Media Releases

RESEARCH RELEASED ON CHILDRENÍS RESPONSES TO LIVE PERFORMANCE

The University of South Australia, the Department of Education and Children’s Services and Windmill Performing Arts have released the research report Children’s Voices. This longitudinal research project aimed to explore and document children’s perceptions of live arts performances and the impact on children, their teachers and school communities.

The research, conducted in South Australia, involved four state primary schools over a period of three years (2003-2005) and involved 140 children aged from five to 12 years. It was developed as an independent research program under the direction of Professor Wendy Schiller, Director of Research at the de Lissa Institute of Early childhood and Family Studies. The children attended 2 -3 Windmill Performing Arts performances per year and responded to a set of pre-performance and post-performance questions for each performance.

Children’s Voices builds on the findings of international research projects such as Champions of Change (Fiske, USA, 1999) and All our futures (NACCE, UK, 1999), which outline the potential of the arts and creativity in relation to children, communities and curriculum. Children’s Voices provides insights into the role and impact of the arts on children’s learning within an Australian context.

The research results show clear gains in literacy development, the ability for children to transfer what they observe to their own learning and their lives and the engagement with the inherent values explored through each of the performances.