Policy and practice within arts education: rhetoric and reality

This paper reflects upon international arts education action and relative local in-action. The first half of the paper provides a brief narrative of the World Alliance for Arts Education’s advocacy work and the development of the UNESCO Seoul Agenda: Goals for the development of arts education. The second half of the paper highlights a dance education research project in New Zealand that relates to strategies and actions noted within the Seoul Agenda. This dance education research reveals both the power and impotence of policies and events such as the Seoul Agenda and International Arts Education Week. The research reveals that when you step off the global stage and turn to your own backyard, reality strikes hard. Arts education is valued, yet relatively few teachers, fewer schools and even fewer governments are actually willing to fully realise the potential of arts education. Arts education for all the rhetoric lacks commitment and investment. Using dance education as a lens, this research examines what teachers in New Zealand are doing in their classrooms and what this means for local communities, teachers, schools, teacher education institutions, advocacy and support organisations, then provides suggestions so that dance and other arts can fulfil their potential.