International Standards for Arts Education
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August 2013 The College Board Office of Academic Initiatives 45 Columbus Avenue New York, NY 10023 National Coalition for Core Arts Standards 800-587-6814 Prepared by: Amy Charleroy, The College Board, New York Alison Thomas, PhD, 92nd Street Y School of Music Access to this publication is available at advocacy.collegeboard.org/preparation-access/arts-core and at nccas.wikispaces.org. Individuals are encouraged to cite this report and its contents. In doing so, please include the following attribution: The College Board, International Arts Education Standards: A survey of standards, practices, and expectations in thirteen countries and regions, New York, NY, August 2013. 2 Executive Summary …………………...……………………………………………………………………………… 4 Australia ....……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 15 Austria ....……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 26 Canada [British Columbia] ...……………………………………………………………..……………………… 34 China ....……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 59 Finland ....……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 66 Ireland ....……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 82 Japan ....……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 104 New Zealand ....……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 114 Scotland ....……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 123 Singapore ....……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 131 Sweden ....……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 143 United Kingdom …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 153 United States ....……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 166 3 Background and rationale This report offers compiled and analyzed information on the arts education standards of thirteen countries and regions, including: Australia, Austria, British Columbia, China, Finland, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This survey is not comprehensive, in that researchers did not seek to document every country or region worldwide that may have standards for the arts. Rather, the regions surveyed were specifically requested by members of the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS), with the belief that these particular examples might offer models that will be useful to their development of National Core Arts Standards. There were additional countries on the list of originally-requested regions of focus, but in some cases, they were eliminated from the study because they did not have a published set of national standards or expectations for arts education. In compiling this review, researchers sought to identify which arts disciplines are most and least represented in arts standards and curricula worldwide; which habits, skills, abilities related to arts teaching and learning are most commonly emphasized in these documents; how those expectations are articulated for educators; and, where applicable, what guidelines exist for measuring student achievement of the standards. Methodology Researchers performed an initial round of web-based research to locate standards and any further information about the approach to arts education in the regions surveyed. In some cases, supplementary information was available as well, and notes on all sources are included with the summary of the standards of each region. It is important to note that this survey contains information that was readily available online; additional standards or curricula may exist that were simply not accessible to researchers performing the survey. The individual countries’ surveys were compared to one another with the aim of identifying recurring themes in their content and approaches. Key findings Educational philosophy statements: Why study the arts? The standards documents of eight countries surveyed featured statements (usually presented as a component of the introductory materials for the standards) on the benefits of arts in education, and the overarching goals of arts instruction in that country. These statements varied greatly in form and levels of specificity, but the overall themes that were most prevalent were: The arts as tools for cultural understanding: understanding social, historical, cultural contexts of works from students’ own country and others. The arts foster skills of critical and creative thinking and problem solving The arts are a unique form of communication The arts cultivate pleasure and enjoyment, and foster a sense of well-being. Disciplines represented Overall, standards for music and visual arts were represented in the standards documents of all thirteen countries profiled. There were seven instances of theatre standards, four examples of media arts standards, and nine examples of dance standards. 4 Each country does not necessarily offer arts standards for all levels of instruction. In some cases, only primary-level standards could be located. In the case of media arts, secondary-level expectations were more common. At the secondary level, in some instances standards were offered at the course level, rather than by grade or grade band levels. The country-by-country summaries in this report address these differences in approaches, and offer more information on the specifics of the standards content for different levels and disciplines. In some cases, arts standards were presented as a subsection of the standards for another subject area. This was most common in the case of the standards for dance: of the thirteen regions studied, five countries have stand-alone dance standards, and three feature dance expectations as a component of the objectives for physical education. In Austria’s standards at the primary level, a “movement” component of the music standards referenced dance-related abilities. Similarly, in three cases, media arts content and expectations were presented as a component of visual arts standards. In addition to dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts, two other disciplines were represented in the standards of the countries surveyed: Finland and Sweden have separate sets of standards for crafts, and the United Kingdom has standards for design and technology. This discipline’s title may imply that it relates to media arts content and outcomes, but the design and technology expectations were closely linked to the processes of product design and manufacturing as opposed to film, video, and digital technologies, and therefore were classified in a separate category. The following table features an overview of which disciplines are represented in the standards of every country profiled. Australia There is a “movement” There is a “visual media” Austria portion of the music portion of the visual arts standards standards British Portion of visual arts Columbia standards at secondary level China Media literacy referenced in language standards; Dance included in physical Finland crafts education standards The media and visual communication is a category of visual arts standards Dance included in physical Ireland education standards Japan New Zealand Scotland Dance included in physical Singapore education standards Sweden Crafts Design and United Kingdom technology United States 5 Categories of standards Generally speaking, arts standards revolve around habits, skills, processes related to planning, producing, and responding to works of art in all disciplines. These broad categories are dealt with differently across regions surveyed (goals associated with creating, for example, are presented in categories titled exploring and creating, creative processes, image development and design, modeling, creative music making, and expression, among others), but the overall goals that are expressed in the standards of all countries are similar. The table on the following pages presents an overview of the categories of the standards to illustrate the range in language and approaches that are taken in articulating what students are to know and be able to do in the arts. In addition to describing the habits and skills of creation and performance more generally, certain sets of standards feature categories describing discipline-specific skills or materials. The music standards for Austria, Japan, Singapore, and the United States contain categories related specifically to singing and/or to playing instruments, for example. Ireland’s visual arts standards are organized entirely around art media (drawing, paint and colour, print, clay, construction, and fabric and fibre) as opposed to creative processes. Three sets of standards – those of British Columbia (at the primary level), Japan, and New Zealand – are organized into categories that are consistent across arts disciplines, while the other eight countries surveyed employ different terms to describe the desired outcomes for each discipline. In addition, Australia’s Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum (the document around which the next iteration of standards will be organized) presents a broad framework of making and responding, and the grade- specific expectations within each discipline are not organized into any further categories. British Columbia (primary level) Japan New Zealand Creating/Exploring and Music Making/Expression Understanding [discipline] in Creating/Creative Processes context Appraising/Appreciation Elements and skills/Skills and Developing practical Common matters strategies/Elements of knowledge dance/Drama forms, strategies, Developing ideas and skills Communicating and Context interpreting Presenting and performing 6 The content of all five disciplines in the Shape of the Australian Curriculum for the Arts (including