July 09, 2010

New BC Arts Education Curriculum Announced

The British Columbia Ministry of Education recently announced the implementation of a new Arts Education curriculum for students from kindergarten to Grade 7.  The new curricula has been designed to allow flexibility in organizing and implementing programs to best meet the needs of students, teachers, and communities.

Schools can use a wide variety of methods, programs, and resources to deliver these curricula, which cover the four arts education subjects: Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Art. Schools may also choose to develop programs that integrate more than one of the arts education subjects.

The new Arts Education K to 7 curriculum documents differ from the existing Fine Arts K to 7 Integrated Resource Package in a number of ways, including:

• A reduction in the number of Prescribed Learning Outcomes (PLOs) for all disciplines.
• The addition of Suggested Achievement Indicators that elaborate on the PLOs as well as encourage, guide, and facilitate classroom practice.
• The inclusion of three common areas of learning across all four disciplines, i.e.,  1) personal, social, cultural and historical contexts; 2) knowledge, skills, and techniques; and 3) creating, expressing, perceiving, and responding.

The arts are important to our understanding of society, culture, and history and are essential to the development of individual potential, social responsibility, and cultural awareness. They also contribute significantly to the intellectual, aesthetic, emotional, social, and physical development of the individual. An understanding of the arts fosters respect for and appreciation of the diverse cultural heritages and values within Canada and around the world.

More information about the new Arts Education curriculum can be found on the Ministry of Education website.

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