2009

The 21st century was ushered in by humanity’s formal and legal recognition of the role of the arts in the world. The instrument of this recognition was the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, Paris on November 02, 2001, just weeks after the shockwaves of 9/11. UNESCO Director-General, Koichiro Matsura said: “This is the first time the international community has endowed itself with such a comprehensive instrument, elevating cultural diversity to the rank of common heritage of humanity, as necessary for the human race as bio-diversity is in the natural realm.”

The Universal Declaration therefore asserts that culture and the arts, in their broadest sense, are a critical mediatory force in the quest for understanding, empathy and dialogue between divergent thoughts, dogmas, ideologies and worldviews. No longer may the arts be reduced either to entertainment or to the eccentric pursuits of a few individuals, which may or may not find appreciation in the marketplace. Arts education initiatives may have been a desirable ancillary to education in the past, but neither can they continue to be divorced from their cultural context, nor separated from the normally privileged goal of education – furthering economic development.

This conference takes place against the backdrop of a momentous decade in humanity’s understanding of the arts, education, and arts education. The most immediate landmark, in terms of time, location and context, is the passage through Indian Parliament of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill in August 2009. The Bill marks a watershed in the history of governance in India. In passing the Bill, the Indian government has expressed a commitment to guaranteeing education for all. It is as wide in its sweep as the guarantee of rural employment, which has been in effect since 2005. However, while the Right to Education Act might guarantee a right to schooling, there remains the larger issue of the right to quality education. The conference intends to articulate the meaning and role of the arts in an understanding of a broad-based quality education. In the context of this rights-based legislation, such an articulation must engage with the objective of the widest possible reach for arts education across all sections of society.

The case for the inclusion of the arts in Indian education curricula has been made in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF 2005). The NCF is an advisory document, intended to guide the formulation of curricula across schooling systems. The NCF notes the alarming devaluation of the arts in education, and the simultaneous emphasis on superficial displays of:

The ‘Arts’ at functions like the Annual Day, which are aimed at enhancing the prestige of the school and have nothing to do with the children’s development. The NCF is a forward-thinking document that emerged from what NCF Steering Committee Chairperson, Yash Pal, describes as “…a remarkable process of social deliberation initiated by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) to focus public attention on what should be taught to our children and how.” This conference discussed concrete ways by which arts education aspirations can be transformed into initiatives on the ground.

There will be critical appraisal of the recommendations of the NCF, and the ways in which Page 3 of 19 have been translated into action. The relationship of the arts as a means (tool), as an end (subject), and as a guiding philosophy (pedagogy) will form part of the discussions. A World Conference on Arts Education was conducted by UNESCO in 2006, which resulted in a “Road Map for Arts Education.” The background to the Conference was framed by questions such as: “Is arts education taught for appreciation alone or should it be seen as a means to enhance learning in other subjects”, “Should art be taught as a discipline for its own sake or for the body of knowledge, skill and values to be derived from it (or both)?”, “Is arts education for a gifted few in selected disciplines or is arts education for all?” The UNESCO Road Map attempts a comprehensive response to these questions. In the Road Map’s own words, “These remain central issues in shaping the response of arts practitioners, teachers, students and policy makers.” This conference was an attempt to address these arts education issues in terms of the universal, the national and the local.

Recently, more upheavals have been shaking up the two major national schooling systems in India. The Indian Council of Secondary Education (ICSE) Board has loosened the shackles on the curricula up until the eighth standard. More dramatically, the CBSE Board has introduced a system by which students may opt not to be examined in the tenth standard.

They could then be graded and tested for aptitude and proceed to the +2 stage based on the aptitude testing results. The breathing space afforded by these progressive measures is a clarion call for arts education interventions. There is now more than ever a need to demonstrate and critically evaluate actual classroom arts education pedagogies. Such interventions have been ongoing in all parts of the world, in varying intensities and responding to different local contexts. This conference will present some specific examples of arts education pedagogies in an engaging manner, opening them out for learning and discussion.

The Conference takes as self-evident that arts education is the wellspring of an individual’s (and society’s) quest for life-long learning. Arts education is also the most important guarantor of multiple forms of literacy in society. Most important, the arts are no less than an entitlement in a civil society.

Arts Education Conference | Contexts Concepts and Practices (2009)