Artists in Schools - Research Report- FINAL

Overview

As required by South Africa’s 1996 White Paper and the Seoul Agenda 2010 (UNESCO) the authorities must ensure that arts education is accessible as a fundamental and sustainable component of high-quality education. To this end DAC sought the expertise and skills of arts and culture practitioners with appropriately acknowledged and accredited qualifications, in accordance with the recommendations of the National Qualifications Framework (White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage (1996)).

The AiS Programme was established to:

• • Develop and improve the art practitioners’ pedagogical capabilities so that they would be able to collaborate with educators teaching arts and culture in schools and other learning centres.
  • Enable practitioners to communicate and interact effectively with learners in schools and other learning centres.
  • Harness the potential of artists to serve as a means to contribute to the professional development of educators.
  • Improve the quality of the delivery of ACH education and training in the public schools.
  • Create sustainable job opportunities for the arts practitioners in the formal educational sector.

Art ultimately encourages the sharing of intellectual capital and provides additional avenues of understanding. It is a manifestation of human creativity – a pinnacle of critical thinking and creative co-operation. This ground-breaking initiative in South Africa is a direct response to the lack of quality arts and culture educators and comprehensive education in most of its public schools. While many self-employed arts practitioners have committed themselves to sharing their skills and knowledge in their communities, the potential role of AiS is often not effectively realised due to skills gaps on the part of artists and educators, and a lack of awareness of their potential role and value on the part of schools.

The MGE Summit, a consultative conference that was hosted by the Minister of Arts and Culture in April 2011, highlighted and emphasised the importance of the AiS in improving the quality of arts and culture education and training in the schools. The Summit went further to reiterate the importance of such an initiative in unlocking the artistic potential of the young people and in developing future audiences for the cultural manifestations. The MGE states: “The development of interventions throughout the education system to ensure measures to provide basic resources in schools; support and develop the skills of educators; ensure access for learners to all that the sector has to offer; identify and develop talent; influence choice of career path; develop appreciation and therefore audiences.” Mzanzi’s Golden Economy – Declaration on Basic Education (Arts and Culture) April 2011.