Arts and cultural education: contents and outcomes

1. Context

Policy levels
In Belgium, there are 3 policy levels responsible for person-related issues like cultural matters and education. Various actors in the Flemish Community are responsible for the implementation of arts and cultural education policy. Policy implementation mainly originates from the policy domains of firstly the Ministry of Education and Training and secondly the Ministry of Culture, Youth, Sports and Media. Yet, pol¬icy on arts and cultural education extends far beyond the competencies of these two ministries.

Schools
Schools are organized on the basis of their legal status. There are publicly and privately run schools up to the end of compulsory educa¬tion. Both are government-financed schools. Publicly run schools are organized by the government. Privately run schools are organized by a private person or organization. The network of privately run schools mainly consists of catholic schools. In addi¬tion to those, there are also method schools, for instance Freinet schools and Mon¬tessori schools. All schools are part of a so-called 'educational network', for instance the network of all method schools.

Age
Compulsory educa¬tion in Flanders starts on the 1st of September of the year in which a child reaches the age of 6 and lasts 12 full school years. From the age of fifteen or sixteen, pupils can enrol in a partial compulsory education system, meaning a pupil must attend a combination of part-time learning and practical training. For pupils aged eight¬een and up, formal education is not compulsory.

2. Definitions

Definition
Cultural education is defined as any form of education in which culture in the broadest sense of the word is used, either as an objective or as a re¬source. It focuses on encouraging and inspiring a personal and social awareness of culture and on instilling a willingness to participate in culture (Education and Culture Commission, 2008).

Umbrella term
Cultural education is generally regarded as an umbrella term for:
- arts education, where art is used both as an objective in itself and as a medium to develop individual and social processes;
- heritage education, through and with heritage or all tangible and intangible expressions and traces of human actions from the past to the present;
- media education, through and with media that make communication between people possible (Education and Culture Commission, 2008).

3. Intended curriculum (secondary education)

Visual arts and music in lower secondary education / attainment targets
Arts and cultural education is structurally embedded in the compulsory curricu¬lum of lower secondary education and includes two domains (Flemish Ministry of Education and Training, n.d.a): visual arts and music. The central authorities have created so-called 'attainment targets' for each of these domains. The at¬tainment targets act as a directive for lower secondary schools as the govern¬ment considers these targets minimum goals of knowledge, insight, skills and attitudes, necessary and achievable for all pupils.
For visual arts education the attainment targets are clustered around three notions: perception, design and articulation. For music education they are clustered around perception and mak¬ing music. In the two domains attention is also paid to attitudes to the arts (Flem¬ish Ministry of Education and Training, n.d.a).

Cross-curricular attainment targets
Beside the attainment targets for visual arts and music education, cross-curricular attainment targets [vakoverschrijdende eindtermen] (VOET) are available for sec¬ondary education as a whole (so not for lower secondary education only). The VOET consist of general attainment targets included in a so-called "common trunk" and a number of attainment tar¬gets ordered within seven contexts that are typical and essential for specific do¬mains of life. Components related to cultural education with a focus on the arts are integrated in both the attainment targets for the common trunk and those for the separate contexts (Flemish Ministry of Education and Training, n.d.b). Examples of key competences part of the common trunk: creativity, aesthetic skills, media literacy. An example of a relevant context: social and cultural society.

Educational networks offer guide¬lines [leerplannen] to support teachers on how to implement the attainment targets and cross-curricular attainment targets.

Teaching methods
Teaching methods in Flanders are not centrally enforced. Although schools are supervised by national education policies, local or regional support institutions, educational networks and umbrella organisations, the school boards - and par¬ticularly the teachers - have considerable autonomy and can freely choose their educational methods and develop pedagogical views on which they base their education. In other words, there is room for an individual educational approach both for content and didactic implementation of arts and cultural education. Teachers are tied to the attainment targets, but they are free to choose the way in which these attainment targets are achieved (de Rynck, 2005; Ministry of the Flemish Community, 2008).

Lack of continuity
Although in lower secondary education arts and cultural education continues the learning path for expressive arts [muzische vorming] started at (pre-)primary school, regarding to arts and cultural education there is still a lack of continuity in the curriculum from primary to lower secondary education (Education and Culture Commission, 2008; Flemish Ministry of Education and Training, n.d.a).

4. Implemented curriculum (secondary education)

No specific teaching regulations
In lower secondary education the classes on visual arts and music are given by a specific art teacher. Regulations on who teaches the arts in upper secondary and upper vocational education are not laid down (Eurydice, 2009). Because arts and cultural education in upper secondary education does not offer any subject-related content, there is no specific teacher who is di¬rectly responsible.

Innovative developments
Innovation with respect to content and didactics for arts and cultural education comes under the government's general strategies for innovative teaching methods. At this moment no specific innovative developments are being implemented for arts and cultural education.

Evaluation research has indicated that the range and quality of arts and cultural education in secondary schools depend on the exper¬tise present in the school. Some teachers use innovative teaching techniques while most teachers tend to rely on traditional practices and commonly used tech¬niques for the arts (Bamford, 2007).

Cooperation
Cooperation between the educational and cultural sectors often occurs in (tempo¬rary) projects in and outside the school. Many arts and cultural education organisations offer educational packages and cultural projects ready for use in upper secondary education.

5. Teachers

Teachers who are active in secondary education must have successfully completed one of the two types of teacher training programmes.
- The integrated teacher training programme is an programme for initial teacher education and combines education in one or two specific subjects or fields (e.g. arts, math, history) with pedagogical and didactic skills. This programme takes 3 years of full-time education (180 credits).
- A specific teacher training programme is a training course after completing or as part of a foundation course in tertiary education (for example artistic training in higher art education). This training programme involves a 60-credit study load of which 30 credits are specifically allocated to teaching practice (De Vries, 2010).

6. Quantity and quality

Little time dedicated to arts
Compared to other European countries, the Flemish curriculum for lower and upper secondary education dedicates very little time to the arts. The instruction time for arts for 9-11 year-olds (as a percentage of total compulsory instruction time) is 10% (OECD, 2007). For 12-14 year-olds this is only 4%. The EU19 average percentage in 2007 for this last age group was 9% (OECD, 2007). This indicates that the percentage of total compulsory instruction time dedicated to the arts in lower secondary education is very low and significantly lower than at the end of elementary school. Still we have to bear in mind that about 20% of the instruction time in lower secondary education in Flanders is flexible so schools are able dedicate more attention to the arts than just 4% of the curriculum. An international comparison of extracurricular arts education for 15 year-olds shows that 29,83% of their secondary schools organize a band, orchestra or choir, 51,88% organize a school play or school musical, 31,22% organize an art club or art activities (Wagner, 2013).

Quality management tools are scarce
Tools contributing to quality management are scarce. Except for the attainment targets, no criteria to the assess arts and cultural learning processes (such as test, benchmarks, portfolios, etc.) are made available to teachers by the central education authorities. This means that teachers alone in their class or collectively with their colleagues within the school have to draw up the exact assessment criteria and tools themselves. For this they receive assistance from the education support services (part of the educational networks). Also books, teaching methods and other educational publications (tools for individual assessment, audits, student work portfolios, exercise books, etc.) published by educational publishers often affect the implementation of arts and cultural education, especially in lower secondary education.
The inspectorate (part of central education authorities) also plays an important role as it not only evaluate schools on the basis of the attainment targets (curricular and cross-curricular) but also develops vision devel¬opment models for schools (Education and Culture Commission, 2008).

7. Effects and impact

Impact on pupils
With regards to the effects and impact of arts and cultural education on the performances of pupils in secondary education (academic and other outcomes) nearly no country specific information is available. Belgian survey research only indicates that arts and cultural education at a young age enhances participation rate in arts and culture at a later age (Lievens & Waege, 2011).

Impact on teachers, schools and cultural and youth organizations
More implementation research (although not purely effect or impact studies) has been done on the way policy measures and policy approaches concerning arts and cultural education are implemented at an organisational level (e.g. at teacher or school level) or at a sectoral level (e.g. formal or non-formal education) (Bamford, 2007; Goegebuer, 2004; Van der Auwera et al, 2007; Van Petegem et al, 2007; Vermeersch & Vandenbroucke, 2011). This strand of research indicates that the quality of the arts and cultural educational processes in Flanders is high, but arts and cultural education programmes in and outside the formal school system often lack accessibility, consistency and a long-term vision.

8. References

* Bamford, A. (2007). Quality and Consistency. Arts and cultural education in Flanders. Brussels: Agency for Educational communication.
http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/publicaties/eDocs/pdf/301.pdf
* Demeulenaere, B. (2013). 'Cultural Education in the Mirror: Five Years of the 'Wow factor' in Flanders', In Liebau, E., Wagner, E., & Wyman, M. (eds) (2013). International Yearbook for Research in Arts Education, Volume 1, pp. 187-194.
* de Rynck, S. (2005). Regional Autonomy and Education in Belgium. Regional and Federal Studies, 15(4), 485-500.
* Education and Culture Commission. (2008). Gedeeld/Verbeeld. Eindrapport van de commissie onderwijs cultuur. Brussels: Agency for Education Communication. http://www.canoncultuurcel.be/uploads/doc/2251ae5134b3caaefe49gedeeld_verbeeld.pdf
* Eurydice. (2009). Arts and Cultural Education at School in Europe. Brussels: Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.
* Flemish Community. (2011). Vlaams Jeugdbeleidsplan. Brussels: Flemish government. http://www.sociaalcultureel.be/jeugd/jeugd_kinderrechtenbeleid_doc/jbp3/VJP3_syntheseENG.pdf
* Lievens, J. & Waege, H. (2011). Participatie in Vlaanderen 2. Eerste analyses van de participatiesurvey 2009. Leuven: Acco.
* Goegebuer, A. (2004). Audiovisuele vorming in het onderwijs. Brussels: Agency for Education Communication.
* Van Der Auwera, S., Schramme, A., & Jeurissen, R. (2007). Erfgoededucatie in het Vlaamse Onderwijs. Erfgoed en onderwijs in dialoog. Brussels: CANON Cultuurcel, Kunsten en Erfgoed, VIOE.
* Van Petegem, P., Engels, N., & Rymenans, R. (2009). Ontwikkelingsdoelen en eindtermen: hoe gaan scholen ermee om? Leuven: Acco.
* Vermeersch, L. & Vandenbroucke, A. (2011). Onderzoek Veldtekening cultuureducatie. Een beschrijvende studie met evaluatieve SWOT-analyse. Onderzoek in opdracht van de Vlaamse overheid, departement Cultuur, Jeugd, Sport, Media. Leuven: HIVA - KULeuven.
* Wagner, E. (2013). 'Monitoring Arts Education', In Liebau, E., Wagner, E., & Wyman, M. (eds) (2013). International Yearbook for Research in Arts Education, Volume 1, pp. 101-112.

Jaar van publicatie:2014

Trefwoorden:Arts education, cultural education, secondary education