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8/7/2019 Vadea e Journal

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ACARAS DRAFT SHAPE PAPER-

VISUAL ARTS EDUCATORS

REJECT THE PROPOSED BLANCMANGE


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This E-Journal assembles a collection of articles, letters, reviews and responses by VADEA members,

written in relation to the release of the Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority(ACARA)

Draft Shape Paper: The Arts. It is hoped that members will use these resources in their own advocacy for the

Visual Arts and to form their responses to the ongoing issues and debates as they unfold.

The Visual Arts is a subject with a history, traditions, practices and a future trajectory that is not dependent

on a common approach to the Arts. Under ACARAs own definitions the Visual Arts should be viewed as a

learning area in its own right. We should not forget this!

VADEA supports the idea of an Australian Curriculum; however, it needs to match or better current

curriculum provision and expectations and thus at this stage we have had no option but to reject what has

been proposed by ACARA for the Arts. We have wide support for our position from the Visual Arts

Consortium, Art Education Australia and just last week at the Arts Representatives meeting at the Board of

Studies it was clear that many other stakeholders share our view. So too have those who have responded to

the online surveys. Last week the Shadow Minister for Education, Christopher Pyne also agreed to raise the

issue at the national level. This support is heartening.

VADEA is not interested in simply being a critic of what was proposed by ACARA. Our Co-Presidents took

the initiative to propose a framework that would better suit the Visual Arts and perhaps the Arts more

generally. This proposal, which borrowed from the Literature Review for the National Review of Visual

Education (Brown, 2006), was included in our submissions to ACARA and the Board of Studies. Below are

some extracts from the proposed Rationale. Take a moment and look back at what the draft Shape Paper

proposed and note that this Rationale is aspirational rather than apologetic.

We seek an Arts Curriculum that acknowledges Australias aspirations artistically, culturally, symbolically and

economically in an increasingly globalised world. It would recognise that visual arts, music, drama, dance

and media arts do and play a significant role in the ways that individuals and groups search for meaning,autonomy and cultural and personal identity. It should acknowledge that the escalation in the global desire for

entertainment, spectacle, festivals, variety, still and moving imagery, art, design, fashion and marketing edge

inform the ways in which contemporary cultures and communities represent themselves and make meaning.

In keeping with this widespread global interest, this curriculum would value practical and critical reasoning

and risk taking in a students production of novel, innovative and intelligible objects and things, and in the

judgements afforded to creative performances and artefacts. Drawing on the C20th legacy of

experimentation in the arts and the unpredictability of technological advances, a focus on practical and

critical reasoning and risk taking would assist students in their readiness to systematically advance,

accommodate and critique new ideas while also preparing them as future citizens. The curriculum would also

celebrate the continual dialogue between the growing multi-modality of interactive technology and the need

for precisely differentiated artistic discipline which inform and is continually informed by previous works.

We desire a curriculum that is committed to students being exposed to a wide range of material forms of

aesthetic representation in the visual arts, music, drama, dance and media arts. In this way students can

come to informed understandings about how artistic disciplines are differentiated in their histories and

material engagements with the practical reasoning through which aesthetic representations are delivered

via designing, making, and the critical understanding of artistic forms. In turn, this background should equip

them in their readiness to adapt to the creative possibilities and challenges afforded by interactive

technologies in their borrowing and bridging of genres and historical precedents.

This curriculum would prepare students for a creative and dynamic C21st.

FOREWORD

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CONTENTS

Page ii

Message Board Posts

Responses to Richard Gill Article Pg. 1

Responses to Matthew Clausen Article Pg. 3

ABC Radio National Late Night Live Discussion Pg. 5

Letters to Editors Pg. 7

Letters to Ministers Pg. 8

Direct Responses to ACARAs Draft Paper

The Visual Arts Should Not Lose its Identity by Being Collapsed into The Arts Pg. 9

A Letter to ACARA from Pre-service Visual Arts Teachers Pg. 10

Regarding the Proposed National Curriculum For The Arts Pg. 11

Experimentation, Play and Art Pg. 12

Post following the Barry McGaw & John Kaye interview on Life Matters Pg. 13

Comments on the NSW Board Of Studies Survey for the ACARA Draft Paper Pg. 13

Reflections on ACARA Presentations

In the Name of an Entitlement? Pg. 14

Seymour Centre Arts Launch Pg. 15

Curriculum Lite: McGaws Dreams Realised in Arts Education Pg. 16

What do the Arts Bring to Education? Pg. 17

All Children Are Born Artists, The Problem Is To Remain An Artist As WeGrow Up

Pg. 18

A True Education is a Visual Arts Education Pg. 20

Media Action

Media Release Pg. 21

Liverpool Leader Article Pg. 22

Acknowledgements Pg. 23


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Below is a selection of responses, by members, toRichard Gills article,

Proposed curriculum is being hijacked by visual arts lobby, 15/11/10. The AgeA full version can be found at;

http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/proposed-curriculum-is-being-hijacked-by-visual-arts-lobby-20101114-17sn8.html

Richard Gill's, Proposed Curriculum Is Being Hijacked by Visual Arts Lobby, 15/11/10, does nothing

but show his misinformation and naivety. As a member of Gills lunatic fringe I would like to see an

Arts curriculum that reflects all artforms, while respecting each discipline. Visual Arts teachers

across the country have never made such a grand statement calling for 50% of the Arts Curriculum,

such a statement is offensive and divisive. The constant and consistent chorus from all Visual Arts

Teachers is that we need a curriculum that is non-generalist, rigours and will take our students

forward. There are more to all the arts than play and generating, as describe in The Arts Shape

Paper. Brothers and sisters in music, dance, drama and media, stand up and demand the same for

your subject area. Dont let ill-informed headline grabbers speak for you.

Nick Phillipson Visual Arts Teacher St Patricks College Strathfield

Richard Gills article Proposed curriculum is being hijacked by visual arts lobby (The Age 15.11.10)

is nothing short of scaremongering. Despite his magnificent contribution to music and music

education, Gill is swept up in the politics of national performing arts education associations and

industry groups. Seduced by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority(ACARA), these alliances have lobbied and been lured by the desperate promise that has been

targeted at the smaller arts groups dance, media, and drama of securing a seat at the big table.

Gill endorses their accommodation. His article is motivated by the promise of inclusion for the

different arts under vague instrumentalist values of social connectedness and self-expression,

discredited in the 1970s. As a one size fits all approach, relating the arts ultimately compromises all

of the arts by trivialising the practices and knowledge base of each. This is the real issue. The visual

arts lobby has not claimed the time Gill reports. Rather, Dance, Media and Drama, fear that if the

Shape Paper is rejected their positions will be up for grabs. They want to avoid this at all costs even

if it is at the expense of the quality of the curriculum.

Dr Kerry Thomas VADEA Co-President

MESSAGE BOARD POSTS

Page 1


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Page 2

Mr Gill, your verbose posturing in Proposed Curriculum Is Being Hijacked by Visual Arts Lobby,

15/11/10, is hypocritical, as you are defending the area in which we, on the Lunatic fringe, are

arguing for. Where have you got the information about the visual arts lobby demanding 50 per cent?

The hours at this stage are speculative. The access that the students will have to The Arts will be

doing a disservice to each of the arts, not just Visual Arts. The proposed curriculum has been

created with a total lack of consultation or representation with NSW Visual Arts teachers, hence our

fury. This is unprofessional and borders on arrogance. Not ignorance, as you have blithely put

forward. We will be devolving if we accept a curriculum that has no conceptual rigour and a total

lack of subject-specific terminology. We are not arguing for hours to be skewed in our direction, but

are simply requesting that this issue be addressed, examined and discussed openly amongst those

who are directly affected. And lastly Mr Gill, what would the quality of your budding opera singers be

when their foundation from age 8-13 is only 13 hours of music a year?

Claire Harrison Visual Arts Teacher Monte Sant Angelo Mercy College

Richard Gills article on the hijacking of the National Curriculum by the Visual Arts lobby is ill

informed, ignorant and divisive. It seems Mr Gills intention is to incite trouble in an attempt to have

existing arts subjects squabble amongst themselves to deflect focus from the real issue. The real

issue is that under the proposed national curriculum no art form will be allocated sufficient time for

students to experience rich and deep learning.TheVisual Arts lobby is not asking for a 50% time

allocation, we are asking for a curriculum that is equal or better to what we have now. In no way dowe see ourselves as better or superior to other creative arts but we do represent the most students

and teachers of any creative arts subject across the nation. We are asking for a 21st century

Curriculum that will be rigorous and challenge our students toexcel. We shouldnt have to settle for

something that is a step backwards just because it gives all five creative arts areas equal time.Mr

Gill needs to get his facts right before writing articles that are designed tospreadmisinformationand

fear. It seems he is the ignorant trouble maker who inhabits his own lunatic fringe. If he took the

time to investigate, we could all stand together and form a stronger lobby for all the creative arts.

Sophie Lampert Head Teacher Visual Arts Oxley College

MESSAGE BOARD POSTS


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Page 3

Below is a selection of responses, by members, toMatthew Clausens article,Critics expected but arts overhaul is a positive step, 30/8/10. TheBrisbane Times

A full version can be found at;

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/politics/critics-expected-but-arts-overhaul-is-a-positive-step-20100829-13xo0.html

The following are blog responses, posted directly on the Brisbane Timesmessage board.

In NSW, we have a strong and proud Visual Arts and Music courses. They challenge our students

to achieve to their best. Art and Music are clear distinct curriculum identities. I find it upsetting that

the president of Australian Teachers of Media NSW sees fit to 'dumb down' two excellent subject

areas to make room for others. Should we not be asking for Drama, Media and Dance to become

strong identities along with Art and Music? It seems that the clumping of all five arts areas will push

two strong subjects backwards rather than push three forwards. Nick Phillipson

Simple question: How can a teacher of Visual Arts teach anything other than rudimentary drawing in

20 minutes per week (13.5 hours per year)? That is set up/ pack-up time for a painting or ceramics

class! I am a NSW Visual Arts teacher, who currently teaches a rich, stimulating curriculum to year 7

and 8 students, which requires time for students to develop skills and understanding of the concepts

taught. The National Curriculum will reduce our indicative hours from 100/ year to 13.5/ year, an

86.5% reduction! I agree with Nick; Dance, Drama and Media Arts should be added, but not to the

detriment of other curriculum areas. LisaA

I support Nick wholeheartedly! The ACARA proposal seriously undermines the value of time in

learning. Matthew cannot seriously believe that 13.5hours per year of any subject is anything other

than pure tokenism. What learning will happen? What skills will be developed? No-one would

expect the Maths department to 'play' with numbers for 20 minutes a week from K to 8 then expect

students in Year 9 to suddenly find "skills and a passion" to study Maths at the expected level to

carry them into senior studies and then University. Students from Year 9 will not be able to explore

their chosen subjects in "complex and sophisticated ways" if the foundational learning and skill

development that is required does not happen up to Year 8. The participatory model proposed by

ACARA is at odds with ACARA's own goals of promoting the value of foundational, deep and

specialised knowledge for all Australian students. Matthew talks about "The Arts" rather the "Visual

and Performing Arts" (as per the Melbourne Declaration) as if each of those disciplines are

interchangeable and that any teacher of the arts has the expertise to teach any of the other "arts"

subjects. Are all the "Arts" teachers going to be required to retrain in every other Arts subject in

order to provide a "cross- arts" curriculum? The alternative concept Matthew presented of loading

the art forms in particular years or delivering it in semester blocks does not seriously consider the

timetable issues associated with this approach in secondary schools. With the clumping together of

all five subjects under the organising principles of the Strands of Generating, Realising andResponding, ALL five subjects lose their identity as discrete learning that have their own specialised

domain of knowledge and subject specific terminology. Sally

MESSAGE BOARD POSTS


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There have been many individuals in NSW that have raised concerns that the proposed framework

for the arts will diminish intellectual rigour and potential for arts learning. Visual Arts alone

encompasses many disciplines, each highly specialised. NSW already teaches 100 hrs of a variety

of artforms over Year 7/8. Of course, it would 'dumb-down our curriculum to diminish this to 13.5

hrs. Cross-curricula ideas can have some merit, however, the Visual Arts as it currently stands in

NSW is far more than 'moving images' or backdrops to theatre productions as Mathew seems to

suggest. It is an intensive, intellectual course in historical and contemporary issues and techniques

across a variety of art forms where specialisation is allowed in elective years.

How will these five arts to be properly resourced in schools? Will we have dance studios built,

sprung floors, employ dance and drama teachers for 13.5 hrs per week, or only those times we do a

cross-curricula unit of work, which may not last the year.

I also agree with Nick; Dance, Drama and Media Arts should be added, but not to the detriment of

other curriculum areas. ArtExpress has already been taken to America and other countries - NSW

teachers have worked hard to build a strong Visual Arts Curriculum, Lets not diminish this, we

should be making it stronger.

Michele

"The response by arts educators across Australia to a national approach to arts education has been

enthusiastically welcomed. I would like to know where the information for this statement has come

from. I recently attended a Visual Arts & Design Educators Association (VADEA) Conference in

Sydney, where this "blancmange" approach to Arts education was rejected outright. There were

approximately 250 schools represented and the outrage at the simplistic and regressive ideas

suggested in this "new" curriculum was palpable. As the largest and arguably the most successful

subject, Visual Arts has the most to lose, but it is the students who are really the losers if this

curriculum is implemented. In NSW students in Year 7 & 8 receive 100 hours of Visual Arts; one

wonders how they will achieve the quality skill tuition and deep conceptual development when under

the "new" curriculum where this will be reduced to a mere 13 hours per year. NSW has a researchbased, rich, world class, and aspirational curriculum (see ArtExpress for evidence of this), and now

we are being "asked" to accept a simplistic and regressive "one size fits all" syllabus. This is lunacy!

All the arts are important and it makes no good sense to reduce and indeed annihilate Visual Arts, a

subject that is such a valuable and integral part of so many students' lives (approx 10,000 students

studied Visual Arts in the 2009 HSC). It is time to celebrate what we have now, as if we accept the

"goulash" approach we are being offered I fear for the future not only of high school students, but

also for the future of world-class artists, art critics, art historians and the cultural basis of our nation!

I am appalled at the facile syllabus and the "celebration" of it in this article!

Techer_gal

LETTERS TO EDITORS

Page 4


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31stAugust 2010, TheABCRadioNationalprogramme, LateNightLiveheld a discussion onACARAs proposal for the Arts National Curriculum. The Podcast can be found at;

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2010/2997568.htm

RESPONSE TO THE DISCUSSION

The discussion on Late Night Live exposed ACARAs line that is in play about 'entitlement' and

'participation' as the drivers for this curriculum proposal. It seems that having all five artforms in will

raise the profile of the arts. In my view they have yet to demonstrate how the poorly conceived

curriculum which addresses aesthetic knowledge will do this in the 21st century context in

education. There was no explanation of how a reduction in time for Visual Arts will assist in raising

the profile or quality of art education or any of the arts in education for that matter. O'Toole's

statements about the preparedness of teachers were certainly very revealing and incredibly

alarming. Apparently familiarity with artforms in primary education means you can teach it so

anyone can teach any of the arts if they merely have an interest in it! Perhaps if I begin attendingthe ballet I might be about to intuit how to provide students with experience in understanding how to

make a pirouette! He said that primary teachers 'will just have to come to the party' this means it

will be up to them to figure out how they will implement this curriculum. In a content free-curriculum

zone I guess that is all one could say about how to prepare teachers to implement it. From my

perspective as a teacher educator in Visual Arts this an indictment on the willingness and

commitment pre-service and experienced teachers show in seeking to teach these areas well in a

situation when they are given very little preparation or support. Also to think this is respectful of

students' intellectual needs and interests is amazing, let alone about what it says about his views ofthe artforms as bodies of knowledge in their own right. He argues integration and cross-arts options

- all of which confirms a blancmange approach and is not worthy of support. With the slippery

description of hours and what may or may not be mandated in schools, this proposal to combine the

arts into a single generic learning area will not result in raising profile of the arts. Instead this

structural indeterminacy combined with an under-theorised, poor quality curriculum that argues

experience equals learning will only result in the role of the arts in education being further

diminished, forgotten or ignored. None of it offers teachers or students a rationale for good practice

in Visual Arts education. It is time to go back to the drawing board and look at the quality curriculum

we have and take the lead from there. Dr Karen Maras VADEA Co-President

The following are responses posted directly on the Late Night Livemessageboard

I am a pre-service teacher at the College of Fine Arts, and I believe I speak collectively when I say

that it is not only a huge amount of our current Visual Art teachers who oppose ACARAs national

curriculum, it is also the people who will be teaching Art well into the future. Why would we ever

agree to give up our NSW Visual Arts syllabus? It most certainly hasn't grown haphazardly as it has

such a strong conceptual basis, with a great focus on art history, criticism and actual KNOWLEDGE!

Opposed an unwholesome mash-up of performing and visual arts which will inevitably reduce the

amount of learning possible for all these subjects. What is being proposed is not acceptable.

A Pre-Service Art Teacher

MESSAGE BOARD POSTS

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Page 6

The forced relationship between the Visual and Performing Arts is tenuous, narrow minded and

meaningless. It totally disregards the importance of each area and is simply a tokenistic nod to The

Arts. Visual Arts is a FOUNDATIONAL SPRING BOARD to ALL visual areas of study which

includes art, architecture, visual communications, graphic design, photography, film making, web

design, interior design, fashion design, industrial design, etc. The basic and common threads of all

these fields are learnt in Visual Arts and to reduce this subject to simply a means of self expression

is an insult and does not take into account the increasingly visual nature of the digital age (think of

the fast transmission of images on The Internet) The visual image is one of the fastest to

comprehend and one of the most universal languages. Visual Arts allows the student to not only

critically analyse visual language which is everywhere, but to learn how to use it effectively and

persuasively. All students should engage in at least 100 mandatory hours of Visual Arts in stage 4

to teach them the basic skills of the many 'visual' fields it forms the basis of. Not all schools can offer

the more specialised areas of fashion, graphic design, film making, photography, etc BUT ALL

SCHOOLS can at least offer Visual Arts with the knowledge that they will be providing our students

with the foundation of these 'visual' fields of study. f.hanna

The plans proposed by ACARA are ridiculous as are John OTooles arguments for what he calls an

entitlement. I am not sure we should be thinking of an outdated conception of curriculum as

aesthetic knowledge as the right of any student to endure. As was the case in the Initial Advice

Paper which I have seen and commented upon in other forums the claim for arts education as

aesthetic knowledge reduces the arts to an indeterminate notion of subjective experience on whichthey can all integrate. From OTooles argument the direction has evidently not changed even after

some limited consultation advised of alternative directions in May 2010. Subjectivity has already

been proven a limited view of curriculum design in arts education. A review of the various forms of

Visual Arts curriculum in Australia reveals that no state jurisdiction supports this as a discrete or

viable view of what is Visual Arts or arts knowledge or practice. Why would art educators be willing

to accept the very premise of this curriculum proposal? Is aesthetic experience enough to define

content and shape pedagogy? I think not. Would Maths, English, Science and History argue that

experience alone is sufficient for deep learning and knowledge acquisition? No they would not.Would experts in other learning areas argue that a mere interest in the subject is sufficient as

teacher preparedness? No they would not. Would science teachers accept that what occurs in

biology, chemistry, geology and physics is the same? No they wouldnt. Then how can art educators

reasonably accept that all artforms are bound by common processes? Wouldnt it be better to name

each artform as a discrete learning area and thus raise their profile by developing appropriate

curriculum for each? This is the position I support.Blancmange slides down the sink plug-hole very

easily as it has no form and no real content, cannot sustain commitment from consumers and is

hard to advocate for given it has no substance. If there's to be substance in this so-called curriculum

then teachers will not be able to get their teeth into it and nor will students. The Visual Arts and the

arts generally are at risk in this proposal. Beware of Blancmange

MESSAGE BOARD POSTS


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Page 7

Letter to the Editor: TheSydney Morning Herald, Published 27/10/10

The proposed National Curriculum has whittled down the time for mandatory study of the Visual Arts

in year 8 to mire 20 minutes a week. Admittedly it has added a merger 20 minutes of Media Arts. In

an increasingly visual world, this is a misguided and ill-informed path. Communication has shifted

from the written word to the visual image: advertising, movies, computer graphics, the internet and

even phone apps are visual forms of communication. With text rapidly receding and the image

gaining dominance, educational practice needs to follow suit. Students need to learn the language

and grammar of digital communication so they can sharpen their interpretive and analytical skills as

well as use the visual language to communicate creatively and persuasively. Anything less we are

short-changing them.

Francis Hanna Head Teacher All Saints Grammar

Letter to the Editor: sent 12 October, 2010

Would we accept that students could choose between Science and Mathematics for further study

after a piecemeal introduction to each? I think not. Too much is at stake in accepting a similar

although incorrect view that is being perpetuated about the Arts in the Australian

Curriculum. Perhaps the term entitlement is used correctly in the arguments used by the Australian

Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) as to the value of the Arts as

represented in the draft Arts Shape Paper. An entitlement implies a legislative right but in a legal

sense it carries no value judgement. The draft Shape Paper takes the view that the Arts are the

same but different, united by common processes that unravel after a first glance. Nothing much is

expected of students learning in the Visual Arts or in other artforms beyond a feel good, know

nothing approach as the entitlement. Advocates argue that we should be grateful. Should we? Not

yet. ACARAs approach is a retreat into a conservative 1970s process view. Our students and their

teachers currently undertake far more complex investigations in the Visual Arts in art making, and in

their critical and historical studies. They believe in and expect more.


LETTERS TO EDITORS


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Page 8

LETTER TO THEN EDUCATION MINISTER MR SIMON CREAN

Dear Mr Crean,

As a passionate Visual Arts teacher, I have serious concerns about the proposed Draft AdvicePaper for The Arts created by Australian Curriculum, Assessment, and Reporting Authority

(ACARA) under the National Curriculum for students from Kindergarten to Year 10. If you are

unfamiliar with this, I hope to share my opinions with you.

Instead of separate learning areas, it has been suggested that Visual Arts, Music, Drama, Dance

and 'Media Arts' are merged into one subject called 'The Arts'. All subject specific terminology has

been retracted and 'dumbed down' to the point of being trivial and nonsensical. This is akin to

amalgamating Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics and labeling it under the banner of

'The Sciences'. At a senior level of study this dilution of education is backward and not in the

interests of our students. The proposed number of hours for 'The Arts' has been significantly

reduced from 100 hours over two years for one subject to 80 hours for all five subjects; so much so

that at this point, we will simply be baby-sitting the students. I know many students who are

passionate about Visual Arts and its many derivative applications yet have no inclination to study

Music or Dance and vice versa.

At this stage Mr Crean, I am unsure if my position as a Visual Arts teacher would still be relevant or

if I would have to add further training to my four year Bachelor degree so that I can teach these

other subjects, which I have no interest in or aptitude for.

Most troubling, is the fact that the proposed curriculum has also been created with a total lack of

consultation with NSW Visual Arts teachers, this is unprofessional and borders on arrogance.

I urge you, as Minister for Education, to consider the concerns of the various lobby groups that I and

many others like me are members of, such as Visual Arts and Design Educators' Association NSW,

the Independent Education Union of Australia and Creative People against the Standardisation ofAustralian Arts Education. I also request that this issue be addressed, examined and discussed

openly amongst those who are directly affected, not least the students. Before any further decisions

are made, consultation and action needs to occur with these lobby groups and the findings should

be made transparent amongst the teaching community as well as with Parents & Citizens groups.

I would appreciate a response to acknowledge this letter.

Regards,

Claire HarrisonVisual Arts TeacherMonte Sant Angelo Mercy College

LETTERS TO MINISTERS


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Page 9

THE VISUAL ARTS SHOULD NOT LOSE ITS IDENTITY

BY BEING COLLAPSED INTO THE ARTS

Flexibility and connectivity are the key motivators influencing ACARAs design of Australias first

National Arts curriculum. The strands, of which, are organised to allow students to generate, realize

and respond to a constant and organic interplay amongst the Arts: this interplay providingconnectivityby use of shared common elements between the different art forms.

In determining what these shared elements are, ACARA may be sacrificing the very thing it wants

students to generate, realize and respond to- a flexible Arts syllabus that:

provide[s] young Australians with spaces and means to imagine and engage

personally and collectively within their worlds as well as other possible worlds,

including some not yet imagined

Yes, the arts are connected in our highly technological age in ways that, even five years ago, wecould not appreciate. Yet, these other worldsare generated because of the differences existing

between ideas, materials, techniques, technology, usage etc... Differences creating spacesfor the

realization of that which has not yetbeen imagined; these spaces allow for the other to be realized

when in the arts music, film, dance, pod casting or sculpture connect, collide or fuse: then different

ways of perceiving reality and comprehending new art forms or processes can be apprehended. In

fact the very existence of these differences generates the tension and energy required to respond to

the technological complexities of the 21st Century.

Organic interplay, between art forms is a response by artists comprehending the intimate

relationship we have with 21st Century technology; it does not depend on the implosion or collapse

of distinct and separate disciplines.

The collapsing of Visual Arts (or any one of the different art disciplines) into one generic entity the

arts will not automatically provide the organic connectivity that ACARA respectfully perceives is

experienced by indigenous communities when their distinct art forms come together, for example, to

celebrate Aboriginal connections to country and ancestors. Neither will this connectivity experienced

by contemporary audiences in popular culturecomprising of film, visual arts and music, be

necessarily generated in an imploding curriculum.

The connectivity that ACARA seeks is generated when different artistic disciplines come together for

short periods of time to perform a ritual, to respond or experience a performance, produce a stage

play etc. The performers, dancers, actors, musicians and artists then go back to their various

disciplines to reflect, experiment or further study their specific expertise.

To allow space, in the new curriculum, for this organic connection is one that is vital for students to

fully comprehend the interplay between the Art forms, however, this interplayof art forms need not beat the loss of distinct disciplines like the Visual Arts.

Gwenda Maude Visual Arts Teacher La Salle Collage Bankstown

DIRECT RESPONSE TO ACARAS DRAFT PAPER


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Page 10

A LETTER TO ACARA FROM PRE-SERVICE VISUAL ARTS TEACHERS

Dear Professor McGaw,

On November 1, 2010, pre-service teachers of the Visual Arts met to discuss the future of Visual

Arts Education in Australia and New South Wales at the Australian Catholic University.Representatives from the College of Arts UNSW, Australian Catholic University and University of

Sydney and University of Technology discussed ACARAs Draft Shape of the Australian

Curriculum: The Arts. The keynote speaker was the Dean of COFA, Professor Ian Howard who,

along with other art educators, identified significant limitations in proposals to date that would

affect the quality of Visual Arts curricula currently in place in Australia. Pre-service teachers

shared their concerns about the proposed changes to the Visual Arts curriculum. In particular, the

potential impact of these changes to the quality of Visual Arts Education and their futures as

prospective specialist Visual Arts teachers were discussed. Central to these discussions was

agreement of the Draft Shape Papers undeniable lowering of the quality of Visual Arts curriculum.The generic approach to The Arts taken by the Draft paper is unsuccessful as it does not provide

theoretical constructs to organise content. The strands are obviously connected with process, not

content, and do not provide a view of what would be taught and learned in the different artforms

that have discrete and unique content.

A motion was drafted and unanimously passed by 37 pre-service Visual Arts teachers and 8

teachers and academics in attendance:

This meeting urges ACARA to extend the consultation period on the Draft Shape Paper for

the Arts in order that the proposals and the complexity of these are given sufficient

consideration by all stakeholders. The proposal for the Visual Arts Curriculum in the Draft

Shape Paper for the Arts is rejected as it represents a significant depletion of the quality of

what is currently in place for Visual Arts education within NSW. This proposal compromises

the intellectual integrity of our current curriculum. We reject the Draft Shape Paper's

generic organisers of the strands and ACARA's new definitions of "Visual Arts" and "The

Arts". We reject the proposal of 150 hours for the Visual Arts education from K- 8, as it is

inadequate and will diminish the quality learning already in place within the Visual Arts.

We would urge ACARA and the writers of the Arts Curriculum to work with NSW educators to

develop an authentic and rigorous Curriculum for Visual Arts students and teachers, both presentand future.

Please read through the above points carefully. We understand that ACARAs mandate is to draw

from best practice curriculum to develop a world-class Australian curriculum for the Arts. The

existing NSW curriculum provides a blueprint for achieving this goal as has been demonstrated in

the K-12 learning continuum currently in place. As pre-service teachers in NSW, we hope you

respectfully reconsider re-designing the proposals to more appropriately represent Visual Arts as

a knowledge domain focused on conceptual and practical rigour anchored in a coherent

developmental framework.

Yours faithfully,John Phillips



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REGARDING THE PROPOSED NATIONAL CURRICULUM FOR THE ARTS

The intention to lump together five very disparate and highly complex areas under one umbrella

called The Arts and the expectation to teach them a mere 180 hours (or twenty minutes each a

week) is too simplistic and dismissive. Furthermore, the connections between them being

generating, realising and responding are far too tenuous. A more rational division would be ThePerforming Arts and The Visual Arts.

The combining of these subjects at a secondary school level does not take into account the

cognitive development and readiness of a twelve year old to engage in each of these subjects at a

more complex level. Nor does it allow for teachers to engage students who are gifted or talented in

these areas. It constitutes a tokenistic nod to The Arts but does not take into consideration these

factors that specialist teachers (and parents of children of this age group) are all too aware of.

This new proposed national curriculum also does not factor in the fact that most Visual Arts, Music,

Dance and Drama teachers in high schools are specialist not generalist teachers, which means they

have achieved a minimum of 4 years of training in their artform (after 7 years of formal training, I am

still learning by the way). As a specialist Visual Arts teacher and practitioner I never engaged in

musical, drama or dance studies during my training. Im in no better position to teach these subjects

than the average Maths teacher! In fact, university faculties are not structured in this way (for

obvious reasons, each area is far too large and complex). So why does the proposed national

curriculum expect secondary education to?

A more sensible and rational approach would be to divide these 5 areas of study into the areas ofperforming and visual arts. Performing Arts would include Drama, Dance and Music. The Visual

Arts on the other hand would constitute Visual Arts and the ever expanding Media Studies. On this

note, may I add, and emphasize the growing importance of visual literacy in our digital age. A vast

proportion of our understanding of the contemporary world is largely visual thanks to the World

Wide Web and growing use film, web, photography, etc to communicate. The area of the visual

arts has enough to contend with and offer to our students without it being reduced and diluted into

a blancmange of subjects that actually bare little relation to each other in industry.

And speaking of the Arts industry, it would be all the poorer as a result. The Arts has so much tooffer. It puts us on the cultural global map, it also contributes enormously to our economy and yet

the response of the national curriculum is to radically reduce the hours spent in this area. It will

inevitably lead to jobs lost, especially in Visual Arts and Music teaching. The educational outcomes

would inevitably be lowered as hours spent on these subjects have been slashed and the content

simplified. The message to students would be that these are trivial subjects that deserve little more

than an average of 20 minutes a week spent on each of them. We need a world class curriculum.

One that addresses contemporary modes of thought; and that belongs to and addresses the

challenges of the age we live in. What we dont need is a tokenistic gesture which is what the draftsyllabus for The Arts constitutes.

Francis Hanna Head Teacher All Saints Grammar



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EXPERIMENTATION, PLAY AND ART

ACARA, in the lead up to the new National Arts curriculum, places importance on play and art,

emphasizing that playand artare fundamentally related and that at a deep level, play is artful, and

art is playful.

Art is not playful it has never been playful; instead art has a fundamental relationship with our

human desire to experiment with materials to achieve synthesis with the very act of creation itself.

Artists experiment gaining new skills and knowledge to either support the status quo or challenge it.

This experimentation requires high order thought processes and a desire to use new knowledge

gained from the processes of experimentation. Play implies the desire to occupy ones-self while

engaging in some sort of recreational game or pastime, art is not a pastime. We see purposeful acts

of mark making, demanding more than just the acknowledgement of mere playful technique in the

very first cave paintings of the Palaeolithic artist.

These sophisticated cave paintings had nothing to do with artful play; instead the confident use of

line and coloured pigment had more to do with focused experimentation to create the magical

moment when Palaeolithic man exerted control over his environment. Their success as hunters

linked intimately with the processes involved in the making of the cave paintings. Even these early

examples of art and artists creating artworks reveal that experimentation with technique and

material was never playful art. Art and experimentation with materials and techniques, finely tuned

Palaeolithic mans observation of his hostile surroundings-therefore increasing his chances ofsurvival.

Our survival as a species is still linked to the high order thinking resulting from experimentation;

artists remain deeply linked to what is now an established trajectory involving experimentation and

progress. Modern day artists experiment with new and exciting technology. The constant advances

in technology have a huge impact on contemporary environments and societies. Todays artists

display the same focus and determination to experiment, be it with oil paintings, photo shop,

performance or the digital image. For art students, of the 21st Century, to wield the same power with

their mark making so that their digital image, sculpture, painting or performances engage personally

and collectively with their world as well as other possible worlds.. they will be required to

experiment not play.

Gwenda Maude Visual Arts Teacher La Salle Collage Bankstown



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Post following the Barry McGaw & John Kaye interview on Life Matters, 21/11/ 2010

Lets imagine a situation in a new world order where the subjects of Science and Mathematics were

expected to share common processes in a proposed curriculum which had little theoretical or

research base and belonged to neither one subject nor the other. The expectation was that Sciema

teachers, as they would be known, would conform with this proposal because a corporatised

curriculum authority claimed they knew best. This authority had benchmarked serious Sciema

learning with international competitors, the findings of which few could argue. Science and

Mathematics teachers were accused of being afraid by the curriculum authority because they

disagreed with the reductive nature of this proposal and the prospect that the practices and body of

knowledge associated with these subjects would be dispelled. Teachers cogently argued, despite

these accusations, that students would be disadvantaged if the proposal were to proceed because

their abilities to apply scientific and mathematical knowledge would be reduced. In turn, students

expectations and way of engaging with the world in the C21st would be compromised. Thecurriculum authority felt the heat and began to say that schools and states could interpret the

Sciema curriculum in different ways, sidestepping the real issue, that curriculum cannot be simply a

fabrication, even though it may suit some interests. Barry McGaw needs to be better informed about

the concerns of Visual Arts teachers in relation to the soon to be released draft Shape Paper for the

Arts. The proposal, like Sciema, is highly reductive in its one-size fits all approach to the Arts. John

Kaye rightly identifies how Visual Arts teachers and academics are concerned about the

downgrading of the subject under ACARAs proposals. It is a huge rumbling as John Kaye suggests

and it will grow louder. Dr Kerry Thomas VADEA Co-President

COMMENTS ON THE NSW BOARD OF STUDIES SURVEY FOR THE ACARA DRAFT PAPER

The forced relationship between the Visual and Performing Arts is tenuous, narrow minded and

meaningless. It totally disregards the importance of each area and is simply a tokenistic nod to The

Arts. Visual Arts is a FOUNDATIONAL SPRING BOARD to ALL visual areas of study which

includes art, architecture, visual communications, graphic design, photography, film making, web

design, interior design, fashion design, industrial design, etc. The basic and common threads of all

these fields are learnt in Visual Arts and to reduce this subject to simply a means of self expression

is an insult and does not take into account the increasingly visual nature of the digital age. The

visual image is one of the fastest to comprehend and one of the most universal languages (hence

the effectiveness of branding). Its presence and influence is everywhere. The digital world

recognises this (ACARA obviously does not) and utilizes the visual image increasingly (think of The

Internet). Visual Arts allows the student to not only critically analyse visual language which is

everywhere, but to learn how to use it effectively and persuasively. All students should engage in at

least 100 mandatory hours of Visual Arts in stage 4 to teach them the basic skills of the many

'visual' fields it forms the basis of. Not all schools can offer the more specialised areas of fashion,

graphic design, film making, photography, etc BUT ALL SCHOOLS can at least offer Visual Artswith the knowledge that they will be providing our students with the foundation of these 'visual' fields

of study. Francis Hanna Head Teacher All Saints Grammar



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Written 11 October, in response to public comments made by Peter Hill, ACARAs CEO.

IN THE NAME OF AN ENTITLEMENT?

It is hard to imagine how in the Arts students will develop an understanding and appreciation of

each of the artforms as Peter Hill, Chairman of ACARA claims. The recently released draft ShapePaper for the Arts proposes that students from K-8 will learn in five art forms of visual arts music,

drama, dance and media arts. Commendable at face value but on closer inspection when 20

minutes per week is all expected for each artform what will students be exposed to or actually

learn? At best, quick tricks, amusement, a time for students to superficially express themselves or

the monotonous repetition of the same song, lets pretend or yet another drawing of my imagined

world with a blunt pencil? More alarmingly, the mistaken belief adopted by students, parents,

teachers and educational systems that thats all there is to the Arts?

Certainly we could predict that few resources would be systematically allocated to learning in the

Visual Arts in schools or teacher training. Would future primary or secondary specialist teachers

need to be prepared in their undergraduate programs to teach the Visual Arts when so little is

expected or would they bother as teachers with thoughtful preparation for students learning? Some

would because of their genuine commitment to students and their own knowledge of the visual arts.

Some would do no more than maintain the status quo of doing little, professionally obligated by the

prevailing orthodoxy that literacy, numeracy and the repeated testing of students is more important.

When the draft Arts Shape Paper is compared with the recently released Geography draft Shape

Paper, the document is grossly inferior. The Geography document manages a cogent explanation

about the what and why of Geography, an aim, and a scope and sequence. Each of these aspects

is denied in the draft Arts Shape paper and a concept of development for the visual arts and the

other artforms is lacking. Knowledge is reduced to aesthetic experience and common processes to

make the Arts appear doable although its focus on legislating definitions suggests it is more about

control: and one that is narrowly defined to ensure an entitlement without knowledge.

ACARAs own definitions of a learning area which equates with a subject do not help in the Arts.

Part of the problem is that the Arts are not a subject like Geography, History, English, orMathematics. The Visual Arts is a subject in its own right with its own body of knowledge, practices,

traditions, future trajectory and so forth. As such it should be recognised as a learning area.

Is this all the nation can hope for? It is a serious flaw that the Arts have been represented in such an

ill-informed way. Particularly when so much of our future will depend on how we conceptualise and

come to terms with an increasingly visual and aestheticised world. The Visual Arts will play an

escalating role artistically, economically and culturally in how we form our aspirations and identity

and how the rest of the world views us. Students and the broader community are being sold short in

what ACARA proposes as an entitlement.


REFLECTIONS ON ACARA PRESENTATIONS


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SEYMOUR CENTRE ARTS LAUNCH

November 1st saw the launch of the Seymour Centres Arts Education program for 2011. To

coincide with the event a forum and feedback session on the Draft Shape Paper for the Arts (DSPA)

was held. Presenters included:

- Professor John OToole, ACARA Lead Writer for the draft Shape Paper

- Linda Lorenza, ACARA Senior Project Officer-Arts- Jay McPherson, Board of Studies Inspector Creative Arts- Deidhre Wauchop, Curriculum Manager, Creative Arts K-6, Department of Education and

Training and ACARA Curriculum Advisory Panel member- Mathew Clausen, President Australian Teachers of Media New South Wales and Drama

teacher at Loreto Kirribilli- Colleen Roche, President Drama New South Wales.

Seeing this line-up one would have to agree that the event was not to be missed, given the fact that

most of the presenters are the movers and shakersin the development of the Shape Paper.

Unfortunately the event gave me the feeling I was crashingsomeone elses party. Although it wasreferred to as an Arts Education Launchthere wasnt anything that really related to the Visual Arts. I

did have to ask myself If you are holding a forum on the Arts Shape Paper with the lead writer (who

has done everything possible to state the major benefit of the Shape Paper is that it is all arts

inclusive) wouldnt you go out of your way to make sure that all 5 artforms are catered for in your

program?It seemed not.

The main reason I had attend the event was for the presentation from the lead writer, Professor

John OToole, to find out why he was committed to overturning accepted curriculum practice. It was

for this reason I was hoping he and Linda Lorenza, would be able to sell me on the Draft Paper. Asa young teacher, who hopefully has many years of teaching before me, I needed them to make me

believe that this is a 21st century curriculum, it will be beneficial to my students and yes, I will enjoy

teaching the content and structure of what has been proposed. Unfortunately they did nothing of the

sort. Professor OToole seemed to lose his thread and presented with no clear understanding of the

contemporary school environment. There were collective jaws dropping when he made the remark,

Creative teachers are more intuitive when it comes to teaching the arts and will therefore have a

better ability to teach across their disciplines.I felt insulted to think that anyone who deems

themselves creative could then walk into a classroom and teach what I teach. What of

professionalism and subject knowledge? This notion of intuitive teaching will foster nounderstanding of practice or discipline in any of the artforms. Every discipline will lose out here!

Jay McPherson noted that the NSW Board of Studies will be seeking extensive feedback on the

draft Arts Shape Paper. The BOS will be consulting with primary teachers during term 4 and in term

1 2011 they will be conducting face to face meetings with secondary teachers in the Arts. The BOS

also has an online survey that can be completed. Personally, I felt the event was summed up by

Matthew Clausen, who chaired the question and answer section, He said: Can I have any other

questions from someone otherthan a Visual Arts Teacher? A question that left me feeling

convinced the inclusive nature and connectivity of the arts may be something unattainable, evenfor those pushing for it.

Nick Phillipson Visual Arts Teacher St Patricks College Strathfield



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CURRICULUM LITE: MCGAWS DREAMS REALISED IN ARTS EDUCATION

This week Professor Barry McGaw made a presentation at the Australian Association for

Research in Education Conference held at Melbourne University. I listened with interest as he

stated that we [ACARA] are trying to keep the curriculum light. I pondered the weight of his remark

about light curriculum content, especially in light of the heavy load I imagine Professor McGaw

carries as the architect of the Australian Curriculum and NAPLAN. This became even more

apparent as he explained that the ministers have given the whole curriculum to ACARA, just as

the NSW BOS gave the curriculum to McGaw in the late 90s. Visual Arts achieved outstanding

results in McGaw Review Weight-Loss Program, shedding an amazing two 3 unit courses and

avoiding the responsibility of carrying the extra load of an extension course.

McGaws Curriculum Liteprogram certainly generates many more opportunities for Visual

Arts to increase our curriculum fitness by reducing our footprint. The problem is that students keepparticipating in Visual Arts across the nation. We are in crisis. Visual Arts clearly has an obesity

problem as the largest subject of any of the arts. Teachers disobey the national agenda in offering

rigourous and challenging programs. These are consumed greedily by students who seem addicted

to this diet of intellectual autonomy and challenge. This over consumption is a bit of a problem but

creatively solved with a well structured reduction program.

The opportunity for Visual Arts to again achieve outstanding results in contributing to the

agenda, of load reduction in Australian education, is supported by the strategic creative thinking of

Professor John OToole, the lead writer of the Draft Shape Paper for the Arts in the AustralianCurriculum. Luckily, the new role Visual Arts is to play as an artform in The Arts means Visual Arts

is relieved of the weighty responsibility of having to identify as a discrete subject. Rather, Visual Arts

is blended in a new diet formula, which assists in controlling the appetite for the discrete study of

any artform. The fusion of specific Visual Arts content within a one size fits all concoction, brewed

through the strands of generating, realisingand responding- proposed in this creative curriculum,

abrogates the need to specify discipline specific content in Visual Arts. It lacks concepts, practices

or interpretive frameworks and only gains simple aesthetic participation. There will be no

developmental continuum, K-8 students will just play and scribble rather than learn conceptually andpractically. It seems, under this proposal, the desire for rigourous coherent has given way to the

idea of less work why do one artform when you can slim line and integrate all five?

Dr Karen Maras VADEA Co-President



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WHAT DO THE ARTS BRING TO EDUCATION?

Posted Tuesday, 23 November 2010 http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=11265

In an article in the Boston Globe in September, 2007, Ellen Winner, Professor of Psychology at

Boston College and Lois Hetland, Associate Professor of Art Education at the Massachusetts

College of Art, expounded on a year-long in-depth study of five art classes in schools in the Boston

area school district. Both professors are researchers at Project Zero at the Harvard School of

Education.

They found that arts programs teach a specific set of thinking skills rarely addressed elsewhere in

the curriculum, and that far from being irrelevant in a test-driven education system, arts education is

becoming even more important as standardised tests (like the Australian NAPLAN tests) exert a

narrowing influence over what schools teach.

Such skills include visual-spatial abilities, reflection, self-criticism, and the willingness to experiment

and learn from mistakes. All are important to numerous careers, but are widely ignored by today'sstandardised tests.

They stated:

It is well established that intelligence and thinking ability are far more complex than what we

choose to measure on standardized tests. The high-stakes exams we use in our schools,

almost exclusively focused on verbal and quantitative skills, reward children who have a

knack for language and math and who can absorb and regurgitate information. They reveal

little about a student's intellectual depth or desire to learn, and are poor predictors of eventual

success and satisfaction in life. As schools increasingly shape their classes to producehigh test scores, many life skills not measured by tests just don't get taught. It seems

plausible to imagine that art classes might help fill the gap by encouraging different kinds of

thinking.

Arts educators across the globe have continually talked about, written papers about, given

conference papers about, this specific set of thinking skills in an effort to extol the importance of the

arts in the school curriculum.

The implications of the importance of an education in the arts are very significant. It is significant not

only for schools but for all society. In Australia, as proposed in the new National Curriculum for the

Arts, the reduction of time for the arts in the school curriculum will probably result in our losing the

ability to produce not just the artistic creators of the future but importantly, innovative leaders who

improve the world they inherit.

In the study of visual arts classes Winner and Hetland found that while students learnt techniques

specific to the visual arts, such as how to make meaningful marks (draw), how to mix paint and

understand colour, or how to centre a pot, they were also taught an extraordinary array of mental

habits not emphasised elsewhere in school. They identified a number of what they called habits of

mind that arts classes taught, each one of which was notable by their exclusion from testable skills

taught elsewhere in the school curriculum.

VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION OPINION PIECE


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One of these habits was making clear connections between schoolwork and the world outside the

classroom. We can see artworks that bridge those spaces between school life and real life,

between difference of self and other, between new and old lives in the annual exhibition of

HSC visual arts works, ArtExpress. The clear connections between art and life are evident in these

works. Standardised testing such as NAPLAN does not allow students to explore these kinds ofconnections with the world past and present. Another habit was the ability to move beyond technical

skill to make artworks that expressed their own personal voice. In many art classrooms we see

works that are serious and personal investigations by students of their experiences of living - and

sometimes of dying. We see students exploring through art making what it means to be alienated or

displaced or frightened; however, in contrast to the stereotype of art education as mainly expressive

craft, the researchers found that teachers talked about decisions, choices, and understanding, far

more than they talked about feelings.

Yet another habit was the sustained perseverance over a period of time needed to creatively solve

problems and work beyond frustration.

Other habits included innovation through exploration and reflective self-evaluation. In art classes

innovation generally means to work outside the frame - a skill I encourage in my own art classes

and which involves experimenting, taking risks and generally mucking about to see what happens.

The music students at the high school at which I teach tell me that they like mucking about with

other musicians interpretations of classical music - a skill which could be seen by ill informed

educators as time wasting. Mistakes and accidents are seen as sites for more meaning-making

leading to unexpected and often successful results. Self reflection is essential to art class critiques,

as is evaluation of ones own work and those of peers. Such judgments, in the absence of rule, are

highly sophisticated mental endeavours according to Stanford Universitys Elliot Eisner, a noted art

education specialist.

In the instrumentalist and modernist national curricula, which is currently being adopted in Australia,

these specific thinking skills are anathema to the educational bureaucrats of ACARA and too many

parents unfamiliar with good arts education programs. These skills, which are sometimes seen aschaotic and messy, are far more difficult to measure through the type of generic testing carried out

throughout our schools nationally. It is these skills that make a real and significant contribution to

the lives of students and which will equip them to respond creatively to a rapidly changing world.

It is time to value these skills as well as acknowledging how obsessions with national testing or

formal testing in general in schools can be destructive to a balanced educational system.

Dr Jane Gooding-Brown Conservatorium High School



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Article on the benefits of sustained Visual Arts learning, published for Yr 12 exhibition

ALL CHILDREN ARE BORN ARTISTS,THE PROBLEM IS TO REMAIN AN ARTIST AS WE GROW UP. PICASSO

The Body of Works (BOWs) created by our 2010 Visual Arts students represent two importantmilestones. The first is signified by the now 50% completion of their Visual Arts HSC course

requirements. The second milestone is marked by the students sustained engagement, apparent

within their chosen artmaking process. Each of our students have applied and challenged their own

creativity and theoretical understandings of their chosen theme and concept. Through the exhibited

work we are treated with glimpses into our students own private worlds, intrigued by their

appropriation of contemporary events and even confronted by their maturity in dealing with

challenging issues.

The results, our students have achieved, stem from a course that asks its participants to define,

interpret, analyse and evaluate their own ideas and actions. This type of self reflective learning is

ignited in our students early in their secondary schooling career. The arc of growth our exhibited

students are now completing started back in the Years 7 and 8 Visual Arts Course. Here they were

provided with a curriculum that encourages awareness and understanding. It was a starting point

that allowed our students to gain a practical and theoretical knowledge base that crosses disciplines

and subject areas.

This important beginning point in our students visual arts learning is currently in danger. Phase 2 of

the National Curriculum includes an Arts Shape paper that will call for a grouping or standardising

of what is taught across the art disciplines. It will see a curriculum for years K 8 that will radically

reduce the hours offered to Visual Arts and see a loss in the conceptual component of what is

currently taught.

As it stands the New South Wales Government have not signed on for the implementation or

developed a formal agreement to introduce Phase 2 for the National Curriculum. It is imperative that

parents and the community are aware of what these proposed changes will bring to student learning

in the future. What is need is feedback and consultation from parents and community membersabout the Arts Shape Paper. To help facilitate this The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and

Reporting Authority, ACARA, (the association empowered with the role of writing and implementing

the National Curriculum) offer a portal where Phase 2 and The Arts Shape Paper and can be

viewed andcommented on.Nick Phillipson Visual Arts Teacher St Patricks College Strathfield



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Article on the benefits of having a Visual Arts education, used for school magazine

A TRUE EDUCATION IS A VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION

First, we need the arts to express feelings words cannot convey. Second, we need the artsto stir creativity and enrich a students way of knowing. Third, we need the arts to integratethe fragments of academic life. Fourth, we need the arts to empower the disabled and give

hope to the disenchanted. Above all, we need the arts to create community and to buildconnections across the generations.

Dr Ernest Boyer, President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. 1994

With the increasing complexity and alienation present in the post-modern world, the value of the

Visual Arts to the individuals spirit is of significant importance. The Visual Arts provide keys to the

future; a future that should be planned, visualised and understood, not left to develop haphazardly.

Through Visual Arts education, the next generations can learn to read the visual complexities of

their world; sort the significant from the incidental and respond with aesthetic sensitivity. A Visual

Arts education allows students to contribute to the social and cultural life of schools and their

communities. Each student is capable of a personal vision, of insight and creativity and Visual Arts

engages and fosters an imaginative and exploratory approach to learning that encourages self

awareness, personal expression and interpretation. Through Visual Arts education, students come

to understand and value cultural and social differences and the ways in which our lives are enriched

by diversity and difference. Through study in the Visual Arts students gain access to and knowledge

and understanding of the visual language by which our changing world increasingly communicates.

The concept of teacher directed and students personal research are an important part of VisualArts education programmes. This approach gives students a method or sequence for producing

quality work upon which motivation and innovation can be built. Visual Arts learning is designed to

lead to the gaining of excellence in the Higher School Certificate and the foundation of skills leading

to tertiary study and career options in related fields.

The Visual Arts and spirituality have had a strong bond throughout human existence and have

frequently been intertwined and mutually reinforcing. Art, inspired by spiritual concepts has

addressed humanity's most profound needs and life's greatest mysteries: beliefs about death and

an afterlife, the nature of the universe and humanity's place in it and the moral codes that guide

private and public behaviour. Through Visual Arts study, students have opportunities to explore the

bonds between art and spirituality and to examine their own spirituality in artmaking and art

studying.

The Visual Arts are neither core nor ancillary to other subjects in the curriculum they are partners

in the development of critical ways of thinking and learning. Key elements of what is explored within

the Visual Arts often complement students understanding in other learning areas. Critical and

creative thinking are life skills that transcend the classroom. Our students are our future and it is our

responsibility to direct them carefully in their lives; spiritually, morally, behaviourally and

intellectually. Joanna McKeown Visual Arts Coordinator St Patricks College Strathfield



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An example of a short Media Release

DUMBED-DOWN CURRICULUM TURNS ART CLOCK BACK17 June 2010

A dumbed-down Australian Arts Curriculum will sell NSW junior students short and undermine thefoundations of one of Australias toughest Year 12 Visual Arts programs.

The Australian Curriculum Arts: Initial Advice Paperis ill-conceived, trivial and unacceptable.

Dr Karen Maras, Senior Lecturer from the Australian Catholic University and Co-President of the

Visual Arts and Design Educators Association NSW (VADEA) said Visual Arts is no soft option in

NSW. Visual Arts has world-class syllabuses that demand intellectual rigour in artmaking and in the

study of the Visual Arts from senior students and this foundation is laid down in junior years.

The Advice Paper suggests slashing the time available to teach Visual Arts in NSW schools in

Years 7 and 8 by a savage 80 per cent to just 20 minutes a week, compared to 100 compulsory

hours now. It forces a common approach on the Arts by lumping the Visual Arts, Music, Drama,

Dance and Media Arts together. This approach distorts practice in the Visual Arts and downplays

the value of knowing in the discipline. It also sets up competing demands for space in the timetable.

Visual Arts teachers and academics in NSW have spent decades developing scholarly and rigorous

programs, which challenge the top students theoretically and practically. 9665 students elected

Visual Arts as an HSC subject last year.

There has been an error of judgement in how the Arts Learning Area has been conceived. Visual

Arts should be established as a Learning Area in its own right, similar to what has occurred in

subjects like History, English and Mathematics, Dr Maras said The proposed curriculum would

quickly turn the clock back.

Dr Karen Maras VADEA Co-President

MEDIA ACTION


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Liverpool Leader, 23/11/10, Art Teacher Fears Proposed National Curriculum, by Alex Ward

http://liverpool-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/art-teacher-fears-proposed-national-

curriculum/

A National Curriculum will make students bland, Liverpool Girls High visual arts teacher Kate

Coleman has claimed. She is one of many teachers angry over proposals for a K-12 national

curriculum.

Students sitting in a Liverpool classroom shouldnt be learning the same things as students in

Darwin, Ms Coleman said. Having state curriculums allows us to have differences; otherwise wed

end up with bland students across the whole country.

About 25 teachers met recently at Liverpool Girls High School to discuss the proposals made by

the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Not enough teachers

know whats happening and we need to warn ACARA that the national curriculum is not what were

after, she said.

Proposed changes include grouping the arts (visual arts, music, drama, dance and media arts) into

one program.

We are angered by the assumption that the arts will be integrated into one subject for years K-8 in

the future curriculum, Ms Coleman said. Face-to-face arts teaching hours will also be significantly

reduced. ACARA is proposing 160 hours teaching the arts from K-8 which is about 13 to 14 hours a

year, she said. In comparison, we teach 100 hours a year now in year 7 and 8. Teachers can

comment on the draft paper until December 17 and Ms Coleman hopes art teachers will fill out the

online response form. If we dont take the time to respond then there will be massive changes

affecting everybody, she said.

From the meeting we hope teachers will share the information with their colleagues. NSW has a

wonderful curriculum, so its a real shame. ACARA chief executive officer Dr Peter Hill said in thepast some students have missed out because the curriculum has been focused on one or two art

forms. We want each young person to develop an appreciation and an understanding of each art

form.

Kate Colman Quoted Visual Arts Teacher

MEDIA ACTION


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VADEA wishes to acknowledge our strong and passionate members who have all contributed in the

discussion on the National Curriculum for The Arts. The development of dialogue, and sharing of resources,

allows our members to become empowered and aware of curriculum decisions that will shape the future of

our discipline. The development of this document has been driven by the efforts of VADEAs co-presidents,

Dr Kerry Thomas, Dr Karan Maras and Karen Profilio. All articles, responses and blog posts have been

made by VADEA members. This document is their voice and their resource. Publication, the collection ofresources and the synthesisation of documents has been conducted by Nick Phillipson, VADEA Executive

member and Visual Arts Teacher at St Patricks College Strathfield.

VADEA members are encouraged to use this document for their own professional reading and further

advocacy for the Visual Arts.

Contributing Authors

Dr Kerry Thomas VADEA Co president

Dr Karen Maras VADEA Co President

Nick Phillipson Visual Arts Teacher

St Patricks College Strathfield

Claire Harrison Visual Arts Teacher

Monte Sant Angelo Mercy College

Sophie Lampert Visual Arts Head Teacher

Oxley College

Francis Hanna Visual Arts Head Teacher

All Saints Grammar

Gwenda Maude Visual Arts Teacher

La Salle Collage Bankstown

John Phillips Pre-service VA Teacher

ACU Strathfield

Dr Jane Gooding-Brown Visual Arts Teacher

Conservatorium High School

Joanna McKeown Visual Arts CoordinatorSt Patricks College Strathfield

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