Thema Bildungsstandards für die Bildnerische Erziehung - Mozarteum

Die Arbeit stützt sich auf das Weißbuch zur Qualitätsentwicklung, Berichte der
Zukunftskommission, die Klieme-Expertise, österreichische Bundesgesetzblätter; deckt
nahezu alle deutschen Lehrpläne für Kunst im Sekundarbereich I ab, den Entwurf des
BDK und andere mehr; enthält die jüngsten Ergebnisse der österreichischen Arbeitsgruppen.
Tracing an international trend in education policy, this paper sets off from the pivotal
possibility of a future increase in endeavors to implement national standards for art
education in Austria. Precisely because at present no final governmental decision has
been made, and considering the fast pace of outcomes-based reforms, it is viewed as a
substantial disadvantage that subject-specific scientific effort so far has been marginal
while the concern of art teachers is lacking. The absence of a common strategy between
subject-linked interest groups is counted not so much a result of the variety of disciplinary
self-images as of an overall knowledge deficit about educational governance and
competence-orientedness, along with a particular research deficit in competency modeling
and assessment for the art educational field. Since both the public and scientific
discourse on national educational standards are mostly biased toward endorsing current
campaigns, the paper commences by questioning the concept as such, its underlying
theories and beliefs–like the claimed transition toward a global “knowledge society”,
the top-down push for a “paradigm shift” in education, or the drive toward the creation
of a lifelong learning “homo competens”. Surfacing is an ill-defined image of wo/man,
as is mirrored in the human capital theory or the PISA concept of literacy. With the
“PISA-shock” and the stress of competition, main triggers for school restructuring are
tracked, and found to only nurture the psychologization of measures adopted. Likewise,
at this stage, the intended effects to improve teaching and enhance equal opportunity do
not withstand scrutinity, and empirical requirements for the elaboration of level-related
standards are hardly ever met. So the thesis’s call to action can mean no other commitment
but to critical awareness and reflection. Its goal is to highlight various approaches
for the development of art education standards, to identify tangible solutions for how
competencies could be formulated, and in which way, if any, existing formal concepts
and prescriptions might be customized. Before delving into the actual designs, the paper
confronts the so-called educational “paradigm shift” with its ignorance against the
pictorial turn, portrays implications for contemporary education and the potentially vital
role of the school subject art, and yet asks whether the plan to fill up the blind spot
regarding visual literacy will not cause further alienation from art itself. The subject
compatibility of the pedagogically dominant competence concept after F.E. Weinert,
weighed against alternative options from within competence research, is a related point
for debate. The presentation of the evolution of binding definitions for Austrian educational
standards displays a process of diminishing choices; then again, a comparative
analysis of recent art educational competency models and standards (focusing on
German-speaking Europe), an already fragmenting diversity.
The paper draws on the Austrian White Book on education quality development, reports
of the Future Commission, the Klieme-Expertise, the federal law gazette; covers nearly
all curricula for art in secondary sector I of the German states, the Association of
German Art teachers' proposal and others; includes the latest results of Austrian art
education working groups.
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