Sir, – In his foreword to the recently published Action Plan for Education, the Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton states that "to solve the great problems through research and innovation, and excel in culture and art" is one of our most important goals. The plan contains objectives to increase the take-up of "gateway" subjects and curricular reform.
Gateway refers to the Stem subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It does not refer to art. Yet art is the one discipline in which students practice innovation on a daily basis, challenge the status quo and provide their own personal interpretation of the world. We need to embrace “Steam” and not Stem in our educational vernacular.
We need art to be at the top of the curriculum reform agenda if there is a genuine interest in propelling student engagement in Steam.
The Leaving Certificate art curriculum is lamentably outdated, and has remained static since 1972. An approved departmental revision of the curriculum has been gathering dust since 2005. Only 1.3 per cent of students got an A1 in the Leaving Certificate higher-level art paper in 2016.
Over this weekend, the 60-year-old Art Teachers Association of Ireland host its annual conference under the theme “Art Matters: Artist – Teacher – Activist”. I wish these teachers well as they struggle to bring modern relevance to their devoted teaching practice within the constraints of the existing curriculum.
In a society and culture that values, and repeatedly trumpets our creative and artistic heritage, it is time for a positive emphasis on the study of Leaving Certificate art. Our future innovators deserve a curriculum that encourages rather than hinders students who want to pursue creativity as an essential complement to technology and science. – Yours, etc,
BERNARD HANRATTY,
Acting Director,
National College of Art
and Design,
Thomas Street, Dublin 8.