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Today we lag behind the events. Reality has disappeared in the wake of the acceleration of things. Simulacra guarantee the continuation of the real. Signs that used to represent things have become drained of their meaning and there is no absolute truth, merely different versions of events or things. We now live in a world without originals and Baudrillard suggests we now must capture forms and make them relate to each other rather than liberating them. If we are to accept Baudrillard's view of the world, we must first acknowledge that consumption has become the basis of social order. This article addresses how we, as art educators, must help those we teach understand how the imagery and text of the virtual world is manipulated. By informing and educating individuals to understand these processes and products we can provide them with a clearer view of the imagined and constructed world, thereby enabling them to articulate their own visions through ever growing and changing technologies.

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Quality is not a random occurrence in arts and creativity partnerships. The achievement of quality must be planned. Any arts partnership requires both quality assurance and quality control components. Quality assurance manages quality of processes, while quality control measures deliverables - ‘products’ - against standards. This paper looks at quality from a global and local perspective and argues that arts experiences from children and young people need to be: • "Fit for purpose": i.e. The arts education experience should be suitable and relevant for the intended purpose and the intended participants/audience. • "Right first time": i.e. There are certain sets of attributes that are generally associated with quality arts engagement and arts partnerships within education and these can become ‘prerequisites’ for a programme, there by mistakes should be eliminated, or at least reduced. This paper outlines the key components of quality arts education and suggests that the focus of research needs to move forward from a impact of the arts to quality of the arts.

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