ART IN SCHOOLS – NO LONGER A PRIORITY?

Not many people can say that they love their job, but I do. I teach art and design in a large secondary school in London. I help young minds undertake journeys of creativity and self-exploration, as well as enabling them to learn new skills. Our classrooms are environments where students experience challenge, accomplishment and, dare I say, joy. However, I don’t experience utopia every day. There is a short period of the year I dread – where my technicolour-rainbow attitude to teaching transforms to bleak monochromes. This is when our students select their GCSE options.

Each February I ask two questions of my Year 9 art classes. The first is: ‘Do you enjoy your art lessons?’. I know the answer. The majority (90%) love them and this is evident through their enthusiasm and the levels of participation. Students arrive during their break, organise their equipment and start working before the lesson has started. When the lesson is over, there is a chorus of groans: ‘Miss, I’m not finished yet; I don’t want to go to my next lesson; can I stay here?’

It is the second question, however, where I find the responses heartbreaking. ‘Who is choosing art as a GCSE option next year?’ They look away and only a few respond with a ‘yes’. Their decision reflects a national trend where the number of students undertaking arts subjects at GCSE level is declining rapidly. Indeed, the proportion of 15- to 16-year-olds taking arts subjects has fallen to levels not seen in over a decade. And the trend is accelerating: arts GCSE entrants dropped by 8% in 2015–16 and again in 2016–17. Why is this happening?

If a student enjoys and gravitates towards a subject, then surely they would want to continue? The reality is that although students may want to take creative arts subjects, they feel that these subjects will not lead to successful careers, and are therefore not valued.

‘THE PROPORTION OF 15- TO 16-YEAR-OLDS TAKING ARTS SUBJECTS HAS FALLEN TO LEVELS NOT SEEN IN OVER A DECADE’

How is this happening? It does not help that the EBacc group of subjects (a combination that the government thinks is important for young people to study at GCSE) does not include any of the arts. Neither does the fact that Russell Group universities (24 leading universities) do not list any of the arts as facilitating subjects to undertake courses in their establishments. Furthermore, lack of government funding, recent changes in the curriculum and new accountability measures have placed huge pressures on schools. Many have had to cut art staffing and curriculum time, and some are only able to offer these subjects as after-school provisions.

This is the main reason why I have set up my charity, Artists in Residence (AiR), using the $1m prize money of the Global Teacher Prize. I am frustrated that the arts subjects are not considered a priority or a necessity in our children’s lives and that they are thought of as ‘add-ons’. My aim is to support schools in offering an enriching arts curriculum by connecting them with artists who will inspire the students through workshops or activities to hopefully consider following careers in the arts. I know how life-transforming and inclusive the arts subjects are – how they create opportunities and make a huge difference to an individual.

Not only that, the UK’s creative industries make up a large part of ‘Brand Britain’. They play a vital role in our economy, contributing almost £90bn net to GDP and accounting for one in 11 jobs. With artificial intelligence soon to revolutionise the workplace, jobs in demand are likely to be those high in creativity, communication skills and emotional intelligence – qualities typically developed best in the arts.

We need arts subjects; if we allow the decline of GCSE student uptake to continue, then the outcome for our society could be dire. We must strive to reverse the trend and give students the confidence to reach their creative potential. My last question, then, is this: ‘Who is with me?’

Andria Zafirakou won the $1m Global Teacher Prize in recognition of her extraordinary contribution to education in London as a teacher of arts. Find out more about AiR at artistsinresidence.org.uk

Melvyn Bragg talks about why the arts matter with Andria Zafirakou on The South Bank Show, on Sky Arts, 13 December, 10pm

Image: Courtesy Andria Zafirakou