What we learned at the Arts Education Symposium
At a recent symposium hosted by Clore Duffield Foundation and Art Fund, we discussed the current landscape for arts and cultural education, and the big issues that are facing children, young people and those who work with them. Get the insights in our event report.
Leaders, policy makers, teachers and funders from across the arts education and museum sectors came together at a national Arts Education Symposium at Tate Britain on 19 March.
With keynote speeches on the importance of children experiencing regular cultural visits, and the unique ability of arts and cultural organisations to provide inspirational experiences, the day provided an opportunity for professionals to share ideas, challenges and practice.
What happened at the Arts Education Symposium
Download the event report for highlights from speeches by:
Dame Vivien Duffield, Chairman of the Clore Duffield Foundation, on the importance of children experiencing a range of regular art and cultural experiences and trips as part of their everyday education
Georgia Gould MP, Minister for School Standards, who presented the government’s revitalised vision for arts and cultural education
Geoff Barton, educationalist and Chair of the Oracy Commission and the IPPR Inclusion Taskforce, who called on everyone to join a collective national mission to value the arts and to empower and support children
Margaret O’Shea, Head of Creative and Extended Curriculum at Ark Academies, who called on arts and cultural organisations to recognise their USP of providing inspirational experiences
Tina Ramdeen, Associate Director of Young People at the Roundhouse, who described the practice of the Roundhouse as embedded in a youth work approach
The report also includes learnings from the day’s workshops on:
improving inclusivity
what schools need from cultural organisations
approaching evaluation and evidence
The symposium was programmed in response to a survey of arts education professionals which highlighted that colleagues wanted to talk more about inclusive practice, representation, evidence and data, and school needs, and that they wanted to hear about recent and planned policy changes from those leading them.
It was attended by partners engaged in a range of flagship programmes – from arts organisations with Clore Learning Spaces to teachers and artists involved in Art Fund’s Teacher Fellowships.
The symposium provided an opportunity for Art Fund to reassert our policy objective to have every schoolchild visit a museum once a year as part of the curriculum, and also marked the launch of a new funding initiative from Clore Duffield: for organisations with existing Clore Learning Spaces to develop and deliver innovative programmes for hard-to-reach state-funded primary and secondary schools.
