Issue TwentyFour

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INTRODUCTIONIts a pleasure to formally open this conference andshare this occasion with you all. This conference is agreat opportunity to recharge those batteries, and bestimulated and informed by guest speakers.This is also a great time to be visiting Canberra.Theres the Renaissance exhibition here at theNational Gallery with works that I understand havenever been seen before in Australia, the Impressionsexhibition at the National Portrait Gallery and theHandwritten display down the road at the NationalLibrary, which features some beautifully illuminatedmanuscripts. A visual and intellectual feast for us all.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SCHOOL EDUCATIONOne of the largest prisons in Australia is located inmy electorate, at Long Bay, and I occasionally visit. Idoubt that it will surprise you to know that the artscentre, where inmates are active in a range of visualarts forms, is considered one of the most specialparts of the prison complex. The work produced isoften powerful and moving, and theres huge demandto be able to use the facility.

The creative act, in this tough, contained atmospherebringing all the tangible and intangible flow-throughswe often associate with arts practice. The vibes, toborrow an overused expression, are good, in a placewhere good vibes are rare. One of the distinctpleasures for a Minister for School Education is tovisit schools and meet the students and teachers.

I love the enthusiasm and potential of the students. Irecognise the diligence and professionalism of theirteachers. So its good to be here with you today.

School education is a firm priority of this government,which is why we have doubled the education budgetand recently set up three $2.5 billion Smarter SchoolsPartnerships with the states and territories. Last year,we focused on supporting teaching and teacherquality, because we know quality teaching is thesingle most important in-school contributor to theachievement of students.

So we provided substantial new funding to improveschools and recognise and reward teachers,including the Rewards for Great Teachers initiative.

Its part of a national agenda we have underway inschool education, including national assessment, anational curriculum and national teacher trainingstandards.

And we are taking a searching look at the funding ofschoolingThe review of school funding that has beenundertaken by a panel led by businessman Mr DavidGonski, is the next logical step in the educationreform agenda and provides a once-in-a-generationopportunity to put school funding on a sustainable,efficient and fair footing.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTSPart of this education reform agenda is to implement

a national curriculum, and as part of that process, Iam doing all that I can to ensure all Australianchildren have access to an arts-rich education, bywhich we mean visual arts, music, drama, dance andmedia arts.

I advocated for the inclusion of an arts curriculum inthe new Australian curriculum when I was Minister forthe Arts and its very pleasing to be able to see thatthrough in my current role.I am firmly of the view that arts for arts sake issufficient justification for teaching and learning art.

Much has been written and debated about theintrinsic qualities associated with the arts, includingvisual art.

The works hanging in this building and the hunger toexperience them, the enjoyment and stimulation itprovides to the citizens of this nation are evidenceenough of this proposition. But now theres increasingresearch evidence to show that arts educationproduces other benefits, for instance contributing toimproving school attendance, academic achievementand student wellbeing.

The benefits include the development of learningskills and learning how to learn, with improvedacademic performance especially noted for studentsfrom disadvantaged backgrounds. I released anAustralian report last year which demonstratedthese benefits from studying music.

Schools which used the music programs presentedby The Song Room did better on NAPLAN testing inreading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation,

and numeracy. These research results highlight thedifference that the provision of an arts education canhave on student engagement with studies andschooling, as well as helping to develop happier, well-rounded students. But expressing, understanding and

REMARKS AT THE OPENING OF THE NATIONAL VISUAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE

THE HON PETER GARRETT MP,REMARKS AT THE OPENING OF THE NATIONAL VISUALEDUCATION CONFERENCE TUESDAY 24 JANUARY 2012 SPEECH

8 June 2012 VADEA E-BULLETIN Vol. 24

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appreciating the arts is also an important part of livingin our society and participating fully in the community.The arts help us to define and express who we are.For young people, they can be a powerful form of

self-expression, that can help them to shareexperiences and emotions with others. Participationin the arts can also help young people to movethrough difficult periods in their lives, and explorechallenging personal issues in a non-confronting way.And of course the arts also reflect the wonderfuldiversity of our world, our many cultures, ourtraditions and our belief systems. They help us toshare that richness of culture, ideas and emotion withothers. For all these reasons and more, its vital thatwe give opportunities to all Australian children tostudy arts subjects at school.

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM FOR THE ARTSWith this in mind, I am encouraged at the progresswe have made in developing the AustralianCurriculum in the arts.This is part of the second phase of work for theAustralian Curriculum, Assessment and ReportingAuthority, with the first phase focusing on thefoundation subjects of English, history, mathematicsand science. Its great to have Professor BarryMcGaw, the Chair of the ACARA Board, with ustoday.

Many of you will be aware that ACARA released thedraft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts,for public consultation in late 2010. During thatconsultation, ACARA received a range of feedbackand suggestions about the best way to teach the artsin our schools, including the need to maintain specificarts subjects and the need where possible forspecialist teachers. Some submissions were highlycritical of aspects of the shape paper and I welcomethe robust exchange of views that arose from thisprocess. That was the intention of the shape paper.

To create a debate among specialists and advocatesabout how best to teach the arts in schools.I want to prepare the best curriculum we can and thatmeans getting the best and widest range of advicethat we can. The final shaping paper released lastAugust, reflected the views of a range of arts andeducation leaders, schools and parents. Work hasnow commenced on the draft of the arts curriculum,which will be published online for public consultationthis year.

Under the new curriculum, students will study all fivearts subjects dance, drama, media arts, music andvisual arts from their first year of school to the endof primary school. From the first year of high school

students will experience some arts subjects in greaterdepth and have the opportunity to specialise in one ormore arts subjects. And of course, each school willhave a high degree of flexibility over theimplementation of the curriculum.

Id really encourage you to have a look at the draftcurriculum when it is published and give ACARA yourviews. Be active and critical. The students ofAustralia deserve your input. Im very keen that it bea living document, fully informed by the practicalexperience of teachers, while being underpinned by a

rigorous content base and the latest, best testedpedagogical thinking.

So, I urge you to look out for opportunities to providefeedback which will be advertised on ACARAswebsite. And with representatives of the agencieswho have contributed to the development of thecurriculum here today, I really want to thank you foryour efforts.Im truly excited by the progress that has been madein developing the arts curriculum.

CONCLUSIONI am looking forward to having it in place andsupporting students to achieve their potential. Thefact that everyone in this room will have a positiveinfluence on many thousands of children over thecourse of your careers.

Influenced by your teaching, many of those studentswill go on to be valued and contributing members oftheir community, as practising artists in some casesand in some special instances be inspired tobecome teachers themselves. You have the greatsatisfaction of knowing the legacy of your teachingefforts will be felt in communities across Australia formany decades to come.

I wish you all well for the conference and all the bestas you start a new academic year in a few weekstime.


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It began, promisingly enough - with an unscripted, off

the cuff and self-deprecating joke. A box had been

provided, out of sight, behind the lectern to assist

those of small stature to reach the microphone.

Minister Garrett observed that he thought he could

dispense with that.

We then proceeded, again with optimism, to the

Renaissance show; a brief comment, not about the

visual arts but, and here our hearts begin to sink,

about food and eating. A series of concepts: feasts,

hunger and well-rounded students accumulated

throughout.

Then the clunkiest of all - having just witnessed what

is arguably the most cerebral moment in Western art

history, Minister Garrett establishes a unity between

the Renaissance and visual arts in penal settings.The statement is clear; we (the visual arts) are for the

correction of social ills not for the mind. Without

missing a beat we are then accompanying the

Minister on a school visit. The proximity of these

discursive statements - prisons and felons juxtaposed

with schools and students - is a strategy of

equivalence.

Having now introduced schools and prisons a reprise

of the necessary speech as to the value and support

for teachers and schools with the Gonski review

imminent and duly noted. An interruption asserting

the obligatory fiscal initiatives that serves to conceal

the politics of visual arts curriculum.

The visual arts are fixed and bounded as expressing,

understanding appreciating.

Minister Garrett then fell into his own discursive trap

with this segue/dependency from music to the arts,

this is a visual arts conference after all, and here,

perhaps unwittingly he demonstrates exactly our

concern - music and the arts are presented as one

and the same object/statement. More importantly the

arts, excludes visual arts, and becomes music. The

authority with which Minister Garrett speaks on musicis widely known. Then a return to positioning the

visual arts for ameliorating social ills with a defence of

art as expression.

The field of memory is music and the arts. The arts

are mentioned 33 times, music six and visual arts

four. Never as substitute for the arts. We can

conclude that there is the arts, which also denotes

music, there is music, and then there is the visualarts.

Finally, a reprise of the ACARA agenda, a plea for

robust debate. Assertions of an expectation and

desire for difference, but this is well regulated liberty,

silent on history and context.

Weate concludes that Minister Garrett was poorly

briefed and fell into some classic traps. He is

awarded a C- for effort and a C for content.

___________________

Amanda Weate,is the former Head of theSchool of Art Education, University of NSW,College of Fine Arts, she has been an active andrespected participant in curriculum developmentat state and national levels for over 30 years.

8 June 2012 VADEA E-BULLETIN Vol. 24OPENING OF THE NATIONAL VISUAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE:

A FOUCULDIAN CRITIC

AMANDA WEATE,REMARKS ON THE REMARKS OFTHE HON PETER GARRETT MPAT THEOPENING OF THE NATIONAL VISUAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE

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VADEA GRANTS

Start working on your applications!

Apply for a grant to support you, in a VADEA

initiative. Up to four grants will be made available of$2500 each.

For example, develop a proposal for a PD program

in your local area or exchange visits between

schools, develop a proposal for an

artist/gallery/school link.

Further details will be available on the VADEA

website, including the application form, within the

next few weeks.

Applications will be due in September

Thank you to all who were able to attend this year's

VADEA Irresistibleconference. It is clear from the

conference evaluations and talk amongst delegates

that it was a highly successful event and the wow

factor of the newly refurbished MCA, support from

MCA staff, artist and other talks and conference

workshops, food, and superb organisation made the

experience even more memorable. UPCOMING

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

'Evenings with Art'.

Further detail on the website coming soon

http://www.vadea.org.au

AN INVITATION

PROPOSING YOUR OWN PD EVENT

As a VADEA member you and your colleagues maylike to organise a PD event in your local area.

Need some help?

Contact VADEA via:

http://vadea.org.au/or

[email protected]

Updates on the Visual Arts in Arts in

the Australian Curriculum:

ACARAs consultation on their proposed course

structure, band descriptions and content descriptions

and elaborations is planned for late June to

September. Watch the website for updates and

proposed VADEA forum. Make sure you are part of

the critical mass making a response to these

proposals.

Your voice WILL count!

TwitterVADEA_NSW Facebook*Facebook.com/VADEANSW

*To join our Facebook group 2012members should private messagefacebook.com/VADEANSW with theirVADEA member number

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Issue TwentyFour