Introduction

Two Minister's advisory committee reports released in the 1980s provided the basis for the development of new policy and curricula in Arts Education in Saskatchewan.

In 1981 the Minister's Advisory Committee on the Fine Arts in Education released its final report with forty-five recommendations for improving the teaching of the arts in Saskatchewan schools. It recommended that a new curriculum be developed, and provided guidelines for curriculum development.

From 1982 until 1984, the Minister's Advisory Committee on Curriculum and Instruction Review undertook a province-wide study of education. The committee's final report, Directions, recommended that aesthetic education be a part of a kindergarten to grade 12 core curriculum for all students.

In the fall of 1986, a provincial committee was formed to guide curriculum development in the areas of dance, drama, music and visual art. In addition, developer/writers were hired to work with the committee and prepare the curriculum guides.

The Arts Education curriculum guides encompass the following:

the four strands of dance, drama, music and visual art
three components -- the creative/productive component, the cultural/historical component and the critical/responsive component
guidelines and suggested activities for use by both the generalist classroom teacher and the specialist
the Common Essential Learnings; Indian, Métis and Inuit content and perspectives; Gender Equity; the Adaptive Dimension and Resource-based Learning
knowledge, skills and attitudes
a wide range of instructional approaches and evaluation techniques.

During the curriculum development process, the developers worked closely with one another so that the curriculum would reflect both the integrity of the disciplines and the commonalities among them. Drafts were taken periodically to the Arts Education Curriculum Advisory Committee and the Indian and Métis Education Advisory Committee for review and comment. In addition, the program underwent a two-year pilot during which comments and suggestions were gathered from classroom teachers throughout the province. These comments and suggestions were incorporated into the curriculum documents during the revision process.