The power of creative learning through the arts: Economic imperative or social good?

This article uses data generated through qualitative methods and discourse analysis to explore how ‘creative learning’ is articulated in the current educational context in Wales. The research focused on the Arts and Well-Being in Education professional learning programme for primary and secondary schools, delivered by Arts Champions through one of the Regional Arts and Education Networks. The Networks were created to support the Welsh Government and Arts Council of Wales’ Creative learning through the arts action plan. The analysis applies a post-structural framework, influenced by the work of Foucault, to examine the circulating discourses around the ‘benefits’ and ‘value’ of creative learning and the arts. The discussion reveals the underlying structures and ideological project that (in)form the policy context and the resultant practice. The findings show how the Welsh Government’s rhetoric describes a broadly democratic, economic value of the arts, while the Network D case study emphasises the benefit of the arts as a ‘social good’. Within this context, the Arts and Well-Being in Education professional learning programme functions as a local revolution, extending, enhancing and personalising the ‘social good’ so that the benefits centre on well-being through mindful approaches to creativity, the value of which is decided by the individual