Teacher-Artist Partnership (TAP) CPD for Supporting & Enhancing Arts in Education in Ireland (Primary Schools Initiative)
Teacher-Artist Partnership (TAP) CPD is a unique Department of Education and Skills initiative which commenced on a pilot basis in 2014/15 in response to the objectives outlined in the Arts in Education Charter. This initiative is guided by the principles expressed in the Arts in Education Charter (2012) and Pillar 1 (Creative Youth) of the Creative Ireland Programme (2017–2022).
Nurturing the abilities and commitment of artists and teachers for the promotion of arts-in-education is a central concern of the Arts in Education Charter. One of its major initiatives in this regard was the design and implementation of a pilot teacher-artist CPD Partnership Summer Course. Part of supporting schools in the provision of high quality arts education for children, this pilot arts in education initiative was Association of Teacher Education Centre of Ireland (ATECI) led, in partnership with the Department of Culture Heritage and the Gaeltacht (DCHG), Encountering the Arts Ireland (ETAI) and the Association for Creativity in Arts Education (ACAE). The initiative is administered by the Education Centre, Tralee. This innovative teacher-artist CPD programme was aimed at developing a model of arts in education CPD for teachers which could be used as a template for the future.
The Pilot Project was researched and the Research Report on this Pilot initiative was launched by both the Minister for Education and Skills and the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in March 2016 and has been published (available on here).
Teacher-Artist Partnership CPD Summer Course & Residency Programme is now mainstreamed and consists of free DES approved (EPV days) Summer Courses operating in each of the 21 full-time Education Centres in Ireland in either July or August each year. Each Course will have 20 primary teachers and 4 professional artists participating. It will be delivered by a trained and experienced Teacher Artist Facilitator Pair. The initiative includes funded Artist in Residency opportunities in which participating teachers and artists work together in collaboration in the School during the following academic year.
