ART PEDAGOGY AT EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "ART PEDAGOGY AT EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES"

Mitchell Ford
8 years ago
Views:

1 ART PEDAGOGY AT EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES Insights into art pedagogical (study) practices at universities in Europe #

2 AIMS AND CONTENTS This series of publications aims at providing exemplary insights into different aspects of art pedagogical educational practices at universities. This may include: Art projects within the framework of art pedagogical studies Projects/ envisaged projects dealing with issues of design, architecture, everyday life and their imparting Insights into exhibition practices and their imparting Art pedagogical aspects of students theses Empirical research practices in the field of art pedagogy Art pedagogical surveys conducted by students Insights into seminars Perceptions of place, subject, biography, socialization, art, media within art pedagogical educational processes. BOARD OF TRUSTEES Regina Zachhalmel (Wien/A), Ruth Kunz (Bern/CH), Vera Uhl Skřivanová (Usti nad Labem/CZ), Christine Heil (Mainz/D), Manfred Blohm (Flensburg/D), Christiane Herth (Paris/F), Gabriella Pataky (Budapest/H) 02

into exhibition practices and their imparting Art pedagogical aspects of students theses Empirical research practices in the field of art pedagogy Art pedagogical surveys conducted by students

3 INTEGRAL AUTHORSHIP IN ART EDUCATION An overview of the BA and MA programs in Art Education at the Bern University of the Arts From «Drawing Teacher Training College» to a Master of Arts in Art Education In Switzerland, the Bologna process revived discussions on how professional training of art educators for both, in and out of school contexts, should be designed. Different from other European countries, art education could not draw back on a dual educational tradition consisting of both art academies and university programs. Previously, a four-year diploma course in art and design, largely informed by the Bauhaus tradition and the Arts and Craft movement was followed by a one-year teacher training course. In 2005, this structure was replaced by a threeyear Bachelor and a two-year Master degree in Art Education. Whilst the three-year Bachelor course concentrates mostly on subject training in art, design, and art history, the focus shifts to pedagogy, didactics, specialized subject didactics, professional skills, and research-oriented competencies on the Master level. However, subject training will still make up for about 40 percent of the curriculum. This educational model corresponds to what is commonly referred to as education-oriented, integrated model of teacher training. 1 As director of studies, I have had the pleasure to accompany the planning and implementation of this new 03

Different from other European countries, art education could not draw back on a dual educational tradition consisting of both art academies and university programs.

4 educational structure for the past six years. The following paragraphs summarize the central premises and outcomes of this change process. Integration of Subject Matter(s) The competency profile of the Master course describes «integral authorship» as its core learning outcome. The term «author» is derived from the Latin word auctor, meaning not only originator and creator, but also mentor or initiator. This is to say that our understanding of integral authorship refers to the ability to professionally initiate, plan, implement, and evaluate projects in creative-artistic, pedagogicaldidactial, and organizational terms. Integral authorship thus knows many faces: artistically informed art pedagogical research, participatory arts practice, or arts-based teaching projects are but a few of a wide range of combinations and variations. 2 At the end of their studies, students are required to demonstrate their capacity to have developed both an individual and professional version of integral authorship in their MA- Thesis. «Workshop of Values» by Selina Lauener, published in an twin article alongside my writing, is an outstanding example thereof. Professional research, participation and the Educational Turn 1 In contrast to functional-market-oriented, functional-state-oriented and fragmentededucation-oriented types of institutionalization (Blömeke 2011: 353) 2 Further information available at: 3 Shulman Baumert & Kunter 2006, Neuweg Neuweg 2011, Baumert und Kunter Neuweg There is a broad consensus among researchers working in the field of teacher training that subject training is a central, albeit not the only prerequisite for high-quality teaching. At the latest since Shulman i.e. since the mid-1980s teacher knowledge is commonly differentiated into content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and general pedagogical knowledge. 3 A conceptual overlap of these types of knowledge exists not only during university training, but also at the beginning of one s professional career, and while working as an experienced teacher. It is widely agreed that whilst content knowledge is a prerequisite for pedagogical content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge is understood to be a more specific, complex, and integrated form of knowledge. 4 Morever, content knowledge is assumed to represent the long-term framework within which individual teachers expand their pedagogical content knowledge throughout their career. 5 Furthermore, Shulman attributes special importance to scientifictheoretical knowledge, i.e. knowledge of central paradigms and research methods, ability to assess contentual controversies and new knowledge. For it appears to foster «deep knowledge», readiness for further training as well as teachers general ability to raise students awareness that learning and knowledge acquisition are active, self-directed processes. 6 As you may guess, at HKB, we see a strong link between «subject material knowledge» and that which we call «integral authorship». We have, therefore, decided to place it at the core of our Bachelor and Master programs. 04

The term «author» is derived from the Latin word auctor, meaning not only originator and creator, but also mentor or initiator.

5 With the so-called «educational turn» out-of school contexts too have witnessed an intensification of content and transfer oriented approaches to art and design education. Artistic production, curation, and art education are increasingly interlaced, and the roles of artists and educator are becoming more and more hybrid. The public s role has changed, too: «participation» and «social aesthetics» are the key words referring to the increasing involvement of the public into the production, presentation, and interpretation of works of art. 7 Finally, contemporary discourse in art education shows an interdisciplinary foundation as well: it rests on the synergy of practice-based theory and late 20th-century art theory, it is close to art-oriented positions in art pedagogy, takes up impulses from educational sciences, critical and cultural studies, and museology. 8 Integral authorship in art education 7 Bishop 2006, O Neil and Wilson 2010, Settele and Moersch 2012, Sturm Settele and Moersch (2012:300) 9 Neuweg (2011:471) To sum up with Hans Georg Neuweg s words, the BA and MA in Art Education at the Bern University of the Arts can be described as a «socialization process» where art, design, art history, pedagogy, and didactics do not appear as separate fields of activities, but evolve as a specific «amalgam of areas of knowledge» 9 which we call integral authorship. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bader, B. (2008). Die Regel der Kunst der (Kunst-)Vermittlung. In: Vermittlung. Jahrbuch Bern: Hochschule der Künste Bern. Baumert, J. und Kunter, M. (2011). Professionelle Kompetenz von Lehrkräften. Ergebnisse des Forschungsprogramms COACTIV. Münster: Waxmann.. (2006). Stichwort: Professionelle Kompetenz von Lehrkräften. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 9, Bishop, C. (Ed.) (2006). Participation. Boston: MIT Press. Neuweg H. G. (2011). Das Wissen der Wissensvermittler. In: Terhardt, E., Bennewitz, H. und Rothland, M. (Hrsg): Handbuch der Forschung zum Lehrerberuf. Münster: Waxmann. O Neill, P. und Wilson, N. (Eds.) (2010). Curating and the Educational Turn. Amsterdam: de Appel Open Editions. Settele, B. und Moersch, C. (Hrsg.). (2012). Kunstvermittlung in Transformation. Zürich: Scheidegger und Spiess. Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand.: Knowledge Growth in Teaching. In: Educational Researcher Vol. 15/2. S (1987) Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform. In: Harvard Educational Review 57. S Sturm, E. (2011). Von Kunst aus. Kunstvermittlung mit Gilles Deleuze. Wien: Turia und Kant. 05

The public s role has changed, too: «participation» and «social aesthetics» are the key words referring to the increasing involvement of the public into the production, presentation, and

6 LEGAL NOTICE The contributions to the series «Art Pedagogy at European Universities» will as a rule be published monthly. Board of Trustees: Regina Zachhalmel (Wien/A), Ruth Kunz (Bern/CH), Vera Uhl Skřivanová (Usti nad La-bem/CZ), Christine Heil (Mainz/D), Manfred Blohm (Flensburg/D), Christiane Herth (Paris/F), Gabriella Pataky (Budapest/H) Responsible for the article of the present edition: Barbara Bader Studiengangsleitung Gestaltung und Kunst (Director of Study Program Design and Arts) Bern University of the Arts HKB Translation into English: Regina Spöttl, BA Layout: Stéphanie Winkler ISSN

(Flensburg/D), Christiane Herth (Paris/F), Gabriella Pataky (Budapest/H) Responsible for the article of the present edition: Barbara Bader

Art PedAgogy At european universities #06 2013-10

Art Pedagogy at European Universities Art Pedagogy at European Universities Insights into art pedagogical (study) practices at universities in Europe #06 2013-10 www.edition-kupaed.de Aims and contents