Nicky Morgan’s recent speech suggests the government can’t decide whether arts education is the icing on the cake, or the yeast, says Joe Hallgarten. It’s time for the arts to rise above the short term fray and consider the issue more broadly.
I’ve always been a fan of a mixed metaphor. Puns have never done it for me, but the welding of two clichés to create an entirely new meaning, whether by accident or by design, has always tickled my juices.
They are the perfect English alternative to those long multi-purpose German words. Whether you are clutching at hairs, a wolf in cheap clothing, or sticking out like a sore throat, bring them on. My all-time favourite, from a friend who was spending his twenties in various bits of bother, was when he told me one hungover Sunday morning that he had been ‘burning his bridges at both ends’.
Nicky Morgan’s strange speech to the Creative Industries Federation last week feels like a case of wanting to have your cake and cut it. It appears that this government can’t decide whether the arts in schools is the icing on a cake, or the yeast.
Morgan pinned her rationale for cultural education to its contribution to pupils’ understanding of Britishness. This is probably the worst kind of instrumentalism. The arts also, apparently, “fosters an understanding of Britishness around the world”, whatever that means. Frankly, if that’s all that culture did, I’d probably not only exclude arts subjects from the ebacc; I’d confine them to a Friday afternoon treat. Trivium author and RSA Associate Martin Robinson’s terrific response is the best treatise I’ve ever read on the true value of cultural learning... Keep reading on the RSA Blog
I’ve always been a fan of a mixed metaphor. Puns have never done it for me, but the welding of two clichés to create an entirely new meaning, whether by accident or by design, has always tickled my juices.
They are the perfect English alternative to those long multi-purpose German words. Whether you are clutching at hairs, a wolf in cheap clothing, or sticking out like a sore throat, bring them on. My all-time favourite, from a friend who was spending his twenties in various bits of bother, was when he told me one hungover Sunday morning that he had been ‘burning his bridges at both ends’.
Nicky Morgan’s strange speech to the Creative Industries Federation last week feels like a case of wanting to have your cake and cut it. It appears that this government can’t decide whether the arts in schools is the icing on a cake, or the yeast.
Morgan pinned her rationale for cultural education to its contribution to pupils’ understanding of Britishness. This is probably the worst kind of instrumentalism. The arts also, apparently, “fosters an understanding of Britishness around the world”, whatever that means. Frankly, if that’s all that culture did, I’d probably not only exclude arts subjects from the ebacc; I’d confine them to a Friday afternoon treat. Trivium author and RSA Associate Martin Robinson’s terrific response is the best treatise I’ve ever read on the true value of cultural learning... Keep reading on the RSA Blog