Ensuring our future jobs through investing in arts education now
A recent survey conducted by the BBC had more than 1200 secondary schools across England respond to questions regarding creative arts subjects.
The results of this survey showed that nine out of every ten schools that responded had made cuts on staff, facilities and the lesson time of at least one creative arts subject within their school.
Source: http://www.artfronts.com/articles/editorials/182-funding-cuts-a-plenty21
Why is this happening? There are several factors that have resulted in these cuts. Perhaps the most influential are the government's policy and funding changes, A report by the Education Policy Institute states that current government policies regarding education encourage a focus on more traditional subjects such as Maths, English and Science. Many believe that non-creative subjects of this calibre are more likely to have economic benefits and improve employment rates in those who study these subjects. So many schools have been cutting creative subjects resources as a result, and the impression of creative subjects leading to unemployment is spreading amongst students. I experienced this during secondary school when talking to my GCSE Art teacher about my aim to study creative subjects at A-Level and Degree level. She discouraged this, and encouraged non-creative subjects to improve my job prospects.
Why are creative subjects important? In my opinion, subjects such as Art, Design and Music teach students how to think differently. They can improve a person's ability to communicate, problem solve, collaborate and express themselves. As well as these skills commonly being in demand by employers, the self-expression taught in creative subjects can have a beneficial effect on a student's social and emotional development.
Source: https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/japanese-insurance-claim-agents-are-now-being-replaced-by-robot-ibm-watson-supercomputer-1599078
Will robots take over our jobs? How do we secure our careers? With technology readily being used in the workplace, how can humans secure their careers? According to their press release, the Fukoku Life Insurance Mutual Company in Tokyo replaced 34 of their staff members with the IBM Watson supercomputer in 2017. Using robotic technology can make work more efficient, cheaper and reliable, however their are skills that a robot simply cannot master. These include the ability to be creative and empathetic, Creative subjects encourage these skills that are uniquely human. So surely encouraging people to develop these skills through a creative education is the only way to truly secure a career. The Higher Education Policy Institute's Nick Hillman believes that “The UK’s future success depends on excellence in breadth and deeper links between the arts and the sciences.” With the UK currently having a booming creative industry which according to a press release by the UK Government in November 2017, contributes a massive £250 Billion to our economy each year.
In conclusion, Creative subjects in education provide students skills that can set them up for more secure job prospects in our every technologically evolving economy. Encouraging youth to develop their creativity gives them skills that can help support and develop our future creative industry in jobs and roles that are much less threatened by technology or robots taking their places like the IBM Watson computer previously mentioned. Arts education can also help our youth learn to self-express which can have huge emotional and social development benefits.
Essentially supporting and providing arts education helps us secure and develop the creative industries that are hugely beneficial to the UK economy, boost emotional and social skills - improving wellbeing amongst youth, and providing transferrable skills that are unique to humans that cannot be replaced by technology, while other industries and jobs are readily being digitalised.
Sources:
Adams, R. (2018). Proportion of students taking arts subjects falls to lowest level in decade. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/sep/21/proportion-of-students-taking-arts-subjects-falls-to-lowest-level-in-decade [Accessed 29 Mar. 2018].
BBC News. (2018). Creative subjects squeezed, say schools. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-42862996 [Accessed 29 Mar. 2018].
Classic FM. (2018). Creative subjects being cut in schools across the UK. [online] Available at: http://www.classicfm.com/music-news/creative-subjects-cut-in-schools/ [Accessed 29 Mar. 2018].
Evening Standard. (2018). The only way to beat the robots is to back arts education in schools. [online] Available at: https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/the-only-way-to-beat-the-robots-is-to-back-arts-education-in-schools-a3790916.html [Accessed 30 Mar. 2018].
Gov.uk. (2018). Creative industries’ record contribution to UK economy - GOV.UK. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/creative-industries-record-contribution-to-uk-economy [Accessed 22 Mar. 2018].
Ica.art. (2018). The State of Arts Education Today: Art on the Line. [online] Available at: https://www.ica.art/bulletin/state-arts-education-today-art-line [Accessed 16 Mar. 2018].
Monbiot, G. (2018). In the age of robots, our schools are teaching children to be redundant | George Monbiot. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/15/robots-schools-teaching-children-redundant-testing-learn-future [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].
