable and confident. This chapter has explored the hidden and evaded stories associated with arts education. It has shared the voices of four educators that describe ‘things’ that either had to be sacrificed so that they would not create a negative consequence. The risks and loss discussed include opportunity costs, talent loss, personal loss, unhappiness, loss of enjoyment and loss of creativity. The stories provide key messages about the sacrifices that arts educators make in their daily encounters with the arts in schools. The case studies also highlight the power of the curriculum and staff relationships within the school that can negatively impact the individual teacher. As a consequence, the losses occur about control over one’s teaching with the arts. More research into negative loss is needed within arts education research. While the external factors were implemented by others to improve and enhance current situations, they also appeared to create a loss for some teachers directly involved. It is therefore important for policy makers and school administrators to evaluate implementation of policies and ideas to reduce the risks of loss and ensure school staff have a strong sense of agency from the implemented changes. This process also allows a greater understanding of ways to work together to ensure arts education is delivered in an achievable way that promotes well-being for students and teachers. References Alter, F., Hays, T. and O’Hara, R. (2009), ‘Creative Arts Teaching and Practice: Critical Reflections of Primary School Teachers in Australia’, International Journal of Education and the Arts, 10: 9, pp. 1–21, http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ859040.pdf. Accessed 6 July 2010. Bamford, A. (2006), ‘A Child’s Rights to Quality Arts and Cultural Education’, http://ife. ens‑lyon.fr/vst/LettreVST/pdf/15-fevrier-2006_AnneBamford.pdf. Accessed 19 February 2013. Bamford, A. (2006), The Wow Factor: Global Research Compendium on the Impact of Arts in Education, Berlin: Waxmann Verlag. Beattie, M. (2001), The Art of Learning to Teach: Preservice Teacher Narratives, Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall Inc. Bobis, J. (2010), ‘Teachers as learners’, in R. Ewing, T. Lowrie and J. Higgs (eds), Teaching & Communicating: Rethinking Professional Experiences, South Melbourne: Oxford, pp. 42–50. Boughton, D. (2004), ‘Assessing art learning in changing contexts: Highstakes accountability, international standards and changing conceptions of artistic development’, in E. W. Eisner and M. D. Day (eds), Handbook of Research and Policy in Art Education, Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 585–605. 174

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Buldu, M. and Shaban, M. S. (2010), ‘Visual Arts Teaching in K-3rd Grade Classrooms in UAE: Teacher Profiles, Perceptions and Practices’, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 24: 4, pp. 332–350. Catterall, J. S. (1998), ‘Involvement in the Arts and Success in Secondary School’, Americans for the Arts Monographs, 1: 9, pp. 1–10. Catterall, J. S., Chapleau, R. and Iwanaga, J. (1999), ‘Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: Extending an Analysis of General Associations and Introducing the Special Cases of Intensive Involvement in Music and Theatre Arts’, Unpublished manuscript, The Imagination Project, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California at Los Angeles. Connelly, F. M. and Clandinin, D. J. (1988), Teachers as Curriculum Planners: Narratives of Experience, New York: Teachers College Press. Delgado, M. (2011), ‘An Ethnographic Study Examining the Art Classroom as a Complex System’, Unpublished dissertation, California State University, Long Beach, http://gradworks. umi.com/14/99/1499149.html. Accessed 14 August 2012. Demetrion, G. (2001), Reading Giroux through a Deweyan Lens: Pushing Utopia to the Outer Edge, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 33: 1, pp. 57–76. Dixon, M., Ferguson, P., Hay, T., Moss, J. and White, J. (2005), ‘Moving your story forward: frameworks for thinking about learning and teaching’, in J. Moss et al. (eds), Invitations and Inspirations: Pathways to Successful Teaching, Melbourne: Curriculum Corporation, pp. 12–30. Dorn, C. M. (2005), Art Education: The Development of Public Policy, Miami: Barnhardt & Ashe. Eisner, E. W. (2002a), The Arts and the Creation of Mind, New Haven: Yale University Press. Eisner, E. (2002b), From Episteme to Phronesis to Artistry in the Study and Improvement of Teaching, Teaching and Teacher Education, 18: 4, pp. 375–385. Garvis, S. and Pendergast, D. (2011), ‘An Investigation of Early Childhood Teacher Self-Efficacy Beliefs in the Teaching of Arts Education’, International Journal of Education and the Arts, 12: 9. pp. 1–17. Lemon, N. (2012), ‘Digital Technology, Arts Classrooms and the Possibilities: Case Studies from Australian Classroom’, Refereed paper for 2012 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting. Vancouver, Canada, April 13–17. Mason, J. (2002), Researching Your Own Practice: The Discipline of Noticing, London: RoutledgeFalmer. Oreck, B. (2004), Artistic Choices: A Study of Teachers Who Use the Arts in the Classroom, International Journal of Education & the Arts, 7: 8, pp. 1–27. Pink, D. (2005), A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, New York: Riverhead Books. Schön, D. A. (1983), The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action, New York: Basic Books. Sebobi, E. M. (2012), ‘Challenges in the Teaching of Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education Art and Design Curriculum’, Unpublished dissertation from School of Education of the University of Witwatersrand, Masters in Education, http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/ bitstream/handle/10539/11290/MOHAU%20WA%20MORENA.pdf?sequence=51. Accessed 14 August 2012. 175

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Strom, Y. A. (2010), ‘The Art Material Girl – A Guide to Save and Find Funding for Art Materials’, http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/art_design_theses/66. Accessed 14 August 2012. The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (2002). ‘Unraveling the “Teacher Shortage” Problem: Teacher Retention is the Key’ http://www.ncsu.edu/mentorjunction/ text_files/ teacher_retentionsymposium.pdf. Washington, DC: The National Commission on Teaching. Voke, H. (2002), ‘Understanding the Teacher Shortage’, ASCD InfoBrief, 29, http://www.ascd.org/ publications/newsletters/infobrief/may02/num29/toc.aspx. Accessed December 13, 2012. White, J. and Smerdon, L. (2008), ‘Performing Education’, Journal of Artistic and Creative Education, 2: 1, pp. 88–112.

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Chapter 11 Conclusion: Parallels, Overlaps and Potholes in Sharing Stories: ‘Which Way From Here?’ Narelle Lemon, Susanne Garvis and Christopher Klopper

Current scholarship in education and pedagogy has raised new awareness about the presence of many voices, viewpoints, ways of knowing and being in schools and society, and of the necessity for teaching methods which acknowledge this. (Beattie 2000: 19)

A

rts as an outlet for self-expression, imagination, innovation and creative problem solving are certainly valued and evidenced in the cases shared in this book. The literacy of the heart (Eisner 2003) is evident – emotion, passion and engagement are highlighted through the voice of artists, arts organizations, children and teachers, both primary school generalist and specialist, from a variety of sites situated in Australia. Immediately we can resonate with the narratives presented, and the EITM framework allows for analysis of unique lived experiences to be heard, considered and evaluated. This uniqueness of the collective presentation of cases within this book supports the sharing of often-evaded, hidden and unsayable stories. Many decision makers play a critical role in the quality of arts learning experiences. As Seidel et al. (2009) say, these can be categorized into three areas: 1. people quite ‘distant from the classroom’, for example leaders, administrators or policy makers 2. those people just ‘outside the classroom’, such as parents 3. those who are ‘in the room’, such as students, teachers and artists. Through hearing the voices of these decision makers – the teachers, principals, students, artists, gallery educators, arts organizations and parents – we are provided with the power to support. However, we also have the influence to undermine the quality of the arts learning experience, even by those who can be influenced by decisions made by those ‘in the room’ (Seidel et al. 2009: IV). This book hopes to contribute to supporting arts education experiences by listening to the very voices of those who engage with, participate in, facilitate and become motivated by these opportunities. The Australian context contributes to the current climate of arts education conversations across the world, and particularly those situated in the United States and United Kingdom. We are familiar with the advocacy of providing arts-rich opportunities and of the integration of the arts into the primary curriculum based on documentation that those ‘students whose learning is embedded in the arts achieve better grades and test scores, are less likely to drop

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out of school, rarely report boredom and have better developed sense of self than those without such opportunities’ (Gibson and Ewing 2011: 6). Interestingly, the value of these opportunities provided by educators from across a variety of settings is often presented from the perspective of the student or from evaluations undertaken by researchers. Few opportunities are provided for the educators to talk frankly about what goes into preparing such arts experiences – the highlights, lowlights, challenges, sacrifices and rewards. Moreover, there is little opportunity to hear stories about the reality of personal, social, cultural, negative, economic, ethical or catalytic domains, with many narratives positioned in the educational and innovation domain, although argument could easily be made that the intricacies of these areas are often presented from one perspective. The teacher’s or arts educator’s voice often is shared from the perspective of outcomes associated with curriculum development or student progress. Despite this long-standing knowledge and growing need for advocacy of arts education and the valuing of arts educators in the primary setting, there are still challenges surrounding listening to all the voices of arts education (Bamford 2009; Iwai 2003). These stories are what we can relate to, learn from and utilize in the importance of supporting and nurturing creative student engagement with, for and from the arts. The stories support reflective practice and critical thinking, and, in many ways, the stories are narratives of professional development. Being aware of curriculum decisions, actions, perceptions and beliefs all support understanding and continued mindfulness about arts learning experiences. As Beattie (2000) reiterates, ‘narrative and story have long been regarded as an intellectual resource in the arts’ (5). This book highlights nine domains of effect and impact and their subsequent intersections. Although the chapters are focussed on individual domains and cases that best represent and present insights, there is significant impact and interweaving across these narratives. What is evident throughout the cases is the passion and belief in what artists, arts organizations and educators are facilitating in arts education experiences for young people, and the drive for quality is persistent and far-reaching. Paralleling this sharing are the voices of students who are equally important in listening to the stories of learning and teaching from the arts education world. Intersections of the cases Research in Australia (Russell-Bowie 1993, 2004) and around the world (Garvis and Pendergast 2012; Hennessy et al. 2001; Oreck 2001, 2004; Smithrim and Upitis 2001) confirms that generalist teachers delivering arts education often grapple with challenges including a lack of confidence, motivation and knowledge to deliver the curriculum successfully. Many of these factors stem from the capacity to undertake the role effectively and are influenced by the teachers’ beliefs about their competence; the school context; pressures of the curriculum; and expected benefits for students (Garvis and Pendergast 2012). The generalist primary teachers introduced in Chapter 3 – Debi, Linda, Madhu and Nora – are beginning their 180

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careers as educators and are grappling with the need to integrate arts learning experiences into the generalist classroom. All come from a variety of personal, negative, ethical, and economically layered experiences that have shaped their own beliefs and influenced their own perceptions of arts skills. What is wonderful is their openness to innovative practices that can have a catalytic effect on their growth as primary teachers who can meaningfully integrate arts into their curriculum. The active participation in Twitter to connect to resources, ideas and peers extended teachers’ networks and challenged many arts educators’ feelings of isolation. Debi shared how she challenged her hesitation about being involved with another social media but opened up to the social aspects of learning with others and opportunities to access up-to-date and innovative content. Linda connected immediately to the content accessible via Twitter, but grappled with the balance between personal and professional content in relation to arts education. She was able to observe more and take on board the perspective of others. Madhu, like Linda, had access issues in regard to her Twitter use, which had a negative impact on her initial networking opportunities. Madhu was able to use social support systems to personally grow and build on her low self-efficacy regarding arts practices. She was able to reflect with others and reflect in action. With multiple access points to contributing to the Twitter conversations, Nora found the catalytic impact of integrating Twitter into her professional development tools rewarding and innovative. Her resources expanded and she relished in the opportunity to share in the moment and reflect in action with like-minded educators.  Alongside Twitter, other digital tools to assist arts teachers to engage professionally with reflective practice have been explored throughout this book. In Chapter 8 we hear from Julie, Craig and Amanda in their journey into thinking critically about arts integration into the primary generalist classroom. Neal and Elaine in Chapter 2 shared the origins of their art. In both cases the connection to the personal and social domains was vital in the expression of their stories. While Elaine and Neal are at very different stages in their careers, it is clear that both have tenacity for their chosen art form and an enduring contribution to the next generation. It is hard not to recognize the master/apprenticeship relation that grounds many art disciplines in educators’ drive to pass their passion, knowledge and skill on to others. In sharing these narratives, there is an apparent connection between realizing knowledge of self and accumulating happiness within your work. The personal narratives that Neal and Elaine freely shared highlight the personal impact, particularly gain, that working in the arts has had. Their stories tell of developing confidence through sustained resilience. It is evident that they are always aspiring towards their dream and ensuring enjoyment, fun and happiness is achieved while finding joy through working in the arts. Self-efficacy is a personal judgment about one’s ability to complete the task to a perceived level of competence, and for Tom and Claire in Chapter 10, it was influenced by a loss of control of teaching and curriculum design. Both generalist teachers shared their unhappiness and loss of independence as they experienced the day-to-day running of the schooling context. While the change to the running of the school may be transient and always in a state of change, there is a long-term negative impact from lower self-efficacy. For example, 181

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when arts is accepted and encouraged within a school curriculum, Tom and Claire may still remember feelings of loss and not be prepared to enter into revisiting those emotions. Likewise, the teachers may develop a coping strategy for living with limited arts in their schooling landscape. For the specialist art teacher, providing arts-rich education supports the improvement of skills and competencies with the arts as well as more broadly in areas such as interdisciplinary and social skills. In Chapter 9 we learn of Barbara’s passion for innovation through her partnership with a national gallery, her students and the invitation of parent helpers. It was in the evaluation of the project that evidence of ethical and negative impacts emerged in regard to access to technology, perceived mutual respect by gallery security staff and pedagogical decisions by gallery educators to extend critical and reflective thinking. These challenges, although inhibitors at a variety of stages throughout the project, drive further understanding of how an arts educator can connect to the student perspective of learning and exploring the arts. Barbara, as a more experienced arts teacher, is juxtaposed in Chapter 10 against Tennille, a graduate teacher who, like Barbara, has the passion, vision and ambition to carry out arts projects, but who is struggling to cope with the tensions between personal arts experiences, professional capacity and the ‘outside of the classroom’ decision making. The negative impact is raw and emotional but lends itself to connecting with the personal, social and innovative impact of moving forward, reflective thinking and utilizing professional networks to strengthen as an arts educator and find one’s true place within the variety of settings where arts opportunities can be facilitated. The parallels to Meagan also show the balancing act that many arts educators are required to make between the personal and professional costs associated with being directly involved in the implementation of arts programmes. Those providing arts experiences in learning settings outside of primary schools, such as galleries, highlighted the intersections between innovative and negative alongside social and catalytic impact. The partnership between a gallery, school, teachers and students with parental support in Chapter 9 is an inspiring example of an art-rich project centred on student voice. The challenges of such an endeavour present more student-centred learning opportunities in a gallery setting while also integrating mobile digital technology. Although the students generally thrived on sharing their voice while exploring their interest in artworks, the lack of reflective questions and interactions to explore voice had a negative impact on some students and led the arts specialist teacher to question the gallery educators’ pedagogical decisions. The gallery space itself was a challenge in regards to the viewing of young people and the interpretation of mutual respect by security; however, the uniqueness of the gallery staff visiting the school and crossing learning space boundaries was a strength of the project that helped the students to feel valued in sharing their opinions.  School settings provide an important context for the way arts education is delivered within the schooling landscape. In Chapter 7, we read of the disparity of equity in arts experience for children, based on the school settings. The arts are well resourced within the Darville All Girls’ School setting, allowing many opportunities for children to engage with 182

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a range of arts experiences. Infrastructure and resources for arts education in the Maxton School are constrained by limited funding. While both schools are providing education, there is a difference in the amount of arts education available. These schools are juxtaposed against those in Chapter 8, who share innovative projects that inspire teachers, students and community alike. Appin Park Primary School saw the arts teacher work collegially across sites with other arts educators and artists during a project that saw cultural, ethical and economical exploration of public art. St Lucia College engaged with professional musicians to implement a music extension programme for highly able students who had already achieved beyond the music skills specified for the year level. The Arts 2 Excellence project described in Chapter 4 was designed primarily as an extension project but it accomplished significant change in the professional practice of classroom teachers at a classroom level. Individual teachers responded exclusively to the influence of the intervention introduced during professional development sessions. These responses were identified as changes in beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviours of teachers enacting a cultural change in varying degree. Although it is evident that the culture at Beachside State School has changed, the influence of cultural knowledge on individual behaviour is not foretelling, but interacts with other contextual variants such as individual characteristics, affective ups and downs and recurrent re-evaluation of motivations and rewards. Identified areas of cultural and innovative impact at Beachside State School have witnessed a financial commitment by the administration to continue funding the arts extension programmes that affords both students and staff the opportunity to develop and extend artistic skills. The school now offers a designated arts enrichment programme with prospects of advancing music, dance, drama and visual arts. The enrichment programme has become a positive contributor to the school marketing, especially when parents or caregivers present with a child who has not had the chance to shine in previous school environments. As a result of the teacher professional development and student extension programmes in visual arts, dance and music, Beachside State School now offers a rich arts-based learning experience for all. School settings that promote arts education also act as a space for community engagement and meeting. At the Treetops Community School, families were regularly invited to take part in cultural days at the school. At the Smithfield School, the arts act as a catalyst to help build a fabric of community within the school setting. This highlights how the arts within a school setting can act as a form of inclusion, promoting ethical behaviour among the school community. In all these settings the economic, social, ethical and catalytic impact of arts education raises as many questions about inclusion as it does about exclusion. Chapter 8 discusses one of the questions that is raised by how a school approaches their organization of arts education experiences, and presents attitudes towards elitism within arts education programmes. Parents can be seen as observers, supporters and, in some capacity, honorary arts teachers, as seen in Chapter 9 and Barbara’s utilization of parents as helpers when visiting a gallery 183

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as part of her visual arts programme. Parents’ assistance of the teacher in the delivery of an innovative programme helped greatly in the ethical caring of students while on an excursion, and represented a smart economical decision of using volunteers to assist instead of paying for the release of other teachers. The cultural impact of participating in the excursion as a helper was also significant for the parents, many of whom had not visited a gallery. The parents, who guided the students’ exploration of artworks from afar throughout a multi-floor gallery, were also impacted in how they judged young people’s differing styles of viewing and how mutual respect can support a community of learners. As described in Chapter 5, parents at the Smarts Grammar School and John’s College also observed the educational impact of formal arts opportunities. The parents were able to see long-term benefits for their child’s learning and potential, allowing them to feel confident in the schooling of their children. The parents also believed that involvement in the arts allowed the children to excel in other schooling areas, providing academic and personal gains. In Chapter 6 we also read about the ethical issues faced by parents at the Treetops Community School and the Smithfield School. At the Treetops School, cultural understanding is an important foundation of the curriculum. At the end of the term parents are invited to take part in a cultural day. Nearly all the parents attended the cultural days at the end of each term. Parents who couldn’t attend were absent because of work or other commitments. Parents recognized the importance of the school cultural curriculum and felt it was important for helping their children understand the world and construct meaning making. Like the Treetops Community School, the Smithfield School believes in delivering a holistic education for children. The school is located in a low-socioeconomic suburb and has recently seen an increase in diverse groups within the school. The school has made a conscious effort to engage the community to provide a supportive and sustainable environment for all children. This has been achieved through many of the out-of-schoolhours arts activities that involve family participation. Although these events are not part of the official curriculum of the school, they provide the fabric for creating and understanding the diverse community. Economic impact also appears in the perceptions of parents described in Chapter 7. In relation to the Darville All Girls’ School, we read of the economic impact of an art gallery for raising school funds. Different parents have different viewpoints of the role of selling children’s artwork for profit. While some parents are supportive of the approach, other parents believe it promotes competition and inequity between children. At the Maxton School described in Chapter 7, we also connect to the limited opportunities available for children with the arts because of lack of funds. Although parents might like their children to participate in the arts, the school has limited opportunities and funding for arts education. Listening to students’ voices is a very powerful way to understand their total experience. Involvement in the arts, as has been advocated throughout this book, is seen as a great contributor to risk taking, confidence building and ownership of learning (Bamford 2009). The cases of Melanie, Jim, Tim, Marcus and Rochelle described in Chapter 9 demonstrate 184

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student voices about their experiences of visiting a gallery and their interactions with artwork and art gallery staff. The innovative use of accessible handheld digital technology places the student voice at the heart of the project and has an enormous part to play in providing a catalytic impact on all involved and beyond. The social and historical traditions of more teacher-centred gallery education experiences are challenged by the integration of technology into the programmes. Of particular note is the value the students placed on the gallery education staff visiting them at school to listen to their voice, allowing students the opportunity to ask questions, share their inquiry and state their opinions, wants and needs. All the way through these narratives we hear the strong message that high-quality work produced by arts education partnerships requires certain pre-conditions – that is, working together throughout the process to envisage, develop, implement, reflect upon and evaluate the partnership and value to arts education. In Chapter 5 we explored students in formal and non-formal education settings involving arts opportunities. In all of the settings, the children spoke openly of the importance of the arts in their lives as learners and citizens, highlighting the educational impact of arts programmes. At Smarts Grammar School and John’s College, the children suggest that the arts are important for their learning in other subject areas and aid their performance in standardized exams. At the Evelyn Regional Conservatorium of Music and the Tenderville City vacation care programme, teachers and students also expressed strong educational impact. The narratives shared highlight the value of arts to support the holistic development of an individual. Concluding remarks Research findings about the value of the arts for learning rarely invade the mainstream reading of policy makers, school administrators and parents. Likewise, too often arts advocates meet in separate chambers with other like-minded advocates determined to make a change at a distance from policy makers and administrators. The book was designed to challenge the reader to think about arts education within a bigger agenda of educational policy to link these key actors. By observing the different ways the arts impact the educational community, the reader is prompted to think about issues of equity, equality and access for arts education within the Australian educational landscape. Although the book is not intended to provide answers to problems with the provision of arts education, it is designed to promote deep reflective thought about arts education. Questions are raised about what can be done to protect and promote arts education within Australian educational settings within an everchanging political landscape that influences educational funding and provision. Now is the time to explore and welcome places where children can actively engage with arts education. The case studies have been able to provide a snapshot of the way primary arts education is lived and played out in Australian formal and non-formal educational settings. It has shown 185

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the different ways that students, families and the school community experience the arts. The snapshot has also provided insight into bubbling issues associated with arts engagement such as ethical issues, economic issues, risk and negative impact. Although it is assumed that arts education is a positive experience for all children provided with access within Australia, this snapshot has challenged this notion. It is interesting to note that these snapshots are situated in visual arts and music with touches of drama, media arts and dance. This is particularly telling of the dynamics of the current Australian arts education scene and which of the arts dominate in curriculum delivery. Representations of Working in Arts Education: Stories of Learning and Teaching provides an opportunity not only to share stories but also to begin to critically reflect upon the reality of the intricacies of being an arts educator or participant of arts education in Australia. Although there are wonderful examples of innovative practices that involve students, educators, artists, arts organizations, parents, school and/or the wider community, further development in how these partnerships can be highlighted is required. Planning and programming that includes young people needs to be called upon and approached in a way that sees all as learners and contributors to the arts education experience. The sustainability and quality of opportunities can then be considered alongside the evidence that professional development for educators and a forum for students to share their voice significantly impact the success of arts learning experiences. As Gibson and Ewing (2011) reiterate, ‘it is difficult to understand why it is that … to date Australian education systems have afforded the arts little funding, few resources and provided little teacher professional learning to enable teachers to develop the confidence and expertise to lead with the arts when it is appropriate and relevant’ (212). Throughout the book we have seen a variety of snapshots of this approach, yet there is still an identifiable need to make these priority areas. However, this book provides the opportunity for arts educators, artists, students, parents, the community and policy makers to begin to listen to each other under a united umbrella and to take these narratives of professional development and replicate, develop, extend or modify arts education. In many ways the parallels, overlaps and pitfalls in deepening the conversations assists in that very thing – deepening what we see, listen to and engage with. Advocacy for arts education in primary schools is not only about recognizing the importance, value and benefits of arts education as a whole or what the individual arts fields offer; it is also about acknowledging the pressures and the personal, social, cultural, negative, economic and ethical decisions that have to be made across layers of curriculum, resources, policy, educators, students and the wider community in order to be able to celebrate educational, invitation and/or catalytic impact. Arts education is complicated. It is, however, the one thing that is a uniting element across any arts education opportunity. The reader is invited to listen, consider, reflect and question their, your and our place in arts education while being provided with a window through which to see individual and collective rich narratives. Opening up the discussions, deepening the conversations and reflecting critically about the opportunity to listen to each is a significant step forward in acknowledging the hidden, evaded and often unsayable lived experiences. 186

Conclusion: Parallels, Overlaps and Potholes in Sharing Stories

References Bamford, A. (2009), The Wow Factor: Global Research Compendium on the Impact of the Arts in Education, 2nd ed., New York: Waxmann Verlag. Beattie, M. (2000), ‘Narratives of Professional Learning: Becoming a Teacher and Learning to Teach’, Journal of Educational Enquiry, 1: 2, pp. 1–23. Eisner, E. W. (2003), The Arts and the Creation of Mind, New Haven: Yale. Garvis, S. and Pendergast, D. (2012), ‘Storying Music and the Arts Education: The Generalist Teacher Voice’, British Journal of Music Education, 29: 1, pp. 107–123. Gibson, R. and Ewing, E. (2011), Transforming the Curriculum through the Arts, South Yarra: Palgrave Macmillan. Hennessy, S., Rolfe, L. and Chedzoy, S. (2001), ‘The Factors Which Influence Student Teachers’ Confidence to Teach the Arts in the Primary Classroom’, Research in Dance Education, 2: 1, pp. 53–71.  Iwai, K. (2003), ‘The Contribution of Arts Education to Children’s Lives’, Paper presented at The UNESCO Regional Meeting on Arts Education in the European Countries, Canada and United States of America, Finland. Oreck, B. (2001), ‘The Arts in Teaching: An Investigation of Factors Influencing Teachers’ use of the Arts in the Classroom’, Doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, Storrs. Oreck, B. (2004), ‘The Artistic and Professional Development of Teachers: A Study of Teachers’ Attitudes Toward and Use of the Arts in Teaching’, Journal of Teacher Education, 55: 1, pp. 55–69.  Russell-Bowie, D. (1993), ‘Policy and Practice in Music Education in NSW State Primary Schools’, Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia. Russell-Bowie, D. (2004), ‘Arts Education: Are the Problems the Same Across Five Countries?’, Paper presented at The Australian Association for Research in Education, Melbourne.  Seidel, S., Tishman, S., Winner, E., Hetland, L. and Palmer, P. (2009), The Qualities of Quality: Understanding Excellence in Arts Education, Cambridge: Harvard Graduate School of Education, www.arteducators.org/research/Qualities-of-Quality-Understanding-ExcellenceArts-Education.pdf. Smithrim, K. and Upitis, R. (2001), ‘Strong Poets: Teacher Education and the Arts’, Journal of Professional Studies, 9: 1, pp. 19–29.

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Arts education provides students with opportunities to build knowledge and skills in self-expression, imagination, creative and collaborative problem

solving, and creation of shared meanings. Engagement in arts education has also been said to positively affect overall academic achievement and

development of empathy towards others. This book provides key insights from stakeholders across the teaching and learning spectrum and offers examples of pedagogical practice to those interested in facilitating arts education.

Dr Narelle Lemon (BMusic, BTeach, MEd, DEd, Dip Man) is a senior lecturer at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Narelle’s research agenda is focused on cultural engagement and participation in the areas of teacher capacity building and cultural organisations in galleries, museums and other alternative education settings; social media for professional development including Twitter and Instagram; and women in academia. She is also interested in values education, coping skills, and connections to learning preferences that influence participation in the classroom environment. Dr Susanne Garvis (BMusic (Hons), BEd, MEd, GC Higher Ed, M. Higher Ed, PhD) is a senior lecturer at Monash University, Victoria, Australia. She has published extensively in early childhood arts education on narrative approaches, teachers and young children engagement. Susanne has also been an Erasmus Mundus visiting scholar for early childhood education (2011–2014). Dr Christopher Klopper (HDE, BMusic (Hons), MMusic, DMusic) is Director Postgraduate Studies and Higher Degree Research in the School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. He is a senior lecturer in arts education and music education. Christopher publishes in the field of teaching quality in higher education through peer observation and student evaluation and pre-service arts education, more specifically relating to music education; intentional provision of music in early childhood settings; and trans-national intercultural musical communication.

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