At its plenary meeting in Merrion Square yesterday (25 March), the Council discussed the integration of the arts into the education experience of children and young people, and heard from invited guest Professor John Coolahan, Chair of the government's high-level implementation group for the Arts in Education Charter. The high-level implementation group is working to deliver a series of initiatives which support the integration of arts experiences for children and young people as part of their education in Ireland.
The Arts in Education Charter, jointly launched by the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, is significant in that it articulates a commitment by both Departments to ensure a more central role for the arts in Irish education.
In the context of the Charter, the Arts Council currently supports a number of artist residencies at the Colleges of Education in Ireland The residencies include dance artist Lisa Cahill at Froebel College in NUI Maynooth; Coiscéim Dance Theatre and the Fidelio Trio at St. Patrick’s College in Dublin City University; Branar Téatar do Pháistí and composer Anne Marie O’Farrell at Mary Immaculate College in the University of Limerick; and a series of children’s literature residencies at the Church of Ireland College of Education. The intention of the residencies is to ensure that teachers have the opportunity to engage directly with the arts early in their careers, and to develop the skills and confidence to facilitate arts experiences for their students.
The Arts Council is also actively engaging with the Department of Education and Skills’ Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT) to improve the integration of the arts into students’ experience at second-level, in keeping with the creative and student-centred emphasis of the new Framework for Junior Cycle.
Prof Coolahan said “the implementation group has been impressed by the range of work happening across the country, and the commitment of teachers, artists, and arts organisations to ensure students have opportunities to experience the arts as part of their education in Ireland. While much has been achieved to date, it is also clear to the implementation group that greater targeted investment in this area is necessary in order to ensure substantive progress.”
"The Arts Council has played an important role in advocating for the arts in education for many years. Targeted investment by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and the Department of Education and Skills, will ensure that what is now a highly professional sector comprised of teachers and artists, can deliver on its ambitions to provide an artistically rich education experience for more young people growing up in Ireland." he added.
Arts Council Chair Sheila Pratschke thanked Professor Coolahan for addressing the plenary meeting, and reiterated the Arts Council's long-standing commitment to improving arts in education.
"The Arts Council is committed to ensuring that opportunities to participate in the arts are central to children’s experience growing up in Ireland. For the Arts Council, this means working in active partnership with colleagues in the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, and a range of agencies and organisations at local and national level. Children and young people do not belong to any one sector, and the manner in which they experience growing up in Ireland, reflects our values as a society. Children have a right to develop their imaginations, to participate in the arts, and to develop their own interests and skills across different art forms– we believe this should be a central aspect of their experience in and out of school.“
←Return to the news