Hello all
John Reeve asked me to report on the Cultural Learning Alliance
advisory panel, which was called to form a response to the Darren
Henley Review of Cultural Learning. There have been four panel
meetings this week, to reach representatives from all cultural sectors
and regions.
I'm a fan of the Cultural Learning Alliance because it represents an
opportunity for joint advocacy for the value of culture as a force for
the transformation of individuals and society, through high quality
learning provision. It brings together the ACE and MLA/heritage
sectors at a useful time. It allows us to collaborate to send a strong
message to decision-makers. (So, if you haven't done so already, do
sign up http://www.culturallearningalliance.org.uk/ )
There is of course the danger of 'design by committee', that a message
can be weakened by being too generic or mixing too many diverse
agendas. In the meeting, we were tasked with helping to craft these
messages to be as effective as possible, in a context that we know to
be very threatening to cultural provision, so it was a challenge
rather than a nice catch-up! Sam Cairns and Lizzie Crump from the CLA
will spend the next week finalising the papers from our feedback, to
send to Henley and to publish on their website.
We had three tasks:
1) To review a 3 pager manifesto, which lays out principles,
definitions and scope of the Alliance. The Henley review has given
this impetus but it will have many uses beyond inclusion in a response
to Henley.
2) To review a 4 pager strategy, with some requests for regulatory
action that will protect and promote cultural learning in schools, in
cultural organisations and beyond. These requests relate to ways that
cultural learning is measured, how teachers are trained and assessed,
how schools are governed and inspected, and so on.
3) To comment on actions for the Cultural Learning Alliance can
further its agenda beyond the Henley Review. For example, how to
pursue and share research on the impact of cultural learning.
A few issues arose, too few to mention in full:
- The extent to which science is part of the cultural learning offer
- The need to emphasis vocational skills and the contribution to the
cultural and creative economy
- How to embrace the wider learning society including adults, given
that the impetus for the manifesto is a review on learning in schools
- The tension between asking for cultural infrastructure to be
protected (in a time of cuts) and asking for schools to be resourced
to lead the development of the cultural offer.
- And much more.
The CLA is keen to communicate widely with networks such as GEM, and
will be sharing case studies and advocacy materials. Do sign up and
send them any evaluation reports or evidence that you may have.
If you have any specific questions, do feel free to ask me on
[log in to unmask]
Best wishes
Bridget
--
http://about.me/BridgetMcKenzie/bio
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