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Background to the involvement of the NAAE in the development of a National Curriculum in the Arts
In 2008 the Australian Government embarked on the development of a National Curriculum. Initially, announcements were made about the development of learning areas in Phase 1 (English, mathematics, science and history) and subsequently Phase 2 (geography and languages) were released. Beyond this, there was no guarantee of any further phases of development and certainly no guarantee of the inclusion of the arts.
In 2007, in a joint statement made by the Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) and Cultural Ministers Council (CMC) it was stated that:
Establishment of NAAEAll children and young people should have a high quality arts education in every phase of learning. (Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs and Cultural Ministers Council, 2007, 5).1
The National Affiliation of Arts Educators (NAAE) Inc was established in 1989 with the support of the Joint Council of Cultural and Education Ministers. It has a long history of working with government, being instrumental in ensuring that the Arts were established as one of the eight key learning areas in the Australian curriculum. This group had significant carriage of the consultation and writing of the 1992 The arts – a statement on the arts for Australian schools and the companion document The arts – a curriculum profile for Australian schools.
NAAE was subsequently provided with funding from the Department of Education & Training to employ a full-time researcher for three years (until 1996), and maintained its activity after funding ceased, holding its AGM, making submissions to federal inquiries, publishing papers and advocating for Australian arts education research. A teleconference occurred in August 2008 in response to the announcement of the disciplines targeted for inclusion in the national curriculum.
The first meeting of NAAE concerning the National Curriculum occurred in October 2008. It was decided to change the name from the National Affiliation of Arts Educators to the National Advocates for Arts Education to better reflect the group’s work in getting the arts recognised as a vital part of any national curriculum. It was confirmed that the artforms and their representation would be: Dance (Ausdance); Drama (Drama Australia); Music (Australian Society for Music Education and the Music Council of Australia) and; Visual Arts (Art Education Australia and the National Association for the Visual Arts). The Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) were original members of NAAE, and rejoined in December 2008.
At this time a strategy was developed for an advocacy plan that targeted significant members of both political parties whose portfolios were concerned with education and the arts. Letters were prepared introducing NAAE and requesting meetings with the NAAE when Parliament was sitting in Canberra. In November 2008, the NAAE was able to meet with Minister Peter Garrett, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s education advisor, Minister Kim Carr’s education advisor and representatives from the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. NAAE provided a two-page executive summary position which called for the inclusion of the arts as a learning area in Phase 2 of the development of the National Curriculum.
At the same time, NAAE made strong representations to the government for the inclusion of the arts in the Early Years Learning Framework which deals with the education of children from birth to 8.
Approximately a week after the Canberra meetings, MCEETYA released the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. Goals are described that include arts-rich aspects such as the cultural, creative abilities and the aesthetic. Importantly, however, the declaration lists a range of learning areas including the arts (performing and visual).
In December 2008, following the Canberra meetings, NAAE issued a media release outlining its position. This was taken up by the ABC AM program in January 2009, with subsequent articles and letters to the editor in The Age newspaper in support of this position.
The NAAE subsequently wrote to Professor Barry McGaw, Chair of the Interim National Curriculum Board (NCB), requesting the arts be included in the National Curriculum. Professor McGaw informed NAAE that MCEETYA determines the scope of the National Curriculum. When questioned for further clarification, it was noted that additional subject areas would be presented to MCEETYA for approval at their mid-year meeting. Letters were also sent to all MCEETYA Ministers by NAAE member associations, the Australian Academy of the Humanities and the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS), the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Australian Council for University Art and Design Schools.
Prior to Minister Garrett’s announcement on 17 April 2009 that the arts would be included in Phase 2 of the National Curriculum, the NAAE had met with Mr Rob Randall – Acting General Manager, Curriculum for the National Curriculum Board. Mr Randall suggested that NAAE discuss and prepare a position that could be presented for the provision of arts education in Australia, specifically targeting questions that related to how many artforms students must study and for how long this study should be. Mr Randall also suggested to NAAE that it undertakes an environmental scan or audit of arts curriculum from around the country and develop a position that summarised what would be considered essential content for each of the artforms.
This work has resulted in literally hours of discussion among NAAE members and has produced a set of recommendations from NAAE to the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA – formerly the interim National Curriculum Board) together with overviews of each of the artforms. The NAAE has made the strongest representations to ACARA staff that each artform must be considered separately and that its own histories, traditions, content and pedagogies be acknowledged with separate curriculum. The NAAE supports the development of content in each artform and does not support a generic “arts” curriculum.
NAAE has maintained a healthy relationship with ACARA through two further meetings with Rob Randall in June and in August of 2009. At the August meeting the Project Manager for the Arts, Ms Josephine Wise, was also in attendance.
Consultation with peak bodies
Each member of the NAAE has consulted with their constituents in a range of ways on the development of overviews and the recommendations. A summary of strategies for consultation is listed in Appendix A.
In addition, consultation has occurred with the Australian Primary Principals’ Association (APPA) through meetings with its president, correspondence and a successful teleconference. As a result, APPA has informed NAAE of its support of the work undertaken so far and its in-principle support of the recommendations that NAAE is providing to ACARA. It is important to note that the NAAE undertakes to continue providing ACARA with strategic advice when ACARA’s process of curriculum development and consultation commences.
NATIONAL ADVOCATES FOR ARTS EDUCATION (NAAE)
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ARTS LEARNING IN THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM
The Arts (Performing and Visual) are identified in the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (December 2008) as a learning area with a specific discipline base. These are included as part of the Declaration’s goals to achieve a world-class curriculum. How might the Arts (Performing and Visual) be implemented in the National Curriculum from 2012?
NAAE’s long-term aspiration is for all young Australians to have access to sequential and continuous learning in each artform. However, in order to offer flexibility and a realistic approach, and recognising the challenges of the crowded curriculum and implications of teacher expertise, the NAAE recommends the following for this next important phase of curriculum development in arts education:
- Primary and secondary students should have sequential and continuous learning provisions in at least one artform from the field of Performing Arts (Dance, Drama, Music) and one artform from the field of the Visual Arts (Visual Arts1, Media), selected by the school, i.e. at least two art forms will be chosen for continuous and sequential learning as a minimum for arts learning.2
- This will enable students to demonstrate achievement, progression and development in content (skills, knowledge, understanding) identified for at least two artforms. Teachers should report on student achievement within the school’s chosen two artforms.
- This approach will facilitate choice for schools, taking account of staffing, resources, community interests and provision. It will also support a ‘whole school’ approach to build strengths, expertise and the capacity to implement arts curriculum.
- The first years of schooling should build on the Early Years Learning Framework to provide a broad and interrelated approach to the arts that acknowledges the richness this can bring to young learners.
- Throughout the primary years, in addition to the two selected artforms, students should also have rich learning experiences in the remaining three artforms, with schools reporting achievement in these artforms in less formal ways.
- In the secondary years, at least two artforms, one from the Performing Arts and one from the Visual Arts, should be offered in sequential and continuous courses. Provision should also be made for the remaining three artforms, enabling students to exercise choice.
- In the senior years, it is desirable that schools offer courses in all five artforms and for students to be able to specialise in the artforms of their choice.
1 NAAE’s views with regard to Visual Arts and Design are still under consideration
2 NAAE was advised to follow the terminology of the 2008 Melbourne Declaration as an 'enabling' document, but NAAE's views on the Melbourne Declaration's division of the arts into 'performing and visual' remain under consideration.
Discussion
The NAAE recognises the importance for all students in Australia to have access to sequential, developmental and continuous learning in each of the artforms. NAAE also recognises that existing school structures, competing priorities, existing resources and expertise limits this goal. The recommendations listed above provide for what would be considered to be the minimum acceptable standard for the implementation of the national curriculum in the arts. A statement such as this strengthens the provisions that currently exist in many states and territories around the country.
The NAAE would also acknowledge the importance of the Arts in early childhood education and recommends that any curriculum that is to be developed should build upon the Early Years Learning Framework and allow for an arts-rich learning environment that reflects good practice and pedagogy with children of this age group. This position also intends to promote and enhance the provision of arts learning in the secondary curriculum and supports a notion that a continuum of learning be developed that allows for increasing degrees of specialisation as students progress through to the senior years.
In addition to this, the NAAE advocates for a review of pre-service teacher education. It notes through a number of studies the inadequate provisions and training provided by tertiary institutions are clearly not preparing teachers for the demands of the existing curriculum, let alone a new National Curriculum.
APPENDIX A
Consultation with peak bodies 
