What Price Highland Culture Now?

GEORGINA COBURN condemns the short-sighted policy of removing specialist art and music teachers from early primary school
 

THE ANNOUNCEMENT on the 6 o’clock news about the axing of specialist Art, Music and PE teachers in the Highlands for primary one to three did not come without a bitter sense of irony.

I was in Oban at the time, having just come from Mull and Iona where I was interviewing artists and arts workers about the current state of the visual arts in the Highlands and Islands. Having been so inspired by the work I had seen I was utterly dismayed at this news and the manner in which it was reported.

In many ways this decision is reflective of that current state and symptomatic of a wider problem, that of the value we ascribe to culture in our own community.

Apologies in advance to any PE specialists out there, but since the national news chose only to focus upon the physical rather than the educational or cultural implications of this decision, my argument here is for Art and Music, which had no voice in the bulletin.

With the media focusing on childhood obesity it seems the health of our children’s minds, or providing balance and quality of education, is off the radar, not even of secondary importance. It simply wasn’t mentioned at all. What that report left out spoke volumes.
 Upon my return to Inverness, I tried to gauge reaction. Had there been protests about this decision? What had the local press to say? It seems that the timing of the announcement immediately prior to the school holidays had had the desired effect of diffusing any objection.

Denying pupils throughout the region access to specialist teachers will have an adverse and damaging effect for generations to come

I think everyone would agree that a class teacher is no substitute for an art or music specialist. In the absence of a loud and unified voice of protest I wonder if this is only the beginning.

The implications for artists and musicians, many of whom rely on part-time income from tutoring and formal education, will be dire. It would seem a dangerous first step in ensuring a potential cultural exodus.

At the very time when we should be attracting, nurturing and celebrating local cultural activity and creative thinking our Council once again makes clear its consistent strategy of indifference and ignorance.

Quoted in the ‘Highland News’, Donnie MacDonald, the Highland Council Head of Education Services, attempted to defend the action by pointing to the “Highland Year of Culture” and “after school and community activities”, stating that “increasingly pupils have access to activities in Art, Music and PE” through these avenues.

I find it alarming that someone in charge of education could use a focus year and the part-time work of overstretched Cultural Co-ordinators as a substitute for sustained long term commitment to quality of education and cultural access for children throughout the region.

Like the television news broadcast, this article did not quote reaction from arts or education professionals but from a GP about the physical impact of cuts to specialist PE teachers. Where was the voice of the arts sector? Where was the voice of advocacy for the value of art and music?

This decision makes a mockery of the council’s partnership with Highland 2007, its cultural pledge to the youth of the region, and the whole idea of cultural legacy.

Paying lip service to this idea simply isn’t good enough. The time has arrived for local authorities to match the commitment that professional artists, arts workers and voluntary workers give everyday throughout the region. Anything less is unacceptable, short sighted and lacking in the necessary vision for the area to have a healthy, sustainable future.

Throughout rural areas in the Highlands and Islands we simply do not have the cultural access or infrastructure that larger cities enjoy, particularly with regard to public displays of art and music and educational opportunities.

The value of art and music experience is well documented and improves quality of life. Creative thinking has a central role to play in the development of any child, especially in their formative years. Denying pupils throughout the region access to specialist teachers will have an adverse and damaging effect for generations to come.

Anyone who has been involved directly with arts education will understand what participation in arts activity does to the confidence, self-worth and well-being of those involved. Perhaps these things are harder to measure than numbers in an audience, but in a civilised society their worth is understood.

We speak so often about Highland Culture, but how much do we actively invest in its future? Banners on the High Street proclaiming it exists are nothing but false advertising if local authority does not actively invest in the future of arts education and practice.

Artists, musicians, parents and teachers have a responsibility to ensure that this lack of value does not carry forward another generation, and that the true meaning of cultural legacy is realised by local government.

We have a collective responsibility for arts advocacy and for a fundamental change in the traditional way that culture is taken for granted. It is not a given. It cannot thrive if the next generation have no exposure to the possibilities that creative thinking can nurture.

© Georgina Coburn, 2006