What are the value of expressive arts activities in primary education?

‘’The expressive arts combine the visual arts, movement, drama, music, writing and other creative processes to foster deep personal growth and community development’’ (Bergin Learning Arts, 2019). Within schools ‘’themes are chosen specifically to allow opportunities to develop pupils’ skills in music, media, art, dance and drama.  For example, in drama, strategies such as ‘Observe, Wonder, Infer’, ‘Thought Tunnels’, ‘Mantle of the Expert’ and ‘Tableaux’ have enabled pupils to become increasingly confident, as well as helping them to develop critical and creative thinking skills.  This purposeful multidisciplinary approach is stimulating and exciting for pupils and teachers alike’’ (Estyn, 2017).
According to St John’s Primary & Nursery (no date) ‘’Learning in, through and about the expressive arts enables children and young people to:
• be creative and express themselves in different ways
• experience enjoyment and contribute to other people’s enjoyment through creative and expressive performance and presentation
• develop important skills, both those specific to the expressive arts and those which are transferable
• develop an appreciation of aesthetic and cultural values, identities and ideas and, for some, prepare for advanced learning and future careers by building foundations for excellence in the expressive arts.’’

Bergin Learning Arts (2019) notes some of the benefits of participating in expressive arts as: ‘’mindfulness, authenticity, balanced sense of self and homeostasis, personal growth, confidence, self-actualization, healing, an embodied sense of vitality that creates both meaning for and enjoyment of life. Practicing expressive arts gives us a chance to slow everything down and pay attention to our body’’. They also note that ‘’expressive arts can be a primary tool for self-discovery and self-actualization, and it can also be used for developing effective methods for helping children and adults process and make meaning of their experiences’’ (Bergin Learning Arts, 2019). Cprtrust.org (2016) discuss some of the ways in which the arts are of benefit, they note that ‘’the arts are essential in life’’, they can help shape a person and define who they are while helping to also understand who they are. They go on to state that dance, dram, music and the arts are fundamental for cultural engagement and personal development.
Expressive arts also link to Donaldson’s new Welsh curriculum as it is one of the six Areas of Learning and Experience (AOLE):
·         Expressive arts
·         Health and well-being
·         Humanities
·         Languages, literacy and communication
·         Mathematics and numeracy
·         Science and technology.
(Successful Futures, 2015)
Within the new curriculum ‘’the Expressive Arts are taught through exploration and practice, resulting in the acquisition of skills, knowledge and understanding’’, the aim is to create ‘’ambitious capable learners who are ready to learn throughout their lives’’ (gov.wales, 2017). 
The following video discusses the expressive arts within AOLE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR0QcdfZSak


Reference list
·         Bergin Learning Arts. (2019). What is Expressive Arts? - Bergin Learning Arts. [online] Available at: https://berginlearningarts.com/what-is-expressive-arts/ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2019].
·         Estyn.gov.wales. (2017). Creating an innovative curriculum using the expressive arts | Estyn. [online] Available at: https://www.estyn.gov.wales/effective-practice/creating-innovative-curriculum-using-expressive-arts [Accessed 18 Mar. 2019].
·         St-johns.inverclyde.sch.uk. (n.d.). St John's Primary School - Expressive Arts. [online] Available at: http://st-johns.inverclyde.sch.uk/curriculum/expressive-arts/ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2019].
·         Cprtrust.org.uk. (2019). The power of the arts in primary schools. [online] Available at: https://cprtrust.org.uk/cprt-blog/the-power-of-the-arts-in-primary-schools/ [Accessed 12 Mar. 2019].
·         Donaldson, G. (2015). Successful Futures. [PDF] Crown. Available at: http://file:///C:/Users/Aliya%20Davies/Downloads/Donaldson%20Report%20-%20Successful%20Futures%20-%20Independent%20Review%20of%20Curriculum%20and%20Assessment%20Arrangements%20in%20Wales.pdf [Accessed 12 Mar. 2019].

·         Gov.wales. (2017). Expressive Arts AoLE: Submission to Curriculum & Assessment Group: December 2017. [PDF] Available at: https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2018-07/expressive-arts-aole-december-2017.pdf [Accessed 12 Mar. 2019].

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