CALLING ALL parents, teachers, politicians, members of the Church and especially YOUNG PEOPLE as well as all those who share an interest and concern over appropriate ways to carry SPIRITUALITY forward, or broaden the teaching of religious education, in a society that has largely turned its back on the church but is still searching for alternative ways of managing our lives better.
THERE IS A USE FOR ART in revitalising our own spirituality, that can resolve the main problem for living in the new millennium - "Our individual unwillingness to accept good or right-living by pursuing the ideal."
YOUNG PEOPLE need a clearer provocation to think and act, most importantly, from their own volition, and all the arts are of fundamental importance in nurturing the imagination, developing responsiveness and increasing our ability to communicate. They are basic to the success of our multi-cultural society.
THE ARTS, but especially fine art, demonstrate society's condition at any one point in time and can provoke deep discussion and questioning of life's values and progress, whilst at the same time nurturing those very sensibilities, through practice of the arts, that are needed to cope with life. Professional artists are now being asked to demonstrate their skills in schools in order to develop interest and enthusiasm for the arts, as well as understanding of art as an acceptable, serious profession, vital to society and "All Our Futures" (see Government document ISBN 1 84185 034 9).
THE ABILITY OF ART to provoke responsiveness contributes to the survival of love as an ideal, as well as freedom and individual responsibility, qualities vital to the future well-being of all young people.
FACTUAL INFORMATION about mainstream religions does not give young people a sufficient understanding of their own culture and moral values. Nor does it necessarily instil any awareness of their own spirituality or the need for a common code of behaviour that will promote everyone's happiness through shared understanding and individual responsibility for living at peace.
ASSIGNING A SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE to the way the arts are taught in school would help to counterbalance the emphasis on science and technology in education. The fine arts use symbolism which is of value for all of life; they can demonstrate the state in which society finds itself at any point in time. Through discussing works of art in relation to their own lives and values, students can find a way of understanding the hidden reality that the artist reveals behind the outward, physical reality, whatever the medium used.
THE ARTS PROMOTE THE SOCIAL VALUES so essential for people's mental and spiritual health (along the lines of the government's "SMSC" plan for the school curriculum) and they are thus basic to children's development. Art practice nurtures those very sensibilities that are needed in order to cope successfully with life - the theme around which the whole school curriculum should be built.
A NEW BALANCE IN EDUCATION that places as much emphasis on the humanities as the core subjects, including all the arts, should/could or would take into account pupils who dare not do art at school for fear of being laughed at, thus catering for the precious few who are naturally gifted in art and who currently tend to get lost in the academic stream because art is not taken seriously enough.
KNOWLEDGE OF LIFE'S CYCLICAL CHANGES can be gleaned in advance through studying the history of art's movements and periods over time. These movements reflect people's mental or spiritual development and current state of being. A study of them can even help to influence or predict the future. "Knowledge of the parallel that lies between art and religion is greater than all academic knowledge," says an old Eastern adage.
SYMBOLISM is employed as a main means of communication in both art and religion. It would be good if young people could be introduced to the use of symbols and symbolic interpretation so that they can better comprehend the myths and stories from the different faiths and can work out the meaning for themselves. This would help them understand the precepts laid down by the various religions when faced with the task of determining their own standards of behaviour.
ALL ART ACTS AS AN EYE-OPENER for spiritual development and we have now reached a point of turning in the "art of living" in which young people need to be aware of their own spirituality and to accept responsibility for everyone's future, as well as their own.
YOUNG PEOPLE NEED to be given the chance to take control over their own lives, to sort out their own values, and clarify their own priorities. This might be called giving young people "A Vision and a Task", so that they may be given a chance to bear responsibility for their own future. The task of teachers, parents, etc, is to introduce young people to the variations on a theme of spirituality so that they can make up their own minds about their own future, including a commonly acceptable way of living, preferably before leaving school - surely the most important educational objective.
ALL ART ACTIVITY aids knowledge of the feelings of oneself and of others. Music generates awareness of feeling in the first place; movement in dance and sport generates awareness of others. Poetry is as music and art put together in words; drama relates our being to the outside world. Art should therefore be at the heart of the school curriculum and accepted as a serious profession, vital to society and to "All Our Futures".
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Reply to: Inga C.P.M. by e-mail to inga.m@virgin.net