NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, CANBERRA

TUESDAY 24 JANUARY 2012

**CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY**

Acknowledgments

I acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we meet today, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.

I also pay my respects to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who are here today.

I’d also like to acknowledge:

• Ron Radford, Director, National Gallery of Australia
• Louise Doyle, Director, National Portrait Gallery
• Professor Barry McGaw, Chair of the ACARA Board
• Tamara Winikoff, Executive Director, National Visual Arts Association
• Marian Strong, Art Education Australia
• Distinguished visitors Professor Graeme Sullivan, well known to the Australian arts community and Tim Rollins
• Distinguished local artists and speakers Fiona Foley and Hossein Valamanesh
• Finally John Kaldor, long time, esteemed patron and supporter of contemporary art
   

Introduction

It’s a pleasure to formally open this conference and share this occasion with you all.

This conference is a great opportunity to recharge those batteries, and be stimulated and informed by guest speakers.

This is also a great time to be visiting Canberra.

There’s the Renaissance exhibition here at the National Gallery with works that I understand have never been seen before in Australia, the Impressions exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery and the Handwritten display down the road at the National Library, which features some beautifully illuminated manuscripts.

A visual and intellectual feast for us all.
 

The importance of school education

One of the largest prisons in Australia is located in my electorate, at Long Bay, and I occasionally visit.

I doubt that it will surprise you to know that the arts centre, where inmates are active in a range of visual arts forms, is considered one of the most special parts of the prison complex.

The work produced is often powerful and moving, and there’s huge demand to be able to use the facility.

The creative act, in this tough, contained atmosphere bringing all the tangible and intangible flow-throughs we often associate with arts practice. The ‘vibes’, to borrow an overused expression, are good, in a place where good vibes are rare.

One of the distinct pleasures for a Minister for School Education is to visit schools and meet the students and teachers.

I love the enthusiasm and potential of the students. I recognise the diligence and professionalism of their teachers.

So it’s good to be here with you today.

School education is a firm priority of this government, which is why we have doubled the education budget and recently set up three $2.5 billion Smarter Schools Partnerships with the states and territories.

Last year, we focused on supporting teaching and teacher quality, because we know quality teaching is the single most important in-school contributor to the achievement of students.

So we provided substantial new funding to improve schools and recognise and reward teachers, including the Rewards for Great Teachers initiative.

It’s part of a national agenda we have underway in school education, including national assessment, a national curriculum and national teacher training standards. 

And we are taking a searching look at the funding of schooling

The review of school funding that has been undertaken by a panel led by businessman Mr David Gonski, is the next logical step in the education reform agenda and provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put school funding on a sustainable, efficient and fair footing.
 

The importance of the Arts

Part of this education reform agenda is to implement a national curriculum, and as part of that process, I am doing all that I can to ensure all Australian children have access to an arts-rich education, by which we mean visual arts, music, drama, dance and media arts.

I advocated for the inclusion of an arts curriculum in the new Australian curriculum when I was Minister for the Arts and it’s very pleasing to be able to see that through in my current role.

I am firmly of the view that ‘arts for arts’ sake’ is sufficient justification for teaching and learning art. Much has been written and debated about the intrinsic qualities associated with the arts, including visual art.

The works hanging in this building and the hunger to experience them, the enjoyment and stimulation it provides to the citizens of this nation are evidence enough of this proposition.

But now there’s increasing research evidence to show that arts education produces other benefits, for instance contributing to improving school attendance, academic achievement and student wellbeing.

The benefits include the development of learning skills and learning how to learn, with improved academic performance especially noted for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

I released an Australian report last year which demonstrated these benefits from studying music.

Schools which used the music programs presented by The Song Room did better on NAPLAN testing in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy.

These research results highlight the difference that the provision of an arts education can have on student engagement with studies and schooling, as well as helping to develop happier, well-rounded students.

But expressing, understanding and appreciating the arts is also an important part of living in our society and participating fully in the community.

The arts help us to define and express who we are.

For young people, they can be a powerful form of self-expression, that can help them to share experiences and emotions with others.

Participation in the arts can also help young people to move through difficult periods in their lives, and explore challenging personal issues in a non‑confronting way.

And of course the arts also reflect the wonderful diversity of our world, our many cultures, our traditions and our belief systems. 

They help us to share that richness of culture, ideas and emotion with others.

For all these reasons and more, it’s vital that we give opportunities to all Australian children to study arts subjects at school.
 

Australian Curriculum for the Arts

With this in mind, I am encouraged at the progress we have made in developing the Australian Curriculum in the arts.

This is part of the second phase of work for the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, with the first phase focusing on the foundation subjects of English, history, mathematics and science.

It’s great to have Professor Barry McGaw, the Chair of the ACARA Board, with us today.

Many of you will be aware that ACARA released the draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts, for public consultation in late 2010.

During that consultation, ACARA received a range of feedback and suggestions about the best way to teach the arts in our schools, including the need to maintain specific arts subjects and the need where possible for specialist teachers.

Some submissions were highly critical of aspects of the shape paper and I welcome the robust exchange of views that arose from this process. That was the intention of the shape paper. To create a debate among specialists and advocates about how best to teach the arts in schools.

I want to prepare the best curriculum we can and that means getting the best and widest range of advice that we can.

The final shaping paper released last August, reflected the views of a range of arts and education leaders, schools and parents.

Work has now commenced on the draft of the arts curriculum, which will be published online for public consultation this year.

Under the new curriculum, students will study all five arts subjects – dance, drama, media arts, music and visual arts – from their first year of school to the end of primary school.

From the first year of high school students will experience some arts subjects in greater depth and have the opportunity to specialise in one or more arts subjects.

And of course, each school will have a high degree of flexibility over the implementation of the curriculum.

I’d really encourage you to have a look at the draft curriculum when it is published and give ACARA your views. Be active and critical. The students of Australia deserve your input.

I’m very keen that it be a living document, fully informed by the practical experience of teachers, while being underpinned by a rigorous content base and the latest, best tested pedagogical thinking.

So, I urge you to look out for opportunities to provide feedback which will be advertised on ACARA’s website.

And with representatives of the agencies who have contributed to the development of the curriculum here today, I really want to thank you for your efforts.

I’m truly excited by the progress that has been made in developing the arts curriculum.             

Conclusion

I am looking forward to having it in place and supporting students to achieve their potential.

The fact that everyone in this room will have a positive influence on many thousands of children over the course of your careers.

Influenced by your teaching, many of those students will go on to be valued and contributing members of their community, as practising artists in some cases and in some special instances – be inspired to become teachers themselves.

You have the great satisfaction of knowing the legacy of your teaching efforts will be felt in communities across Australia for many decades to come.

I wish you all well for the conference and all the best as you start a new academic year in a few weeks time.

ENDS