Finding my talent
Monday, April 14th, 2008Find your talent!?
Well i’m hardly hiding my light under a bushel Mr Brown!
Oh look! It’s another young person focussed initiative introduced by our culture-minded government, not only does every child matter but they’re also entitled to five hours of culture a day, oh sorry was it a week? well let’s face it, it’s more likely to be a month. There’s something vaguely disturbing about the phrase ‘find your talent’ when applied to young people - it implies that they’ve either lost their bottomless capacity to be good at many things or have carelessly left their talent at a bus stop or on a bench somewhere along with yesterdays homework. It doesn’t conjure up images of self-discovery or the excitement of trying something new, exploration and adventure. Of course young people should be exposed to culture, the arts and creativity there’s a building body of evidence to show what a positive impact participation in creative activity has on the brain, our ability to learn, absorb information, concentrate longer blah blah blah… the arts are great - however a mandatory five hours Mr Brown? Obviously bored with heaping ever changing goal-posts upon teachers you’re now looking to the beleagured arts world for your amusement.
