CIDREE ARTS EXPERT MEETING
The delegates attending this CIDREE Expert Meeting were, from left to right: Jean-Charles Chabanne (France), Danica Vasilj (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ron Cowie (Scotland), Stéfanie van Tuinen (Netherlands) and insert Fred Boss (Ireland). This photograph was taken in Merrion Square, Dublin, at the statue of Oscar Wilde.
The group has met twice before and used this meeting to plan a project proposal to CIDREE which would survey primary teacher competencies in the areas of arts in which they are both most and least confident.
The first day of the meeting involved the group presenting and discussing the various curriculum developments and associated work in which they are involved in the Arts. It was a worthwhile discussion and allowed the group to catch up on any new developments as well as gain an understanding of the issues and challenges faced by their colleagues in other countries. It was a very rich discussion after which the group discussed the project proposal. This was brought further into focus by the Scottish presentation on their “Creative Space Model” and how they have used this to develop confidence in teachers in Arts areas/disciplines they would be least familiar with.
The second day of the meeting was a very intensive planning day. The group discussed, debated and refined the project proposal they would submit to CIDREE. The group were torn between two approaches. The first was to develop a CPD approach that would assist primary teachers in building more confidence in all areas of the Arts curriculum they teach. The second was to develop a quantitative survey, with questions common to all countries involved, which will identify how teachers currently use resources to develop the competence and confidence required to be able to teach each arts subject in the primary curriculum. When the results of the survey have been analysed, interviews with a small number of respondents will be carried out. This will generate a report which the group hopes will help to identify resources that could be used to build the confidence of and to support teachers in teaching the arts in primary education. The Scottish delegate took on the formal role of finalising it and submitting it on behalf of the group.
Project leader: Fred Boss, NCCA, Ireland
Country / Institute Workstream Leads: Tracy Curran, NCCA, Ireland
