How did primary kids learn arts during COVID19 lockdowns?

27 April 2023

If you are a primary school teacher, student or parent, and you remember how arts education happened during the COVID-19 lockdowns, we would like to hear from you.

image of teacher with primary age student building something

A national research team of teacher education experts are investigating how Australian primary school students experienced arts education during COVID-19 lockdowns.

They are seeking insights from teachers, parents and primary school students via a national online survey until 13 May.

Dr Don Carter (UTS FASS Teacher Education) and Dr Linda Lorenza (Central Queensland University) are leading a research team to learn about what primary school students did in the arts - i.e. dance, drama, media arts, music and visual arts - during the online learning periods 2020 and 2021, and how learning in the arts contributes to primary-aged students’ wellbeing and self-esteem.

The findings of the project will help strengthen teacher education programs and better prepare our pre-service teachers for a career in the classroom,

Dr Don Carter

This joint 12-month project between Central Queensland University and the University of Technology Sydney is currently seeking the perspectives of teachers, parents and students via the primary arts learning online survey. Teachers, parents and primary school students are invited to contribute, and can access the survey through linktr.ee/cqu_epp.

Primary students also have the option to audio record their responses rather than submitting a written response.

Photo Of Kid Playing With Clay While Looking In The Monitor — Image credit: Julia M Cameron via Pexels. Free to use with credit.

“We have made the survey experience as fun and interactive as possible" Dr Lorenza says.

As Dr Lorenza notes; "the last few years of COVID-19 lockdowns and online learning has resulted in tired teachers, disengaged students with exhausted parents and caregivers. We want to learn from people’s recollections from that time."

Primary-aged students have neither had enough time at school to experience collaborative learning nor to develop relationships with their peers.”

Dr Don Carter says that "the findings of the project will help strengthen teacher education programs and better prepare our pre-service teachers for a career in the classroom".

The research is funded by the Australian Government’s Emerging Priorities Program which sponsors projects that assist school communities to respond to emerging priorities in school education, including meeting the ongoing challenges of COVID-19. The grant is valued at $190,631.