ART EDUCATION

Creativity and Culture – Art Projects for Primary Schools" is a very practical book full of ideas about teaching art in primary schools. There are detailed descriptions of projects that will help promote creative teaching and learning. The activities are designed to give control of meaning to children. Fostering childrens' understanding of their own and other cultures is a central theme. At the core of the book is the suggestion that children will learn more about culture and cultural objects after they have created imaginary cultures of their own.

So, if you are a teacher, would you like to enrich your art and design curriculum? Are you looking for well-researched, practical and tested ideas for the classroom? Would you like to enhance your pupil's respect and understanding of other cultures? Would you like your children to be able to think creatively?

In this new book, first published in 2006, visual art takes centre stage but leading to an approach for teaching all the arts, including music, dance and broadcast media. The author places the twin concepts of culture and creativity in the forefront of the projects. The book demonstrates how teachers can create idea spaces or "precincts" within which children create their own ideas, over which they have control and through which they create meaningful art. A theme running through the book is how children can create imaginary communities. They are encouraged to consider how these communities create their own imaginary cultures. As the work deepens, ideas about belief systems and politics offer insights into how aspects of citizenship and the global dimension of the curriculum can be led by the arts.