Dancing their way through double maths

Learning maths using dance, or history through visual art, will be a unique experience for young people returning to school after the summer break.

A new project, Arts Across the Curriculum, will bring these experiences into classrooms across seven local authorities for the autumn term.

Supported by the Scottish Arts Council in partnership with the Scottish Executive, Arts Across the Curriculum is a genuinely inspiring method of delivering lessons.

Based on a model pioneered in Chicago in the United States, the project brings together artists and teachers in a partnership to develop and deliver core subjects of the curriculum.  Educational successes in the Chicago model included: improved school attendance, enhanced school ethos, enrichment of learning and understanding, improved pupil motivation and better test results. Arts Across the Curriculum will be independently evaluated from the outset.

The collaboration begins away from the classroom as teacher and artist decide on how best they can use their respective professional skills to deliver the knowledge and understanding elements of a subject.  Through the learning plan, the teacher outlines the necessary standards that the pupils must attain, while the artist uses his or her creative expertise to develop methods that will engage and inspire the youngsters and their different learning styles.

One example from the Chicago project was a dancer using physical movement with groups of children to explore geometry.  In small groups, the children used their bodies to make rectangles, angles and straight lines.

The first group of teachers, artists and local authority education staff are this week meeting with their American counterparts in a series of workshops describing the Chicago experience and providing training in collaborative working. 

This first phase of the Arts Across the Curriculum project will conclude in Edinburgh on Thursday with a broad range of arts organisations, teachers and local authority Creative Links officers attending a short seminar outlining the aims and methods of the project. 

Teachers will then return to their local areas to begin the collaborative planning process with artists and to prepare for the academic year in late summer.

Joan Parr, Head of Education, Scottish Arts Council welcomed the American guests and added: ‘This is an exciting project for teachers and for their pupils. It gives teachers an opportunity to look at their subject from a fresh perspective, and most importantly gives young people a new way of investigating a subject.  Making effective learning an enjoyable, creative experience for young people is much more likely to result in confident young citizens with a solid foundation of learning. Arts Across the Curriculum offers a pioneering opportunity to do both.’

Jackie Murphy, writer, Director, Lakeview Arts Education Partnership, Chicago: ‘I am old friends with Scotland but it is so exciting to be coming back to share our experiences from Chicago.  There is something magical that happens when a teacher and an artist work together.  Their mutual trust and respect inspires great lessons and the biggest winners are the children.’

Notes to editors

1. The Scottish Arts Council (www.scottisharts.org.uk) champions and sustains the arts for Scotland, investing over £60 million of Scottish Executive and National Lottery funding to support and develop artistic excellence and creativity throughout Scotland.
2. A photo-call will be held at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street, Edinburgh at 12.15pm, with Jackie Murphy, Director, Lakeview Arts Education Partnership, Chicago; Michelle Carabine, dancer working with LEAP in Chicago schools; Joan Parr, Head of Education, Scottish Arts Council and Sylvia Dow, Project Manger, Arts Across the Curriculum.
3. The key aims of the Arts Across the Curriculum project are: increase pupils’ achievement in identified subject areas across the curriculum; increase pupils motivation to learn; support and develop the skills of teachers to work collaboratively and creatively; encourage links between different areas of learning and erode subject barriers; improve the ethos of the school; explore the efficacy of the expressive arts as a delivery mechanism across the curriculum.
4. The participating local authorities are: Aberdeen City Council; Dumfries and Galloway Council; East Ayrshire Council; East Renfrewshire Council; Glasgow City Council; South Lanarkshire Council; West Lothian Council.
5. The Scottish Arts Council is investing £60,000 per year. This is supported by £850,000 from the Scottish Executive and £15,000 per year from each local authority.
6. Arts Across the Curriculum is a pilot project and corresponds with the Curriculum for Excellence aspiration to: ‘enable all children to develop their capacities as successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to society.

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council