Summary

A cross-agency working group including members from Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga – the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH) and Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (CNZ) commissioned this evaluation of the Creatives in Schools project. The evaluation used an evaluation-specific methodology based on an outcomes framework, rubrics and mixed-methods data collection over the course of 2021.

Key findings

Outcomes were realised

Creatives in Schools is delivering important benefits to students, schools, creatives and communities, in fact beyond what could have been expected at this stage. In a time of high stress, as they navigated waves of COVID-19 and its variants Delta and Omicron, 114 out of 143 schools chose to continue running the programme, reaching an estimated 12,570 students.

The Creatives in Schools Programme (the Programme) makes a worthwhile and valuable contribution to sharing knowledge and offering creative practices in schools. The Programme provides an important new avenue for student engagement and has a profound impact in supporting student journeys of self-discovery. A focus on wellbeing and mental health helped to engage and connect students in positive ways, in some instances re-engaging students with schools. This Programme has also made a positive difference to teachers and kaiako, creative practitioners, parents and whānau involved in it.

Overall, we conclude that this project has the emerging hallmarks of a high-performing project in which the cross-agency working group should continue to invest.

Outcomes for students and ākonga:

The opportunity to express themselves creatively supported the mental wellbeing of many of the students and ākonga. Creatives in Schools broadened students’ learning horizons, by reaching and benefiting students who would otherwise not have the opportunity to develop artistic skills. The projects allowed students to gain more confidence in te reo, mātauranga Māori and ngā toi Māori and raised the visibility and understanding of Pacific cultures. The projects also affirmed the positive cultural identity of Māori and Pacific students.

Students and ākonga built self-management skills and learned to engage better with other students to contribute to the projects. Teachers saw students develop key learning competencies, and there is evidence from students that they felt a sense of personal achievement and fulfilment from their creative experience.

The opportunity to express themselves creatively supported the mental wellbeing of many of the students and ākonga.

Teachers and kaiako became more confident to design teaching and learning projects that engage students' creativity, across the learning areas of the curriculum. Many are re-using or sharing learnings from their experience in the Programme, signalling those schools and students may sustain these changes. NOTE: This Programme is not intended to deliver Arts professional development – that is offered in other formats. While teachers are developing creative capacity and capability, it is clear they also have an unmet need for more support in this area that extends beyond the remit of the Creatives in Schools programme.

The Creatives in Schools Programme provided parents and whānau with opportunities to actively be involved and help plan creative learning experiences with students, teachers and creative practitioners. Some projects have strengthened connection and engagement with iwi, hapū, marae, Te Ao Māori and Pacific communities. Sometimes, parents became more encouraging of creative pathways for students.

The Programme helped some creative practitioners to build a sustainable portfolio career, while others are already well established. That said, many creative practitioners developed and adapted their craft while taking part in Creatives in Schools. Less experienced creative practitioners also learned to create positive relationships with the school and students.

Effective implementation and delivery

A mostly well-balanced portfolio of projects was funded across school types and creative practices. A strong governance process supported a large scale-up: from 34 projects in 2020 to 143 projects in 2021. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, schools completed 80% of the projects in 2021. Of the remaining schools 15% received extensions to run in 2022, and 5% are still to complete.

The use of sound project management processes supported both learning and accountability. The administrative processes were sufficient to support the project implementation. In 2021 MOE contracted coordination support to the project management role. While the coordinators did not start until September 2021, from that time they identified and resolved project issues for schools and creatives.
Two key operational factors that contributed to the success of this Programme should be noted and maintained: that is, the strong cross-agency governance and adequate resourcing as part of the programme funding to support strong project management and coordination.

Creatives in Schools was implemented and delivered well in 2021.

Suggested future actions

• Undertake further work to find out what Māori-medium schools want and need to better access the Creatives in Schools programme.
• Extend the focus to Pacific and diverse communities, such as migrant communities and learning support communities, who would also benefit from greater access to Creatives in Schools.
• Support the unrealised potential to bring mātauranga Māori into more schools via high-quality projects.
• Further slim down the schools’ compliance requirements while ensuring they remain accountable, so the coordinators can focus on capacity building.
• Learn how delivery of several projects within a school might build on one another to build creative sustainability and embed learning.
• Learn how creative practitioners build on their experiences through multiple projects to create portfolio careers from being part of Creatives in Schools.
• Consider how to share the learnings from projects across schools, with creative practitioners and with the wider community. For example, showcase more projects online or in a shared portal, or develop newsletters or other means of regular communication.