Education

The Edinburgh International Festival runs a year round programme of education and outreach work. It's a chance for us to share the Festival with others and explore the ideas and issues it raises. It helps us reach those who might not otherwise connect with the Festival and gives existing audiences opportunities to get more out of their Festival experience.

Getting to grips with the Festival  

Within the Festival programme are a series of talks and discussions in which you can hear our artists talk about what inspires them, and explore some of the ideas behind the Festival theme. Festival 09 featured a series of talks called The Enlightenment, presented in partnership with the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Nature magazine and the Welcome Trust, which engaged with the key ideas and continued references of Scottish Enlightenment and its impact.

During the Festival & throughout the year  

Bank of Scotland Connecting to Culture
Bank of Scotland Connecting to Culture explores themes from the Festival in a year-round programme of projects working with 40 Scottish primary and secondary schools.

In Festival 09 the programme was inspired by TheatreWorks Singapore's production Diaspora, with artists working in two primary schools to craete a multicultural garden of reflection and a permanent mural. These artists are supported by the National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council.

During the Festival, a project exploring ideas from The Enlightenments exhibition culminated in an exhibition of students' work at The Hub. For the second year running we joined forces with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh where an interactive installation was staged in the Glasshouses, offering adults and young people alike the chance to experience the transformational effects of letter writing.

Dance workshops in schools with Scottish Ballet form part of our wider arts education programme with leading teaching artists Charles McNeal, Anne Bogart and Heiner Goebbels working in Edinburgh. Throughout the autumn, music workshops at The Hub are encouraging engagement with classical music by developing listening skills, concluding with live performance.

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Other Education Work  

Summer School
As part of our activity schedule for Festival 09, we hosted an Arts Practitioner Summer School for arts educators led by several of the world's leading creative pedagogues. The Summer School, which is non-residential and free to participants, gave unparalleled access to Festival performances, events, workshops, practitioners and seminars.

Directors School
During the Festival we also hosted the Edinburgh International Festival/National Theatre of Scotland/Federation of Scottish Theatre Leverhulme Theatre School, for theatre directors and practitioners. In addition to engaging with the world class Festival 09 theatre programme and meeting the creators who produced work, participants attended seminars and workshops led by several of the world's leading creative pedagogues, including theatre director Anne Bogart, composer Heiner Goebbels, dance director Charles McNeal.

Herald Young Critics
The Edinburgh International Festival and The Herald newspaper continue to work together through our Young Critics programme, introducing school students to the process of arts criticism. The project culminates in the opportunity to review performances at the Festival, with selected reviews printed in The Herald.

Bank of Scotland Connecting to Music Website
The Bank of Scotland Connecting to Music website is an extensive and creative online resource for schoolteachers and those interested in exploring ideas about music and art. There are exercises for you to try and downloadable lesson plans for use in your classroom.

This website can make a significant contribution to a teacher's role as they build the Curriculum for Excellence in schools.

To find out more about how your school or group could become involved with the Festival's education programme, contact Sally Hobson education@eif.co.uk