The arts

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The arts

HomeSchool resourcesThe arts

Topic summary

The arts are powerful forms of communication that use a range of verbal and non-verbal languages including sound, movement, and image.

Arts education includes the disciplines of dance, drama, the visual arts, and music and sound arts. 

The arts engage cognition, imagination, senses, and feelings. Arts education values students’ experiences while encouraging them to view the world from different perspectives. Learning about and through the arts stimulates students to be creative and to respond to the creative expressions of others. Students learn to work independently and collaboratively to construct meanings, create works of art, and respond to and value what others create. By developing arts literacies, students learn to be creators, presenters, viewers, and listeners.

Research has shown that participation in the arts enhances students’ wellbeing and supports them to take risks. 

Arts education programmes should equip students with the skills and knowledge to analyse and respond critically to the verbal and non-verbal languages of the arts. Students should also develop the skills and knowledge to enable them to express themselves and be creative using the languages of the arts.

  • How can schools support students to create art and to respond to others’ works of art?
  • What do students need to know and be able to do to express themselves using the languages of the arts?
  • How can we develop arts programmes that draw on students’ previous experiences while providing them with access to new knowledge and experiences?
  • How can we ensure that arts programmes represent and explore the different cultural backgrounds of all students?

Research reviews

Music education in schools

An overview of music as an academic subject and its place in the curriculum.

A brief history of music education in New Zealand

Music in the New Zealand curriculum and the changes to how it has been taught and assessed.

An introduction to music in the primary school curriculum for non-specialist teachers

A guide to the key principles of teaching music in primary school.

Teaching music at secondary school

Key considerations for teaching music in secondary schools.

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