SongMakers: An industry-led approach to arts partnerships in education

Abstract

Reported benefits of arts partnerships with schools range from improvements in students' motivation and engagement in learning to teachers' increased confidence in teaching the arts, and strengthened school and community relationships. Yet, in the scholarship on arts partnerships to date, limited critical attention has been given to the impact of programs primarily driven by government supported industry-based imperatives. There may be legitimate concerns that, in primarily servicing economic or employment needs, industry-school partnerships overlook social and interpersonal aspects of learning in favor of goal-orientated skills training to meet "the market." This article informs arts education policy and industry directions by acknowledging this concern and reporting on the outcomes of an industry-schools partnership where industry "training" appears to be leveraging a number of more holistic student learning outcomes. Jointly funded by industry and government, SongMakers is an Australian artist in residence program that aims to improve the export potential of Australia's contemporary music industry and contribute to the implementation of a contemporary music curriculum. It involves professional songwriters and producers with international recording experience working as mentors to students who create and produce new music in intensive two-day workshops. This article outlines how the program is demonstrating emergent positive impact not only on students' music knowledge and skill development, and understanding of the contemporary music industry, but on engagement, confidence in learning, and self-efficacy. It does not argue that all industry programs can or will achieve such impacts, but that diverse kinds of arts partnerships in schools can contribute to a viable ecology of quality educational practice in the arts.

Contextual factors and wellbeing outcomes: Ethnographic analysis of an artist-led group songwriting program with young people

“…The SongMakers program positions high school music students as co-creators and producers of popular music (rather than just consumers) by employing high-profile songwriters and producers with international recording experience in schools for two-day workshops to write and produce new music with students. This program is having a positive impact not only on students’ music knowledge skill development, and understanding of the contemporary music industry, but on engagement, confidence in learning, and self-efficacy (Hunter, Broad, & Jeanneret, 2016).…”

Activistas del sonido: niños y artistas como co-creadores en experiencias multidisciplinares con música electroacústica en un centro de alta complejidad

“…Por otra parte, para los artistas, muchas de estas experiencias suponen una posibilidad de experimentar un crecimiento profesional al tener que adecuar sus prácticas a los entornos escolares, además de la oportunidad de reflexionar sobre sus propuestas artísticas al compartirlas con alumnado y profesorado de los centros donde se realizan (Hunter al., 2016). En este sentido, algunas de estas investigaciones se han centrado en las formas en que los artistas podrían fomentar experiencias de aprendizaje más colaborativas y creativas en el contexto escolar en general (Galton, 2008).…”