FEATURE: CULTURAL EDUCATION © Janie Airey Art Fund 2021
Healthier, happier and more employable: why every child needs museums in their education
to do. Visiting museums provides an important counter point to learning within school, object- based learning opens other ways of embedding knowledge, improving retrieval and securing learning. However, the sad fact is that currently not every child gets to visit museums or take part in the arts. Art Fund, the charity that connects museums, people and art is working to change this. We want to remove barriers to children and young people visiting museums by supporting teachers with our newly launched Teacher Art Pass.
Students and schools are visiting museums less
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n our final feature this month looking at cultural education we are delighted to hear from Jenny Waldman, director of Art Fund, who explains how her organisation helps teachers offer their pupils access to the nation’s museums.
Arts and culture are a vital part of any education. Ownership of our cultural life is deemed to be so significant that it is enshrined in the UN Rights of Child. Taking part in art, dance, drama, music and visiting museums, galleries and theatres is something we expect every child in our schools
Research conducted by Art fund over summer 2023 has shown that school students are less likely to visit museums now than they were pre- pandemic. Our findings build on Sutton Trust polling published in April 2023 that showed half of senior leaders had cut trips in the 2022-23 school year. Our YouGov research found among children aged 6-15 years only 52 per cent of less privileged pupils have visited a museum in the past year, compared to 70 per cent of those growing up with more advantage. The same research showed students from lower socio-economic backgrounds were not as likely to be taken to a museum by their school (34%) compared to their peers from higher socio- economic backgrounds (47%).
We know that the number of hours the arts are taught in England’s schools have been in a long decline over the past 10 years, with 21 per cent fewer hours being spent teaching arts
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subjects in 2021 than in 2010 according to Department for Education figures compiled by the Cultural Learning Alliance. Research by the Sutton Trust and the Social Mobility Commission shows family background and income plays a significant part in determining a student’s access to the arts outside of school, making arts access in school even more important. At a time when we are all working hard to close the outcome gap between the most and least advantaged, this decline in cultural education in our schools, and the particular paucity of experience for the children already experiencing the most disadvantage, should worry all of us.
Engaging in arts and culture improves educational outcomes
Evidence shows that children who engage in the arts and culture have better educational outcomes than those who do not. This rings true across all groups. In large cohort studies in the US students from lower socio-economic backgrounds who had an arts-rich education were three times more likely to go to university than their socio- economic peers who did not have an arts-rich education. The students were also more likely to vote as young adults and to volunteer. Hong Kong research shows improvements in creativity and communication through studying visual arts and Dutch research improvements to visual and spatial memory. In Australia NAPLAN (National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy) research with primary age children has shown that students who engaged in
November 2023
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