Asked by The Earl of Clancarty To ask Her Majesty’s
Government what steps they are taking to improve initial teacher
education in order to ensure a high standard of teaching of art,
craft and design subjects in schools. The Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education (Lord Agnew of
Oulton) (Con) My Lords, at their most recent...Request free trial
Asked by
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The
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking
to improve initial teacher education in order to ensure a
high standard of teaching of art, craft and design subjects
in schools.
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education (Lord Agnew of Oulton) (Con)
My Lords, at their most recent Ofsted inspection, 100% of
initial teacher training providers were judged to be either
good or outstanding. We have worked with a sector-led group
chaired by Stephen Munday to develop a new framework of
core initial teacher training content which was published
last year. It is enabling providers as well as trainees to
have a better understanding of the essential elements of
good ITT content, including in the arts.
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The (CB)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that high-quality
teaching of art and design subjects in schools is
essential, not least for driving future innovation, an
ambition of the industrial strategy? Has he looked at the
recent Oxford Brookes University research, which bears out
the increasing concern that for these subjects the PGCE
route, which is contracting, is significantly preferable to
School Direct, not just because of the subject-specific
training but for the wider context of networking and access
to community-based practice? Will the Government address
these concerns?
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of Oulton
My Lords, I agree with the noble Earl that a broad and
balanced curriculum is an essential part of a child’s
education. I am afraid that I have not seen the Oxford
Brookes report but I reassure him that many schools buy-in
the PGCE qualification to run alongside their own School
Direct programme to enable students to benefit from this in
addition to the practical emphasis of the school-based
approach.
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(Lab)
My Lords, the Government have missed their own target for
the last five years on teacher recruitment and retention.
Does the Minister think that lifting the public sector pay
cap, tackling rising workloads and allowing teachers more
say in the curriculum might alleviate the serious position
in which the Government have put us?
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of Oulton
My Lords, we have 15,000 additional teachers in the system
today compared with 2010, and an increasing number of
teachers are returning to the profession. Last year, we had
increasing numbers recruited in maths, all the sciences,
modern foreign languages, geography and art. I acknowledge
that there are one or two shortages but I do not feel that
we have in any way a teaching recruitment crisis.
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Lord Deben (Con)
My Lords, will my noble friend be kind enough to tell me
what the precise arrangements are between his department
and BEIS in order that his department should play its part
in the work that has to be done if the industrial strategy
is to include this important area, which was announced as a
central theme yesterday when the industrial strategy was
implemented?
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of Oulton
My Lords, we have put particular emphasis on technical
skills with the announcement of our T-level programme,
which will begin in two years’ time. By 2020, we will be
spending an additional half billion pounds a year on
technical education.
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(LD)
My Lords, if somebody receives their training in a
classroom-based situation, how will they receive the extra
tuition required to teach design, art and crafts unless
they are in those classrooms? The Minister is not
addressing that.
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of Oulton
My Lords, in 2014 we asked Sir Andrew Carter to chair an
independent review of the quality of ITT courses. Following
on from that we have issued three reports in our efforts to
improve the framework. We have the framework on the core
content of ITT, new behaviour management content and
national standards for school-based ITT mentors.
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(Con)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply, and I
wonder if I can push him a little bit further. I think the
whole House would agree that provision of the arts for
school-age children is vital if we are to maintain our
position as one of the world-leading nations in
contributing to the arts globally. Can we get any comfort
from the Minister on the provision of, and the Government’s
promise to provide, arts in the classroom for our children
growing up?
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of Oulton
My Lords, as I said a moment ago, the Government strongly
support a broad and balanced curriculum. We recently
announced £400 million of funding between 2016 and 2020 for
a diverse portfolio of arts and music education programs.
This includes £300 million for music education hubs and £58
million in 2016-18 for music and dance schemes. We have
music education hubs supporting over 14,000 ensembles and
choirs, nearly 8,000 of which are based in schools. Over
340,000 children participate in these. We also have
Progress 8, which, as I am sure noble Lords will be aware,
encourages a broad and balanced curriculum. Of the eight
subjects that are measured, three are open subjects, which
include arts.
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(Lab)
My Lords, despite what the Minister has just said, I agree
with the noble Lord, Lord Grade, that the Conservatives
have allowed the arts and creative subjects in schools to
be neglected in recent years—
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Noble Lords
Oh!
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I paraphrase, of course. Design and technology is one of the
subjects that many teachers are now unable to offer because
of the Government’s failure to adequately fund schools. A
Labour Government will provide an arts pupil premium to allow
every primary school child—
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Noble Lords
Oh!
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I can understand the nervous laughter in various corners of
the House. It will allow every primary school child in
England to learn a musical instrument, to experience dance
and drama and to regularly visit theatres, museums and art
galleries. Our aim is for arts facilities in state schools to
match as near as possible those in many private schools. Can
the Minister tell me why his Government do not match that
ambition?
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of Oulton
My Lords, I suspect that we have a slightly different
emphasis on education and its priorities. However, I assure
the noble Lord that the number of art and design teacher
trainees has risen nearly every year for the last five years.
Indeed, in 2016-17 we had the most we have had in five years.
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(Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that it is absolutely
crucial, particularly after 2019, that both our teachers and
our young people are kept alive to the glories of European
civilisation in all its manifestations, and to the particular
contribution that this country has made to them?
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of Oulton
My Lords, I strongly support my noble friend’s statement. The
EBacc has brought important subjects such as history back
into the curriculum. We have seen an increase in the number
of pupils studying history, which did not happen under the
previous Government.
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