The EDGE2 Education Program for primary school students (Grades 1 to 6) from Bruny Island and the Channel is referenced against the Tasmanian Curriculum; Arts Curriculum Area; K–10 syllabus and support materials
OVERVIEW OF THE ARTS CURRICULUM AREA
The Arts area comprises Dance, Drama, Media, Music and Visual Art. Although they have been grouped together as related forms of human understanding, each arts form has its own characteristics and body of knowledge and each makes its own distinct contribution to learning. (page 1)
EDGE2 focuses on Music and Visual Art. It involves the interplay between these two art forms, with additional local context provided by the way in which the Bruny Island isthmus (‘the neck’) provides source material for music and visual art.
The arts and communication
The arts are a major form of human communication and expression.
The arts and values
The arts are a powerful means to inform, teach, persuade and provoke thought.
The arts, creativity and satisfaction
The arts provide a major means of personal creativity, satisfaction and pleasure.
The arts and life skills
The arts promote emotional intelligence, a way of understanding, using and making responses through the emotions and students’ intrapersonal qualities and experiences. The arts provide a powerful context for learning across the curriculum and for making sense and deepening understanding in an holistic way… (Curriculum page 1)
EDGE2 addresses each of these four imperatives for the Arts Curriculum.
Learning through the arts involves:
aesthetic learning - students learn to value, evaluate, challenge, feel, respond
cognitive learning - perception, creativity, logical thinking, metaphoric thinking, question formation, decision making, critical thinking, concept formation, memory and reflective thinking
physical learning - actions that require practice, refinement and concentration
sensory learning – expression through tactile, aural, visual and kinaesthetic means
social learning - students learn about themselves and the ways in which they interact with others (Curriculum page 3)
EDGE2 provides opportunities for students to learn in each of these five learning areas.
Information and communication technologies (ICT) in the Arts curriculum
Students use current and emerging information and communication technologies to inquire, create arts works, enhance and record performances and communicate with others. (Curriculum page 3)
EDGE2 is delivered using ICT technologies that enable students to experience music and art developed by local professional artists that relate to the environment of Bruny Island and then be guided to develop their own musical and artistic works.
ARTS LEARNING STANDARDS FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
Arts learning in standard one (stages 1, 2 and 3)
Students working within standard one are at the earliest stages in their artistic development. Learning within this standard should allow students to manipulate and explore media and to engage in the arts in both intuitive and structured ways.
(Curriculum page 9)
EDGE2 will provide learning activities accessible to students at the higher end of Standard One
Arts learning in standard two (stages 4, 5 and 6)
Students working within standard two become more selective in what they use in their arts works and become more intentional in their art making. They use both actual experiences and imagination as a basis for making arts works. (Curriculum page 9)
EDGE2 will provide learning activities accessible to students at Standard Two
Arts learning in standard three (stages 7, 8 and 9)
Students working in standard three experiment with ideas, explore feelings and persist to find satisfactory solutions to tasks. They carefully choose, combine and manipulate arts elements to explore effects created with different approaches.
(Curriculum page 9)
EDGE2 will provide learning activities accessible to students at Standard Three
Arts learning in standard four (stages 10, 11 and 12)
Students working within standard four in the Arts use a variety of starting points to generate ideas for their arts works. They observe their environment, reflect upon their experiences and engage in inquiries to extend their ideas. (Curriculum page 9)
Students at Standard 4 may use elements of EDGE2 as a basis for more formalised, complex and self-driven learning activities for older primary school students with a high level of capacity for arts related learning