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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Well, surprise surprise, the arts are important for academic success

Robyn Ewing, an academic from Sydney University, has recently been quoted in  the Sydney Morning Herald.  She says research shows that school-children benefit in many different ways from exposure to the arts.

It improves their academic performance, increases their level of engagement and heightens their self esteem.  Yet in many schools around the country, the arts are treated as an afterthought in the curriculum.  NAPLAN is focusing our attention towards "the basics" of literacy and maths, but encouraging a very narrow view of education.

The choir at my son's school is a great example of the value of the arts in the curriculum for everyone, not just a select few.  This year, instead of holding rehearsals at lunch-time, we offered them during class time.  Instantly the choir went from about 25 children to about 100 children, and many more boys turned up.  Some of the kids who came were regarded as "troublemakers" in their class.  Others had learning difficulties.

These are kids who would not usually be willing to participate in group singing, and certainly wouldn't spend their lunch-time in this way. When they first arrived I was pretty daunted by the behaviour issues.  Then a teacher commented that she had never seen a certain group of boys so focused and engaged with the learning process.  Music was a 'way in' to learning that had not yet been explored.

Creative arts can offer a new perspective from which to begin other learning.

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