Links with Artists in the Community
The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum provides rich opportunities for schools, artists, and arts organisations to collaborate in learning experiences for students. Although some teachers of the arts are practising artists, students will also benefit from opportunities to interact with and learn from artists and others outside schools with local cultural knowledge, arts sector experience, and arts-related skills.
As part of their learning in the four strands of each arts discipline, students may, for example:
- participate in skills-based workshops or demonstrations with artists from the local community;
- seek advice and feedback from practising artists when planning and undertaking new projects;
- take part in community projects with an arts component;
- view, listen to, and respond to live performances or presentations;
- participate in partnerships between their school and community agencies involved in the arts;
- interview artists about social and cultural influences and other references in their work.
Teachers may invite artists into their classrooms or arrange for students to visit them in their own environments. Artists may also participate in residency projects, where they work with a school or cluster of schools for an extended period. In such situations, schools should ensure that expectations are reasonable and agreed in advance.
Artists or arts organisations may approach schools directly, offering performances, workshops, or other activities. These opportunities may help schools meet curriculum requirements in the arts and in other areas, such as English or social studies. Touring artists provide opportunities for students outside main centres to experience exhibitions and live performances. Schools should require such programmes and activities to demonstrate high artistic and educational standards, to suit the age groups for which they are intended, and to take account of the gender, cultural backgrounds, and special needs of students.
In working with students, visiting artists have different roles and responsibilities to those of teachers. These artists should be viewed not as substitutes for classroom teachers but as specialists, whose abilities, knowledge, and experience complement those of teachers. Schools may wish to develop arts policies that include a rationale for involving artists in classroom and wider school activities and the procedures and protocols for doing so.
Students' learning is enhanced through interactions with artists who demonstrate high artistic standards in their work. Partnerships between schools and the arts community provide students with insights into possible career options and can strengthen infrastructures in the arts.
