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NATIONALVISUALARTSEDUCATIONCONFERENCECANBERRA,22,24,25JANUARY
AREVIEWBY VADEACOPRESIDENTDRKARENMARAS
THECONTENTOFTHISREPORTISENDORSEDBY MARIANSTRONG,ARTEDUCATIONAUSTRALIA (AEA)ANDTAMARAWINIKOFFNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONFORTHEVISUALARTS(NAVA).

Tamara Winikoff, Executive Director of the National Association for the Visual Arts explored the relationshipof the curriculum tothe longevity and health of the place of artists in education and Australianculture. Inparticular she noted the need to address not only the curriculum, but also teacher education and resources, well designed learning spaces, artists in schools and the contribution of art galleries which would support a high quality visual educationforall.Additionally,MsWinikoffarguedthat weneedindepthaspirationalandinspiringcurriculum content that would enable teachers to appropriately prepare all students to be visually competent throughouttheirfuturelives.

ConvenedbyVisualArtseducatorsfromtheNational Gallery Australia, National Portrait Gallery and Art Education Australia, this conference took up the theme of space in relation to inclusion, renewal, growth and experimentation to engage a variety of issues in Visual Arts education. Highlights of the programincluded: discussionoftheAustralianCurriculumforthe Arts keynotesbyarangeoflocalandinternational contemporaryartistsandarteducators showcasesofpartnershipsbetweengalleries, museums,artpractitioners,schoolsand professionalassociations recentresearchonareasincludingteaching practice,conceptualdevelopment,artistin residenceprogramsandIndigenousart programsinschools
th exhibitionsincludingRenaissance:15 and th 16 centuryItalianpaintingsfromthe

Dr Wesley Imms, Lecturer in Visual Art Education, University of Melbourne raised issues of how a curriculum provides a space for guiding teachers to addresskeycontent.Usingthemetaphorofarchitecture he noted that a feature of art and art education is the diversity of practices we deal with and how we all inhabit different spaces. He noted that curriculum supports Visual Arts teachers to make appropriate decisionsfortheneedsofalllearnersindifferentplaces andspaces.

Professor Graeme Sullivan, formerly of COFA and now Director of the School of Visual Arts at Pennsylvania State University, Ohio offered some comments about the frequency ofattempts to overhaul art curricula in Australia. He noted the similarity of the currentproposalstothoseofthepreviousunsuccessful attempts to nationalise the art curriculum in Australia duringthe1990s.ProfessorSullivanalsodrewattention to the need for art educators and professional art education associations to involve themselves in such conversations. Page1

AccedemiaCarrrara,Bergamo(NGA), Impressions:Paintinglifeandlight(NPG). SpecialReport:TheArtsintheAustralian Curriculum:SpaceForAll. This plenary session involved a panel of four presenters who offered a range of perspectives on the Arts in the Australian Curriculum. A brief outline oftheircommentsfollows.

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jurisdictions.

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Professor Barry McGaw, Chairof the Board of the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA) concluded the presentations with an overview of the national curriculum development process from the Melbourne Declaration of Educational Goals for Young Australians (2008) throughtothedevelopmentoftheShapePaperforthe Arts in 2011. Professor McGaw informed delegates that following consultation on the Draft Shape Paper ACARAhadtakenthefollowingdecisions: separatecurriculaforeachartformwillbe developed atleastoneormoreartformswillbestudiedin years78,withelectivestudiesavailablein year910. allartformswillbestudiedinF6 Teacherswereencouragedtoreadtherevised versionoftheShapeoftheArtsinthe AustralianCurriculumavailableontheACARA website:http://www.acara.edu.au/arts.html Professor McGaw also advised that the scope and sequence statements for theArts curriculum were currently being written for each artform and will be available forconsultation inFebruary 2012.While the scope of this consultation was not clear, Professor McGaw acknowledged the contributions many arts educatorshadalreadymadetothedevelopmentofthe curriculum. The final curriculum will be available in November2012. AninitialquestiontothepanelfromDrKarenMaras, CoPresident of the Visual Arts and Design EducatorsAssociationNSW,addressedtheissueof howACARAwouldensurethatthecurriculumfor VisualArtswouldbeequaltoorbetterthanwhat was currently in place. In response Professor McGawexplained:

thatACARAsmandatewasforspecifying contentonlyandpedagogicalpracticeand curriculumtimeweremattersforteacherswithin alightcurriculumwouldguideteachersin implementingthecurriculumineachjurisdiction. onlineprovisionofthecurriculumwouldensure allteachersandparentsinAustraliahave accesstothecontentspecifiedforstudentsF 12. Professor McGaw made particular mention of the approach taken by the Board of Studies NSW in developingnewcurriculainwhichnationalcurriculum contentwasincludedingreaterdetail. Teachers also raised questions about the issue of curriculum time for Visual Arts. Professor McGaw clarified that mandated hours of study are jurisdictional concerns. He explained that ACARA providesanotionoftimetothewritersasameansfor providing quantitative constraints on the size of the document,however,theseconstraintswerenottobe indicative of instructional time. The issue of defining how time is represented in curriculum development took up considerable time in discussions. Professor McGaw also reiterated support for the integration of art learning within other areasof the curriculumas a meansofmaximizingcurriculumtime. In response to a question about the minimum requirementforstudyofartformsinyears7and8 in regional schools and the limitations this would represent for teachers and students in ensuring a continuumoflearninginbothVisualArtsand Music, Professor McGaw explained that this was againamatterfor jurisdictionstosortout. Others felt this issue was a matter of concern for the representationofqualityandasustainablecontinuum oflearninginVisualArtsinallschools. Page2

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CONGRATULATIONS

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Marian Strong, President of Art Education Australia, asked Professor McGaw toaccountfor the consistent lack of transparency in ACARAs processes.ProfessorMcGawconcededthatACARA had made mistakes in this regard. Additionally, questions were also raised about the lack of appropriatecommunicationwithprofessionalbodies. MsStrongidentifiedconcernsthatinformationabout recent progress on the developing curriculum and theidentityandqualificationsofthewriter/shadnot been forthcoming from ACARA. Professor McGaw undertooktofollowupthismatter. Minister for School Education, The Hon. Peter Garrett AM MP reiterated some of this information in an address on the following day of the conference. He outlined his achievements in securing the space for the Arts in the Australian CurriculuminhisformerroleasMinisterfortheArts, whichhascontinuedasafocus inhisnewer rolein education. Minister Garrett explored the benefits of art education in encouraging students to attend school and improve their sense of wellbeing. He citedtheSongroomProjectasanexampleofhow these outcomes had been achieved through music education. Minister Garrett also noted the positive impactofartslearningonthoseisolatedorexcluded in our society such as those in prisons. Unfortunately there was no time for questions in which delegates could explore the Governments commitment toensuring the intellectual contribution Visual Arts as a distinctive and rigorous area of studymakestoeducationandtheAustralianculture morebroadly. Shareyourthoughts/questionsaboutthe NationalArtsEducationConference withVADEA

On behalf of the VADEA Executive we congratulate Dr Kerry Thomas on her award of Outstanding Professional Service. VADEA Co President Karen Profilio accepted the award,on DrThomasbehalf, at
the Professional Teachers Council NSW awards evening.

NSWMinisterofEducation,AdrianPicolipresentstheaward th toVADEACoPresidentKarenProfilio.28 November2011.

Alsoonthenight,DrKarenMarasacceptedan acknowledgement onbehalfoftheVisualArts&Design Educators'AssociationofNSW.

contact@vadea.org.au

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Vol.23

SNAPSHOTFROMNATIONALVISUALARTSEDUCATIONCONFERENCE
REVIEWBYAMANDAWEATE Like the undertow of an unseen silent rip smashing usontorocksthe Australian Curriculumwasanever present danger lurking just below the surface of all presentations and conversations. Clearly Professor Barry McGaw and Minister for School Education, TheHon. PeterGarrett AM MP wereouttoplacate and soothe these recalcitrant visual artists. The dangers to be navigated include instrumental vs. art for art'ssake advocacy, nationalvs.statedilemmas, antecedenttime allocationsformusic andvisualarts in NSW, which are only jurisdictional issues according to McGaw. If the ACARA project is so benign,whyexpendsomuchtimemoneyandenergy onit?AunifiedoppositionappearsawayoffwithDr Wesley Imms, (Lecturer in Visual Art Education, University of Melbourne) getting bogged down in (mistaken) creativity theory, NAVA (National AssociationofVisual Arts) unsureoftheirbriefwhen it comes to education. The NSW position was notably absent from the panel discussion. Professor Graeme Sullivan added little to the politics. We did get to see a picture of his mum though. Spacewaschosenasthereplacement/surrogate for the pie as in, we are lucky to be able to participateandmustacceptlimitedopportunities, topreserveourplace/spaceinthecurriculum. So whereas in1993whenwewere beingtold toaccept the pie story, as in, there is only so much pie to go around,now itisaboutspace.Wehaven'tadvanced fromthissupplicant'spositioninover15years.
Amanda Weate, is the former Head of the School of Art Education, UniversityofNSW,CollegeofFine Arts, shehas been an active and respected participant in curriculum developmentatstateandnationallevelsforover30years.

Despite numerous protestations amidst claims to visuality,socialmediaandotherfadsandfashions. FionaFoleycontinuedthethemeofvisualityasvisibility, notingtheerasureof3Unitvisualartsacurriculumshe creditedasoneinfluenceonhercareerchoiceofartist. ChristineNicholls,newlyappointedjournaleditordidher bit with two fascinating papers arising from her experiencesasPrincipalofthebilingualschoolWarlpiri Lajamanu School. Donna Mathewson Mitchell gave oneofthefewproperlygroundedresearchpapers. The attitude to research is most vexing. Rather than approaching research as an objective, disinterested guide tocurriculum, research inthe mind ofmost non researchers,appearstoservemythologiesasideology. The conceptual framework is a truly novel innovationinNSWsyllabi.Supportedbyaresearch practiceoriginating in the 1990s atSAE/COFA, this work has the potential to shake up the tired old reprise of process and creativity zombies currently occupying ACARA. Research by Weate, Brown, Thomas, Maras, amongst others, tackles these old shibboleths.Butitisapparentlyconsideredasjustone possibility amongst many, choosing it being optional, ratherthanimperative.Iamremindedofavoiceonthe old syllabus committee, by someone who should have knownbetterhowdoIknowitisright?

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What: When:

2012 VADEA Conference, Irresistible Friday 18th & Saturday 19th May 2012 MCA Sydney

Where:

Guest Artists include:

Hossein Valamanesh Lindy Lee Hany Armanious Helen Eager Agatha Gothe-Snape Brook Andrew

Keep a look out for a REGISTRATION FORM and further details on the VADEA WEBSITE.

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