All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education

Author: NACCCE (chaired by Ken Robinson)

Institution: National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCCE)

Full reference: National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education. (1999). All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education. London: DFEE

Summary of key findings

The National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education was established in February 1998 by the Department for Education and Employment and Department for Culture, Media and Sport ..Its report puts the case for a national strategy for creative and cultural education. It recommended new priorities in education, including a much stronger emphasis on creative and cultural education and a new balance in teaching and in the curriculum between learning knowledge and skills and having the freedom to innovate and experiment.

The Committee expressed the view that creativity is possible in all areas of human activity, including the arts, sciences, at work at play and in all other areas of daily life. The report argued for the integration of creativity in teaching and learning, in the curriculum and in management and leadership. It also argued for deepening young people’s cultural knowledge and understanding, helping them to engage positively with cultural change and diversity.

Among the report’s recommendations for government and schools were that:

• Schools’ development plans should make explicit reference to provision for creative and cultural education, including: the pattern of provision in the formal and informal curriculum; and the opportunities for contact with outside specialists; and with the community and cultural organisations.
• The DCMS should develop guidance on the factors that contribute to successful partnerships between schools and outside organisations or individuals and co-ordinate the development of a quality assurance system for partnerships between artists, arts organisations and the formal and informal education sectors.

These recommendations were the foundation for the development of Creative Partnerships.

The report also makes a range of recommendations for cultural organizations, professional teacher associations, LEAs, OFSTED and the QCA towards supporting and improving provision for creative and cultural education.

Research Questions & Methodology

The Committee’s terms of Reference were: ‘To make recommendations to the Secretaries of State on the creative and cultural development of young people through formal and informal education: to take stock of current provision and to make proposals for principles, policies and practice.’ The report is in four parts. Part One sets out definitions and a framework for creative and cultural education. Part Two looks at the implications for the school curriculum, for teaching and for assessment. Part Three, argues for a broad base of partnerships between schools and other agencies and considers issues of resources and training. Part Four presents a series of detailed recommendations as a framework for a national strategy.

Read the report.