“Fine arts and education in the schools is disappearing…so we have to really stop and think, what are we trying to do with the sciences and the arts? There’s a need to revitalise them. We have to pay attention to it” (Mae Jemison, 2002)

My name is Rebecca and I have recently been employed by Inspirative Arts as a dramatherapist. Getting to grips with writing my first blog entry has been a challenge. Something that came more readily however, was what I would write about – the arts in schools, a topic I have and always will be very passionate about.

Currently working in a number of educational settings, it is becoming increasingly apparent how little the students I work with are being able to access the arts. Instead young people are encouraged to focus primarily on ‘academic’ subjects.

Earlier this year I came across an article discussing further spending cuts and how the arts and culture are being systematically removed from the UK’s education system.

READ article here

Whilst doing research for a recent project I found an interesting TED talk from by Mae Jemison, the first African American female astronaut. The lecture from 2002 explored the teaching of the arts and the sciences together – she, like me, believes that the two are intrinsically linked. She talked in depth about her fears of how education will look in the year 2015. Experiencing the education system first hand this year I am able to confirm that sadly in many cases, her fears have come true.

Working as an arts therapist, my job requires me to combine the arts and the sciences, to be analytical and creative. I don’t believe that you have to choose to be one or the other. To be a pioneer in science you are required to delve deep into your imagination, the unknown and dare to ask the question ‘what if?’ Equally as an arts therapist you are required to use your knowledge of neuroscience and biological functioning to embrace the unknown on a daily basis. Whether it’s the arts or sciences or both that interest you, each requires an ability to tolerate the logical and illogical and understand cause and effect. It saddens me to think that in comparison, the arts are becoming less important and understood and the trend for ‘academic subjects’ has begun once more.

However, Richard Spencer, an A level biology teacher from Middlesborough College (recently nominated for the Global Teacher Prize) has been shortlisted because of his ingenuity when it comes to teaching the sciences. He explains how he is inspired by the world around him and regularly uses music and art to help teach his students complicated equations. He recognises that as individuals we all have our preferred learning styles.

“If we look at things on a molecular level these things can be quite abstract, quite difficult to get hold of and I thought well I can teach students about the structure of DNA, but what better than to actually become part of the molecule themselves and to introduce a great element of fun – to actually choreograph it and put it to music” (Richard Spencer, 2015)

Since watching his nomination video, I have been left feeling enthused and encouraged that there are people within the educational system who still strive to squeeze the arts into their teaching, whether this be in the sciences or humanities.

Mae Jemison considers both art and science to be ‘avatars of human creativity’. As humans we try and understand the universe and the world around us and it’s our attempt to influence change, great and small.

We have a responsibility to reassess the education of our future generation. Within my role I hope to continue championing the arts in education, allowing young people to continue to develop and flourish. If you too feel strongly about the importance of the arts in education then I thoroughly recommend clicking on the links included in this post as I guarantee they will leave you inspired! I do hope that my first attempt at blog writing has been of interest to you – as always here at Inspirative Arts we welcome your thoughts and comments. I hope to hear stories of how the arts are being used effectively in schools near you.

Let’s be champions of the arts together!

Rebecca Morley, Dramatherapist for Inspirative Arts

“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body…This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” (Ghandi, 1913)

Art work created by the Inspirative Arts Art Group, 2015