Professional Readings

An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals ca.1490 - 1920

A comprehensive site on the dance manuals contained in the Library of Congress, USA, about various Western social and ballroom dances dating from 1490 - 1920. Includes historical information and video clips. Useful for historical research and possible recreation of some dances by intermediate/secondary teachers and students.

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers

Articles and advice about the intricacies of the music business: survival tips, success stories, expert opinion and detailed discussions.

Americans for the Arts

This fact sheet is about the benefits of Arts education. It succinctly advocates for arts education for children. The information is part of the Steps to Early Childhood Arts Education Initiative, 2002.

Amplifier

Amplifier.co.nz is the home of New Zealand music. The site provides information about NZ music, and New Zealand music news. You can listen to kiwi musicians, watch NZ music videos and purchase CDs and legal MP3 music downloads by kiwi artists. Amplifier is the longest running legal music download site in New Zealand.

Anatomy Articles

Articles about anatomy of relevance to dance teachers and students e.g. posture and balance.

Ancient Theatre

Didaskalia is an interesting site for ancient theatre focused on Greek and Roman theatre. The site operates under the auspices of the University of Warwick and material is well researched and authoritative. The study area is of most use including detailed material on Greek and Roman stagecraft, visual resources with virtual reconstructions of a number of ancient Greek and Roman theatres, and useful links to other sites.

ANZAAE - NZ Art Educators' Journal (PDF 456KB)

This shows a cover of the ANZAAE journal and the contents page. Anyone wishing to purchase a journal can become a member of the ANZAAE and will get two journals per year.

ANZARME

The Australian and New Zealand Association for Research in Music Education (ANZARME) was established at the Annual General Meeting in 2007 of its precursor, the Australian Association for Research in Music Education (AARME). In turn, AARME was established at the Annual General Meeting, held in Newcastle in August 1995, of its precursor, the Assocation of Music Education Lecturers (AMEL). The Association of Music Education Lecturers was established in 1977.

Applied Theatre Researcher/IDEA Journal

All Applied Theatre Researcher/IDEA Journal (ISSN 1443-1726) content is available for view and download as a PDF document. There are a wide range of excellent articles pertaining to the teaching of drama.

The Art and Science of Teaching/Learning Dance

This essay discusses the Theory of Multiple Intelligences as applied to dance with examples from different levels and contexts of dance learning.

Art Becomes the Next R

This paper provides an interesting perspective on the vital place of the visual arts in the internet revolution.

Art Dictionary

Art Dictionary has definitions for more than 3,600 terms used in discussing art/visual culture. It has supporting images, pronunciation notes, quotations and cross-references.

Art in the Picture

This website provides an introduction to art history and includes information on artists, painting and styles and movement.

Art Junction- Artistic Development

This site looks at children's artistic development. It is intended to assist teachers and parents who are interested in nurturing their children's creative involvement with art materials. This site is divided into specific areas including an overview of developmental theory, then scribbling, pre-symbolism, and realism, a gallery of child art and links to other resources.

Art New Zealand

Art New Zealand is the major visual arts journal in New Zealand. It surveys New Zealand's contemporary art with rigour and professionalism and is essential reading and reference for those interested in New Zealand art.

Art New Zealand Online

Visit this site to subscribe to Art New Zealand, to read selected articles printed online that you can choose from current and past issues. Not all indexed articles listed are available.

The Art of the Matter: the development and extensions of ways of knowing in the Arts (PDF 70KB)

This downloadable paper (99 pages, pdf) by researchers at the University of Waikato, investigates how the development of ideas in the Arts can be promoted, enhanced and refined in classrooms and in so doing, build knowledge related to Arts educational pedagogy, research and philosophy.

The Art Story

The Art Story site is a guide to modern art and explores modern art movements, artists, theory and the progression of art.

The Artchive

Virtual gallery of classic and contemporary painting, sculpture, as well as art critique, reviews, and links. The theory and criticism section contains good resources for handouts as does the artchive link where over 200 artists are represented by over 2000 clear scans.

Artcyclopedia

The Artcyclopedia is an index of online museums and image archives. You can search by artist, title or museum for artists’ work. The site also makes searching for artists easier by creating a number of sub-headings, including women artists.

ArtExpress

ArtExpress is a comprehensive expressive arts curriculum for young children with disabilities. The curriculum discusses the importance of the arts as a way to communicate thoughts, feelings, and ideas to others. The expressive arts can be used across learning domains, impacting on children's cognitive, communication, motor, and social and emotional development. Suggestions for activities are included in the curriculum.

ArtLex: Dictionary of Visual Art

Great reference material in art, art history, art criticism, aesthetics, and art education. Definitions of thousands of terms, illustrations, quotations, and links to other resources.

The Arts - Research and Advocacy

This Queensland Government site links to Australian policy, research and advocacy resources that support educators articulate the benefits of Arts learning.

The Arts and Australian Education: Realising Potential

2011 review of research, released by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), that calls for the Arts to be embedded in all academic disciplines and fields as a way of cultivating creativity and imagination.

Arts and Letters Daily

This site features news and reviews from the world of letters. It includes current issues and archives, and contains links to topical essays and articles. Useful for Art History Achievement Standard 3.5 and issue-based discussion.

Arts and Technology Advancing Education

This Texas site reviews the considerations of a symposium to develop a Digital Arts Task Force in recognition that the promises and demands of the 21st century require today's students to live and work in a rapidly changing technological society. The paper asserts that through comprehensive arts education, students are better educated and more prepared to succeed in this challenging environment.

Arts Crucial to Critical Thinking

Under the broad title, Thinking Ahead, on the Sagamore Institute’s Policy Research site, this article discusses why arts should be central to education initiatives, with reference to presentations by Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, and Sir Ken Robinson.

Arts Education

This Wallace Foundation site provides downloadable research and reports written by leading arts experts.

Arts Education in India 2007 (PDF 1.7MB)

This article, based on a delegate's 2007 Linking Latitudes Asia Foundation conference experience in India, has chapters of interest to arts and music educators in Australasia. The new Indian arts curriculum statement, and the summary of the current state of education in India, could be of particular interest as closer relationships develop between Asian countries and the Pacific region.

Arts Education Network

ARTSblog is an American blog site based on the assertion that learning and participation in music, dance, theatre, and the visual arts are vital to the development of children and our communities.

The Arts Education Partnership

The Arts Education Partnership (formerly known as the Goals 2000 Arts Education Partnership) is a private, nonprofit coalition of more than 100 US education, arts, business, philanthropic and government organizations that demonstrate and promote the essential role of arts education in enabling all students to succeed in school, life and work. The important research "Champions of Change:The Impact of the Arts on Learning" can be downloaded from this site.

Arts Education: "It's not a waste of time"

Patti Hartigan talks in ARTicles, the blog of the National Arts Journalism Program (USA), about how we develop the next generation of creative thinkers - through early and ongoing support for creative students through properly funded arts education.

Arts Education: Trends in Public Policy Development and Implementation (PDF 324KB)

This PDF download contains research carried out by the Illinois Arts Alliance in ten American states with the goal of developing a comprehensive strategy that ensures every child in every school has an education that includes the arts. The analysis is of how the ten states with substantive arts education policy have successfully initiated,advanced and implemented policy that brings the arts back to the core of student learning.

The Arts in Collaboration Through a Māori Context – Paihia School

Following in-depth professional development in the arts, staff at Paihia School worked with students on the theme of a local (unwritten) legend about Maikuku, a young girl of the area. Over a period of six months, the legend became the content and source of motivation for work in dance, drama, music, and the visual arts.

Arts Journal: The Daily Digest of Arts & Cultural Journalism

Arts Journal is a USA based daily digest of some of the best online arts and cultural journalism. Each weekday the editor examines and posts stories from over 180 English-language newspapers, magazines, and publications around the world featuring writing about arts and culture. These are grouped under eight categories: Top Stories, Dance, Art Issues, Media, Music, Arts People, Publishing, Theater, and Visual Arts.

The Arts Literacy Project

The ArtsLiteracy Project (ArtsLit) is dedicated to developing the literacy of youth through the performing and visual arts. Based in the Education Department at Brown University, ArtsLit gathers an international community of artists, teachers, youth, college students, and professors with the goal of collaboratively creating innovative approaches to literacy development through the arts.

The Arts Matter

This easy 3 – 4 page article by Vistoria L. Tilney discusses the integration of arts into other curricula and includes teachers’ comments from their own experience.

Arts Praxis E Journal

From the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at New York University, Arts Praxis provides an opportunity for scholars, artists, educators, therapists, administrators and community workers in the arts to discuss the issues of the day.

Arts, English and Literacy Education Research Network

This network was established in 2006 and brings together teachers, researchers, policy makers and others in the fields of the creative arts and English. The network was formed to lead, initiate, support and disseminate research in arts, English and literacy education, thereby promoting excellence in scholarship and teaching in these domains across all educational sectors.

Assessing in the Arts

This site gives some background and ideas used for assessing students' arts knowledge and skills, as used in the US.

Assessment and Transferable Skills in Art and Design (Word 69.5KB)

The Art and Design sector has always prided itself in being a major contributor to educational development. If art and design is to continue as a part of the vanguard of educational change there are a number of these questions that we have to answer. Read this article on changes in higher education practices in art and design.

Assessment Glossary

This assessment glossary defines a collection of terms relating to assessment. It provides definitions relating to arts assessment, readings, and links to NZQA and TKI assessment sites.

Australia Council for the Arts Publications Catalogue

The Australia Council supports and promotes the practice and enjoyment of the arts and, in doing so, regularly produces publications in a wide range of community and education settings.

The Australian Children's Music Foundation

The vision of ACMF is to use the power of music to inspire and enrich the lives of all Australian children and youth, particularly the disadvantaged and indigenous. The site promotes the research that show that through music, children can find a way to express their emotions and channel their energy and abilities into something positive and creative.

The “Out There” work of Jane Zusters

This site describes the recent mixed media and installation work of this artist including images and extensive contextual discussion, from the artist herself, on underlying personal and socio-cultural contexts.

A Background to Commedia

An interesting background article on Commedia.

Basic Clowning

A site with some very basic background on clowns and clowning.

BBC2 Sold On Song

An amazing website dedicated to all of the issues surrounding songwriting. Well worth an extended visit for those keen on learning how to improve their songs.

Beautiful Writing - Links with Chinese Calligraphy

Born in Mainland China, Xu Bing emigrated to the USA. He is recognised as part of mainland China’s New Wave artists. His calligraphic works use non-construable linguistic elements.

Benefits of Music For Children With Special Needs: Tips for Parents and Educators

This article by American music therapist, Michelle Lazar, discusses how music strategies can be an effective way to promote speech development, support children in their cognitive and motor development, and create a meaningful environment for development of social skills. Along with the information Lazar provides some simple, practical ways these aspects of development can be nurtured through music.

The Big Idea

This site carries information on the New Zealand creative sector jobs, commissions auditions and professional development opportunities. Professional awards and competitions and intern-ship opportunities are listed. A weekly creative sector magazine is provided with local and international content. There is a place for forums, a marketplace, and on-line opinion polls. A feature aspect is the profiling of individuals and organisations and their work. The Big Idea is the connects the NZ creative sector with the world. Services are currently entirely free to subscribers.

The Blues

The Blues: a multi-media project anchored by seven impressionistic and interpretive films that capture the essence of the blues while exploring how this art has impacted on America and the world.

Body Techniques in Acting

The site categorises a comprehensive range of body language message clusters linking to very specific descriptions of techniques and their messages. A very useful site for researching the use of body techniques in acting.

Boys' Education: Good Practice in Secondary Schools

This 2008 Education Review Office report provides schools and policy makers with examples of how 10 New Zealand secondary schools successfully support boys’ education. The schools in this study were selected on the basis of their good overall levels of student achievement, previous positive ERO reports and their well-developed pastoral care and support strategies. Five boys’ schools and five coeducational schools are used as case studies.

The Brain's Inner Choreography

So You Think You Can Dance?: PET Scans Reveal Your Brain’s Inner Choreography. Dance has been receiving some attention in brain research. This article is of a study into how the brain is engaged when we dance.

The C & T Network

'C&T stands for more than theatre'. The site includes case studies and work recently undertaken by the British theatre company in its work mixing drama, learning and digital media.

Centre for Arts Research in Education - CARE

The UNESCO-NIE Centre for Arts Research in Education (CARE) of Singapore generates, collects and disseminates high-quality research which promotes education in and through the arts through a strong collaborative network in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Child's Right to Creative Thought and Expression

A position paper of the Association for Childhood Education International that considers: What are our beliefs about creativity? We use the term frequently in relation to arts education. Jalongo draws together a tremendous range of commentators in order to clarify use of the term, challenge assumptions and misconceptions and advocate for the importance of valuing creative thought processes in childhood. Notions of ‘gifted’ and ‘talented’ are also discussed.

Choreographic Process

An interesting site for information about the choreographic process. Also, check out the Choreographers Toolbox (listed in the headings row). This has text and animated illustrations of the effects that different uses of the dance elements in choreography produce. The materials would be suitable for Year 7-13 dance teachers and students.

Christchurch Library - Maori Visual Culture

This part of the Christchurch Library’s site has some valuable information and links to support student learning about customary Maori arts, contemporary artists and local projects. On the ‘Arts and Culture’ pages for example, follow the slide show steps to make a putiputi (flower) from flax, research the meanings and names associated with tukutuku patterns or click on links to an artist's website, such as Robyn Kahukiwa. Useful for primary teachers for visual arts but there is information for music and performing arts also.

Collaboration Paints a Bright Future for Arts Education

A new, arts-rich summer school programme is one sign of Dallas’ effort to bring together schools, cultural organisations and others to restore high-quality arts instruction to public school classrooms.

Community Character: how arts and cultural strategies create, reinforce, and enhance sense of place

Arts and culture strategies help to reveal and enhance the underlying identity - the unique meaning, value, and character - of the physical and social form of a community. This identity is reflected through the community’s character or sense of place.

Composers

This site contains biographical information about musical composers throughout history. It includes links to information about classical music, a comprehensive glossary of musical terms, and a New Zealand section.

Computer-Assisted Information Retrieval Service Sytem for Music

CAIRSS is a bibliographic database of research literature in music education, music psychology, music therapy, and music medicine.

Constructing Youth Engagement (PDF 197KB)

This Kansas report (26 pages) contains a review of literature regarding student engagement, a list of indicators of engagement, the kinds of techniques that artists use to engage students, and reasons for why the arts engage students. Interview questions for artists and students are provided in the Appendix.

The Contributions of Learning in the Arts. Part 1: A Review of the Literature

This review of international and New Zealand literature explores the arguments made, and evidence for, the contribution of participation and/or formal learning in arts disciplines to educational, social/cultural and economic outcomes, with a key focus on school-aged learners.

The Contributions of Learning in the Arts. Part 2: A Synthesis

This was the second stage of a two-part project carried out for the Ministry for Culture and Heritage by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. The first part comprised a review of New Zealand and international research on the impacts and outcomes of arts learning on a range of educational, social, economic and other outcomes with a focus on school-aged learners (Bolstad, 2010). This synthesis draws and expands on Part 1.

Cool Kiwi - Philip Patston

This page from the wickED site provides an interview with Philip Patston, a comedian and actor who is disabled. Includes Philip's responses to questions from students about his life and his experiences in a wheelchair.

Copyright 4 Clients

Copyright 4 Clients provides a basic guide to help clients better understand photographic practice and copyright.

Copyright Council of New Zealand

Find information about the laws and copyright in New Zealand.

Copyright in Schools

This website provides general information about copyright and how it affects New Zealand primary and secondary schools. In particular, it informs the main groups within school communities about their basic rights and responsibilities in relation to copyright material.

Creative Arts Curriculum Support in New South Wales

This site is dedicated to the K-6 Creative Arts of dance, drama, music and visual arts for years 7 - 12. It features policies, initiatives, services, resources, curriculum materials, information, links and discussion areas. There is clear guidance on ICT in each of the arts disciplines and cross curricula aspects are covered.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons (CC) provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change your copyright terms from "All Rights Reserved" to "Some Rights Reserved."

Creativity and Culture: Art Projects for Primary Schools

This is a portal site with links to information about art education in the UK, teaching art in primary schools and about contemporary ideas about teaching creativity and culture. It has been compiled by Nigel Meager, the author of 'Creativity and Culture - Art Projects for Primary Schools' for the National Society for Education in Art and Design - NSEAD.

Credit Where it's Due

An article from the July 2006 New Zealand Education Gazette highlighting a resource written by national dance facilitator, Patrice O'Brien, that outlines ways in which secondary school dance teachers can use NCEA unit standards to assess and give recognition to students who take part in Māori and Pasifika performances. Includes one teacher's experience of using the resource.

Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development (PDF 641KB)

This compendium of research is diverse, both in terms of the arts learning experiences in the studies described and the particularities of the research they report.

Cross Curricular Arts Project

A brief description of a primary school project which involved the children in dance, photography and creative writing.

Cultivating Demand for the Arts: Arts Learning, Arts Engagement, and State Arts Policy

This RAND Corporation report argues that reversing declining participation in the arts will require more and better arts education, because those who experience the arts as children are more likely to pursue the arts as adults. The Wallace-commissioned report is the second in a series of four taking a “big picture” look at state arts agencies.

A Culturally Responsive Pedagogy of Relations

Russell Bishop is Professor of Māori Education at the University of Waikato and director of Te Kotahitanga. Russell talks about the need to provide a classroom context where caring and learning relationships, paramount to the educational performance of Maori students, can be developed.

Curriculum Project 2005 - Comparison Between Dance and PE/Health (Word 30KB)

This paper is a summary of the cross-Essential Learning Area audit completed for Dance. It compares between the draft Arts statements for Dance and draft PE/Health statements being written for the Curriculum Project.

Curriculum Research Reports

On this page you will find links to the various research reports that support the New Zealand Curriculum, all in one handy place.

Cyberlipid Centre

This site for cyberlipid studies is an online, non-profit scientific organization whose purpose is to collect, study and diffuse information on all aspects of lipidology. It seeks to establish contacts between students, teachers, scientists and technicians and expose various models in all fields, forgotten studies of the past, work in progress and hot fields, including an annotated bibliography.

Dance and Blooms Taxonomy (PDF 56KB)

Within this document is on pages 2-4 there are examples of how dance activities exemplify the different levels of thinking. It could also be very useful for dance advocacy.

Dance and Drama in Uganda - The Pearl of Africa

The e-book is recommended for use by students and teachers of: Dance, Drama, Music, Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Cultural Studies and Languages in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. ISBN 0-476-01372-0. Availability: Worldwide. Price includes educational license. The web link takes you to the site for the purchase of the CDROM at Contemporary Arts Media.

Dance and Literacy

This Australian article focuses on reading and writing in dance, using various literacy strategies. It lists the skills that students need to develop, includes examples of texts, student work and strategies that can be used to build students' dance reading/writing skills particularly at secondary levels.

Dance and Music of Ancient Egypt

An easy-to-read description of dance and music in Ancient Egypt. Could be useful for a Social Studies, dance and/or music unit for primary or intermediate classes.

Dance Facts on Arts Alive

This page on the ArtsAlive website contains some questions about dance that might be asked by your students, or you might use it to ask your students what questions they have about dance. Suitable for intermediate and secondary dance programmes.

Dance Floor Tips: The Art of Dance Floor Socialising

This is an article that gives some tips that may make students more aware of how they might act in a social dance situation. The information could be useful for initiating discussions with secondary dance students about past and present etiquette practices in the context of ballroom/social dance.

Dance in Stage Musicals

An essay on the history of American musical theatre.

Dance Music - Definitions

Electronic dance music is categorized by music journalists and fans alike as an ever-evolving plethora of named genres, styles and sub-styles. Some genres, such as Techno, House, Trance, Electro, Breakbeat, Drum and Bass, Italo Disco, and Eurobeat are primarily intended to promote dancing. Find out about these and other listening-based styles such as IDM, Glitch and Trip-Hop. Please be aware that, as Wikipedia is a public document, accuracy of information cannot be guaranteed.

Dance of Life

This Education Gazette article, published on 3 September 2001, explores the LEOTC programme offered by Dance Aotearoa New Zealand (DANZ) in 2001. Wellington secondary school students went behind the scenes at the Royal New Zealand Ballet earlier in the year as they prepared for their production of Ihi FreNZy.

Dance Styles

A website for dance that has a 'Dance Style Locator' facility, that could be useful for researching the background or features of particular international dances. Suitable for all ages of dance education.

Dance: Mything Boys

An Australian article that discusses the issue of boys' participation in dance, with some analysis of dance pedagogy. Useful for primary and secondary dance educators.

Dancing in the Millennium

This paper by Dr Christina Hong, proposes a postmodern approach to school–based dance curriculum.

Dancing With Lions: (Per)forming Chinese Cultural Identity at a New Zealand Secondary School (PDF 786 KB)

This paper by Henry Johnson, University of Otago, considers how performing the Chinese Lion Dance at Macleans College contributed to the students’ ideas of cultural identity.

Definitions of Musical Techniques

This Wikipedia site defines how the elements of sound. as used in music, including beat, rhythm (including tempo and metre), pitch, melody, harmony and the sonic qualities of tone colour, articulation, dynamics, and texture can be applied through manipulation of conventions or techniques.

Delta Blues Museum

The Museum houses thousands of books, recordings, tapes, CDs, videos, rare photographs and memorabilia tracing the roots of this unique American phenomenon.

Developing a Progression of Student Learning for the Visual Arts (Word 98KB)

This paper and accompanying resource package are the outcome of a preliminary project undertaken by the Dunedin College of Education to explore assessment tools and strategies for the arts. The package includes a trial learning progression for Visual Arts focussing on the CI strand, for curriculum levels 1-4 and outlines assessment methods using student teacher conversations, work samples, written responses and observations.

The Development of Modern Dance in America

This site is not strictly a WebQuest but it does provide a task that researching and presenting information related to an individual who was influential in the development of modern dance. The site provides information on Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan, Ruth St Denis, Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey. Each page contains useful information on the biographical details and the work of the dancer and includes photographs.

Disability and The Arts

An article about how Australians of many abilities enjoy and contribute to art forms such as dance, theatre, and the visual arts. Links to relevant online resources are provided.

Do Music Teachers Have a Responsibility to Teach With Technology?

The author of this article reflects on the impressive array of buttons, flashing lights and colourful screens that we have access to today but wonders how we separate necessary and useful technology from that which is novel and fun. Which technologies will have longevity in our society, and which should our students be learning to use for themselves. Do we actually have a duty to teach technology to our students as a part of music, or are the technologies we use simply tools to make our teaching lives easier?

DocuWatch

On this site, you will find hundreds of documentaries that have been found on the web, all in one place, all ready to watch. Particularly useful for visual arts and art history.

Does Your Assessment Support Your Students' Learning? (PDF 151KB)

This article focuses on the evaluation of assessment arrangements and the way they affect student learning out of class. It is assumed that assessment has an overwhelming influence on what, how and how much students study. The article proposes a set of 'conditions under which assessment supports learning' and justifies these with reference to theory, empirical evidence and practical experience. These conditions are offered as a framework for teachers to review the effectiveness of their own assessment practice.

Douglas Lilburn – The Landscape of a New Zealand Composer

This site details the life and work of New Zealand composer, Douglas Lilburn. The material includes information, images, and some audio clips, and is based on a ten-part radio series produced by Radio New Zealand's Concert FM.

Drama and Citizenship

Using three examples of the use of drama in school and classroom contexts, the author suggests that the "lessons" of citizenship are best taught through the negotiation, consensus building, and cooperation that is typical of drama environments.

Drama and Literacy

From the International Reading Association, this article describes a study investigating how a variety of dramatic forms and techniques could be used to enhance students' language and literacy development.

Drama as a Learning Medium - Researching Poetry Teaching

This article presents findings supporting the claims that drama as a learning medium can enhance the language learning of students. This case study looks at using the drama technique, enactment of the expert, to assist primary students with comprehending a difficult poetry text.

Drama as a Learning Medium - Researching Poetry Teaching

This article presents findings which support the claims that drama as a learning medium can enhance the language learning of students. In this case study teachers used the drama technique known as enactment of the expert, to help primary students comprehend a difficult poetry text. Includes an analysis of the students' written responses together with an analysis of a video tape of the project.

Drama Education

This site offers a global perspective on learning in, with and through drama. An interesting website with a very comprehensive Links Directory, informative newsletters (archived), and access to a large number of very good resources.

Drama in Education for Language Learning

This article has two things in mind. Explore the use of Drama in Education or Process Drama in their language classroom for those who don’t know where to start and those who have some experience of using Drama in Education but want to extend their knowledge and understanding of how to use it in the language class.

Drama NZ E-Journal

The journal includes 12 articles on a range of topics and in a range of styles. Six are specifically relevant to drama teaching and a Maori dimension features strongly.

Dramatic Expression

This article from The Education Gazette, July 2006, is a report on a project undertaken by Chris Horne and Kathie Boyd about a group of secondary school students combining two different art forms. The linked drama and visual art learning experiences were based on the novel 'Leaving One Foot Island', by Graeme Lay, and selected paintings by Nigel Brown. The project found that drama provided a sensory, emotional and physical dimension that significantly assisted students to work more imaginatively, to develop ideas further and then communicate and interpret these ideas with enhanced clarity and perception.

Drawing on Education: Using Drawings to Document Schooling and Support Change

Walt Haney, Michael Russell, Damian Bebell. Harvard Educational Review Cambridge:Fall 2004. Vol. 74, Iss. 3, p.241-271 (31 pp.) A summary of a decade of work using student drawings to both document and also to change education and schooling. After a brief summary of more than one hundred years of literature on children's drawings, the authors point out that drawings have been little recognized as a medium of educational research in recent decades. They argue that student drawings, though only one form of inquiry, help illustrate the fundamental point that, if educational reforms are to succeed, we must treat teachers and students not just as the objects, but also as the agents, of reform and improvement.

Drum and Bass in New Zealand

New Zealand's Drum and Bass fiends unite on this site. It serves turntablists, enthusiasts, producers, MCs, promoters, distributors and more.

Early 20 Century Avant-garde

This timeline chronicles the development of the avant-garde movement in theatre from the late 19th Century through the 1950's.

Education and Disability Resource Center

Use this British education site as a reference tool for various issues in education that affect the entire community- Including Job Tips, Neurological, Developmental & Learning Disabilties, Salary Statistics, SATs, Classroom Management, Home Schooling, Lesson Plans, Bullying, ADD, Student Loans and Articles in Education.

Education World Arts Chats

This chat site involves Robin C. Redmond, associate director of the Center for Arts Policy, Colombia College, Chicago who is arguing the relevance and importance of the Arts being used as an integrated teaching/learning tool. He also advocates the involvement of community artists.

Educational Theatre Association

The Educational Theatre Association website includes an article on aesthetics education - 'Does It Matter If It Is Beautiful – aesthetics in education', Part 2, by Jeffrey Leptak-Moreau. The article looks at how aesthetics are learned and how they are taught in the classroom in relation to Theatre Education.

The Effect Of Music Therapy On Sedative Requirements And Haemodynamic Parameters In Patients Under Spinal Anaesthesia; A Prospective Study

Music therapy is the application of music in the treatment of physiological and psychological aspects of an illness or disability. Music has been shown to modulate the stress response in minor operations, intensive care and other various hospital settings. We designed this study to determine the effects of music therapy on intraoperative sedative requirements in achieving similar degrees of sedation and on Haemodynamic parameters in patients undergoing surgery under spinal anaesthesia.

Electro - Hip Hop - Rap

Three essays on the background and history of Breakdancing and contemporary music styles.

Electronic Music Genres

This wikipedia site contains a list of electronic music genres and sub-genres, though for the latter not all possess their own article (in which case, see the main genre article). It should be noted that, though some artists define their sound by one of these genres alone, it is far from uncommon for an artist's style or even a single track to incorporate two or more of these styles. Many of these styles define variations that are so subtle as to be almost perceptually nonexistent. Some of the differences may not lie in the content of the track itself, but in the artist's background or the area in which it is produced or heard. It is nearly impossible to guess with perfect accuracy which of these single styles any given track may fall under.

Electronic Music Software Makes Instruction More Interactive

This article explores how the software Garageband and Reason have transformed classroom music pedagogy into tailor made individualised programmes, that ensure success for students thereby increasing their motivation and desire to explore music more in-depth.

Electronic Musician

A collection of ideas and resource tips aimed at music technology teachers.

Elizabethan Costume

This is a comprehensive site on Elizabethan dress that will support secondary teacher and student research for the achievement standards on period and form as well as valuable information and practical assistance for those wanting to do productions in Elizabethan style.

Engaging Audiences

How can arts organizations build their audiences even in tough times? This report on a 2009 Wallace conference describes how some groups are persevering.

Engaging Boys in the Arts

An article that discusses the problem of the "missing males" in the arts. In studying the cause of this trend, it discusses the construction of masculinity in the arts through societal forces including the media, school influences, peer expectations, parental wishes, teacher attitudes and texts. It also refers in detail to the nature of stereotypes that prevent boys from participating in the arts.

Engaging Critical Reader Response to Literature Through Process Drama

This article provides examples of how process drama methodology was used as a teaching and learning activity during the reading of Onion Tears, a young adult novel by Diana Kidd.

Enhancing Learning in the Arts

This new Professional Development resource by Deborah Fraser, Graham Price and Clare Henderson, builds on research into teacher practice in Years 0—6 classrooms in New Zealand primary schools. It offers new insights into teaching the arts, challenging teachers to confirm, interrogate, and disrupt established rituals of practice. Available for purchase from NZCER Press.

Ethics in Dance

This site aims to raise awareness of and encourage debate about ethical issues in dance including: ethics and the learning and teaching of dance; research ethics in dance; ethical practice in dance and codes of ethics. Articles, papers and documents about ethics and dance are available to download in PDF format.

Evaluation in the Arts is Sheer Madness

Arts educators are either continually evaluating or they believe the important outcomes of their teaching defy systematic assessment. These and other assessment issues are raised as a means of initiating professional dialogue in contemporary arts assessment and the demands being placed upon the arts.

Evaluation of Professional Development for Pacific Teachers which Supports the Arts in the NZ Curriculum

From 2003, 'The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum' is mandatory and schools are required to offer all four disciplines (dance, drama, music, and the visual arts) to Year 1-8 students and at least two of the four disciplines to Year 9 and 10 students. In the two years leading up to its implementation, professional development in the Arts has been offered to schools in a variety of ways, including an Arts component as part of a larger national contract for Pacific teachers. This report describes the results from a (limited) evaluation of the effectiveness of this component of the professional development in assisting Pacific teachers translate the Arts curriculum document into classroom practice.

Evaluation of the Secondary Schools Arts Coordinators Project to Support “The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum”

This evaluation reviewed the effectiveness of Secondary Schools Arts Coordinators Project. It looked at the effectiveness of the project in meeting its objectives and was designed to be able to inform the Project in future years. The Secondary Schools Arts Coordinators Project was designed to support 'The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum' by assisting schools to provide additional enriching learning opportunities to students across the four Arts disciplines. Through the Project, schools are able to employ an Arts Coordinator to coordinate these opportunities, to ease the responsibilities of specialist secondary school arts teachers.

Exploring Leonardo

A web site with a science basis prepared by the Science Learning Network Staff at the Museum of Science, Boston. Interactive elements include size and distance linear perspective, aerial perspective and the anatomy of gadgets. Go to the Multimedia Zone for aerial perspective, sfumato, vanishing point, and perspective.

Exploring the Musical Mind

In the 20 years since publication of John Sloboda's landmark volume, The Musical Mind, music psychology has developed as a vibrant area of research exerting influence on areas as diverse as music education and cognitive neuroscience. This new book brings together 24 selected essays and reviews written by an internationally acclaimed authority on music and the mind.

Feminism and Classical Music Pedagogy

In this article Marcia Citron introduces the concepts of second-and third-wave feminism and offer examples of how they apply to pedagogy and performance. Part 2 discusses second-and third-wave feminism with respect to research. In the article as a whole, we will see instances in three areas- pedagogy, performance, and research-of how second-and third-wave feminism has interacted with women and classical music in the recent United States. One theme that circulates through the study is victimhood and its meanings in the second and third waves. Popular music, especially the punk scene, is certainly significant in the third wave.

Film and Television Music

This site is dedicated to the art (and business) of film and television music. It links to a range of film scores to pop music that show up on soundtrack CD and LPs. There are reviews, features information about composers and other resources including a listing of trailer and teaser music for a number of films, a list of scores that are available on DVD as a special feature or isolated audio track and links to other great websites that specialize in anything from printed magazines, composing software, and media events.

Film Music

This site contains number of online articles abut film music and very useful links. There are also links to online study units including The Composer’s Toolkit, The Performer, Music as Drama and Case Studies on The Empire Strikes Back and West Side Story.

Film Soundtracks

Wikipedia contains information about the creative process and contains historical notes on a vast number of film soundtracks. There are a huge number of links to scores that feature no songs, only music. This is usually orchestral and sometimes other non-traditional instruments are used.

Find Out About Theatre - Stage Door

This site contains information on all aspects of the theatre: what makes a space a stage, technical requirements for a dance floor, types of backstage, the Green Room, people connected with the theatre (director, lighting technician etc), sections of the stage.

From Hip-Hop to Shakespeare: Dallas Blazes “Coordinated” Trail in Arts Education for City Young People

This Wallace-written feature examines the “Thriving Minds” initiative, which aims to improve arts education for Dallas’ children, especially the poorest. The effort, a response to decades of decline in arts education across urban schools, coordinates the work of schools, city agencies, cultural institutions and other groups involved in arts learning.

From the New Zealand Curriculum to School Curriculum

These materials, designed for school principals and curriculum leaders, support the implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum.

Fusion Dance - Dance Styles

This web page provides information about Indian dance styles including Indian classical dance, Bharata natyam, Kathak, and Bollywood. It is part of the teachers' notes for the New Zealand Ministry of Education video and DVDs "Discovering Dance: Dance Styles in Aotearoa New Zealand", and includes links to related tracks on the video/DVDs.

The Future of School Music Education - Australian National Review

School music education in Australia has been found to be of inconsistent quality and not equally available in all schools across the country, according to the findings of a national review into music education released recently. The report of the National Review of School Music Education follows the decision by the Minister for Education, Science and Training, and the Minister for the Arts and Sport, to jointly establish the review to investigate the status and quality of music education in Australian schools and to examine how they can enhance school music for the benefit of all students.

The Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Trust offers a vast array of services. For instance, the Getty Research Institute provides access to a range of online research tools. The Research Library is accessible to remote users and provides access to the Library Catalogue. The Explore Art section allows you to browse many of the works of art on display at the Getty by name, object, theme, or topic. You can also view current or past exhibitions. There are also lesson plans and ideas for discussion on many aspects of art and art history.

Gifted & Talented Online

This New Zealand TKI site has a page for resources relating to The Arts and gifted students.

Gifted and Talented

This site supports schools, teachers, students and parents in assisting gifted and talented students to reach their full potential academically, emotionally, and socially. It provides principles and practices to support identification, planning and education of gifted and talented students. It also provides ongoing professional learning and support for gifted and talented communities.

Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate About the Benefits of the Arts

This report challenges the prevailing view that the arts have public value because they promote the “instrumental” benefits of broad social and economic goals, such as economic growth and better academic performance. The study, commissioned by The Wallace Foundation, offers a new framework for understanding the value of the arts. The authors consider intrinsic benefits such as aesthetic pleasure and captivation, in addition to having private, personal value, play a central role in the generation of arts benefits to the public realm.

Grafitti Arts and Artists

This site provides an interview with a leading grafitti artist, and is a comprehensive site which includes information on Disrupt Gallery in Auckland, Disrupt magazine and an Image Gallery.

Groove to the Rhythm with the Relevant Rap

This story by Marcel Pusey discusses the importance of bridging the gap between young people's music language and that of formal music education.

Guide to Art Schools - Classical Music Resources

This Canadian site provides a range of links and resources for classical music, audio production and recording, art colleges. careers advice, and a comprehensive range of art and design and media information.

Guide to Electronic Music

Everything you always wanted to know about electronic music, including news, reviews, interviews, party reports, artist profiles, label profiles, diaries, tutorials and links. There is an interactive forum and chat site and a FAQ area.

History of American Tap Dance (pdf)

This is an article that surveys the history of American tap dance from slavery days to the end of the 20th century. Useful for presenting general background knowledge to students, and for NCEA dance purposes.

The History of Commedia

An interesting background article on Commedia.

History of the Leotard

A simple history of the leotard as worn by dancers and other people engaged in movement activities. Please be aware that, as Wikipedia is a public document, accuracy of information cannot be guaranteed.

HOD Handbook - Secondary Drama

This site provides information to assist drama HODs with programme planning, assessment, productions, resources, and departmental policy and responsibilities. There are links to relevant sites including information on NCEA.

Home of Poi

A website which has some interesting information about poi, to supplement what might be gained from other resources. Check out the links as well. Suitable for primary and/or secondary programmes.

Home Recording Connection

A very full resource site for those interested in home recording. Articles include; Computer Based, Do It Yourself, Effects & Signal Processing, Miking Techniques, Mixing and Multitracking, Music on the Internet, Premastering & Mastering, Product Reviews, Songwriting, Suggested Books, Suggested Magazines.

How Music Helps to Heal the Injured Brain

The use of music in therapy for the brain has evolved rapidly as brain-imaging techniques have revealed the brain's plasticity--its ability to change--and have identified networks that music activates. Research shows that neurologic music therapy can help patients who have difficulty with language, cognition, or motor control, and the authors suggest that these techniques should become part of standard rehabilitative care.

How the Arts Impact Communities (PDF)

This paper, prepared for the Taking the Measure of Culture Conference, is by Joshua Guetzkow. In it, he considers issues that need to be addressed when thinking about and studying how the arts impact communities, and provides an introduction to the literature on arts impact studies. Published by Princeton University, Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, 2002.

How to Teach Art to Special Needs Students

This page provides a series of steps designed to help all students, including those with special needs, to have productive art-making experiences.

ICT and Arts Education - A Literature Review (PDF 650KB)

This literature review was carried out by Merryn Dunmill and Azra Arslanagic of Te Puna Puoru National Centre for Research in Music Education and Sound Arts, University of Canterbury, in July 2006, for the New Zealand Ministry of Education. The review sought to find Australasian research (and research from other comparative education systems) on the positve impact of ICT on student achievement, and teaching in the arts.

Ideas on Teaching Students the Art of Listening to Music (Word 41KB)

Arising from a question submitted by a teacher on how to inspire students to listen to a wide range of music, subscribers to musicnet shared excellent ideas from their own experience. This document collates those ideas and is a very useful professional reading for those teaching music.

The Impact of Effective Facilitation on Teaching and Learning in the Arts

This multi-method evaluation investigates the effectiveness of professional development facilitation processes and structures in the arts. The research was carried out during 2005. There is discussion about the impact of the professional development on teachers' knowledge and student achievement in Auckland and Northland regions.

The Impact of the NCEA on Student Motivation (Word 1.4MB)

This final report (June 2006) by Victoria University presents results of research carried out for the Ministry of Education. It presents key findings consistent with existing motivation theory and research but also reveals issues specific to NCEA of relevance to school efforts to maximise student motivation and achievement.

Implementing the Key Competencies

This NZCER research includes publications and resources relating to the Key Competencies as outlined in the NZ school curriculum.

Increasing Arts Demand Through Better Arts Learning

This summary of Wallace-commissioned research examines efforts to rebuild arts learning for American city children through the coordinated work of schools and other groups. It also explores how more and better arts education could boost demand for the arts.

Incredible India (PDF 1.6MB)

This 2007 report from Merryn Dunmill, an Asia New Zealand Foundation "Linking Latitudes" conference delegate, includes information about the Indian Arts Curriculum and state of education and society in the complex and diverse "many Indias" of today.

The Independence of Government Arts Funding: A Review

Written by Christopher Madden, this 2009 report presents a global perspective on independence in government arts support, exploring issues such as the ‘arm’s length principle’ and the ‘arts council versus ministry’ debate. It explores arts policy models and frameworks through a neutral lens, surveying the incidence of different approaches around the world and summarising expert opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of the main approaches.

Index of Drama

Information about plays and playwrights, life and times, art and architecture and literary criticism of Greek drama, Roman drama, Medieval drama, Renaissance Drama and Neo-Classical Drama.

Integrated Arts Programme - Arizona

This video and accompanying materials describe and justify an arts-integration programme in primary schools. While the programme relies on visiting arts specialists in the classroom, there are ideas and rubrics that could be adapted by generalists.

Intellectual Property in Technology Teaching

Although contextualised in the teaching and learning of Technology, the case study materials, confidentiality agreements, and information about IP and student work on this site are useful and important considerations for arts contexts.

Interdisciplinary Research Lab

Culture Lab - Newcastle is a flagship for Newcastle University's interdisciplinary research and focus for a dynamic hub of networks that engage artists, researchers and scientists in contexts ranging from intra-university to international.

International Foundation for Music Research

The goal of IFMR is to build linkages between researchers and music educators, music therapists and others who seek to expand music’s relevance and importance in various aspects and stages of life.

Into the Music

Australian Radio National's weekly music programme featuring interviews with Australian and overseas musicians and composers as well as topical, thoughtful and entertaining features on the best music and musicians from Australia and overseas.

An Introduction to NCEA (Word 515KB)

This is the official NZQA presentation materials introducing teachers and the community to NCEA.

Jazz

This site explores the history of jazz and how it is intertwined with the history of America. It refers to some of the social and cultural events that impacted on jazz music from the 1800s to the 1960s and includes audio and visual recordings of different styles of jazz and musicians, and allows you to play along on a virtual piano.

Journal for Learning through the Arts: A Research Journal on Arts Integration in Schools and Communities

The use of the arts in medical education has become increasingly widespread. Narrative and visual media, in particular, have received great attention as tools for teaching skills of empathy, observation and reflection. Music, however, has been relatively less applied in this context. This article reviews the various areas of interface between music and medicine and describes a curricular innovation using musical performance to demonstrate the value of music as a metaphor for communication in the practice of medicine.

Journal of Film Music

The Journal of Film Music contains a number of reviews and articles related to film music. A number of these can be downloaded for free.

Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland

JSMI is a peer-reviewed journal established in 2005, published exclusively online. Its full-text articles and other content are free to access by all persons who register as users.

Ka Hikitia - Managing for Success: The Māori Education Strategy 2008 - 2012

Ka Hikitia - Managing for Success: The Māori Education Strategy 2008 - 2012 is the Ministry of Education's approach to improving the performance of the education system for and with Māori. It is a key aspect of having a quality education system where all students are succeeding and achieving.

The Lament Project

The Centre for Integrated Media at the California Institute of the Arts announces the release of its new online sound/art collaboration called ‘The Lament Project' as part of the 2008 release of Viralnet.net, the Centre's online journal and project space.

Learning and Assessment in the Arts

A general paper on arts learning and assessment from Eric Johnson, 2003. Examples are given in Dance contexts.

Learning in "As-If" Worlds: Cognition in Drama in Education

This article challenges us to think specifically about the “as if” world as created in our classrooms. It argues that 'situated' learning is more motivating.

Learning Through the Arts

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum carried out a three-year study to evaluate the impact of arts education on critical thinking skills and literacy among elementary school children. Papers are available on the site.

Lessons with a Change of Tune

This TES article from August 2011 considers how music is being used to teach the most unexpected of subjects as schools discover its rewards across the curriculum.

Lindy Hop

The history of the Lindy Hop - a a fusion of many dances from all over the United States from the early 1900s, but mainly based on the Charleston. Lindy Hop combines the movements and improvisation of African dances with the formal 8-count structure of European dances. African dances usually separate the men from the women. Europeans invented partner dancing. Please be aware that, as Wikipedia is a public document, accuracy of information cannot be guaranteed.

Links to Education and Art (LEA) - UNESCO's portal on Arts Education

LEA’s aim is to multiply contacts between specialists throughout the world for the exchange of information and dissemination of best practices, pedagogical tools and interdisciplinary resources in each discipline. It also gathers information on teacher training. Of particular importance on this site is the video of Sir Ken Robinson's speech at the 2006 World Conference on Arts Education, "Building Creative Capacities for the 21st Century."

List of Dances

Useful for researching the history, characteristics, influences, famous individuals and terminology of different dance genres/styles. Suitable for teachers and students - primary to secondary. Please be aware that, as Wikipedia is a public document, accuracy of information cannot be guaranteed.

Literacy and the Arts

This site focuses on the multi-literacies learned in and through the arts. Understanding that literacy is far more than being able to read and write, the arts' written, aural, visual, kinaesthetic, social and cultural literacies are critical to making meaning of human codes - words, actions, sounds, signs and symbols.

Literacy in the Arts

“Fostering students’ [literacy] skills is an important part of the teachers’ role in the arts classroom. Students need to be able to use aural, oral, physical, and visual communication as well as reading, writing, and media literacy skills to gain new learning in the arts and to communicate their understanding of what they have learned.” Subject specific examples are provided on this LiteracyGains website.

Literacy Online

Literacy Online is the New Zealand site to help primary and secondary teachers develop teaching and learning programmes across all learning areas, based on the literacy needs of their learners.

The Art Club

Holm, A.-M. (2001). The Art Club. Herning, Denmark: AV form. The strength in this book is its delightful playful response to diverse international contemporary art events such as found in the Venice biennale as a stimulus for children's art making. Anna-Marie Holm is an artist who works in an afterschool art class context in Denmark. She shares examples of children's work and contemporary practice forms the invitation for playful exploration. Helen Pearson, Celebrate art NZ series editor also acts as local agent for this book. Suitable teachers yr5-yr10. NZ $79.00 incl GST

Art Rooms: Sites of Empowerment and Success

A study in 70 low decile schools of year 11 visual arts classrooms, that shows how teachers' relationships pedagogies and philosophies relate to maximising academic and social learning in their classrooms. New Zealand Journal of Teachers' Work, Volume 1, Issue 1, 16-22, 2004 Sue Sutherland, Auckland College of Education.

The Case for Music in Schools

Music majors are the most likely group of college grads to be admitted to medical school. Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medical school applicants. He found that 66 percent of music majors who applied to med school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. Peter H. Wood, ERIC Document No. ED327480 "The Case for Music in the Schools," Phi Delta Kappan, February, 1994

How to look at a painting

'How to look at a painting' is a book by J. Paton, (2005), published by Awa Press, Wellington. This accomplished lecturer, curator and reviewer brings to art gallery and artist studio experiences fresh insights and delight in accessible language. ISBN: 9780958253888

Improved Learning through Piano Instruction

A McGill University study found that pattern recognition and mental representation scores improved significantly for students given piano instruction over a three-year period. They also found that self-esteem and musical skills measures improved for the students given piano instruction. Presented at the meeting of the Music Educators National Conference, Phoenix, AZ, April, 1998