Arts Beyond Borders - Resources for Secondary Education

The Centre for Arts and Social Transformation is delighted to present Arts Beyond Borders, a project aimed at supporting secondary teachers to engage young people in global issues that directly affect their lives such as racism, colonisation, and gender inequality. The project, funded by the New Zealand National Commission of UNESCO, supported by The University of Auckland and the Chartwell Trust, was driven by the deep social fractures exposed by the Covid-19 crisis.

As the project leader, Dr Marta Estellés says:

'The Covid-19 pandemic has not only highlighted the deep interconnectedness of our world, but also the perversive global dynamics generated by social inequalities. These issues, as much as challenges for the future, constitute the day-to-day experiences of many young people. Schools can’t ignore this reality. The question that we, as a team, wanted to address was: how can we support teachers to make the curriculum more relevant for a (post) Covid world?'

The response to this question from the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation was, of course, through the arts! A world beyond borders needs imagination to enlighten fairer and more sustainable futures. The arts provide opportunities for rangatahi to reframe their life stories and envisage new possibilities for social action. Arts Beyond Borders has joined educational scholars and practitioners from different disciplines to develop a set of teaching units with rich learning experiences that carefully guide educators in this exciting journey. The website also includes a section with advice for teachers and a research-based selection of picture books that addresses a broad range of global issues.