Introduction to Case-making and Systems Change in Arts & Cultural Education

By: Laurie T. Schell

I am a lifetime advocate for arts education. In more recent years - especially since 2020 - as the whole world shifted, I witnessed the arts serving as a vehicle for society to grapple with these changes. So, my perspective has grown. I am an advocate for arts and cultural education and its powerful impacts on the development of young people, and I see how it can be the means by which our systems, policies, and communities can grow and positively change towards a more just future. 

In 2021, a collaborative project between Creative Generation and ElevateArtsEd emerged to better understand how practitioners - such as artists, educators, community leaders, and more - can make the case for and also advocate through arts and culture to drive systemic change and address the complex challenges we were facing, such as a global health pandemic, reckoning with racial justice, environmental crisis, threats to public education, and economic recession. The goal of the project was to expand the knowledge base of case-making and systems change in the field of arts and cultural education and provide resources to support effective actions for these practitioners (and young creatives, too!). What has resulted is a suite of essays investigating the theory and practice of case-making and systems change for and through arts and cultural education.

The work is grounded in research with an annotated bibliography and overview of current literature from three distinct sectors: cultural, education, and social justice. The selected studies represent both the science of advocacy - building blocks for understanding what effective advocacy looks like - and the art of advocacy with calls for improvisation, adaptability, and generative thinking, all characteristics of art making. 

Expanding on a New Model

The suite of articles is grouped within three categories, as identified in Jeff M. Poulin’s essay “Embedding Advocacy Into Your Practice” published by the Teaching Artists Guild: 

  1. advocacy for self; 

  2. advocacy for the field; and 

  3. advocacy for the sector.

Overarching is the concept of 'advocacy for justice,’ recognizing that advancing social justice is embedded in all efforts within the self, field, sector, or broader community. As Poulin states:

“We cannot realize the work, field, or sector we envision without a justice orientation. If our Black, Indigenous, and peers of color are not treated equitably, if our communities on the margins are not supported, and if young people are not centered in the work, the field … cannot be fully realized.

At all levels of our advocacy – for self, field, and sector – we must seek justice. Within this process, we can and must take steps to examine our own privilege and use our power to create pathways to achieving justice.”

Advocacy for Self includes articles on individual responsibility and the need to experience the work from multiple perspectives. 

Advocacy for the Field explores structural elements of advocacy efforts and the importance of strategic communications, issues that may be relevant to fields within the larger landscape (e.g., educators, teaching artists, administrators). 

Advocacy for the Sector explores systems change through arts education and stakeholder participation and engagement strategies.

Making the Case for Justice looks at pathways to consider in the work to realize principles of social justice in the arts.

 
 

Key Learning Themes

The articles are based on one or more key learning themes gleaned from a review of the extant literature on advocacy, case-making, and systems change in the arts, health, housing, social justice, environment, and economic sectors. Each are based around the necessary action of a practitioner within their own context:

  • See the larger system and work within a local context

  • Balance organizational structure and flexibility

  • Link communications strategies to goals 

  • Build adaptive processes that encourage engagement

  • Understand the dynamics of systems change

  • Acknowledge progress at all levels

 
 

Case-making and systems change are multifaceted. As with the artistic process, so, too, the process of advocacy engagement is as important as the final product of outcomes. This suite of articles will demonstrate the dynamic and iterative nature of advocacy work. There is no one right answer; there is only one right answer for right now. There is no immediate solution; the process is a long game, often taking years to reach a conclusion.

Your comments, observations, and suggestions are welcome. Thank you for your interest and your commitment to this important work.

Author’s note: Making the Case does not include research studies on the value or benefits of the arts and arts education. If you are looking for research to bolster your case, there are significant resources available, including ArtsEdSearch from Arts Education Partnership and research studies from the NAMM Foundation.