Alliances and advocacy for dance education in Australia
Jeff Meiners, University of South Australia, Julie Dyson, Australian Dance Council – Ausdance Inc.
Country: Australia
Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]
Day 1: Practice After the Road Map: Encouraging Cooperation and Partnerships
Workshop topic: 1-4. Partnerships within and beyond school: Collaborative efforts between public and private sectors, schools and communities, cultural institutions etc.
Key words: dance, curriculum, advocacy, alliances
This paper will explain how dance educators worked over time with advocacy strategies to successfully argue for the inclusion of dance within the development of a new national curriculum for the arts. It provides a broad contextualisation of developments led by Australian Federal, State and Territory governments and considers the latest government support for the role of the arts. Creativity, innovation, cultural understanding and social inclusion are key themes to be addressed in a new Australian curriculum which aims to provide young people with fundamental skills needed in the 21st Century.
The paper discusses how tactical alliances have supported the development of dance education. Specifically, the paper will focus on Australia’s Dance Plan 2012, an advocacy partnership between the Australian Dance Council (Ausdance) and the Australia Council for the Arts for “dance to be an integral part of every young person’s education”. Drawing upon recent developments in dance curricula in Australian schools, the paper will highlight the unique contribution of dance to young people’s learning as part of the government’s ‘Education Revolution’.
Consideration will also be given to other successful advocacy strategies which have located dance in both the new Australian Early Years Learning Framework and the developing national curriculum for schools. The paper will also discuss research focusing on the quality of dance education in Australian schools, identifying strategies for development including cultural diversity from local and global perspectives.
APPENDIX 3 Unesco & the Government of the Republic of Korea World Conference on Arts Education Seoul 25~28 May 2010
Identification form for the submission of abstracts on Arts Education (research/case studies/experiences of best practices) Surname: Name: Mr/Ms/Dr/Prof: MEINERS Jeff Mr DYSON Julie Ms Past and present occupation (detailed description):
Jeff Meiners is a lecturer and researcher at the University of South Australia's School of Education. Jeff’s career in Australia spans traditional educational settings as well as specific dance action projects with children, teachers, tertiary students and policy-makers. Jeff worked recently with community artists at Forum Danca in Portugal, as dance advisor for The Green Sheep and as movement director for Cat and Boom Bah! with Windmill Performing Arts in South Australia. In 2008 Jeff completed a six year term as community representative with the Australia Council’s Dance Board and is currently working with Ausdance, the National Advocates for Arts Education and the new Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), for the placement of the arts in the national curriculum. Jeff holds the 2009 Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Services to Dance Education.
Julie Dyson AM is the National Director of the Australian Dance Council – Ausdance. Her work has included development of Ausdance policy for dance in Australia, advice to funding bodies, government departments, companies and individual artists, and editing Ausdance’s national magazine ‘Dance Forum’. She has also initiated innovative partnerships to promote and support contemporary dance and professional dancers with organisations outside the dance community such as the Australian Institute of Sport and the National Library of Australia. She currently chairs the National Advocates for Arts Education in its campaign for the Arts in the National Curriculum. Awards include the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award for Administration (1994), and the Australian Dance Awards for Services to Dance (2000) and Lifetime Achievement (2004). Julie was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2007.
Organization/Institution/University: Jeff Meiners, Lecturer, University of South Australia Julie Dyson, National Director, Australian Dance Council – Ausdance Inc. Address: School of Education, University of South Australia, St Bernards Road, Magill South Australia 5022
Telephone (+international code): +61 (0)8 8302 4434
Fax (+international code): +61 (0)8 8302 4394
E-mail Addresses: Jeff Meiners [email protected] Julie Dyson [email protected]
Title of the Paper: Alliances and advocacy for dance education in Australia
Please complete and submit this form it with your abstract by late Feb. 2010
Organizing Committee for the 2nd World Conference on Arts Education Address: 511 Le Meilleur Bldg. Jongno 1ga Seoul, Korea, 110-888 Tel: +82 2 2075 6316 Fax: +82 2 2075 6317