Art is a serious subject: the UK campaign to reignite the study of creativity

The value of art in our schools is immeasurable. Urgently, we need to bring it back. Yes, times are hard and budgets are tight. But that’s not why art is drying up in our schools. The truth is more complicated. Over time, our school curriculum (both primary and secondary) has been re-structured to focus on core subjects and tests at the expense of everything else. The knock-on effects of these changes are damaging art education in the UK. Schools are measured – and judged – on what’s tested, so teachers have to focus their time and energy on those subjects. On top of that, teachers don’t get proper training in art education, while those who are trained are leaving the profession. No art teachers. No art rooms. No art lessons. And none of the mind-expanding, question-prompting, wild creativity and confidence art brings to the classroom. It’s all going, going… Each one of these changes is hard to reverse. You can’t magic up art teachers and art rooms once they’re gone. It’s time to fight for them. The ‘easy option’ has never been harder “Art education has rarely been taken as seriously as other subjects in schools, and studying art is all too often understood to be an ‘easy option’”. Vanessa Jackson RA. Yet art teaches children to question. It wakes up imaginations. It builds confidence. It encourages children to see the world differently and to make their mark. But making and studying art in our classrooms is getting harder and harder. A curriculum that focuses… Read More