FROM THE HEADMASTER
The arts – educating emotions , cultivating creativity
It is fitting that this edition of Forward has as a focus the celebration of the life of the Arts in Guildford Grammar School . With the current national focus on standardised testing and calls for ‘ back to basics ’ teaching , what can be forgotten in the educational debate is the essential role that arts education plays in a broad liberal education program , which aims to educate the whole child .
We have a long and proud tradition of valuing arts education and providing programs of exceptional quality in Music , Visual Arts , Media and Drama , all of which enable our students to develop essential skills that not only assist in their overall academic achievement , but are most valuable in their lives beyond the school gates .
When poet and National Endowment for the Arts Chair Dana Gioia gave the 2007 Commencement Address at Stanford University , he used the occasion to deliver an impassioned argument for the value of the arts and arts education . “ Art is an irreplaceable way of understanding and expressing the world ,” said Gioia . “ There are some truths about life that can be expressed only as stories , or songs , or images . Art delights , instructs , consoles . It educates our emotions .”
It is common to hear about the skills that employers are seeking in the 21st Century workforce , as companies aim to become more flexible , adaptive and innovative , in response to the pace of change in our technologically driven society . Companies are seeking employees that can think critically , creatively problem-solve , collaborate and who enjoy working in teams . It is thus not surprising that there has recently been a renewed focus on the importance of educational programs providing opportunities for students to create and innovate . The challenge lies in actually delivering these
Headmaster Mr Stephen Webber
opportunities and providing the time for all students to enhance their creative skills in a crowded Australian Curriculum .
Creativity often involves being inventive , ingenious , innovative and entrepreneurial . Sir Ken Robinson defines creativity as “ the process of developing ideas that are original and of value ” and in his book Out of Our Minds : Learning to Be Creative he explores the nature of creativity and how it relates to the idea of intelligence in the arts , the sciences and other areas of human achievement .
Creativity is not the opposite of discipline and control . On the contrary , creativity in any field may involve deep factual knowledge and high levels of practical skill . Cultivating creativity is one of the most interesting challenges for any teacher . It involves understanding the real dynamics of creative work .
Encouraging creativity won ’ t just increase a child ’ s chances of becoming the next Picasso . We are helping them to develop mentally , socially , and emotionally . Involvement in the arts has been associated with gains
Encouraging creativity won ’ t just increase a child ’ s chances of becoming the next Picasso .
We are helping them to develop mentally , socially , and emotionally . in mathematics , reading , cognitive ability , critical thinking , and verbal skill . Arts learning can also improve motivation , concentration , confidence , and teamwork . For example , in the visual arts , there are findings about how drawing supports writing skills and how visualisation training supports interpretation of text . In music , researchers have found strong connections to spatial reasoning and mathematics , and between instrument instruction and SAT scores . Dance instruction was connected to fluency in creative thinking and to reading skills . Drama in the form of dramatic enactment was connected to story comprehension , character understanding , and writing proficiency , and is shown to be a better way for students to process a story than teacher-led discussion . Multiarts programs , as you might expect , had multiple connections : to reading , verbal , and mathematics skills , and to creative thinking .
There is thus a danger in reductionist educational thinking and program rationalisation that leads to narrow instruction on tasks that aim to prepare students for standardised tests . By squeezing arts programs out of the curriculum the unintended negative consequence can be a decrease in academic performance , engagement and social and emotional development .
A focus in our Preparatory School and Senior School Catalyst program curricula is on inquiry based learning , which enables students to work through more complex problems and achieve greater depth of comprehension of the topics being investigated . This approach also encourages more critical thinking , creativity and innovation , rather than just the passive recall of information .
We live in a dynamic and fast-changing world in which we must continually review our educational practice to ensure we are best preparing our students for a future in which many of them will be working in jobs that don ’ t yet exist . The development of literacy and numeracy skills will always be essential but we must also ensure that we continue to value the breadth of learning experiences that help to develop the full range of skills , values and personal qualities that will be highly sought after .
Mr Stephen Webber Headmaster
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