Saving Arts Education in New Zealand

Arts Education in New Zealand, like in America, is continuing to move further and further down the hierarchy of knowledge and curriculum promoted by the state.  In an effort to “prevent further marginalisation” of the arts in New Zealand schools, the concept of multiliteracies is beginning to take hold in New Zealand’s “Arts Curriculum”.  The paper entitled Multiliteracies: A New Direction for Arts Education details the links between the traditional definition of “literacy” in the school curriculum and how it relates to music.  The article is written by Trevor Thwaites, Centre for the Arts, Auckland College of Education, Auckland, New Zealand.