Learning at the Core - A report for the Arts Council of England Educationby Rick Rogers (The Arts Council of England, 1999, ISBN 0-7287-0789-6, £10 [£13.58 inc p&p]* also directly available from the Arts Council without a p&p charge) In a world in which education is now a vital part of the work of most arts organisations, the integration of the education programme and its relationship to the rest of the organisation is crucial. This recent report by Rick Rogers documents the Arts Council's ERDI programme - which has offered small grants to 73 arts organisations over four years. More than anything, the grants have offered organisations thinking time - opportunities to debate the role of education and explore ways to strengthen its place within the company. In addition to describing the process each organisation went through, the report draws out the salient points - from the need to define what education means to that organisations and its relationship to the artistic vision to an examination of working practices. What is striking is the number of common themes - organisations both large and small discuss the need for a clear understanding of the role of an education programme, the need for synergy between the artistic programme and education, the importance of the whole organisation sharing responsibility for education. The report is both broad ranging in its subject matter and cogent in its presentation of the issues. The rigour and honesty of the participating organisations should be applauded and the report read widely by anyone involved in an arts organisation. This important initiative by the Arts Council has provided the arts industry with a forum to examine ways to move forward from the "bolted on" education programme established purely to attract funding to explore ways in which education can be a driving force within an arts organisation to move the industry forward.
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