Transforming Education through the Arts

Book excerpt: This timely book takes up the challenge of maintaining programs in the arts in the face of unrelenting pressure from two directions; the increasing focus on literacy and numeracy in schools, teamed with the cut-backs in public funding that often affect the arts most severely. Drawing on the wealth of evidence already available on the impact of the arts, including the findings of a landmark experimental study in Australia, this text considers: The social and educational impact of neglecting the arts Research evidence on engagement in the arts Why there is a need for educational reform How to transform schools through engagement in the arts This challenge to arts education exists at a time where an increasing number of students are becoming disengaged from the traditional schooling model that appears ill-suited to the needs of the 21st century and to the ways young people learn in a globalised, high-tech knowledge world. Transforming Education through the Arts provides illustrations from around the world that clearly show how the arts have transformed learning for disengaged students and established their worth beyond doubt in settings where the disengagement of students has hitherto been presented as an intractable problem. Transforming Education through the Arts is an indispensible tool for policymakers and practitioners in school education and for academic and postgraduate students with an interest in the arts. It is also highly relevant to the work of individuals and organisations in the philanthropic sector and those in the wider community who place a priority in closing the gap between high and low performing students.