The above activities are examples of good practice. They provide effective learning opportunities for pupils to value diversity and challenge racism. They focus on helping pupils to understand and appreciate aspects of cultural difference, context and change, while challenging and extending their perceptions of themselves and other people.

The examples describe work planned to meet the requirements of the national curriculum programmes of study for art and design and the expectations described in the level descriptions. The context of the work was selected with the needs and abilities of the pupils at the forefront and, in particular, an understanding of the community in which the school is set.

What is the potential in the art and design curriculum for valuing diversity and challenging racism?

The national curriculum programme of study and the QCA/DFES schemes of work for art and design provide starting points for valuing diversity and challenging racism in the classroom. The national curriculum statutory inclusion statement sets out schools' responsibilities for meeting the needs of all pupils and provides examples of how this can be achieved.

The programme of study requires that pupils should be taught about the work of artists, craftspeople and designers in different times and from different cultures.

The emphasis at each key stage is on:

• differences and similarities in the work of artists, craftspeople and designers from different times and cultures (key stage 1);
• the roles and purposes of artists, craftspeople and designers working in different times and cultures (key stage 2);
• continuity and change in the purposes and audiences of artists, craftspeople and designers from Western Europe and the wider world (key stage 3).

What are the implications for teaching and learning?

The national curriculum statutory inclusion statement describes schools' responsibility to provide a curriculum that meets the specific needs of individuals and groups of pupils. The statement sets out three principles that are essential to developing an inclusive curriculum:

• setting suitable learning challenges;
• responding to pupils' diverse learning needs;
• overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils.

This statement also provides examples of how this responsibility can be met.

Effective teaching in art and design can make a significant contribution to pupils' ability to value diversity and challenge racism. Pupils should be given the opportunity to:

• develop their own sense of identity by exploring ideas and feelings and making sense of them in a personal way in their own creative work;
• identify with the way that others perceive themselves and the world through investigating works of art, craft and design;
• recognise how images and artefacts can have an impact on how people think and feel, and understand the ideas, beliefs and values behind their making;
• identify and discuss moral and social issues in their own and others work;
• learn to value different ideas and contributions and develop respect for the ideas and opinions of others;
• work with others on collaborative projects in art and design, agreeing choices and decisions and making the most of individual strengths within the team.

Principles to inform teaching and learning

Works from different cultures and traditions should be understood and valued in their own right

Pupils need to be aware that:

• there may be no word for art in the culture being studied;
• craft may be a social and a community activity;
• visual appearance may be less important than meanings and associations;
• a work may well have powerful associations with religion and reflect fundamental beliefs about the world;
• perspective may not be used. For example, the size of figures in a painting may be presented in relation to their status rather than their relative size;
• pattern and texture may be predominant;
• in some cultures, the human figure would not generally be depicted.

Works should be considered in relation to their context, rather than seen as exotic or unusual

Pupils need to be aware of the different cultural perspectives and contexts that informed the making of the work so that they can understand and value it.

Pupils also need to understand the dynamic ways in which different cultures and traditions take ideas, methods and approaches from each other. This exchange of ideas is assimilated and leads to the development of new forms of representation.

Artworks from different cultures and traditions can provide the opportunity to examine racism

Careful selection of artworks by teachers can provide important opportunities to raise issues about ethnicity, gender and social class. For example, pupils can discuss how people are represented in works of art, craft and design; how the status of people is represented in Islamic paintings; how black people are depicted in paintings from Victorian times; how contemporary black and Asian British artists incorporate different cultural references in their work.

Pupils' views and practical work will reflect their own time, place and experience

Pupils need to be encouraged to have an open and questioning attitude to artworks, especially those that come from cultures that are unfamiliar to them, rather than placing these in any hierarchical order. For example, teachers can show pupils different ways that artists represent themselves in visual form. These representations can be self-portraits in painting or photography, arrangements of objects that have personal meaning, multimedia presentations of their experiences, and so on. The variety of representation enables pupils to appreciate that there are no right or wrong answers: diverse outcomes are possible. Pupils may respond to the content or subject of the work, how it looks, how it is made and what it might mean. Encouraging and supporting diverse interpretations of artworks will encourage pupils to reflect on and modify their own views.

Teachers will need to bridge the gap between what pupils see, experience and learn about others' work and the pupils own lives. Careful thought will be needed as to how pupils reapply their understanding and insights to their own work: interpreting their own ideas in a contemporary context that is relevant and meaningful to them.

Teaching art and design in a global context

Teaching art and design in a global context can help pupils understand and appreciate:

• cultural similarities and differences
  There are diverse ways that people see and represent themselves and their world through art, craft and design

• cultural context
  The ideas, beliefs and values of artists, craftspeople and designers relate to the time and place in which they are working

• cultural change
  Cultures are not static: perceptions change, both within the context in which they were originally formed and when people migrate to other parts of the world

• cultural interpretation
  Our own perceptions of who we are are the result of where we come from, our experiences, and how we feel about these. These perceptions will influence how we respond to and understand the work of others, and how we respond creatively to the time and place in which we live.