The development of a decision matrix to guide and support the provision of effective arts programs in schools

Abstract

In the current education climate, Australian schools are encouraged to provide arts programs, yet there is little dedicated funding for provision and leadership must balance resource allocation with other curriculum and policy priorities. To determine how best to support school leaders in this area, we undertook a three-year project with local industry partners to investigate relationships between different provision approaches, benefits and conditions necessary to realize them, using an emergent, three-stage design. Stage 1 explored current arts provision approaches in 19 Catholic primary schools in Melbourne, along with notions of sustainability. Stages 2 and 3 used ethnographic methods to..