A Seat at the Table

My daughter came home from school delighted. It was time to choose her elective subjects for years 9 and 10. 

We read through the menu carefully together, eliminating those courses she really had no interest in. 

I wasn’t surprised that her top four choices were all creative.

When asked years ago what activities my children did outside of school, I learned to respond that we were raising ‘Renaissance’ children - art classes, music lessons, orchestra and drama. 

Folks who were spending their Saturday mornings on the footy sidelines looked at me with blank stares. I could see the dishes being served - what about competition? What about being on a team?

Well, competition is an interesting thing. Maybe in some worlds it holds value? Politics? The Stock Exchange? I can’t really think of any others. In most jobs, you just have to do your best, be good to others and work hard - competition doesn’t have a seat at that table. In fact, most of the time, if you come across as competitive at work, people avoid you.

But the teamwork question was surprising. 

In what orchestra EVER did you not learn to work as a team? In what drama group EVER were you not learning to communicate and listen? 

Art, music and acting can come across as quite internal, but expressing one’s point of view in any creative form is far from personal. You’re on show. You’re guided by others and you develop a community who get you. YOU set the table and impact who is invited. 

So, understandably, I was pleased for my daughter who chose Drama and Multimedia Design as her main electives. She would finally get to learn in an environment she loved with teachers who got her. School would be more fun. A feast.

But when the classes were created with student choices, neither of those subjects were going to run. 

She was angry.

I was devastated.

So why are the creative and performing arts dying in schools? Why are they losing value in the eyes of parents? And what are the implications for our kids?

Firstly, we don’t live in the city. We’re in a regional town at a regular comprehensive public high school. Funding is limited. Often, only a few subjects ever run. If at least ten students don’t choose it, it’s not likely to be plated. Unfortunately, Drama and Music in particular, suffer from this the most. 

But why aren’t kids choosing them?

Well, socio-economics definitely has a role to play.

To play an instrument, you need an instrument and, most likely, some external lessons - something many families cannot afford.

For this reason, Music is often served on the sideboard - a buffet for those who can pay extra outside of school.

But Drama?

Well, to many parents, the benefits of Drama at school are not clear. More and more, school has become all about marks, grades and University entry, and acting is seen more as a calorific dessert rather than a wholesome and lucrative main course.

Society likes the sound of ‘Doctor’ or ‘Lawyer’ or ‘Leader’, and they believe that STEM subjects are the ideal pathway to success. Hell, universities and even TAFE have increased the cost of humanities courses to the point of desertion over the past two decades, encouraging the importance and value of STEM over creativity and philanthropy.

But is sitting at a table for one in high school, punching out numbers really giving you the skills necessary to lead? 

Dr Michelle Ludecke from Monash University discusses the necessity of performing arts subjects, saying they encourage vital life skills like “collaboration, negotiating and sometimes giving way to the ideas of others.” She says it’s all about risk taking too because in an exam “the student succeeds or doesn’t succeed on the page. It’s a lower stake than trying something in or with a group.” There’s something to be said for the process of learning and building resilience that creative subjects can offer. Learning that “mistakes are okay” and that “you have to move through them” rather than erasing them on the page and starting again, can be a really vital life lesson.

But it’s not just parents who encourage these worrying table manners.

A past student of mine was clever in every way. She was innately artistic, passionate, could write imaginatively and she knew who she was. She received a Band 6 for both Mathematics and Visual Arts in the HSC - a huge accolade.

On the day of the release of the results, I overheard her Math teacher say that she was appalled that she was not taking Maths at Uni.

This multi-talented girl was aiming for Design School, the perfect combination of all of her skills. Yet this teacher could not see past STEM as a warranted career path.

I see it all the time as an educator - students are encouraged by a LOT of people to choose subjects that will ‘get them a good job’ rather than those they love.

It’s frightening because all of these people - parents, teachers, University executives - they ALL savour and relish in architecture, literature, theatre and film in their own lives, yet they are reluctant to set the good china for their children and future generations.

When we love what we do, we do it better.

When we feel successful, there is a placemat for everyone.

The performing arts matter.

They matter in schools.

My Renaissance girl is doing Visual Arts and Photography for her electives, and she got Multimedia Design as a minor. 

Unfortunately, Drama has been moved to the sideboard for her - a passion she’ll pursue with our local Community Theatre.

The glassware is a little cracked and the silverware somewhat tarnished now. 

Sure, she’ll have to get through some courses that she finds less than tasty, but she’ll hold her own and I hope the conversation will flow through to a delectable dessert after school, no doubt in a creative career.

Where she’ll sit at the head of the table.