An initial meeting of the Art and Design National Working Group took place at Optima, Glasgow on Tuesday 4th March. The aims of the meeting were to identify and discuss the key national issues with regard to Art and Design education 3-18 and to begin considering actions to address these issues.

Using the International Futures Forum “3 Horizons” tool, the group set out to map the current landscape and to explore visions for the future, not just in three years’ time but looking further ahead into 2020 and beyond.

The statements the group used to stimulate discussion through the 3 Horizons sessions are shown below:

1. The most effective Art and Design education is driven by learners
2. Effective career-long professional learning (CLPL) supports teachers, building confidence and capacity
3. Technology should play a central role in Art and Design education
4. Establishing and maintaining effective partnerships is key to successful Art and Design education
5. Effective listening skills positively impact across the whole curriculum and leads to lifelong appreciation of music.
6. Art and Design education is current and relevant to the lives of children and young people

These statements were designed to provoke conversation and thinking in relation to current practice, either observed or undertaken by members of the group, and thinking about the future direction of Art and Design education and its relevance to learners.

From the conversations, the key issues that were highlighted during the day included:

• The need to build practitioner confidence and capacity to teach Art and Design
• The quality and quantity of Art and Design training during initial teacher education
• The challenges associated with building and sustaining partnerships with arts professional and organisations
• The extent to which Art and Design education 3-18 is relevant to the lives and future destinations of young people.

The outputs from the meeting are collated and posted below in both Word and PowerPoint format.

Comments from all stakeholders on the outputs are very welcome.

Planning for transformation in Art and Design

Planning for transformation in Art and Design (ppt)