Group 6

Visual arts, music and theatre arts are three subjects that belong to the arts group. Being artistic courses they are fully interpretative in approach and thus allow for choice of content. This significant freedom comparing with courses from other groups is appreciated both by teachers and students. According to the Visual Arts Guide (2007) the emphasis in all the subjects is on creativity: the making of art, the making of music and the making of theatre in the context of disciplined, practical research into the relevant genres (A Basic for Practice 2002: 10). The general syllabus of the course has been developing very slowly due to the fact that a compromise between a western-orientated approach to art and non-western comprehension of the subject was needed. It was recognized that in the first case the emphasise was placed more on creative thinking and free expression, both in subject matter and technique. That put non-western students in disadvantage since historically and culturally the their assessment criteria lay stress on imitation the ideas and mastering technical skills. All forms of experimenting and risk-taking were discoursed until students had perfected their skills. Importantly, the syllabuses and assessments of the current arts subjects have removed much of this bias, and now reflect an eclectic attempt to combine contrasting aesthetics and forms of assessment from around the world (A Basic for Practice 2002: 10).