In some educational environments, the importance of the Visual Arts often stands a little to the sideline of more academic ‘core subjects’. A current campaign by The Royal Academy of Arts, UK urges us to acknowledge that ‘Art is a serious subject’. The value of art in our schools is immeasurable. As a leader in Art education, I accept I am biased, but in my day-to-day existence, I witness the immense impact that making and engaging with art has on our students.

Tanglin ‘does’ art education impressively. Our Visual Arts results at GCSE, A Level and IB are amongst the best globally. Our Senior Art department has been commended for achieving Best Mark in the World numerous times and this year our IB cohort achieved 75% of 7-6 and our A level cohort achieved 100% A*. Such consistently high results are indicative of an expert teaching team, fantastic facilities, inspired teachers and consequently, inspired learners. Such fantastic results mean the number of students selecting Art at GCSE, A Level and IB DP are increasing.

Vanessa Jackson RA recently expressed her concerns that art is all too often understood to be an ‘easy option’ and claims it’s a short-sighted society that sees art as a ‘low value subject’. Although this is seldom seen at secondary level at Tanglin, I do know this concern is sometimes a barrier when students decide not to take Arts at degree level. The misconception is that an art degree is not going to lead a student to a successful life. I beg to differ.

Fortunately, year on year we have increasing numbers of applications to art, digital design, architecture, fashion schools and art history. Many of our students have received scholarships globally to renowned institutions. In a school as academic as Tanglin, I feel it’s important that these students’ achievements are not lost in the ether of medic and economics applications. Recognising the journeys our art students embark on after Tanglin is telling of the open minded, resilient and inspired lifelong learners that we nurture. I recently attended a professional development session with Prof Dylan Wiliam, emeritus professor of educational assessment at University College, London Institute of Education. His advice to us as educators was, we need our students to leave school with a passion to carry on learning. He went on to say that this passion was predominately if not exclusively seen in the Arts subjects. As a community of educators and parents, understanding the broader impact of visual arts on personal development, academic success, and societal contributions is vital to enable us to continue to support and value our students’ decisions to take tertiary level Arts courses and pursue careers in arts related professions. Talk about AI is saturating the world from all angles. Teachers are concerned. Parents are concerned. Students are baffled. A recent LinkedIn study showed creativity is one skill that businesses need most. Clearly this is one skill AI struggles with. DALL-E can spout out grotesque pastiches but there is no evidence of hard thinking, refined skills or flexibility in approach. Most importantly, what DALL-E (or in fact most AI generators) are only interested in is the final product. They don’t care about the process. Art education is focused on the process. That’s why at GCSE , A Level and IB DP we do not have examinations. Prof Wiliam also showed us an example where AI engines in some fields of medicine are now more accurately diagnosing patients than doctors! 

However, AI falls short when it comes to creativity, problem-solving and personal discovery. As AI begins to take over many cognitive tasks, art education has an even more fundamental role in developing the imagination of future generations. Visual arts education plays a crucial role in fostering creativity and innovation. Students engaged in visual arts are encouraged to be open minded, experiment with different mediums, and develop a clear understanding of themselves and the world around them. To develop and prepare students for an Arts degree, the Senior Art department has a comprehensive programme in place. We hold art portfolio sessions and have a multitude of visiting artists to enrich students’ learning. We are developing our relationships with art schools around the world, many of which already come to visit our students to guide them in their art college applications.

To ignite their passion for art outside of the curriculum we take every child on a national or international art trip, run events like Drawing by the Bus Bay and other whole school art initiatives. Year 12 Art prefects have opportunities for leadership within the arts, setting up competitions and organising other art events. Interpretatons@NGS, Articulation Singapore, IN (International Schools) Art exhibition have all been founded by Tanglin Senior Art department and all continue to offer students high profile opportunities to display and talk about their art, and the art of others. Such initiatives open the door to internships and alumni networks within the arts world.
As we continue to raise our profile of Art within school and celebrate the fantastic achievements of our students, I urge us to continue to take art seriously, support our students’ creative passion to pursue arts at tertiary level and most importantly let their imagination take them wherever they dream.