Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 November 2019
238. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the degree to which she encourages or promotes the arts through schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45791/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Creative Ireland Programme is a 5-year initiative which places creativity at the centre of public policy. The Programme is a high-level, ambitious, all-of-government initiative to mainstream creativity in the life of the nation. The core proposition is that participation in cultural and creative activity promotes individual, community and national wellbeing.
The programme seeks to support each citizen – whether individually or collectively, in our personal lives or in our institutions – to realise our full creative potential, by encouraging, facilitating and supporting collaboration in order to cultivate a diverse, accessible & creative cultural ecosystem that sustains wellbeing for all.
Under the Creative Ireland Programme, I launched a Creative Youth Plan with the Minister for Education and Skills and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in December 2017. This aims to give every child practical access to tuition, experience and participation in art, music, drama and coding by 2022. This Plan works across:
- Schools: Enhancing arts and creativity initiatives in schools and early years settings.
- Teacher CPD: Increasing and enhancing teacher continuing professional development opportunities across primary, post-primary and early years settings.
- Out-of-School: Improving cross-sectoral collaboration to support creativity for children and young people in the community.
My Department, through the Creative Youth Plan of the Creative Ireland Programme, and in collaboration with the Departments of Education and Skills, and Children and Youth Affairs as well as the Arts Council has invested heavily in the promotion of arts in schools and encouraging schools to participate in arts-based activities. The principal initiatives within the formal/school setting are Creative Schools and Creative Clusters and further information on these programmes is included below. A number of other pilots and initiatives have been developed and/or supported to help deliver the Creative Youth Plan and some further information on a selection of individual initiatives is also outlined below.
1.The Creative Schools pilot is one of the flagship projects of the Creative Youth Plan, which seeks to enable the creative potential of every child and young person. Creative Schools aims to understand, develop and celebrate the arts and creativity as a core aspect of school life. It strives to foster children and young people’s creativity, potential and participation in the arts as an integral part of their education. The initiative recognises that the arts are a powerful means through which children and young people can explore communication and collaboration, stimulate their imaginations to be inventive, and harness their boundless curiosity.
1.Schools selected to participate in the programme do so on a two-year cycle - the first to support them in developing a feasible creative plan for the school, and the second to enable them to implement this plan. Each participating school is provided with access to a Creative Associate, who are essential in embedding inspirational and sustainable creative practices in teaching and learning. Creative Associates are a mixture of practising artists and teachers with an understanding of creativity and its potential to transform the lives of children and young people. In addition, each school is allocated an annual grant of €2,000 to implement their plans.
1. Creative Clusters are groups of 2-5 schools, within an education centre, coming together to work on a Creative Project. A facilitator provided by the Education Centre will help them formulate the plan and €2,500 is provided to each cluster to put this plan into action. Projects include coding, drama, Green Forest and Wellbeing.
1.Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers and for artists working in partnership with teachers is crucial to the long-term success and sustainability of the overall Creative Youth Plan. In order to achieve the long-term objective of cultural and creative education, it’s necessary to build a critical mass of education and arts professionals who are versed in the theoretical frameworks of arts and creativity education, and equipped with the skills and techniques for delivering programmes. CPD programmes continue to be rolled out across Early Years, Primary and Post-Primary settings.
1. National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) – a representative body for Principals and Deputy Principals – operates the Creative Engagement programme in Post Primary settings. Under the programme, grants up to €2,000 are awarded to schools for art education under clearly set criteria and undertaken on a jointly funded basis with the school involved. The projects involved allow art practitioners to work with students in schools to allow students to produce work in visual art, music, theatre, dance, film and poetry. This programme strives to encourage creativity and initiative, and complements curricular learning in the arts, heritage and culture. NAPD envisions an education system energised through the arts and where creativity is a core activity in the post primary curriculum.
1. Music Generation is Ireland’s National Music Education Programme that aims to transform the lives of children and young people through access to high quality performance music education in their locality. Initiated by Music Network, Music Generation has been co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Skills and Local Music Education Partnerships. The national roll-out of Music Generation is one of the actions being implemented in the Creative Youth Programme.
