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DEMOS LAUNCHES CONSULTATION ON NEW
AGENDA FOR CULTURAL EDUCATION
In the context of recent government announcements about
cultural education, Demos has challenged cultural professionals and
educationalists to provide a new and coherent direction for cultural education.
Culture and Learning: Towards a New
Agenda, a consultation paper written by John Holden, has been
published to invite debate and responses.
Cultural organisations, the education sector
and the wider public are asked for their views on:
The consultation will identify changes relevant to
directors, trustees and practitioners in the cultural sector, teachers,
policymakers, local authorities, government and cultural and educational
agencies. The paper asks how the profile, scale and effectiveness of cultural
learning can be improved. The main topics in the report relate to shared
standards of excellence, entitlement, impact assessment, leadership and
brokerage and networks.
Culture and Learning: Towards a New
Agenda
was commissioned by a consortium of funding agencies, ranging from grant-giving
foundations to public bodies*. The investigation builds on and examines some of
the aspirations in the McMaster Review, Supporting Excellence in the Arts, and the
government’s recently published Children’s Plan. A series of invitation-only
regional consultation events will take place during the consultation phase,
hosted by a range of cultural venues.
The author, John Holden, commented. "Although there have
been many positive developments and initiatives in both the cultural and
education sectors, fundamental problems remain, with learners encountering
widely differing experiences. Shared standards of excellence need to be
developed".
Comments on Culture and Learning: Towards a New Agenda
(downloadable at www.demos.co.uk and at
www.cloreduffield.org.uk) are invited by 30 April 2008. A
background Context Paper is also available from the same sites.
* The project is funded by a
consortium of funding partners:
o
Calouste Gulbenkian
Foundation
o
Clore Duffield
Foundation
o
Esmée Fairbairn
Foundation
o
Foyle
Foundation
o
Heritage Lottery
Fund
o
Northern Rock
Foundation
o
Paul Hamlyn
Foundation