RIGHT OF REPLY

IT WAS good to read Vuyisa Qabaka’s article “We have so much talent in South Africa” in Business Report, not least because it is often a battle to raise debate about the arts in sectors other than lifestyle or entertainment. Critical to the argument about the arts being under-supported, though, is the argument about South African arts education, particularly in early childhood development spaces.

Importantly one does not educate a child in the arts so that he/she becomes an artist (he or she will do that anyway), but rather to develop imagination, creativity, playfulness and innovation – all survival tools of the new economy – and also to grow audiences and markets for the creative sector.

This is an argument that has real purchase in the US, with the STEM to STEAM Movement.

The movement argues that school education should not consist only of science, technology, engineering and maths, but should include the arts as well. This is premised on the belief that the arts offer the skills to enter into many other workspaces. Once we achieve this paradigm shift, we could see a new engagement with the creative sector.

In fact, one commentator argues for an education system with a focus on science, economics and the arts (Sea).

The learnings from the arts are valuable. In her book, Grit – the Power of Passion and Perseverance, Angela Lee Duckworth describes a world that is less dependent on IQ and more on “grit”.

She talks of passion and perseverance for long-term goals, stamina, the need to live the marathon and not the sprint. But how do we build this in society, she asks.

Talent doesn’t necessarily make you gritty. Grit requires follow-through.