ABSTRACT
Professional growth is the means by which teachers gain confidence in teaching the arts effectively, achieve an understanding of the inherent principles that inform their best practice and, through self- and peer analysis, discover how to extend their own abilities. It advances and strengthens the teaching of the arts in the primary school thereby improving their status. The creative approach to teaching and learning in and through the arts requires that teachers and children are empowered by a variety of skills that facilitate the progression, development and expression of ideas that finally materialise as artifacts. The pedagogical principles that inform teaching and learning strategies ensure that:
children become proficient in the intrinsic skills of each artistic discipline – drama, dance, music and visual art
children apply these skills creatively in both single discipline and integrated contexts by producing a variety of artifacts
children acquire critical understanding of the processes involved and the nature of their own artifacts
children acquire critical understanding of their own work and that of other artists in a variety of contexts.
