Academy

The Zimbabwe Academy of Arts Education /is responsible for all training in CHIPAWO, internal or external. The Zimbabwe Academy of Arts Education for Development, offers diplomas and certificates in performing and media arts, accredited by the Midlands State University. The Academy also offers numerous short courses, training, consultancy, supervision and monitoring.

The Academy has established a Performing and Media Arts Library, Documentation and Research Resource Centre.

THE ZIMBABWE ACADEMY OF ARTS EDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

 Founded with assistance from the Danish Government, the Zimbabwe Academy of Arts Education for Development is affiliated to the Midlands State University in Zimbabwe. It was officially launched by the Director of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, Mr Titus Chipangura, at a ceremony in Harare on 18th September, 2003.

The Academy is the principal instrument of training in the CHIPAWO Trust. It has the responsibility for all training within the organisations falling under the Trust. It also provides training in the performing and media arts to young people, teachers and performing and media artists.

The Academy was founded in order to fill the gap in tertiary arts education by admitting school-leavers who may not have done well enough in their academic subjects for entrance into academic tertiary educational institutions but have ability and talent in the performing or media arts. Likewise it provides an opportunity for artists who have considerable experience and ability in the performing or media arts to acquire a valid qualification.

The Academy’s diplomas and certificates are accredited by the Midlands State University. It also offers a variety of short courses in performing arts and media.

Rationale

In the Southern African region and in Africa as a whole many formal and informal educational institutions, including ministries of education, include or are interested in including the arts in their curriculum. Trained teachers of the arts are in short supply. Though skilled artists abound, few of them have any training in arts education or formal qualifications which will ensure that their skills and knowledge are properly utilised, recognised and remunerated.

Higher or tertiary educational institutions offering arts education courses are few in number and even where they exist many artists and young school-leavers, despite their artistic skills and experience, do not possess the academic qualifications required for admission into such institutions.

It has become clear that while schools and other educational institutions are in desperate need of qualified arts educators and young people and artists are equally in need of formal training and qualifications in the arts, there are very few institutions in the Southern African region and the continent that can provide the training or the certification.

In addition, although the arts in Africa have many similarities, there is a great need for artists to meet, share and work together. This enriches the arts and greatly benefits the artists.

Meeting, sharing and working together can be achieved within the parameters of an Arts Education course such as the diplomas and certificates in Performing Arts and Media Arts as offered by the Zimbabwe Academy of Arts Education for Development.

The Zimbabwe Academy of Arts Education for Development is an established arts education training organisation, with a tried and tested certificate and diploma syllabus and many other short course modules. It has a well-qualified teaching faculty and its qualifications are accredited by the Midlands State University in Zimbabwe.

The Performing and Media Arts Library, Documentation and Research Resource Centre

The Academy offers other opportunities, one of which is research and documentation. The Academy’s small Library and Documentation Resource Centre is unique in that it specialises in materials relating to the arts and media.

Beneficiaries

  1. Young people wanting to take up Arts Education as a career
  2. Artists wishing to teach or formalise their teaching with a qualification in Arts Education
  3. School-leavers who have been involved in the Performing Arts at school and wish to continue or those that wish to pursue a career in the Performing and Media Arts
  4. Young people and artists who wish to specialise in the performing arts and media with children
  5. Teachers wishing to diversify or improve existing teaching activities in the Performing and Media Arts
  6. Young people requiring career and vocational skills in the Performing and Media Arts
  7. Any individual or organisation requiring training services and/or consultancy in the Performing and Media Arts
  8. Dancers, Theatre Practitioners, Musicians and the general public interested in dance, theatre and music and musical instrument development and research
  9. Artists, educationists, researchers and the general public through attachments, visiting lectureships, seminars, exhibitions and talks on the Performing Arts and Media

 Strengths

The Zimbabwe Academy of Arts Education for Development is a unique opportunity:

  • Founded by CHIPAWO it has a wealth of skill, experience and expertise in arts education for development in employment
  • Its Diplomas and Certificates in Performing Arts and Media Arts, which are accredited by Midlands State University, are already in place and have been tried and tested
  • It has an unparalleled store of qualified and experienced teaching staff to draw on
  • It has premises and equipment
  • It has a Library, Documentation and Research Resource Centre