Editorial: Spring Term 1 2018-19

A little while ago I received an unlikely request, to appear as a guest in my capacity as Editor of Teaching Drama on LoveSport Radio… Having initially imagined that this must be some bizarre mistake, I discovered on speaking to the producer that the morning's presenter: outspoken former Sun Editor Kelvin MacKenzie was looking for someone to pit against a representative of STEM subjects in his celebration of a report that morning that arts graduates earn 15% less five years after graduation than, say, engineers. ‘Hooray!’ cries Kelvin MacKenzie (what is it to him, please?!), ‘And?’ say I…anyone who enters the arts hoping to make themselves a fortune is a) delusional and b) in it for the wrong reasons. I was then asked to justify the arts both as subjects for study and as career paths to a man who claimed not to see the point in them at all and, more to the point, to be furious that his hard-earned taxes were going to support the out-of-work creatives he imagined were going on the dole every time they finished a stint in the theatre. It was extremely tiresome, but being well equipped with arguments in support of the arts both in education and as an entity within our society, I did my best to relish the opportunity to speak to an audience which never hears those arguments – and I shall declare myself de facto winner of the debate on the basis that I didn't allow him to get a word in edgeways.

At the time, I didn't have recourse to a report I have since been sent by the RSC – and if I had, it would have been excellent further ammunition for my arsenal. This November, the House of Lords was presented with the results of a study which has taken three years to complete. Analysing 6,000 responses from secondary and special school students aged 14-18, and of 63 teachers, the TALE study (Tracking Arts Learning and Engagement) set about giving a voice to young people on the subject of the positive difference the arts in schools can make to their lives. It makes for compelling reading: we all know how authorities love a statistic, and the demonstrable, quantifiable difference made to those students whose schools have strong arts provision is laid out in tables. The next issue of Teaching Drama will include a feature which looks at the ‘Time to Listen’ report which emerged from the Arts Council-funded TALE study, and at the recommendations it offered.

In this issue, Zeena Rasheed from National Drama puts forward her own rallying cry for drama in schools (page 27) so I think it's fair to say we're all fired up at the moment. If you would like to meet other teachers of music and drama and share your passion for the arts in education, you couldn't do better than to register for the Music & Drama Education Expo | London 2019, which takes place on 6-7 March. The full programme has been announced and I've written my annual walk-through on pages 24-25 of this issue. To register, go to mdexpo.co.uk/London

May your festive season be filled with all the glorious music, theatre and other cultural pursuits which define us and make us joyful!

Sarah Lambie Editor

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