Arts and education partnerships research

Research and evaluation of partnerships between schools and the professional arts sector in Victoria

The Artist in Residence Initiative (AIR) is a unique partnership between the Australia Council and State and Territory arts agencies and education departments. It aims to expose Australian students to the benefits of creative practice.

Arts Victoria and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) commissioned research and evaluation of partnerships between Victorian schools and the professional arts sector in two stages, generating two reports.

The research and evaluation was conducted by the Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne in 2009. It considered:

  • the impact of school/arts partnerships on student engagement, student voice, social learning, creative skills and arts-related knowledge and skills 
  • the characteristics of effective school/arts partnerships 
  • the roles, functions and characteristics of teachers, arts professionals and school leaders in effective partnerships 
  • implications for future policy, programs and practice. 

Stage one

Stage one of this project sought to identify and evaluate partnerships between schools and the professional arts sector with a focus on excellence in student outcomes through improved student engagement, social learning, personalised learning, creativity and arts-related knowledge and skills.

The report provides a literature review of national and international research in this area of school/arts sector partnerships as well as a number of recent examples of school/arts partnerships undertaken in Victorian schools.

Overall the findings provide important insight into the unfolding world of school/arts sector partnerships and their current and potential value for Victorian schools.

Download the Stage 1 report

Stage two

The purpose of the Stage 2 evaluation was to consider:         

  • how arts partnerships impact student engagement, student voice, social learning, creative skills and arts-related knowledge and skills;
  • the characteristics of effective partnerships;
  • the special roles, functions and characteristics of the teacher, arts professional and school leaders in these partnerships; and
  • implications for future policy, programs and practice. The evaluation focused on five student outcomes linked to the Prep to Year 10

Victorian Curriculum known as the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS):

  • student engagement (involvement in learning, persistence and pride in work, willingness to accept challenges, display of positive attitudes to learning);
  • student voice (directing own styles of learning, having impact on courses of study,
  • having impact on school learning policies);
  • social learning (working in teams, building social relationships, seeking contact with and mirroring behaviours of adult role models and/or capable peers);
  • creative skills (being innovative and inventive, utilising divergent thinking, originality, problem solving skills); and
  • arts-related knowledge and skills (applying artforms’ conventions, developing and using arts skills techniques and processes, reflecting on art works, critiquing and evaluating own and others works).
Download the Stage 2 report

 

For more information:

Read more about the Artists in Residence initiative or visit Arts Victoria's Arts and Education Partnerships page.

 

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