Working Together

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FOREWORD

Bernard W. Andrews’ illuminating case study of a national arts education partnership, collaboratively conducted by ArtsSmarts and cooperating organizations in seven of ten Canadian provinces, reminds us of how valuable arts education can be to our communities and how important it is to initiate each project with knowledge and care. It is sadly ironic that, after more than a decade of outstanding contributions from coast to coast, and several months before the completion of this book, financial challenges resulted in the closure of the national office of ArtsSmarts and the cancellation of all regular programming and new initiatives. In a way, this book can be seen as a memorial tribute to a remarkable chapter in the development of arts and learning in Canada.

Fortunately, ArtsSmarts project activity lives on in the hands of partner organizations. At the same time, the arts education community in Canada is sufficiently robust that other programs, several of which are identified in this study, remain to fill the void left by the closure of the national office. So, it is extremely helpful that Dr. Andrews’ study presents a clear and vibrant recounting of how several participants in ArtsSmarts programs viewed their experiences, as this will enable new projects to benefit from the accumulated knowledge generated by the organization and its partners. ← vii | viii →

We can learn a great deal from the observations and recommendations of the 19 artists, 19 teachers, and 15 project coordinators who were interviewed by Dr. Andrews in 14 sites across the country. These professionals offer valuable insights into partnership issues, arts integration, extrinsic learning, arts appreciation, and the possibility of replicating the success of their programs in other sites. We are, indeed, fortunate that this study was completed in time to capture a revealing image of arts education at a high level of achievement and to perpetuate the legacy of an important organization.

Larry O’Farrell

Professor Emeritus, UNESCO Chair in Arts and Learning

Faculty of Education, Queen’s University

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PREFACE

Arts education partnerships are organizational arrangements between school districts and external parties, such as arts organizations, cultural institutions, community foundations, universities, and/or government agencies. More recently, these partnerships feature artist-teacher collaboration as a vehicle for improving the teaching and learning of the arts in the school curriculum. The purpose of this book, titled Working Together: A Case Study of a National Arts Education Partnership, is to present the findings of a study on the effectiveness of ArtsSmarts, a pan-Canadian arts program, within the context of the research literature.

—B. W. A.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book is dedicated to my wife, Angelie, and my mother, Joan Andrews. They supported me wholeheartedly through many challenging years as a musician, teacher, secondary department head, and university professor. I also wish to acknowledge the editing contributions of my daughter, Melody, the assistance with the literature review by my research assistants, Maia Giesbrecht and Maria Bastien, and the submission of children’s artwork by Natasha Black, French Immersion teacher at Connaught Elementary Street School in Fredericton, New Brunswick. ← xi | xii →

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A NOTE TO THE READER

Beginning with Chapter 3 and continuing through Chapter 9, selected quotes are provided to support themes identified in the data presented through my research. The raw data from which the themes were generated and quotes selected are presented in the appendices (pp. 105–146). Pseudonyms are used when quoting responses from the artists, teachers, and project coordinators interviewed. When a quotation indicates two or more names, this represents a group interview, and the individual’s name in italics provided the response. ← xiii | xiv →

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INTRODUCTION

What I found amusing was that we were working right up to the bell at the end of the day, and one boy said to me: “This is the first time ever that I’ve not wanted to leave school and do something else at the end of the day.”