India International Centre Office of the UNESCO Regional Hong Kong Institute of Asia Project Advisor for Culture Contemporary Culture in Asia and the Pacific EDUCATING FOR CREATIVITY BRINGING THE ARTS AND CULTURE INTO ASIAN EDUCATION REPORT OF THE ASIAN REGIONAL SYMPOSIA ON ARTS EDUCATION Measuring the Impact of Arts in Education Hong Kong SAR, China, 9-11 January 2004 and Transmissions and Transformations: Learning Through the Arts in Asia New Delhi, India, 21-24 March 2005 Educating for Creativity: Bringing the Arts and Culture into Asian Education UNESCO, Bangkok 2005 viii + 161 pages 1. Arts Education 4. Cultural Education 2. Conference Papers 5. Educational Quality 3. Asia-Pacific region 6. Creativity ISBN 92-9223-065-4 Published by: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Richard Engelhardt, Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand © UNESCO 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, and no part of this publication, including photographs and drawings, may be sold without the written permission of the publisher. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO, Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture, or India International Centre, concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries. Report compiled and edited by: Ellie Meleisea, UNESCO Consultant for Culture Layout design and production by: Keen Publishing (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Printed in Thailand Cover photos from left to right: Playing the Gayageum (long string instrument) Korea, by Younghoon Lee; Children, Thailand, Isan Bright Child Programme, Maya - the Arts and Cultural Institute for Development; Art restoration, Bhutan, by Richard A. Engelhardt. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v FOREWORD:REVISITING THE VALUES OF THE ARTS AND CULTURE IN EDUCATION vii INTRODUCTION:THE ROLE OF THE ARTS IN IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION 1 PART I ARTS IN ASIAN EDUCATION 1. CULTURE AND ARTS EDUCATION IN ASIA 1.1 An Asian Vision of Arts in Education: Learning through the Arts 7 2.2 Alternatives to the Norm: Examining Perspectives of Arts and Culture 10 2. ASIA-REGION MEETINGS ON ARTS IN EDUCATION 2.1 Background 17 2.2 Measuring the Impact of Arts in Education 18 2.3 Transmissions and Transformations: Learning Through the Arts in Asia 21 3. THE CASE FOR MAINSTREAMING THE ARTS IN ASIAN EDUCATION 3.1 The Arts and Quality Education in Asia 25 3.2 Arts in Education for a Knowledge Society 30 3.3 The Arts Empower and Heal the Body and the Mind 34 3.4 The Effect of Musical Abilities upon Elementary Students 38 3.5 Growing Up Into Theatre: A Look at Teater Muda, Malaysia 43 3.6 Design for Learning through the Arts: Mainstreaming Art Education in the School Curriculum 47 4. ARTS IN ASIAN EDUCATION CASE STUDIES 4.1 Rasa and Dance: Bringing Creativity into Education 57 4.2 Artists in Schools: Integrating the Arts in Education 63 4.3 ARTS-ED and the Arts in Heritage Education Project 70 4.4 Bringing Art to School Children at the Informal Level Through Heritage Education 74 5. POLICY AND REFORM 5.1 Influencing Policy and Education Reform 79 5.2 Needs Assessment for Arts Education in Cambodia 82 5.3 Art Education in Indonesia: Towards an Integrated Curriculum 85 5.4 Educational Reform in Thailand: The Isaan Bright Child Programme 86 5.5 A New Vision for Arts Education in Rural Areas of the Republic of Korea 90 5.6 Arts Education in Central Asia 95 5.7 The Central Asian Academy of Arts and Regional Cultural Policy 98 5.8 Curriculum Development as a Collaborative Process 100 5.9 Arts Education: The Foundation of Education 107 PART II THE WAY FORWARD 6. RESEARCH FOR THE FUTURE 6.1 Arts Education and Instrumental Outcomes: An Introduction to Research Methods 115 6.2 Community Arts through Action and Education: Development of a Framework for Evaluation 125 7. ACTION INITIATIVES 7.1 Nurturing Creativity in a Knowledge-Based City: The Hong Kong School of Creativity 131 7.2 Action Plan Asia: Arts in Asian Education Observatories 136 ANNEXES Annex I Appeal by the UNESCO Director General Koïchiro Matsuura 145 Annex II Papers Presented at the Symposia 147 Annex III Participant Lists 151 Annex IV References and Resources 159 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks are due to all who contributed to the two Asian expert symposia on Arts Education. The Asian regional symposium on Arts Education, Measuring the Impact of Arts in Education, was a cooperative effort between the Office of the UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific and the Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture (HKICC). The symposium on Arts in Asian Education, Transmissions and Transformations: Learning Through the Arts in Asia, was a joint effort between the Office of the UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the v Pacific, and the India International Centre – Asia Project (IIC – Asia Project). A special thank you is extended to all of those who contributed, in particular to: • HKICC for organizing the Hong Kong symposium, particularly Danny Yung, for his energy and guidance, and May Fung for her valuable input in arranging the event. • IIC – Asia Project for organizing the New Delhi symposium, in particular Kapila Vatsyayan for her vision and leadership, and N.H. Ramachandran for his organization of the logistics of the meeting and for taking such good care of participants. • Beatrice Kaldun and Iker Larrea for their substantial contribution to organizing the Hong Kong symposium. • Ellie Meleisea and Patricia Alberth for their valuable input in the organization of the New Delhi symposium and for preparing written material for the meeting. The preparation of this report involved many people, from those who contributed papers and photographs to those who assisted in compiling presentations and preparing text. In particular, thanks are extended to: • Larry O’ Farrell for providing an overview of the proceedings of the Hong Kong meeting and for developing a framework for reporting best practice case studies. • Robin Pascoe for summarizing the recommendations and ideas generated by the Hong Kong symposium. • Charlene Rajendran for preparing a summary of the Hong Kong symposium. • Shakti Maira for composing “An Asian Vision of Arts in Education”, which serves as a statement of shared Asian perspectives with regard to role of the arts in education. • Iker Larrea for compiling presentations and liaising with contributors, and for assisting in composing material for the report, particularly in the preparation of “Action Plan Asia”. • Kai-ming Cheng, Santi Chitrachinda, Varsha Das, Richard Engelhardt, David Feingold, Education Division of Bharat Soka Gakkai-India, Younghoon Lee, Robin Pascoe, Heather Peters, Janet Pillai, Victorino Manalo, Meena Mani, Bharati Mirchandani, Ichiya Nakamura, Thossaporn Sithakul, Endo Suanda, Jyotsna Tiwari, Ariunaa Tserenpil, Sajida Vandal and Hoseong Yong for providing photographs. FOREWORD REVISITING THE VALUES OF THE ARTS AND CULTURE IN EDUCATION There is widespread awareness that both the content and delivery of our educational systems are inadequate. The challenges and opportunities faced by those striving for excellence and equality in vii education are often summarized in the framework of “quality education”. This concept complements the international community’s commitment to Universal Primary Education (UN Millennium Development Goal 3) and UNESCO’s Education for All (EFA) programme. “Quality education” requires motivated students and teachers; appropriate curricula; and inclusive, accessible environments, free from any form of discrimination. It involves addressing complex challenges in today’s knowledge societies and increasingly knowledge-based economies. The concept of “quality education” encompasses respect for and engagement with local communities and cultures, as clearly outlined in the Dakar Framework for Action.1 The arts have the potential to play a distinct and unique role in bringing the ideals of quality education into practice. As a creative medium, the arts stimulate cognitive development, encourage innovative thinking and creativity, engender understanding of the importance of cultural diversity and reinforce behavior patterns underlying social tolerance. In an increasingly globalized, competitive and knowledge-intensive world, the arts – and the cultures represented by them – are taken for granted and, therefore, all too often neglected by the formal education system. Education policies typically focus on the importance of gaining skills that are useful in the workforce, and neglect the need to develop the ability to form meaningful relationships and peaceful, cohesive societies. Given the advantages of bringing the arts into educational systems, reform is required. However, to achieve this implies rethinking the role and use of arts in education. In 2001, in response to an appeal to Member States by the UNESCO Director General, Koïchiro Matsuura, to promote arts education and creativity, the UNESCO Division of Arts and Creativity initiated six regional meetings on arts education with the aim of strengthening arts education curricula and creating the conditions for the integration of arts education programmes into national education