ABSTRACT
In the course of my work, I often have conversations with primary school teachers about the role of the arts in education. Rarely does anyone express the view that the arts are unimportant. Many will argue a case on the basis of balance: the arts countering a perceived over-emphasis on the ‘basics’. Often with this same notion of balance in mind, some will talk of enrichment: the ‘something more’ that the arts bring to the curriculum. There is also the widespread feeling that the arts offer means by which children can ‘express themselves’. Perhaps reflecting its greater profile on the national agenda, the need to develop children’s creativity also gets mentioned. And, most significantly in the context of this book, connections are frequently made between the arts and children’s personal and social development. Whatever the range of reasons articulated, there seems to be a tacit understanding that the arts have an important role to play, but that discussing and explaining that role is a complex business.
