Has Arts Education adapted to the New Times?

Amanda R. Watson

This paper is supported by data collected from Music and Arts educators representing ten countries. A questionnaire was used to gather the data during the closing months of 1996 and early 1997. The participating countries were Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, England, and the United States of America. The questions asked focussed on information which was not evident in the available Arts/Music curriculum documents of these countries. In this paper three issues will be addressed. - the subject content of a "national curriculum", the Arts subjects included in a "national curriculum" and how "standards" are decided in Music within a "national curriculum".

England, Hungary, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Spain have compulsory "national curriculum". Although Denmark does not have a compulsory "national curriculum" nearly all schools choose to conform to the centrally prepared curriculum guidelines. The "national curriculum" in Iceland and the United States of America is not compulsory.

The Danish curriculum includes nine years of basic education with an additional 10th year (students aged 7 to 16 years). School subjects vary according to the school years and a choice of 30 subjects are available.

The English National Curriculum is compulsory for students aged 5 to 16 years with the core subjects - English, Mathematics and Science studied by all students. The foundation subjects of Design and Technology, History, Geography, Art, Music, Physical Education and Religious Education are applicable to students aged 5 to 14 years. A Modern Foreign Language is added to this list for students aged 11 to 14 years. History, Geography, Art, Music are removed from the compulsory list for students aged 14 to 16 years.

The Hungarian "national curriculum" covers the school Years 1 to 10 and students study "groups of subjects" including Hungarian, Mathematics, Informatics, Physical Education, Man and Society, Man and Nature, Foreign Languages, The Arts, Technology and Design.

The Icelandic "national curriculum" is a very comprehensive list of suggested content for Grades 1 to 10 (students aged 6 to 15 years). Students study Icelandic, Mathematics, Art and Crafts, Home Economics, Music, Social Studies, Natural Sciences, and Physical Education throughout their compulsory schooling. Danish is studied from the 6th Grade onwards (11-year-old pupils) and English from the 7th Grade. In the 10th Grade all pupils study Icelandic, Mathematics, English, Danish, and Physical Education, while other subjects are electives.

The Japanese curriculum for students in Grades 1 to 6 primary school (aged approximately 6 to 11 years) and Years 1 to 3 in Junior High School (aged approximately 12-14 years) includes the subjects of Japanese language, Social Studies, Arithmetic, Science, Life Environment Studies, Music, Art and Handicraft, Homemaking, Physical Education, Moral Education and Special Activities.

The New Zealand curriculum for primary and secondary school students (aged 5 to 18 years) includes seven essential learning areas - Language and Languages, Mathematics, Science, Technology, Social Sciences, The Arts, Health and Physical Well-being. In addition, The New Zealand Curriculum Framework (1993) includes eight groups of essential skills to be developed by all students across the whole curriculum. The essential skills are in the following groups: communication, numeracy, information, problem-solving, self-management, social, physical, and work and study.

The "national curriculum" of Norway will become compulsory for all students from Grades 1 to 10 as of August 1st, 1997 when it will replace the present non-compulsory curriculum framework introduced in 1987. At this same time schooling will become obligatory for 10 years, commencing a year earlier with students aged six years. In addition three years of post obligatory high school which serve as a prerequisite for college or university are completed by most students. The national curriculum does not cover these three years.

The compulsory section of the Portuguese "national curriculum" affects the first two cycles of primary school, the first cycle covers four years and the second cycle covers two years. The remaining years - the third cycle of primary school for three years followed by secondary school are optional.

Three major sections comprise the compulsory Spanish curriculum - Infant education (0 to 6 years), Primary education (6 to 12 years), and Secondary education (12 to 16 years). Fifty-five percent of the curriculum is compulsory, and the remaining forty-five percent is the responsibility of the Spanish territories. Primary education is organised around areas of knowledge - the Cultural, Social and Physical Environment, the Spanish Language and the Language of the autonomous community, one Foreign Language, and Mathematics. The common core of subjects of secondary education are Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, History and Geography, Foreign Languages, Spanish and the Language and Literature of the autonomous community, Mathematics, Information Technology, and Music.

The subjects in the United States of America voluntary National Standards are English, The Arts, Mathematics, History, Civics and Government, Geography, Science, and a Foreign Language.

Although the Danish "national curriculum" is non-compulsory some Arts subjects in the Danish curriculum are compulsory. Music, Art, Textile Design, Woodwork, Metalwork, and Home Economics have been taught for most of this century. "Multi-Arts" is not included in the curriculum but the requirement of students to complete a mandatory interdisciplinary project at the 9th and 10th form levels may accommodate this area. Other Arts subjects available as options are Media, Photography, Film Knowledge, and Drama. No links exist between the Arts subjects and no common areas are found between the Arts subjects.

Individual Arts subjects are also a feature of the English National Curriculum. The subjects of Art, Music, Dance (within Physical Education), Drama and Media (within English) are part of the English National Curriculum and were chosen as part of a broad and balanced curriculum. Schools are not prevented from developing an "integrated arts" program, but the subjects are included separately as this is the simplest way to ensure specific skills, knowledge and understanding is taught. This is also the most common way they are taught in schools. The choice of subjects for the National Curriculum in Francis' judgement has caused the Arts to be devalued. Francis (1992:36) in referring to the absorption of Drama into English, and Dance into Physical Education says ". . . on the same vague economic criteria the discussion of the Arts was postponed as presumably less urgent. There was no attempt to calculate their value as an educational experience." Robinson (1993) suggests that the arrangement of Arts forms in the English National Curriculum is inadequate, as it promotes a narrow view of the Arts, and it does not recognise the differing interests and skills of students. Moon (1994) is concerned that the naming of individual Arts subjects does not reflect the trend in primary schools, and increasingly in secondary schools, to adopt a broadly-based approach to Arts teaching. Abbs (1993) comments that the National Curriculum has focussed on the Arts as unrelated subjects and not as a collaborative union which had been envisaged. He describes the present arrangement of the Arts curriculum as being divided into two privileged parts (Visual Art, Music) and four marginalised parts (Dance, Drama, Literature, Film).

Similarly, the basic Hungarian Arts subjects are Music and Visual Arts - they are traditionally taught in schools. Dance and Drama are taught occasionally as options and Media is a new subject. Film-aesthetics and Media-usage are subjects related to Media. The flexible nature of the Arts curriculum encourages integrative projects. The Singing and Music curriculum is based on the principles of the Hungarian composer, Zoltan Kodaly. Visual Arts in the Hungarian National Curriculum is considered to be linked to scientific and technical pursuits and is divided into the two sub-areas of visual communication and environmental culture. Environmental culture is described as being based on an interdisciplinary approach which provides an alternative Arts education discipline, integrating Art, Design, and Technology. Visual communication refers to all areas of visual culture and these can be listed as Fine Arts (Drawing, Painting, Shaping), Photography, Video, Computer Art, Multi-Media and the many genres of Applied Graphics.

Music and Visual Arts are the only two Arts subjects in the Icelandic curriculum as traditionally this has been the way. "Multi-Arts" is not part of the curriculum because since at least the 1960's the specialist has been favoured and teachers are only trained to teach one Art subject; either in the area of music or visual arts. The belief is that "only music teachers can deal with music". It is also financially beyond schools to hire specialists in more than these two Art subjects. Teachers have almost total freedom in the means used to achieve the very broad goals which are presented as compulsory.

A focus on the same two Arts subjects is evident in the Japanese "national curriculum". Music and Art and Craft are compulsory in the primary school with Music, Fine Art, and Calligraphy being compulsory in the secondary school. These subjects are thought to be good for promotion of aesthetic and emotional development in children. "Multi-Arts" or "Integrated Arts" are not included although the Ministry of Education has completed pilot studies. The Japanese curriculum contains three basic discipline structures for Arts education developed from Discipline Based Art Education. Emery (1994a:6), quoting Fujie (1993), defines these as "acquiring active knowledge of materials and media, inquiring how to make and to appreciate art works [and] realising communication through images".

The New Zealand Arts "national curriculum" Statement is expected to be completed in late 1997. Parsons (1996) the writer of the Arts curriculum desires to include all the Arts and not just a speciality in Music and Visual Arts. Dance and Drama are also named as official Arts subjects. "Multi-Arts" will not be included due to strong resistance from the Arts profession. The New Zealand Curriculum Framework (1993) nominates Literature, Film and Video and Oratory as recognised Arts forms.

In contrast Music and Visual Arts/Craft are the two dominant Art forms included in the Norwegian "national curriculum". Both were chosen for traditional reasons. Music is by far the oldest and grew out of the need for learning to sing as part of religious training. Elements of Dance are included in Music and Physical Education, and Drama in Language Education. Although there is no "Multi-Arts" subject in the curriculum, "Multi-Art" projects as co-operative projects between several subjects are encouraged.

The Portuguese Arts subjects are Dance, Drama, Music, and Visual Arts. They are taught by generalist teachers in the first cycle, and specialist teachers in the second cycle using an "Integrated Arts" approach. Music is an optional subject for the remaining school years, but it is compulsory for students in technical training at the secondary level.

In the neighbouring country of Spain, Music and Dance are featured in the Spanish curriculum and have been chosen on the basis of tradition. The musical instrument selected by the student becomes the backbone of the curriculum. Music is included as an educational element in Dance, to provide a complete understanding of both disciplines. "Multi-Arts" is not included as a result of lack of discussion in the Spanish educative system's planning stage. The subjects of Dramatic Art, Plastic Arts and Design, Higher Studies in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage and Higher Studies in Design are available in the senior secondary years.

The Arts within the United States of America voluntary National Standards are defined as Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts and are generally understood to constitute the fine and performing Arts. One reason for naming the Arts subjects was to inform teachers that alternatives such as Literature and Practical Arts courses (Home Economics, Industrial Arts) give students a very restricted view of the Arts. Interdisciplinary teaching is recognised as important but because the Standards are expressed in terms of what students should know and be able to do, a narrower focus is more useful. The National Standards for Arts Education are reflected in the Discipline-Based Arts Education (DBAE) approach, stemming from the work of the Getty Centre for Education in the Arts, when in 1985, it began to make Arts education more comprehensive. Bresler (1996) reflects that the Arts discipline-based orientation featured in the Arts Standards draws on the scholarly notions of perception and conceptualisation, and the concept of multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983), and provides a way of changing the present role of Arts in a school as a mostly social function. "National Standards for Arts Education Summary Statement" (1994:22) considers the National Standards to be important for two basic reasons, first to provide a definition of what a good Arts education should be and second, when adopted, in making a statement that Arts education is no longer optional in schools. The article suggests that the Standards "provide a vision of competence and educational effectiveness, but without creating a mold into which Arts programs must fit".

The non-compulsory Danish "national curriculum" does not set standards in a specific way but all subjects studied in the 9th and 10th form levels are examined. In response to the establishment of "standards" in Music, Thirup (1997) refers to the Danish "Folkeskole" which requires by law the promotion of each student's personal and social development according to individual abilities.

In contrast, the English National Curriculum uses end of Key Stage descriptions in Art and Music which define the standard that the majority of pupils should achieve by the ages of 7, 11 and 14 years. The first statutory requirement for assessment in Music will occur in 1997 for pupils aged 14 years. Teachers will be required to make a rounded judgement based on their knowledge of the pupil over the three years of Key Stage 3. In describing the standard achieved, Knight (1996) comments that teachers are only required to state "the extent to which each child has met the expectation". The School Curriculum and Assessment Authority uses the terms "working towards", "achieving", "working beyond" and "exceptional" in guidance to schools on what the standards look like in practice.

The Hungarian "national curriculum" sets minimum requirements. As part of class music students have to know certain songs, theory of music and history of music. Assessment is mostly orally in class and at the end of each semester students are graded on a scale from one to five, where five is the best mark.

However, the Icelandic "national curriculum guide" does not set standards, but in a current revision taking place, all subjects including Music, will be required to state outcomes in terms of standards. This is going to be a major innovation in assessment procedures used in Icelandic education.

More specifically, the Japanese "national curriculum" sets standards in terms of what students should know and be able to do in each subject. The most important points for evaluation focus on the child and their relationship to a particular activity in terms of interest, level of work, activity and independence. The object of the evaluation is to assess the degree of the child's attainment in every field, on a scale divided into three degrees - (3) higher than degree 2, (2) ordinary level, (1) lower than degree (2).

As the New Zealand National Arts Statement is still under development, issues regarding the setting of standards in Music have not been resolved. The New Zealand Curriculum Framework (1993) indicates that individual curriculum statements will set out achievement objectives for each strand of learning across eight levels showing progression and continuity of learning throughout the years of schooling.

In contrast, from August 1997 the Norwegian "national curriculum" will set standards for Music mostly in terms of what students should have studied at specific year levels. The standards focus on the content of classroom activities and not on what students should know and be able to accomplish. In Grades 1 to 7 students are continuously assessed and in Grades 8 to 10 a specific scale is used.

Similarly, the Portuguese "national curriculum" sets standards and Music is evaluated in the second and third cycles of the primary school and in the secondary school. Teachers decide on a standard through continuous evaluation of students considering skills, attitudes and values and standards are classified in five levels.

Teachers decide on the Music standard in the Spanish "national curriculum" through a curricular project that states what students have to know and be able to do. The project is elaborated at each stage, with freedom of curriculum content providing the minimum standard is met. A three-degree report is used in both primary and secondary schools with a specific note indicating the degree of skill and knowledge development added at the secondary level.

The United States of America voluntary Arts National Standards also focus on the expectations of students. The National Standards include content standards and achievement standards that specify what students should know and be able to do at three Grade levels - Kindergarten to 4, Grades 5 to 8, and Grades 9 to 12. In 1996 Music Educators National Conference produced a set of performance standards for Music extending from PreKindergarten (2 to 4 years) to Grade 12. Each of the nine music content standards (four content standards for PreKindergarten) are accompanied by a varying number of achievement standards. An assessment strategy is designed for each achievement standard. Three levels of responses are described - basic, proficient, and advanced - for each assessment strategy. Teachers decide a Standard using an "on balance" judgement with multiple sources of evidence.

In conclusion, the common and exceptional issues drawn from the questionnaire data and related supporting material are summarised. The dominate Art forms represented in all countries curriculum are Music and Visual Arts. Dance and Drama, either as stand-alone or disguised as another subject are the second most common. As part of Visual Arts - Japan, Norway and New Zealand acknowledge Craft. Media is achieving prominence as subject influenced by technology. The Art forms found in the various countries curriculum which can be grouped as exceptional include Textiles, Woodwork, Metalwork, Home Economics, Literature and Oratory. The approach towards the inclusion of "Multi-Arts" in the Arts curriculum falls into three areas - the idea is unacceptable, discussions have taken place but no firm decision made, teachers have the freedom to use the approach although no official direction is given in the curriculum with the exception of Norway and Portugal. All the countries surveyed with the exception of Denmark include a grading system to determine "standards" in Music. In general the "standard" is defined based on what students should know and be able to do. The other two countries with non-compulsory "national curriculum" - Iceland and the United States of America have moved towards allocating "standards".

The three issues discussed in this paper - the selection of Arts forms, the inclusion of "Multi-Arts" and assessment - are also relevant to Australian conditions. The five Arts forms included in the Australian Arts Statement and Profile were chosen as representing the main key symbol systems. These Arts forms - Dance, Drama, Media, Music and Visual Arts - are frequently included in the Arts curricula of the countries referred to in this paper. Literature was also given consideration but not included. Discussions about the inclusion of "Multi-Arts" in the Arts Statement and Profile was not conclusive and in a similar vain to Craft, a specific Arts strand was not allocated.

Western Australia and Victoria are the only two Australian States to have rewritten the Australian Statements and Profiles. The Western Australian Framework makes the assumption that there are five Arts forms - Dance, Drama, Media, Music Visual Arts, as well as Multi-Arts combinations of these Arts. Visual Arts includes Graphics, Design, Textiles, Clay, Painting, Drawing, and Computer generated images. Media is considered to fit across three learning areas making three perspectives that must be dealt with. The first is a critical reading and analysis, the second is to do with Media as a technology tool, and the third is to do with Media as part of the creative and aesthetic process. Dance fits across two learning areas. There is a recognition that when dealing with Drama there are two elements - both the texts of Drama as well as the dramatic texts that are created when students enter into role and dramatic situation. In Victoria, Graphic Communication was added commencing at secondary school level. Multi-Arts was discussed at the planning by the Arts Key Learning Area Committee (KLAC), but rejected. The Arts KLAC expressed the concern that, although Multi-Arts would greatly benefit primary schools, it was important to distinguish between learning in each Arts form.

The issue of establishing a mechanism to validate the Australian Arts Profile levels is a possible next step. In Western Australia, a program called Monitoring Standards in Education is used. Two tests which are given to cover the two overarching strands of the Arts Profile - Expressing and Appreciating. B. Pascoe (1997), described the tests at the Australian Society for Music Education Conference earlier this year. A written test is used for the Appreciating strand and students respond individually to a stimulus in terms of aesthetics, critical analysis, interpretation of meaning, mood and Arts elements. Stimulus material is also used for the Expressing strand. The focus is on a student group performance illustrating their abilities to explore and develop ideas, and use creative problem solving techniques to plan, shape and share meaning through the presentation of a final piece. The performance is video-taped. To maintain continuity, a combination of multiple choice, short answer and extended answer questions are used with common items, and stimulus material is used to link school Years 3, 7 and 10.

In Victoria, The Curriculum and Standards Framework (1995) associates seven levels of curriculum content with school Grade levels. A four point reporting scale has been established - "not shown", "beginning", "consolidating", "established" - indicating a degree of skill and knowledge development. At the request of the Department of Education and the Board of Studies in Victoria, Emery (1997) in conjunction with Hammond has formulated assessment tasks on two levels in Visual Arts. Three items have been considered - extended tasks, short tasks, and multiple choice/true-false. Although it has been acknowledged that all three tasks may not be appropriate for each Arts form, the challenge and dilemma in Victoria, is to accommodate them, so that the Arts are placed on equal footing with all Key Learning Areas.

This paper has addressed three issues - the subject content of a "national curriculum", the Arts subjects included in a "national curriculum" and how "standards" are decided in Music within a "national curriculum" - collating questionnaire data from ten countries. Similarities and differences of choices of subjects, particularly Arts subjects, in a "national curriculum" are evident. A final link is made to Australia, focussing on the Arts curricula of Western Australia and Victoria.

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