SOFA

How committed are each of the Alberta political parties to fine arts education?  If elected, will they provide enough funding to ensure our programs remain vibrant? 

To help you determine who to vote for in the upcoming provincial election, letters were sent to each of the parties via email, Twitter, or fax (if available) on March 31^st, 2012.  We asked them to respond by Tuesday, April 10th. 

Check out the responses that have been provided below by each of the parties as of the date of this post.

PC PARTY - website

WILDROSE ALLIANCE PARTY - website

 LIBERAL PARTY – website

NDP PARTY – website

ALBERTA PARTY- website

We encourage our SOFA members and readers of this website to closely examine the above responses to determine how committed each party is to fine arts education.  This will assist you in determining who to vote for on April 23^rd.

Please check back regularly to see updated responses as they are received.

Imagination Conversation
May 15-17, Winspear Centre, Edmonton

For three days in May, Alberta’s most innovative business leaders, entrepreneurs, educators and artists will join internationally known speakers, creativity advocates and education pioneers in an immersive, experiential conference like no other, as they work together to build a more Creative Alberta.

For more information, or to purchase tickets, check out Creative Alberta’s website at: http://creativealberta.com/

Come learn why creativity in business, education and the arts matters to Alberta!

Are you concerned about the lack of funding for fine arts education (music, band, choir, drama, dance, visual arts) in our pubic education system?  This includes the ability to offer programming throughout the Province taught by specialized teachers.

Did you know the current Educaton Act gives school principals the authority to add or cut fine arts programming as they see fit?  If you didn’t before, you do now. 

All fine arts courses currently offered in our public education system are considered to be non-core.  Further, each Principal has the complete authority to decide if they are even offered and how much funding they will receive.   In some cases, principals have cut back funding for fine arts courses and diverted the money elsewhere.

Further, historically when budgets are tight, fine arts courses are usually the first to be cut.

Does this concern you?  Enough to do something about it?  With an election coming up, we encourage you to write to your MLA and each of the party leaders via email and express your concerns.   Here are some possible questions you might want to ask:

1. Do you believe the Alberta Government is providing the appropriate amount of fine arts funding for public education in Kindergarten grade 12?  Yes or no and why?
2. What level of priority would you assign fine arts education in Alberta public schools on a level of 1 to 5?  Level 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest?
3. Do you believe fine arts courses be a core part of the education curriculum?  Yes or no and why?
4. Why does the current Education Act give school principals complete authority to determine if fine arts courses are even offered and how much they will be funded by?
5. If elected, what actions will you take to ensure adequate and sustainable funding for fine arts education?

CLICK HERE for a list of MLA email addresses and contact information.  If you don’t know what riding you are in and wish to contact your MLA, CLICK HERE.   If you would like to write to any of the political party leaders, please see the contact information for each person in the post below.  You will find contact information contained in each of the letters.

If you get a response from your MLA and any of the leaders, please send us a copy (email=saveourfinearts@gmail.com).  We will post it on our website for everyone to see.

Now is the time for us to act.  Will you help?

The Provincial Government recently restored $107 Million in funding  previously cut to public education in Alberta .   And although this represents a substantial amount of additional cash, did you know the Government is actually spending less than they did in 1994?

Dr. Mel McMillan is a well known Edmonton Economist and Professor of Economics at the University of Alberta.  In May of 2010, he co-published a report detailing the Government of Alberta’s spending in a wide variety of areas over the past 20+ years.  

When reading his report, it is particularly interesting to note how much has been spent on education for kindergarten to grade 12 students.  According to Table C7 (on page 94 of the report), the Government spent $1,351 on a per capita basis in 1994, compared to $1,259 per capita in 2008. 

In other words, they spent $64.00 per capita LESS in 2008 than they did in 1994.

If you are interested in reading the full report, please CLICK HERE.  Please make sure to read the “K to Grade 12 Education Expenditures” section found on page 94 of the report (or 96 of the PDF file). 

Are you concerned about the the lack of funding for public education in Alberta?  Concerned enough to do something about it?  We encourage you to write to your MLA and express your concerns.  CLICK HERE for a list of MLA email addresses and contact information.  If you don’t know what riding you are in and wish to contact your MLA, CLICK HERE

Fine arts education funding is always the first to get cut in our schools.  We can’t afford to have this continue. 

For the sake of our children…

On behalf of the Save Our Fine Arts Executive Committee, congratulations to Alison for becoming Alberta’s next Premier.

We look forward to further dialogue with your government on public education especially as it relates to the fine arts.

Once again, congratulations!

The Alberta Teacher’s Association recently held a Leadership Forum in Banff to discuss education in the province. 

Check out the Banff Craig & Canyon newspaper article on the forum and what was said.   You can read it by CLICKING HERE

“ALL EDUCATIONAL DECISIONS ARE BASED IN A VIEW OF HUMANKIND.”
Paulo Freire,  Pedagogy of the Oppressed

The Four Pillars of Life

There are four basic universal components from which every human being operates at all stages of life.  They are Music,  Art,  Drama and Storytelling.  In my view, these should be the foundation on which schooling is constructed.

MUSIC

Music, the universal language, the ever-present background to our lives and entertainment, the basis of creation.  I believe everything that vibrates, down to the lowliest cell, produces music even though we can’t hear it.  Even the moon produces its own music!

ART

Everything that exists in nature, and that is created by man, involves form, color and design.  The way we dress ourselves and our homes; the products and labels we produce; the gardens and artefacts we construct; our buildings, cars, airplanes, furniture, and so on, are all art forms.

DRAMA

We are born as actors on the stage of life.  We must interact from moment to moment in an improvisational drama with whatever circumstances surround us.  Our conversations aren’t scripted and are usually not controlled or predictable.  Our lines can’t be retracted once delivered.  Life is lived without an eraser.  The best performers usually win.

STORYTELLING 

We are all storytellers, telling our stories all day long.  That’s how we communicate.  The brain stores information best in story form.  Memory workshops tell us to make a story around lists and facts if we want to remember them.  In everything from job interviews to relationships, the most convincing storyteller is usually the most successful.  When story is delivered through art, music or drama, the brain thrives and recall is greatly enhanced.

Achieving competency in each of these pillars builds the flexibility that enables each individual’s differences and strengths to flourish and to be used to master academic knowledge.

The Pillars of our Current Model

The view of human kind that our educational system espouses is directly opposite to that of the four pillars of life.  These pillars are the least valued and first to be abandoned in a financial crisis.  Rather, students are viewed as vessels to be filled so they can spew back enough information to pass tests and make their way through the maze.  The pillars are Math, Science, Social Studies and English.  These are important fields of study and are excellent ways to arrange subject matter.  Considering the Pillars of Life in delivering this subject matter would make it much easier for students to succeed.

In their Inspiring Action on Education (2011) discussion paper, Alberta Education has identified Seven Competencies that they believe, “transcend subject areas”.  These are “the foundational skills employers depend on to make our workforce innovative and productive.”  They are also linked to student “disengagement, dissatisfaction with their school experience and dropping out.”   The Competencies are:

• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Creativity and Innovation
• Social Responsibility and Cultural, Global and Environmental Awareness
• Communication
• Digital Literacy
• Lifelong Learning, Self-Direction and Personal Management
• Collaboration and Leadership

In my view, these can only be achieved using the Four Pillars of Life as the method of delivering academic learning.

Time is the Coin we have to Spend

How many people have wasted many of the best hours of the day, during the formative years of their lives, being forced to sit in classrooms that are not meeting their needs but that may, in fact, be destroying the strengths and talents that would enable them to lead successful lives?  The only thing that counts in our current out-dated model of education is to avoid failure by getting good grades.  So everyone must be fed the same diet so they can pass the same tests. 

Let’s resolve to make the moments of our students lives interesting, challenging and filled with wonder at the great world we inhabit in an incredibly complex universe.

Respectfully submitted by   
Vera Goodman,  B.Ed, M.A.     

Vera is a Calgary based educator and best selling author.  She is also a SOFA executive member.  If you would like to connect with her, please do so via email at  vera@readingwings.com or website at www.readingwings.com

Sam Gregory was one of the original founders of Save Our Fine Arts in October of 2009.  He is also an honors with distinction grade 12 high school student here in Calgary. 

The Calgary Herald recently recognized Sam for being a ‘Class Act’.  To read the full article, please CLICK HERE.

Congratulations Sam, and all the best in your final exams over the next few weeks!

The United States President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities released a report today called, “Re-investing in Arts Education.”   It credits fine arts education with better attendance, fewer discipline problems, increased graduation rates, higher academic achievement and significant impact on brain development to name a few positives.

In the Executive Summary of the above report, it lists 5 actions that need to be taken to ensure a comprehensive, well rounded education.  They are as follows:

1. Build collaborations among different approaches
2. Develop the field of arts integration.
3. Expand in-school opportunities for teaching artists.
4. Utilize federal and state policies to reinforce the place of arts in K-12 education.
5. Widen the focus of evidence gathering about arts education.

If you are interested in reading the full report, please CLICK HERE.  To learn more about the U.S. President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, please click on the following link:  http://www.pcah.gov/

We can only hope that our Alberta Government officials, including the next Premier and MLA’s read the full report and take decisive action to provide further support to fine arts education in Alberta.

SOFA is pleased to advise that a number of key recommendations from the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) Fine Arts Task Force have been approved by all the Superintendents.

As you may recall from an earlier posting, Cathy Faber (Superintendent of Learning Innovation) formed a Fine Arts Task Force within the Board late last year to review, “… the philosophy and direction of Fine Arts Education in Alberta with specific focus on the implications and management of the Instrumental Music Program from Kindergarten to Grade 12 within the Calgary Board of Education (CBE).”

With input from a number of key stakeholders including two SOFA executive committee members  (Lyle Bennett, and Sam Gregory), the task force came up with four recommendations for CBE Superintendents to consider:

• Develop a Standard of Music Instrumentation
• Establishment of an Education Standing Offer (ESO) Process for the Purchasing, Renting, Maintaining and Repairing Instruments
• Implement a Centrally Managed Musical Instrument Inventory System
• Create a full-time Centralized Technical Support Position to help manage the above

On May 16th, 2011, Cathy Faber and members of the task force presented a report outlining the above recommendations to Superintendents at the CBE.  Following a discussion, the report was fully endorsed.

If you are interested in reading an Executive Summary of the above report, please CLICK HERE.  To learn more about the CBE’s Fine Arts Task Force, please visit their website at www.cbefinearts.org.

 We are thrilled with the progress made by the task force and by the acceptance of the above report by the Superintendents.  Further, we look forward to continued dialogue with the CBE on other fine arts education initiatives.