The myth goes that the true artist is born, mysteriously fully formed in their own exceptional talent. A second myth holds that creativity thrives in adversity; a third that creative sorts are somehow morally wayward, something to be tolerated as long as the results are diverting, but not a model for citizenship. These three combine gloriously in the icon of a lascivious and poverty-stricken Mozart, writing sonatas while still in the womb.
It seems increasingly clear that the British government has bought into this fiction. What other explanation can there be for the baffling disconnect between its industrial strategy, which prizes the creative industries as a priority sector, and an education policy that is deliberately squeezing creativity out of our children’s learning?
At the heart of the government’s most recent industrial strategy, this simple statement stood out to me: “Maths should not be perceived as an exceptional talent; it is a basic skill that can be mastered with the right teaching and approach.” This laudably pragmatic approach, reflected in education policy, supports and populates our financial, scientific, engineering and tech industries. During these uncertain times we must feed any golden geese we have, and a steady stream of qualified graduates and school-leavers is the strongest investment for the future we can make. So how is it that when it comes to the creative industries one of the most bounteous golden geese in this country’s history, the government doesn’t take the same approach?
The creative industries are the fastest growing part of the UK’s economy, one of the few sectors in which we are celebrated world leaders and in which there is huge employment growth. We are the world’s third largest cultural exporters, after China and the US. Last year the creative industries were worth £92bn to the UK economy. The sector returns more golden eggs every year to the Treasury than the automotive, oil, gas, aerospace and life science industries combined, and for every £1 invested in subsidy the government gets £5 returned in taxes.
These figures are not disputed, nor even particularly new – everyone knows that our writers, musicians, actors, IT innovators, fashion designers, architects and film technicians are world-class. They are all over the world, leading their fields.
It would seem careless in the extreme to endanger this success story. Particularly if the carelessness were based on myth.
At the National Theatre, we work in partnership with schools all over the UK, as most of the theatres across the country do; and, like them, we have had a series of consultations with headteachers, hearing first-hand about the changes in our state education system.
Since 2010 there has been a 28% drop in the number of children taking creative GCSEs, with a corresponding drop in the number of specialist arts teachers being trained. Hardly surprising when the Ebacc, a government school performance measure focusing on a core set of academic subjects studied for GCSE, does not include a single creative discipline. Add the funding squeeze into the mix, and the result is that the practice and study of drama, design, music and art are rapidly disappearing from the curriculum. The pipeline of talent into the industry is being cut off by the government’s misguided sidelining of creativity in education.
This is the opposite of what happens in our private schools, our top universities, and the state schools where inspired teaching and leadership pulls determinedly against the prevailing and constrictive tide. The three theatres at Eton are among the best equipped in the country because the school knows this is a crucial aspect of its offer. Creative confidence brings initiative and freedom of thought, an understanding of teamwork and communication that sits at the heart of a dynamic and successful working life. Both Justine Greening, and now her successor as education secretary, Damian Hinds, have commendable track records supporting social mobility. So why is the government pursuing creative education policies that actually exacerbate inequality of opportunity? Wasn’t unrelenting inequality part of the backdrop of the Brexit vote? Isn’t it the opposite of what Theresa May’s “society that works for everyone” claims to stand for?
Maybe there’s a theory that if the whole sector is covered adequately within the private system, there is no need to add to the demands on the already-stretched state system. But whatever the reason, the result is that another myth, deeply embedded in our peculiarly British psyche, is being reinforced: that culture and creativity belong naturally to the elite, that they are not for everyone.
And this problem affects us all, because the whole economy needs creative skills. According to the World Economic Forum, by 2020 creativity will be in the top three most important skills for future jobs, alongside complex problem solving and critical thinking. Which are skills innate to and honed by a creative education.
Right now I’m in rehearsals for Macbeth, in a room full of actors, designers, stage managers, musicians, technicians and craftspeople. Like me, many of them would not have found their way to that room, were they at school today. Throughout my varied education, I was helped by teachers who had both the vision and, crucially, the space to create opportunity on and off the curriculum. As well as studying for my O-levels, I spent my time outside school playing the violin in youth orchestras, and scoundrels or old men in youth theatres.
And in my career I have known thousands of fellow practising artists – many regarded among the most “talented” people in the world. Almost all have got there by two means: elbow grease and support for their creativity. This is what we have learned: just like maths, “creativity should not be perceived as an exceptional talent; it is a basic skill that can be mastered with the right teaching and approach”.
Don’t believe the myths: do the maths. The government should scrap the Ebacc in its current form, and work with the leaders we have – in the arts, in science, in innovation – to equip our young people with the skills they need. We need an education system fit for the 21st century, one that champions this country’s creativity as the foundation of its economic health.
