UNESCO Meeting on Arts in the Pacific Region, Nadi, , November 25-29, 2002

Final Report

1. A meeting on Arts Education in the Pacific Region was convened by UNESCO, and held in Nadi, Fiji, from November 25 to November 29. It brought together forty specialists in Arts Education in the fields of Dance, Drama, Creative Writing, Music and Visual Arts, from twelve countries in the Pacific region.

2. The opening session was chaired by Ms Mere Ratunabuabua, Senior Cultural Development officer, Department of Culture and Heritage, Ministry of Fijian Affairs, Fiji, who welcomed UNESCO officials and participants to the Nadi, Fiji Arts Education meeting. She introduced Mr. Mali Voi, sub-regional adviser for Culture in the Pacific who delivered an introductory speech. Mr Voi expressed UNESCO’s deep gratitude to the Fiji Government for hosting the meeting and to the Pacific Islands Museum Association for assisting with the Secretariat. Mr. Voi noted the emergence of what he described as a "a grassroots movement of potential artists unaided and untapped, using their arts and cultural traditions and entering into creativity for development", who were operating outside of the formal education system, but beginning to influence it. He noted that traditional education, with its privileging of sciences, maths and foreign languages, had failed young people in the Pacific. The result has been increasingly high youth unemployment. Mr. Voi referred to various Pacific associations for promoting arts and culture for creativity, which have been established by the unemployed youth themselves. He concluded by recommending that it is through arts and culture, we are able to give back self-esteem and a sense of belonging to the young people who have been excluded from education and employment.

3. On behalf of the Ministry of Education in Fiji, Mr. Samuela Veitala, Acting Divisional Education Officer Western, addressed the meeting with a significant

UNESCO Meeting on Arts Education Workshop, Nov 25-29, 2002 – Nadi – Fiji Islands 1 speech in which he argued that unemployment was directly linked to a lack of creativity within the education system. He suggested that many people were unemployed because the educational system had not empowered them as children to find their place in society. Mr. Vietala reinforced Mr. Voi's argument by suggesting that Arts Education could help the 10,000 out of 13,000 students who were annually left out of the Fijian job market. He concluded by explaining how Arts Education and training in creativity could help them to find alternative methods of employment.

4. Professor Futa Helu, Head of the Atenisi in Tonga, addressed the meeting with a compelling keynote speech in which he advocated for the Arts in Education. He offered an historical perspective, through which demonstrated how Western society has privileged science and technology, while the arts have been marginalised. He described a key principle of visual arts and architecture as perfection in harmony and composition. The quality of beauty, he added, was the result of a meaningful articulation of form, structure and imagination. This perfect articulation was guided by intuition. In the field of performance the key principles, he said, were “intensive practice and furious application”. These values were spiritual as well as material and children should not be prevented from experiencing them. Professor Helu amplified his argument by outlining the mental "products", relating to artistic creation, including sensation, perception and conceptualization; these are produced by external stimuli such as will, memory and idea. He emphasized that society should not deny the intellectual and mental possibilities offered by engaging in the arts. He concluded by reinforcing the values of arts education, noting students of art should be set exercises that will lead them to a consuming interest in the form and structure of things, events and situations.

5. After the opening ceremony the first plenary session, chaired by Mrs. Paddy Walker, was devoted to traditional and contemporary Arts and Crafts, its scope in the region, and the teaching of Visual Arts at primary and secondary school levels. Three Visual Arts experts Teweiariki Teaero (Fiji), Eric Natuoivi (Vanuatu) and Rawiri Hindle (New Zealand) presented papers on this field.

UNESCO Meeting on Arts Education Workshop, Nov 25-29, 2002 – Nadi – Fiji Islands 2 6. Mr. Teweiariki Teaero from the Oceania Centre for the Arts and Culture, Suva, began his presentation by differentiating between traditional arts and contemporary arts. He described traditional arts as based within the community and relatively unchanging through the ages. Contemporary arts might include traditional arts, idea or materials, to which the artist has added his own fresh ideas. He concluded, therefore, that the teaching of both traditional and contemporary arts could not be isolated from each other, adding that one of the major problems in the schools in Fiji and the Pacific were that the arts were marginalised. He said that the subject was not given the time it required and when it was offered in schools the classes did not exceed forty minutes per week, and were scheduled in the afternoon when children were tired. In most cases art was used as a filler subject and while 20% of the state budget was devoted to education, nothing went towards the teaching of art subjects. He added that there was a lack of art teachers all over the region and recommended that the introduction of artist in residency programs be explored to fill up the gaps. He concluded by saying that artists could be used as communicators and promoters of visual literacy.

7. In his address, Mr. Eric Natuoivi, Visual Art Educator from the Vanuatu Institute of Education, explained that Visual Art Education in Vanuatu was implemented in primary schools where two hours a week were devoted to the subject. He described how different national NGO’s had created rural training centers using whatever was available in the community to build their houses and avoid the use of imported material. These programs were created in order to promote the revival of cultural handicrafts.

8. Mr. Rawiri Hindle, National Coordinator Ngä Toi, The Mäori Arts Curriculum at Wellington College of Education, New Zealand outlined how the New Zealand Ministry of Education had developed a Mäori Arts curriculum that provided a platform for teachers in a Mäori language immersion environment. The main Mäori artistic traditions are divided into three disciplines in the curriculum statement: Ngä Mahi a Te Rëhia - dance and drama, Toi Puoro - music and Toi Ataata - the visual arts. At primary level children were required to study all three disciplines, in middle secondary level they had to study at least two disciplines,

UNESCO Meeting on Arts Education Workshop, Nov 25-29, 2002 – Nadi – Fiji Islands 3 and at upper secondary level they could elect to specialize in an arts discipline. He said the learning approach was based on the following four levels of study: exploring, making, understanding and appreciating. He explained that creativity was integral to the used in the classroom. After the presentation Rawiri Hindle led his New Zealand colleagues in the performance of a Mäori dance which demonstrated the extreme beauty and complexity of Mäori arts.

9. The second plenary session was devoted to traditional music, its importance in the Pacific cultures and its introduction in primary and secondary level curriculum, methods and perspectives. Presentations were made by Mr John Ga’a (Papua New Guinea) and Dr Greg Hurworth (Australia). Mr John Ga’a, Head of the Music strand and Music Lecturer at the University of Goroka, Papua New Guinea, began his presentation by saying that there was a natural love for music and dancing in the Pacific. He stated that he firmly believed that cultural survival in the region was due to music and dance - its values, its expression, and its deep roots in the organization of traditional society. In his own view, traditional arts and culture should serve as a basis for teacher training. Nowadays traditional music was being taught in the schools and its standing had been improved as part of the education reform. At primary school level traditional ideas and languages were being introduced into the school. Various teaching methods for were being developed in schools in PNG. These included: a thematic approach, which included instrument making; an observation/imitation teaching method involving listening to and identifying songs; and improvisation as a means of promoting creativity.

10. Dr Greg Hurworth, Senior Lecturer in Music Education at the Faculty of Education, Monash University, Victoria, Australia, introduced his paper by outlining his philosophy of teaching music, which was based on principles of communication, rather than music as a medium for entertainment. He recommended that local traditional music be introduced into the classroom at level nationally before any other music, and noted, with regret, that this was not the situation in Australia with the teaching of Aboriginal music. He referred to findings of ISME (International Society for Music Education) discussed

UNESCO Meeting on Arts Education Workshop, Nov 25-29, 2002 – Nadi – Fiji Islands 4 at its regional congress that classroom music was declining worldwide. In Australian schools, music was taught mainly in the afternoon, while the morning sessions were devoted to language and mathematics. He discussed the problems of arts education being pushed out of “the crowded curriculum”, and the introduction of an integrated arts program, which could result in further limiting music education. In Australia, Dr Hurworth noted, it was sometimes assumed that music could be taught through staging musicals, but this was a very poor substitute for school musical programs.

11. Associate Professor Angela O’Brien, Head of the School of Creative Arts, University of Melbourne, Australia, presented her paper on the topic of story telling and creative writing in Australian education. She discussed the power of story telling as a vehicle for reinforcing individual and cultural identity, particularly in countries where traditional values and cultures have been fragmented through colonization or industrialization. She noted that story telling and creative writing were not included as strands within the Australian Creative Arts curriculum documents. She went on to outline how the Australian school curriculum was structured, and some of the policies underlying curriculum development, particularly cultural diversity. She explained how story telling and creative writing were being included not only within the school curriculum, but also in out of school programs where the emphasis was on the rehabilitation of young people excluded from the system.

12. The final topic discussed in the session related to traditional dance and drama and its possible inclusion in the primary level school curricula. Papers were presented by Mr. Michael Mel (Papua New Guinea) and Christina Hong (New Zealand). Mr. Michael Mel, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Expressive Arts and Department at the University of Goroka, PNG, presented a brief outline of his comprehensive “Report on the State of Arts Education in Schools and in Papua New”. In his paper, he explores the place of expressive arts in the school curriculum. In PNG, every level of education from lower primary to upper secondary levels allocates time to the arts. However, a major concern for arts education in PNG is teacher competency in

UNESCO Meeting on Arts Education Workshop, Nov 25-29, 2002 – Nadi – Fiji Islands 5 terms of both skills and knowledge. Mr. Mel suggested this is a concern that should be carefully considered in the development of teacher education in PNG.

13. Christina Hong, the National Dance Co-ordinator and Director of the New Zealand Arts Statement, introduced members to her paper “Dance in the School Curriculum of Aotearoa New Zealand”. She outlined the national policy guidelines and current practice with respect to the teaching of dance as a core curriculum subject at all school levels in New Zealand. Ms Hong firstly outlined the Arts in New Zealand Curriculum (2000) and then explained the place of Dance within the curriculum. Dance is seen as a fundamental in the Arts Curriculum and it is expected all students should have opportunities to begin to develop literacies across a range of dance forms, genres and styles. The dance curriculum promotes a diverse dance heritage from a range of cultures in New Zealand. The implementation of this curriculum has faced the following challenges:

a) advocating the value of dance and clarifying it as a separate subject from and folk dance; b) demystifying the common idea that primary school is an already over crowded curriculum and that no space is possible for “new” subjects like dance. By structuring dance classes into existing programs and using diverse teaching approaches, it has been easier to introduce dance into the curriculum; c) extending the capability and capacity of generalist teachers to deliver dance in classroom programs; ongoing evaluation of the program has ratified this approach.

14. Throughout the remainder of the conference, participants contributed to a Symposium: “Experiences and Tends in Education and the Arts”. Paper presentations were delivered around the following four themes:

A. Arts Education in the Member States – Moderator, Tereza Wagner

UNESCO Meeting on Arts Education Workshop, Nov 25-29, 2002 – Nadi – Fiji Islands 6 B. Implementing Arts Curricula – Moderator, Peter Thursby C. Good practices – Case Studies – Research – Moderator, Lindy Joubert D. Examples, Methods and Practices of Integrating the Arts into the Curricula – Moderator, Professor Konai Thaman.

A. Arts Education in the Member States – Moderator, Tereza Wagner

(i) “Arts and Crafts in Primary and Secondary Schools in Fiji”, by Mr. Vishnu Prasad, Fiji College of Advance Education

(ii) “Arts education in PNG Curriculum”, by Mr. Barleyde J Katit, Art & Design – SHSS, University of PNG

(iii) “Art Education in the South Pacific: A Look back and a Look Forward. Helping Art Education to have its place in the Sun”, by Dr. Peter Thursby, School of Education, University of Newcastle, Australia

B. Implementing Arts Curricula – Moderator, Peter Thursby

(iv) “An Overview of Resources, National Assessment and Teacher Professional Development in New Zealand for the Implementation of the New Arts Curriculum, Music Discipline”, by Ms. Merryn Dunmill, National Coordinator of Music, Ministry of Education

(v) “Implementing the Visual Arts Discipline of the New Arts Curriculum: A Case Study in Progress in the New Zealand setting”, by Ms Helen Moore, Advisor in the Arts, Christchurch College of Education

(vi) “Professional Development in the Visual Arts Discipline of the Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum”, by Ms. Ann Brodie, National Coordinator of the Arts, Ministry of Education

(vii) “From the Framework to Practice in the Arts in Western Australian Teachers and Schools in Transformation”, by Mr. Robin Pascoe, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Education, Murdoch University, Australia.

C. Good practices – Case Studies – Research – Moderator, Lindy Joubert

(viii) “Teaching Visual Arts in the Pacific Region: An holistic learning establishing links between subjects, cultures and different areas of experiences”, by Gill Mercer, Head of Arts and Teacher of Visual Arts International School Suva, Fiji

(ix) “Experience in Performing Mekeo Dance in Australia”, by Ms Julia Mageau Gray, an independent artist in which she discussed how she based a performance for Australian schools on a traditional PNG dance

UNESCO Meeting on Arts Education Workshop, Nov 25-29, 2002 – Nadi – Fiji Islands 7 (x) “Te Araanga” by UNICEF Pacific and written by Ms Paddy Walker in which she outlined a Cook Islands Ministry of Education Second Language Learning Programme through culture, language and drama.

(xi) “Coming closer: sharing Australian aboriginal stories through drawings and painting”, by Jan Deans, Director of the Early Learning Centre, Faculty of Education, Australia demonstrated a program in which Aboriginal story tellers worked with pre-school learners in the Australian context.

(xii) “The Arts as a mode of knowing the role of arts education in defining where we are, what we are, why we are, and who we are”, by Dr. Elizabeth Grierson, Head of Arts, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

(xiii) “The role of media towards the promotion of arts and crafts”, by Gerard Hindmarsh, freelance journalist New Zealand

(xiv) “Exploring Possibilities of Social Capital in times of Change” by Adele Flood, Senior Lecturer in Arts Education at RMIT University Melbourne and Executive Member, INSEA Council

D. Examples, Methods and Practices of Integrating the Arts into the Curricula Moderator, Professor Konai Thaman.

(xv) “Performing Arts in Tonga” by Professor Futa Helu

(xvi) “Art Books and Books as Art: Promoting Research in”, by Linda Crowl, Institute of Pacific Studies, University of South Pacific, Fiji, in whjich she outlined publishing projects in the Pacific region

(xvii) “International Research Issues in Drama/Theatre and Education” by Mr. Larry O’Farrell, Professor, Queen’s University Faculty of Education (Canada) and President of International Drama ad Education Association (IDEA) provided an framework for undertaking research in arts education.

(xviii) “Drama and theatre in school education – how and why” by Mrs. Tintti Karppinen, Vice President of Drama and Education Association (IDEA) introduced participants to drama in northern European school context andf the ideal of values based education.

15. Two performances were staged for the participants: the first by Erolia Ifopo and the second by the Pacific Underground Group.

16. A visit to Suva on Wednesday, 27 November provided the participants with the opportunity to visit the Fiji National Museum and the Oceania Centre for Culture and the Arts.

17. Five working groups met throughout the conference to elaborate a strategy for teaching the different arts in schools in the Pacific region; the papers developed by the working groups are attached.

UNESCO Meeting on Arts Education Workshop, Nov 25-29, 2002 – Nadi – Fiji Islands 8

18. In the closing session the participants and UNESCO extended their deep thanks to the Government of Fiji for its generosity and its interest in supporting the subject of this meeting, Arts Education in the Pacific.

UNESCO Meeting on Arts Education Workshop, Nov 25-29, 2002 – Nadi – Fiji Islands 9